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3 Thermal Barrier Coating PDF
3 Thermal Barrier Coating PDF
ABSTRACT
In land-based gas turbines, thermal barrier coatings are used for thermal insulation of hot components
(combustor, turbine vanes and to some extent blades). The thermal barrier maintains the metal temperature
of a coated component at moderate temperature levels during turbine operation. If the coating spalls off, the
underlying metal will suffer from creep damage and oxidation with risk of severe machine damage.
Therefore coating integrity must be maintained, putting forward demands on a reliable assessment of coating
life. This is especially crucial if a design with long inspection intervals is required.
In the present work, plasma-sprayed NiCoCrAlY and NiCrAlY bond coats with an yttria partially stabilised
zirconia top coat are studied. At the interface between the metallic bond coat and the ceramic top coat
delamination cracks are prone to form upon thermal or/and mechanical cycling. Microstructural evaluations
show that interface cracks (within the thermally grown oxide) and interface-near cracks (within the partially
stabilised zirconia) contribute to damage development. From microstructural investigations of tested
material delamination crack growth data has been recorded. Via a damage measure the recorded crack
growth data are coupled to the load condition at the crack tip through FE-modeling.
In the present work a fatigue life prediction model has been used based on a Paris law-approach. The model
is physically sound in the sense that it takes the local stress-state (from thermal and mechanical loading) into
account. By calculation of energy release rate at the crack tip and allowing for mode mixity, the
delamination behaviour can be modeled according to observations. Through the fracture mechanics approach
the model is general and will therefore be suitable for fatigue life predictions in the presence of thermal as
well as mechanical loads.
The model is calibrated against and verified for results from fatigue tests. By comparison of model
predictions with results from test with different conditions, the model is shown to be capable of predicting
results with good accuracy.
KEYWORDS
thermal barrier coating, thermomechanical fatigue, modeling, fracture mechanics, delamination, oxidation,
superalloy, fatigue life assessment.
In land-based and air-borne gas turbines thermal barrier coatings (TBC) have been used for some twenty-
five years [1] as an insulator for load-carrying hot components from the hot oxidative environment in
combustor and turbine. Due to the low thermal conductivity, ceramic, normally yttria partially stabilised
zirconia (YPSZ), is used as a top coat (TC) together with a metallic bond coat (BC). Here the TC will act as
the thermal insulator while the BC will provide adherence for the ceramic outer layer. For oxidation
resistance the bond coat is an aluminium-rich alloy based on either nickel or cobalt [2]. In industrial
applications the TC is used in a thickness from 300µm up to approximately two millimetres.
During service the material will change its behaviour. The top coat will sinter and change mechanical
properties [3] as well as thermal conductivity [4]. Also oxidation of the bond coat and microstructural
changes during high temperature exposure due to enrichment/depletion (diffusion and oxidation) of elements
will alter the material properties [5-7]. From previous studies it is well-known that high temperature
exposure, thermal and mechanical loading will increase the residual stress level at the interface between
ceramic and metal. Damage, in terms of interface delamination, will with time develop within the material
system [8-10]. Eventually the delamination damage will be so severe that the material can buckle and large
pieces of the TC can flake off. A consequence of coating loss will be local overheating of the underlying
metal with obvious risk of severe oxidation and also creep damage if the component is mechanically
stressed.
In order to use a gas turbine as economically and efficiently as possible, it is desirable to maximise the time
between inspections and overhaul with maintained mechanical integrity. Therefore different tools are used
for assessment of spallation fatigue life for thermal barrier coatings. The present paper will deal with a
method proposed by Brodin and Jinnestrand [11. 12]. The model is based on a fracture-mechanical approach
supported by observations from thermal and mechanical testing of TBC systems.
MATERIAL SYSTEM
The material used in the present study is an air plasma sprayed thermal barrier coating system. As substrate
material Haynes 230 from Haynes International is used. In the present study, substrate material has been
manufactured to tubular specimens according to Figure 1. By the APS process a thin TBC system has been
applied to bond coat and top coat thicknesses of 150µm and 350µm respectively. Chemical compositions for
substrate, bond coat and top coat are given in Table 1, and the coating microstructure is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 also indicates substrate (S), BC and TC. The picture also indicates the location of the thermally
grown oxide (TGO) that will form at the interface between BC and TC during high temperature exposure.
Due to the high aluminium content of the bond coat, the interface oxide is mainly alumina. For the present
coating system the BC/TC interface roughness has been measured to be Ra=8µm.
TABLE 1
COMPOSITIONS OF SUBSTRATE AND COATINGS IN THE PRESENT MATERIAL SYSTEM (VALUES IN WT%).
Ni Fe Cr W Co Si Mn Ti Al Mo B C Y ZrO2 Y2O3
Substrate Bal. <3 22 14 <5 0,4 0,5 - 0,3 2 0,015 0,1 - -
BC Bal. - 17 - 23 - - - 12,5 - - - 0,5 - -
TC - - - - - - - - - - - - 7 Bal.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Testing of TBC-coated cylindrical specimens has been done in terms of in-phase (IP) and out-of-phase (OP)
TMF testing. For the purpose a servohydraulic test rig has been used. The rig was a 160kN MTS test rig
equipped with an INSTRON 8800 controller aimed for multiaxial testing. Gripping of the test specimen was
done by threaded grips equipped with a centering cavity for accurate positioning of the test specimens. By
Figure 1: TMF specimen design. Hatched region indicates TBC-coated area, GL = 40 indicates heated
specimen length.
TC
BC
100µm
Figure 2: APS TBC system used for spallation life model calibration and TMF testing.
Through a hole in the grips, compressed air was permitted to cool the interior of the test specimen during
parts of the thermal cycle so an accurate thermal gradient could be created through metal and TBC system.
The thermal load was provided via a resistance heated 5kW split-furnace. Specimen temperature during
testing was done by using a type S thermocouple with wire dimension 0,25mm strapped onto the TBC
surface by a platinum wire. Axial and circumferential temperature gradients along the test section were
measured in advance and found to be ∆Taxial = 15°C and ∆Tcirumf = 20°C.
Definition of failure must in this case be split into two alternatives, “classic” fatigue cracks and interface
cracks that will cause spallation. The former crack type is easily detected through standard methods, such as
DAMAGE EVALUATION
During thermal and/or mechanical loading of a thermal barrier coating system, several phenomena can be
isolated that contribute to coating damage. In the case of TMF loading, TBC and substrate damage can take
place in terms of initiation and growth of “classic” fatigue cracks with crack growth normal to the surface
through the coating into the substrate material. In addition, formation and growth of cracks parallel to the
surface of a TBC system can take place due to the difference in physical and mechanical properties of the
ceramic TC and the metallic BC in the TBC system. Due to the presence of stresses normal to the surface of
a TBC aggregate, cracks parallel to the surface can also initiate and grow at the interface between top- and
bond coat. It is not easy to design a test where a single interface delamination crack can be studied as done
for crack growth testing of a metallic material, for instance with the co-called CT test. Instead it is necessary
to study the development of many cracks initiating and growing simultaneously at the interface. With this in
mind we have introduced a damage parameter D, defined as
∑l
i
i
TGO
+ ∑ l TC
j
j + ∑ lk
TGO/TC
k
D= (1)
L
where liTGO designates individual delamination cracks i extending only in the thermally grown
TGO/TC oxide, lj
TC
designates delamination cracks j with growth only in the ceramic top coat and lk represent
delamination cracks with part of the growth at the interface and part in the top coat. L is the total interface
length investigated.
Since Eqn (1) relates D directly to crack lengths, we can express damage growth directly as
dD
= f ( stress state at interface ) (2)
dN
where N is number of cycles. It is natural to see the damage development measure dD/dN as an average
value for damage in discrete time steps, since the measure is derived from average crack lengths. In each
time step are a number of cracks analysed, categorised and measured giving a statistical basis even for a
limited set of tests.
The general damage development in a TBC system is shown in Figure 4, where four regions are indicated. In
region I no large damage development takes place. After some time at high temperature, the degree of
oxidation at the interface will increase and cracks are formed in the thermally grown oxide. In this stage the
crack growth rate is fast as indicated in region II. Region III shows a period of rather stable damage level,
indicated by a plateau with very low crack growth rate. In later stages in the delamination fatigue life (stage
IV), the damage growth rate increases again due to coalescence of existing cracks, leading to the final
spallation, i.e. loss of the thermal barrier. It is convenient to define TBC failure as the transition from region
III to region IV, where stable crack growth behaviour ceases to exist.
Figure 4: Schematic representation of TBC delamination fatigue damage development. A fatigue life
limit is defined at the transition from slow crack growth (region III) to final failure (region IV),
in the present case D = 0,85.
A method for prediction of TBC spallation fatigue life has been proposed by Brodin and Jinnestrand [11,
12]. The model, based on a fracture mechanical approach, is a modification of Paris law with respect to
incorporation of mixed mode crack growth. In Paris law, the classic stress intensity is first replaced by the
energy release rate,
da
= C (λ∆G )
n
(3)
dN
where λ is a function that describes the reduction of the crack growth rate during mixed mode crack growth
compared to mode I crack growth. The measured average interface roughness is used for geometry
modeling. As a basis for the development of the present λ-function a previous description by Hutchinsson
and Suo has been used [13]. According to Eqn. 2 it is convenient to leave the classic approach for crack
dD
= C1 (λ ∆G ) 1
n
(4)
dN
where C1 and n1 are Paris law fitting parameters and λ can be described according to
⎛2 m
⎞
−1 ⎛ K II ⎞ ⎟
λ = 1 − (1 − λ0 ) tan ⎜⎜
⎜ ⎟⎟ (5)
⎜π ⎝ KI ⎠ ⎟
⎝ ⎠
where λ0 and m are fitting parameters. KI and KII are stress intensity factors for pure crack opening and crack
shear modes, respectively. From (4) the fatigue life to TBC spallation can be integrated,
Dcr
dD
N = N0 + ∫ ⎛ ∆K II ⎞
(5)
D0
f ⎜⎜ ∆G, , K⎟⎟
⎝ ∆K I ⎠
where N0 is a parameter describing the initial defect state of the TBC aggregate, D0 and Dcr represent initial
and final damage state. The model has been calibrated to thermal fatigue data [14] as seen in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Calibration of fatigue life model from thermal fatigue data, after Brodin and Jinnestrand [12].
RESULTS
Fatigue life results from TMF tests are presented in Table 2. In the graph a comparison is also made with
thermal fatigue test results.
TABLE 2
RESULTS FROM TMF (VERIFICATION DATA) AND THERMAL FATIGUE TESTS
(CALIBRATION DATA) FOR THE PRESENT MATERIAL SYSTEM.
A fractographic investigation of the cycled TMF test specimen has been made and the results are shown in
Figure 6 (OP TMF) and 7 (IP TMF).
OP TMF IP TMF
Fractogreaphy Fractogreaphy
Dessa har jag ej hämtat hem Dessa har jag ej hämtat hem
från LiTH ännu från LiTH ännu
Both OP and IP TMF show signs of delamination damage in the interface between TC and BC. However, in
the case of IP TMF substrate fatigue cracks are also evident. These cracks, however, have not caused the
specimen failure.
A comparison between actual spallation life results and fatigue life assessments for IP and OP TMF has been
performed, where energy release rate, mode I and mode II stress intensity factors have been calculated.
Predicted stress intensity factors KI and KII with an applied mechanical stress of 200, 0 and –200 MPa (OP
TMF, 4µm TGO) are shown in Figure 8. These values are then used as reference values for prediction of
crack growth rates to be used in the fatigue life model of Eqn.(5). A comparison between results and the
predictions is shown in Figure 9.
2.5
KII 200 MPa
K
K
KII 0 MPa
K
KII -200 MPa
2 K
KII
II 200 MPa
K
KII
II 0 MPa
K
KII
II -200 MPa
Ki [MPa √m]
1.5
0.5
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
damage parameter D [-]
Figure 8: Calculated stress intensity factor levels corresponding to OP TMF load cases with 4µm TGO.
0,6
0,4
Experimental data of cycle
Corresponding model prediction
prediction TMF IP
0,2 prediction TMF OP
experimental data TMF OP
experimental data TMF IP
0,0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
cycles [-]
Figure 9: Comparison between test results (solid lines) and model predictions (dotted lines).
OP results are shown in blue, IP results in red.
DISCUSSION
Due to the furnace design the heated zone was approximately three times the extensometer gauge length.
However, heat transfer from the heated region to cold sections caused the temperature to drop outside the
extensometer gauge length. Therefore delamination cracks are not detected over the entire heated surface.
However, from microscopy observations it appears as if the interface within the extensometer gage length is
representative for the entire failure and that the results are reliable from this point of view.
In the present study with OP and IP TMF loading, the effect of a tensile stressed interface at low temperature
is higher in OP TMF than in the IP TMF load case, since a high tensile load is applied at Tmin during the OP
TMF cycle. In the IP TMF case, the situation is different; due to an unloaded interface at low temperature
the fatigue life is expected to increase. However, some damage development is bound to take place at Tmax
during IP TMF cycling since oxidation of open cracks and also creep damage are likely to play important
roles at temperatures in the range of 1000°C. The trend seen in the results is, however, consistent with the
previous findings; detrimental damage from a spallation point of view is introduced at low temperature,
where interface crack growth is predicted due to thermally induced stresses.
Surface Roughness
The present fatigue life model assumes an average surface roughness for calculations of stress intensity
factors and energy release rate. In a real TBC system the surface roughness is of course not constant
throughout the entire coating. Any large asperity will have an impact on initiation of cracks. Around large
asperities the stress state will differ from an “average situation” and, accordingly, the crack growth rate will
be influenced by the locally more severe stress-state. The fatigue life model will therefore be non-
conservative when not taking a spread in properties into account. However, recent studies [16] show that the
effect of changed stress-state (in the particular case at a free TBC edge) only extends a short distance, in the
order of 1mm away from the highly stressed location. Therefore the error made when not taking a real
interface into account is not of great significance.
Temperature Distribution
The model is, according to the present results, shown to be sensitive to variations in temperature. In the
present case, the temperature is measured on the TBC surface. Therefore the true temperature at the TC/BC
interface is not captured. In the present case a comparison with reference measurements will be needed.
Therefore an uncertainty is introduced into the calculations. In Figure 9 this is shown as a span in spallation
fatigue life Nspall in the comparison with measured data.
CONCLUSIONS
TMF testing has been done on an air plasma sprayed thermal barrier coating system. Both in-phase and out-
of phase tests have been performed and the fracture analysed. In the present case the failure appeared to be
due to delamination crack growth at the interface between the metallic bond coat and the ceramic top coat
for the out-of-phase load. Fatigue testing with temperature cycling and mechanical loading in-phase reveals
damage contributions from delamination cracking at the interface together with fatigue crack growth in the
substrate material.
A fracture-mechanics based spallation fatigue life model has previously been proposed for thermal barrier
coating life assessment in industrial gas turbines. The model, calibrated against thermal fatigue tests, has
been used to predict the fatigue life of the IP and OP TMF tests. The results can be summarised as:
• A combination of the thermal and mechanical loading applied gives a shorter fatigue life than the
thermal cycle used during calibration testing. This is seen both in test results and in fatigue life modeling.
• Out-of-phase loading gives a shorter fatigue life than in-phase TMF loading. This is explained by tensile
loading at low temperature resulting in high delamination stresses at the interface.
• The fatigue life model can predict out-of-phase TMF more accurately than in-phase TMF loading. An
explanation is found in the fact that the calibration data are retrieved from thermal fatigue testing where
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the Swedish Energy Administration for financial support through
grant KME-706/106.
REFERENCES
[1] Reymann, H., “MCrAlY deposition by HVOF: A suitable alternative to LPPS” In: Turbine
Forum, Advanced Coatings for high temperatures, Nice Port St Laurent, France, April 17-19,
(2002).
[2] Ref som behandlar varianer av MCrAlY och NiAl.
[3] Åldringens inverkan på mek egenskaper. Mats ref.
[4] Karlsson, F., “???”, Technical report, Linköping university, (200?).
[5] Brodin, H. and Eskner, M., “xxx – paper I”, Surf. Coat. Technol., xxxxxxx.
[6] Oxidation/mikroistruktur BC.
[7] Oxidation – egenskaper:BC.
[8] Residual stresses in TBC
[9] Delamination/spallation (mitt?)
[10] Buckling, Evans
[11] Br DR
[12] Ji DR
[13] Hutchinsson Suo
[14] Brodin, H. and Li, X.H., “xxx”, In: ITSC 2004, Osaka, Japan, May 2004.
[15] Jinnestrand, M. and Sjöström, S., Surf Coat Technol, XX (200X) XX
[16] Brodin, H. et.al., “xxx”, To be presented at ECF16, Greece, 2005.