Alternating load failure analysis under the high-temperatures vibration of thermal barrier coatings

Abstract

During thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) service, high-temperature and vibration are environmental factors that cannot be ignored. The vibration fatigue damage mode of TBCs under operating conditions that couple vibrations with high temperatures is unclear. In this paper, a high-temperature vibration coupled environment simulator was developed to investigate the evolution of high-temperature vibration fatigue damage modes of LaZrCeO/7-YSZ(LZC/YSZ) TBCs under alternating loads by employing acoustic emission detection. The results show that in the initial fatigue stage, the damage appears as discrete micro-cracks formed by the initial defects in the TBCs. With the increase in the number of cycles, the initiation of transverse microcracks began to occur inside the LZC layer and at the LZC/YSZ interface. When the transverse microcracks accumulate to the critical value, the applied alternating loads accelerate the propagation of opening interfacial cracks. Finally, the columnar crystal structures of the ceramic layers fracture at different heights under cyclic loading by high-temperature vibrations.