Effect of Bond Coat Materials on Thermal Fatigue Failure of EB-PVD Thermal Barrier Coatings

Abstract

Effect of MCrAlY bond coat alloy systems on thermal fatigue failure of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) was investigated, where the TBC specimen consisted of Ni-based superalloy IN738LC substrate, bond coat, and 8 wt.% Y2O3-stabilized ZrO2 (YSZ) top coat. The top coat was fabricated by EB-PVD method with 250 μm in thickness. Three kinds of MCrAlY alloys were studied as the bond coat material. Employing the originally developed test equipment, thermal fatigue tests were carried out, by applying thermal cycles between 400 and 950°C in air. Special attention was paid not only to the failure life of the TBC specimen, but also the underlying failure mechanisms. The experimental results clearly demonstrated that the effect of MCrAlY bond coat alloys on the thermal fatigue life was very significant. Some discussions were made on the experimental results based on the measurements of mechanical and metallurgical properties of the bond coat alloys: i.e., elastic stiffness, thermal expansion coefficient and high temperature oxidation resistance.