Material and Mechanical Aspects of CMAS Damage Progression on Thermal Barrier Coatings and its Non-Destructive Detection

Abstract

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) on turbine blades in gas turbine engines are in some cases damaged at high temperatures exceeding 1200°C by calcium-magnesium-alumino-silicates (CMAS) resulting from the ingestion of siliceous minerals. In this study, material interaction between molten CMAS and yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) was investigated using a single crystal YSZ material and a synthetic CMAS product. Reaction between the molten CMAS and YSZ was significant at high temperature resulting in the infiltration of CMAS into the dense bulk-YSZ. The extent of interaction between CMAS and YSZ was found to be dependent on the crystallographic plane of the YSZ. The change in elastic stiffness due to the CMAS infiltration was also found by using a vibrating reed technique. The CMAS infiltrated layer had elastic stiffness higher by approximately five times of the non-infiltrated one. An attempt to detect the CMAS damage progression was also made through an AC impedance method. The proposed AC impedance technique is expected to be a useful technique to evaluate the CMAS infiltration as well as the associated delamination of TBC top coat.