Qualification of Indigenously Developed Special Coatings for Aero-Engine Components

Abstract

The demand for higher performance and reliability of aero-engiaes necessitates its components to worksatisfactorily under severe operating conditions. The durability of various components in these environmentis often enhanced by applying suitable coatings. The development of new materials/processing methods andalso various coatings to protect the components have been driven by the ever-increasing severity of theaero-engine internal environment. While the selection of a coating is dictated by the operating conditionsand the nature of the environment and also on the substrate, the durability of the coating depends uponthe mode of degradation of the coating and substrate in service.Though certification of an aero-engine after developmt obviously includes: validation of the componentsand its coatings, indigenous substitution of an already-qualified component system requires a re-orientationof the qualification methodology. This paper describes an approach for qualification of indigenously developedspecial coatings processes for application on aero-engine components. This approach has been adoptedsuccesshlly in validating several indigenous coatingslpmcesses, viz, aluminium-silicon diffusion coating appliedby pack cementation for oxidationhot comsion resistance, cobalt-chromium carbide coating by electrodepositionfor wear resistance, chromium carbide-nickel chromium coating applied by detonation gun and yttria-stabilisedzirconia thermal barrier coating applied by plasma spray.The approaih consists of a series of validation tests configured to assess the coating-substrate system.The rationale in evolving the qualification tests based on the type of coating, coating process, operating conditionsfor the components, probable failure modes and coating-base metal interaction, are described. In addition,comparison of the test results obtained on the test specimens coated with indigenously developed coatingsand imported coatings is also enumerated to show that these coatings are comparable to the imported coatings.Documentation of satisfactory performance of the components coated with indigenously developed coatingsthrough successful engine tests and limited-service evaluation is also highlighted. In addition to the substitutionof the coatings recommended by the principal designers with those developed indigenously, a few coatings,such as polyimide coating for corrosion resistance and ceramic paint for thermal resistance solely appliedon various aero-engine components were successfully evaluated using above mentioned approach.