Understanding the Sintering Behavior and its Effect on the Thermal Conductivity of YSZ Coatings for Gas Turbine Applications

Abstract

Thermal barrier coatings are essential coatings to protect the combustion chamber liner material from harsh environments in modern gas turbines that are used in aerospace and land-based power generation facilities. As there are several different materials to produce thermal barrier coatings, the conventional thermal barrier coating is yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ). The most common method to manufacture YSZ coating is plasma spraying method due to its flexibility and rapid production capacity. Using plasma spraying, often requires understanding the process parameters effect on the coating structure. As there are many parameters to control coating process the main outcome of all parameters is the particle temperature and velocity during the spraying process hence the coating properties such as hardness, porosity ratio and deposition rates. Furthermore, not only produced microstructure but also during the service conditions sintering behaviour also be considered. Sintering behaviour of thermal barrier coatings results declining of their thermal insulation properties. Therefore, in this study we have evaluated sintering effect of on the thermal conductivity of the plasma sprayed yttria stabilized zirconia coatings. To achieve this objective, we produced free-standing coatings and subjected them to heat treatment, followed by measurements of their thermal conductivities. The results of this study will contribute to a better understanding of the sintering behaviour and its impact on the thermal performance of thermal barrier coatings.