Thermal barrier coatings (TBC’s) are used to provide both thermal insulation and oxidation protection to high temperature components within gas turbines. The development of turbines for power generation and aviation has led to designs where the operation conditions exceed the upper limits of most conventional engineering materials. As a result there has been a drive to improve thermal barrier coatings to allow the turbine to operate at higher temperatures for longer. The focus of this thesis has been to design thermal barrier coatings with lower conductivity and longer lifetime than those coatings used in industry today. The work has been divided between the development of new generation air plasma spray (APS) TBC coatings for industrial gas turbines and the development of suspension plasma spray (SPS) TBC systems. The route taken to achieve these goals with APS TBC’s has been twofold. Firstly an alternative stabiliser has been chosen for the zirconium oxide system in the form of dysprosia. Secondly, control of the powder morphology and spray parameters has been used to generate coating microstructures with favourable levels of porosity. In terms of development of SPS TBC systems, these coatings are relatively new with many of the critical coating parameters not yet known. The focus of the work has therefore been to characterise their lifetime and thermal properties when produced in a complete TBC system. Results demonstrate that dysprosia as an alternative stabiliser gives a reduction in thermal conductivity. While small at room temperature and in the as produced state; the influence becomes more pronounced at high temperatures and with longer thermal exposure time. The trade-off for this lowered thermal conductivity may be in the loss of high temperature stability. Overall, the greatest sustained influence on thermal conductivity has been from creating coatings with high levelsof porosity. In relation to lifetime, double the thermo-cyclic fatigue (TCF) life relative to the industrial standard was achieved using a coating with engineered porosity. Introducing a polymer to the spray powder helps to generate large globular pores within the coating together with a large number of delaminations. Such a structure was shown to be highly resistant to TCF testing. SPS TBC’s were shown to have much greater performance relative to their APS counterparts in thermal shock life, TCF life and thermal conductivity. Columnar SPS coatings are a prospective alternative for strain tolerant coatings in gas turbine engines.

Solid oxide fuel cell compositionally graded electrolytes could offer the advantage of improving electrical performance and efficiency compared to single-layered or bi-layered yttria stabilized zirconia and samaria doped ceria electrolytes and improving mechanical performance by reducing thermal expansion mismatch stresses compared to bi-layered electrolytes with sharp interfaces. Manufacturing of these graded structures is difficult if implementing conventional wet ceramic techniques. Suspension plasma spraying is an emerging technology that has the potential to rapidly produce thin, dense ceramic layers with no requirement for post deposition heat treatments. However, SPS requires a careful examination of the stability of the feedstock suspensions in order to produce high quality coatings. Optimum suspension formulations with excellent particle dispersion were designed based on rheological and electrostatic stability measurements. These optimized suspensions were used as feedstocks for the fabrication of suspension plasma sprayed compositionally graded YSZ/SDC layers. The feasibility of fabricating graded electrolyte structures was thus demonstrated.

The reduction of manufacturing costs and the facilitation of direct-oxidation of hydrocarbon fuels have been identified as means of promoting the commercialization of the solid oxide fuel cell, a technology that offers both environmental and fuel conservation benefits compared to conventional energy conversion technologies. This research was conducted with the aim of realizing the production of direct-oxidation anodes using atmospheric plasma spraying, which has been identified as a fabrication technique that has the potential to reduce the manufacturing costs of solid oxide fuel cells. This thesis details the rationale behind the selection of the anode compositions (BaO-Ni-YSZ, CeO2-Ni-YSZ, and Sn-Ni-YSZ) and the specifics of the specialized fabrication strategy (SPS-SPPS) that was devised with the aim of realizing microstructures similar to those where the secondary phases (BaO, CeO2, and Sn) coat the surfaces of the primary Ni and YSZ phases. Results of XRD, SEM and EDS analyses are presented.

Solid oxide fuel cell compositionally graded electrolytes could offer the advantage of improving electrical performance and efficiency compared to single-layered or bi-layered yttria stabilized zirconia and samaria doped ceria electrolytes and improving mechanical performance by reducing thermal expansion mismatch stresses compared to bi-layered electrolytes with sharp interfaces. Manufacturing of these graded structures is difficult if implementing conventional wet ceramic techniques. Suspension plasma spraying is an emerging technology that has the potential to rapidly produce thin, dense ceramic layers with no requirement for post deposition heat treatments. However, SPS requires a careful examination of the stability of the feedstock suspensions in order to produce high quality coatings. Optimum suspension formulations with excellent particle dispersion were designed based on rheological and electrostatic stability measurements. These optimized suspensions were used as feedstocks for the fabrication of suspension plasma sprayed compositionally graded YSZ/SDC layers. The feasibility of fabricating graded electrolyte structures was thus demonstrated.

The reduction of manufacturing costs and the facilitation of direct-oxidation of hydrocarbon fuels have been identified as means of promoting the commercialization of the solid oxide fuel cell, a technology that offers both environmental and fuel conservation benefits compared to conventional energy conversion technologies. This research was conducted with the aim of realizing the production of direct-oxidation anodes using atmospheric plasma spraying, which has been identified as a fabrication technique that has the potential to reduce the manufacturing costs of solid oxide fuel cells. This thesis details the rationale behind the selection of the anode compositions (BaO-Ni-YSZ, CeO2-Ni-YSZ, and Sn-Ni-YSZ) and the specifics of the specialized fabrication strategy (SPS-SPPS) that was devised with the aim of realizing microstructures similar to those where the secondary phases (BaO, CeO2, and Sn) coat the surfaces of the primary Ni and YSZ phases. Results of XRD, SEM and EDS analyses are presented.

L’impact énergétique de la tribologie sur la vie économique et industrielle est important ; diminuer le frottement et l’usure des pièces mécaniques est un véritable enjeu pour des secteurs industriels très divers. Cette étude s’inscrit dans le cadre de la prévention de l’usure d’éléments mécaniques pouvant être soumis à des conditions sévères d’utilisation telles que les hautes températures. La réalisation de revêtements protecteurs céramique-métal est alors particulièrement indiquée afin d’apporter respectivement la résistance à la corrosion induite par les hautes températures avec un alliage adapté, et la résistance à l’usure grâce à la dureté des céramiques. D’autre part, le développement des recherches dans le domaine nanométrique a montré l’intérêt de la diminution de l’échelle sur l’amélioration des propriétés tribologique globales des revêtements. La projection thermique regroupe alors les procédés les plus adaptés à la réalisation de tels revêtements. Dans ce travail, des revêtements multi-composants (céramique-métal) et multi-échelles (micrométrique-nanométrique) sont développés par projection plasma afin de répondre à la problématique de résistance tribologique à haute température. La réalisation des dépôts est mise en œuvre à l’aide d’une torche tri-cathodes (TriplexPro-200) avantageuse pour sa stabilité et les larges possibilités laissées par sa fenêtre opératoire étendue. Les spécificités de cette torche seront étudiées afin d’adapter au mieux le procédé à la réalisation complexe de dépôts à composante multi-échelle. Une démarche innovante de projection hybride associant projection de poudres micrométriques et de suspensions de poudres nanométriques sera alors développée. Les étapes ayant amenées à la réalisation de ces revêtements sont détaillées dans ce travail puis les caractéristiques et le comportement tribologique des dépôts sont finalement étudiés. / Nowadays, tribology has a high energetic impact on economic and industrial areas. Thus, reducing wear and friction of mechanical parts has become a real stakes for various industries. This study is focused on the wear prevention of mechanical parts subjected to severe operating conditions like high temperatures.The realization of protective ceramic-metal coatings is thus particularly appropriated to improve corrosion resistance induced by the high temperatures, with a suitable alloy, and the wear resistance, thanks to the ceramics hardness. Furthermore, researches development in the nanoscale field have shown the interest of scale reduction on the improvement of coatings tribological properties. Thermal spraying is then the most appropriate process for the realization of such coatings.In this work, multi-components (ceramic-metal) and multi-scales (micrometric-nanometric) coatings are developed by plasma spraying in order to give an answer to the high temperature tribological resistance issue. Coatings are realized using a three-cathodes plasma gun (TriplexPro-200) which provides a more stable plasma jet and offers wide possibilities by an extended operating window. First, the special features of this kind of plasma gun will be studied in order to adjust the process to the complex realization of multi-scale coatings. An innovative approach using a hybrid spraying process was thus developed, combining conventional micrometric powder spraying and suspension of nanoscale powders spraying. In a second time, the steps leading to the production of such coatings will be detailed, and finally, their main properties and their tribological behavior will be studied.

Afin de pallier les faiblesses des composites face à l’oxydation à très haute température (> 2000 °C) dans le domaine aérospatial, une solution est de les protéger par un revêtement. La solution proposée au cours de cette étude consiste à mettre en forme ce revêtement par projection plasma. Après une étude bibliographique, une composition adaptée à la protection anti-oxydation a été retenue. Celle-ci est constituée d’un matériau ultra-réfractaire le ZrB2, auquel du SiC est ajouté. Un additif a également été sélectionné, l’oxyde de terre-rare Y2O3. Ces revêtements ont été développés via le procédé de projection plasma sur des substrats en composites. Une attention particulière a été portée sur la réalisation de dépôts aux microstructures variées, afin de pouvoir évaluer l’influence de celle-ci sur les propriétés à très haute température. En effet, les revêtements ainsi réalisés ont pu être testés dans des conditions très sévères, à des températures supérieures à 2200 °C sous un flux gazeux comportant des espèces dissociées (O, OH…). Les résultats ont permis de discriminer les microstructures et les compositions les plus prometteuses au vu des applications visées. / In order to overcome composite weakness against oxidation at very high temperature (> 2000 °C), a solution would be to coat them, which can be done potentially by plasma spraying. After a bibliographic study, a specific composition has been chosen: ZrB2-SiC. A potential additive, Y2O3, also has been selected. These coatings were developed by plasma spraying directly on composite substrates. A particular attention was given to the microstructure of the coatings, different kinds were prepared in order to look for its influence on the high temperature properties. Indeed, these coatings were tested under temperature higher than 2200 °C and a very oxidative and corrosive atmosphere. Results allowed distinguishing the most promising compositions and microstructure considering applications in the aerospace field.

Plasma sprayed aluminum oxide ceramic coating is widely used due to its outstanding wear, corrosion, and thermal shock resistance. But porosity is the integral feature in the plasma sprayed coating which exponentially degrades its properties. In this study, process maps were developed to obtain Al2O3-CNT composite coatings with the highest density (i.e. lowest porosity) and improved mechanical and wear properties. Process map is defined as a set of relationships that correlates large number of plasma processing parameters to the coating properties. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were added as reinforcement to Al2O3 coating to improve the fracture toughness and wear resistance. Two novel powder processing approaches viz spray drying and chemical vapor growth were adopted to disperse CNTs in Al2O3 powder. The degree of CNT dispersion via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) was superior to spray drying but CVD could not synthesize powder in large amount. Hence optimization of plasma processing parameters and process map development was limited to spray dried Al2O3 powder containing 0, 4 and 8 wt. % CNTs. An empirical model using Pareto diagram was developed to link plasma processing parameters with the porosity of coating. Splat morphology as a function of plasma processing parameter was also studied to understand its effect on mechanical properties. Addition of a mere 1.5 wt. % CNTs via CVD technique showed ~27% and ~24% increase in the elastic modulus and fracture toughness respectively. Improved toughness was attributed to combined effect of lower porosity and uniform dispersion of CNTs which promoted the toughening by CNT bridging, crack deflection and strong CNT/Al2O3 interface. Al2O3-8 wt. % CNT coating synthesized using spray dried powder showed 73% improvement in the fracture toughness when porosity reduced from 4.7% to 3.0%. Wear resistance of all coatings at room and elevated temperatures (573 K, 873 K) showed improvement with CNT addition and decreased porosity. Such behavior was due to improved mechanical properties, protective film formation due to tribochemical reaction, and CNT bridging between the splats. Finally, process maps correlating porosity content, CNT content, mechanical properties, and wear properties were developed.

Le sujet de recherche de cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude du comportement à une haute température de revêtements nanostructurés à base de zircone, lequel comprend: la caractérisation des matières premières, la fabrication et caractérisation des propriétés des dépôts et finalement le plus important du travail a été son comportement à une haute température, surtout dans des ambients agressifs. Trois types de techniques de projection thermique ont été utilisés pour élaborer les dépôts: flamme (FS), plasma atmosphérique en utilisant comme matière première des poudres (APS) et suspensions (SPS). Trois types de substrats ont été utilisés et caractérisés pour la fabrication des revêtements: un acier à faible carbone (AISI / SAE12L15), acier inoxydable 304L et superalliage Inconel 718. Une couche de liaison de Ni-Al-Mo a été utilisée pour la projection thermique pour flamme et une couche de liaison de NiCrAlCo-Y2O3 pour la technique de APS et SPS. Les revêtements ont été caractérisés pour analyser sa morphologie de la section transversale, la surface, la composition élémentaire des zones d'intérêt, des phases, l'épaisseur, la porosité, la microdureté, groupes vibratoires, la résistance à la corrosion et à l'usure. En addition, le plus important était caractériser les performances à haute température des dépôts par des tests comme le choc thermique, l'oxydation isothermique et la corrosion à chaud avec des sels. Pour analyser le comportement des revêtements après avoir été soumis à ces essais, une étude de la morphologie de la surface et section transversal, la composition élémentaire et l'analyse des phases dans les régions d'intérêt ont également été effectuées. / The research topic of this thesis is devoted on the study of the behavior of nanostructured coatings based on zirconia, which extends from the characterization of raw materials through manufacturing, characterization of the properties of the coatings and then end up in the study of their behavior at high temperature, especially in strong environments to make them comparable. Three kinds of techniques were used for manufacturing the coatings: flame spraying (FS), atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) and suspensions plasma spraying (SPS).Three types of substrates were used and characterized for manufacturing the coatings: a low carbon steel (AISI/SAE12L15), stainless steel 304L and superalloy Inconel 718. A surface treatment of blasting with corundum was applied to all substrates in order to generate a noticeable roughness (> 5 µm), then apply a bond coat of Ni-Al-Mo for the technique FS and a bond coat of NiCrAlCo-Y2O3 for the technique APS and SPS. The coatings were characterized to know and correlate the morphology of the cross section and surface, elemental composition of the zones of interest, phases, thickness, porosity, microhardness, vibrational groups, corrosion resistance and wear resistance. Additionally, the most important was to characterize the high temperature performance of the coating by tests as thermal shock, isothermal oxidation and hot corrosion with salts. For knowing the behavior of the coatings after being subjected to these tests, a study of the morphology of the surface and cross-section, elemental composition and phases analysis in the regions of interest have also been carried out.

The durability of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) affects the life of the hot section engine components on which they are applied. Fatigue is the general failure mechanism for such components and is responsible for most unexpected failures; therefore it is desirable to develop lifetime approximation models to ensure reliability and durability. In this study, we first examined the microstructural degradation of air plasma sprayed ZrO2-8wt.%Y2O3 TBCs with a low-pressure plasma sprayed CoNiCrAlY bond coat on an IN 738LC superalloy substrate. The durability of TBCs were assessed through furnace thermal cyclic tests carried out in air at 1100°C with a 1-, 10-, and 50-hour dwell period, preceded by a 10-minute heat-up and followed by a 10-minute forced-air-quench. Failure mechanisms of the TBCs were thoroughly investigated through materials characterization techniques including: X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy. Quantitative microstructural analyses were then carried out to document the growth of the thermally grown oxide (TGO) scale, the depletion of the Al-rich β-NiAl phase in the bond coat, and the population and growth of micro-cracks near the YSZ/bond coat interface. Trends in the TGO growth and the β-phase depletion in the bond coat followed those of diffusion-controlled processes—parabolic growth of the TGO and exponential depletion of the β-phase. Formation and propagation of cracks within the YSZ resulted in complete spallation of the YSZ topcoat from the bond-coated superalloy substrate. Evolution in these microstructural features was correlated to the lifetime of TBCs, which showed cracking within the YSZ to be the cause of failure; thus a lifetime iv approximation model was developed, via modification of Paris Law, based on the experimental data. The model predicted the TBC lifetime within 10% of the experimental lifetime.