This thesis deals with the low cycle fatigue nickel-based superalloy IN713LC with applied TBC barrier at high temperature. The theoretical part is divided into four sections. The first one focuses on description of fatigue damage. The second one provides the basic characteristics of nickel-based superalloys. The third section describes the use of the surface layers - diffusion layers and thermal barriers and the fourth section deals with the influence of these layers on fatigue properties. Experimental part is focused on the evaluation of low cycle fatigue tests and on the explanation of the mechanisms of initiation and propagation of fatigue cracks. For the experimental part, fatigue samples were prepared by vacuum precision investment casting. TBC barrier was applied by atmospheric plasma spraying and consists of two sublayers - the lower metallic bond coating type CoNiCrAlY and top ceramic coating type YSZ. Low cycle fatigue tests were conducted under strain control at controlled temperature of 900 ° C. Fractographical analysis of fracture surfaces was carried out by using light and electron microscopy. Effect of applied barrier to fatigue life was determined - the parameters of Manson-Coffin and Basquin curve. A cyclic stress-strain curve was also obtained. The curves softening / hardening and number of transit cycles were determined. The obtained parameters and values from fatigue tests were compared with available data from fatigue tests of superalloy IN713LC without the layer, as applied AlSi type diffusion layer, at high temperatures. The initiation site on the fracture surfaces was determined within the fractographic evaluation and the influence of the layer on the initiation and propagation of fatigue cracks was discussed. A helpful tool was the assessment of longitudinal sections using scanning electron microscopy.

<p>Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) made of low-thermal-conductivity ceramic topcoat, metallic bond coat and metallic substrate, have been extensively used in gas turbine engines for thermal protection. Recently, additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing techniques have emerged as promising manufacturing techniques to fabricate engine components. The motivation of the thesis is that currently, application of TBCs on AM’ed metallic substrate is still in its infancy, which hinders the realization of its full potential.</p> <p>The goal of this thesis is to understand the processing-structure-property relationship in thermal barrier coating deposited on AM’ed superalloys.</p> <p>The APS method is used to deposit 7YSZ as the topcoat and NiCrAlY as the bond coat on TruForm 718 substrates fabricated using the direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) method. For comparison, another TBC system with the same topcoat and bond coat is deposited using APS on wrought 718 substrates. For thermomechanical property characterizations, thermal cycling, thermal shock (TS) and jet engine thermal shock (JETS) tests are performed for both TBC systems to evaluate thermal durability. Microhardness and elastic modulus at each layer and respective interfaces are also evaluated for both systems. Additionally, the microstructure and elemental composition are thoroughly studied to understand the cause for better performance of one system over the other.</p> <p>Both TBC systems showed similar performance during the thermal cycling and JETS test but TBC systems with AM substrates showed enhanced thermal durability especially in the case of the more aggressive thermal shock test. The TBC sample with AM substrate failed after 105 thermal shock cycles whereas the one with wrought substrate endured a maximum of 85 cycles after which it suffered topcoat delamination. The AM substrates also demonstrated an overall higher microhardness and elastic modulus except for post thermal cycling condition where it slightly underperformed. This study successfully demonstrated the use of AM built substrates for an improved TBC system and validated the enhanced thermal durability and mechanical properties of such a system.</p> <p>A modified YSZ TBC architecture with an intermediate Ti3C2 MXene layer is proposed to improve the interfacial adhesion at the topcoat/bond coat interface to improve the thermal durability of YSZ</p> <p>12</p> <p>TBC systems. First principles calculations are conducted to study the interfacial adhesion energy in the modified and conventional YSZ TBC systems. The results show enhanced adhesion at the bond coat/MXene interface. At the topcoat/MXene interface, the adhesion energy is similar to the adhesion energy between the topcoat and bond coat in a conventional YSZ TBC system.</p> <p>An alternative route is proposed for the fabrication of YSZ TBC on nickel base superalloy substrates by using the SPS technology. SPS offers a one-step fabrication process with faster production time and reduced production cost since all the layers of the TBC system are fabricated simultaneously. Two different TBC systems are processed using the same heating protocol. The first system is a conventional TBC system with 8YSZ topcoat, NiCoCrAlY bond coat and nickel base superalloy substrate. The second system is similar to the first but with an addition of Ti3C2 MXene layer between the topcoat and the bond coat. Based on the first principles study, addition of Ti3C2 layer enhances the adhesion strength of the topcoat/bond coat interface, an area which is highly susceptible to spallation. Further tests such as thermal cycling and thermal shock along with the evaluation of mechanical properties would be carried out for these samples in future studies to support our hypothesis.</p>

Le procédé de dépôt physique en phase vapeur assisté par plasma thermique (PS-PVD) consiste à évaporer le matériau sous forme de poudre à l’aide d’un jet de plasma d’arc soufflé pour produire des dépôts de structures variées obtenus par condensation de la vapeur et/ou dépôt des nano-agrégats. Dans le procédé de PS-PVD classique, l’intégralité du traitement du matériau est réalisée dans une enceinte sous faible pression, ce qui limite les phénomènes d’évaporation ou nécessite d’utiliser des torches de puissance importante. Dans ce travail, une extension du procédé de PS-PVD conventionnel à un procédé à deux enceintes est proposée puis explorée par voie de modélisation et de simulation numérique : la poudre est évaporée dans une enceinte haute pression (105 Pa) reliée par une tuyère de détente à une enceinte de dépôt basse pression (100 ou 1 000 Pa), permettant une évaporation énergétiquement plus efficace de poudre de Zircone Yttriée de granulométrie élevée, tout en utilisant des torches de puissance raisonnable. L’érosion et le colmatage de la tuyère de détente peuvent limiter la faisabilité d’un tel système. Aussi, par la mise en oeuvre de modèles numériques de mécaniquedes fluides et basé sur la théorie cinétique de la nucléation et de la croissance d’agrégats, on montre que, par l’ajustement des dimensions du système et des paramètres opératoires ces deux problèmes peuvent être contournés ou minimisés. En particulier, l’angle de divergence de la tuyère de détente est optimisé pour diminuer le risque de colmatage et obtenir le jet et le dépôt les plus uniformes possibles à l'aide des modèles susmentionnés, associés à un modèle DSMC (Monte-Carlo) du flux de gaz plasmagène raréfié. Pour une pression de 100 Pa, les résultats montrent que la barrière thermique serait formée par condensation de vapeur alors que pour 1 000 Pa, elle serait majoritairement formée par dépôt de nano-agrégats. / Plasma Spray Physical Vapor Deposition (PS-PVD) aims to substantially evaporate material in powder form by means of a DC plasma jet to produce coatings with various microstructures built by vapor condensation and/or by deposition of nanoclusters. In the conventional PS-PVD process, all the material treatment takes place in a medium vacuum atmosphere, limiting the evaporation process or requiring very high-power torches. In the present work, an extension of conventional PS-PVD process as a two-chamber process is proposed and investigated by means of numerical modeling: the powder is vaporized in a high pressure chamber (105 Pa) connected to the low pressure (100 or 1,000 Pa) deposition chamber by an expansion nozzle, allowing more energetically efficient evaporation of coarse YSZ powders using relatively low power plasma torches. Expansion nozzle erosion and clogging can obstruct the feasibility of such a system. In the present work, through the use of computational fluid dynamics, kinetic nucleation theory and cluster growth equations it is shown through careful adjustment of system dimensions and operating parameters both problems can be avoided or minimized. Divergence angle of the expansion nozzle is optimized to decrease the clogging risk and to reach the most uniform coating and spray characteristics using the aforementioned approaches linked with a DSMC model of the rarefied plasma gas flow. Results show that for 100 Pa, the thermal barrier coating would be mainly built from vapor deposition unlike 1,000 Pa for which it is mainly built by cluster deposition.

The durability of Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBCs) used on the turbine blades of aircraft and power generation engines has been known to be affected by sand particle ingression comprised of Calcium-Magnesium-Alumina-Silicate (CMAS). Previous studies have shown that these effects present themselves through variations in the thermomechanical and thermochemical properties of the coating. This study investigated the impact of CMAS ingression on the Yttria Stabilized Zirconia Topcoat (YSZ) and Thermally Grown Oxide (TGO) strain in sprayed Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) samples of varying porosity with and without CMAS ingression. In-Situ Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction measurements were taken on the sample under thermal loading conditions from which the YSZ and TGO peaks were identified and biaxial strain calculations were determined at high temperature. Quantitative strain results are presented for the YSZ and TGO during a thermal cycle. In-plane strain results for YSZ near the TGO interface for a complete thermal cycle are presented, for a 6% porous superdense sample with CMAS infiltration. The outcomes from this study can be used to understand the role of CMAS on the strain tolerance of the TBC coating. It is well known that under engine operational conditions the development of the TGO layer, with large critical stresses, has been linked to failure of the coating. The growth of the TGO manifests as undulations in a series of peaks and troughs. Understanding the mechanics of the oxide layer at these locations provides significant information with respect to the failure mechanisms of the TBC coating. This study investigated the stress at the peak and trough of a TGO undulation for a cycled Dense Vertically Cracked (DVC) plasma sprayed TBC sample through photo-luminescence (PL) spectroscopy. High resolution nanoscale stress maps were taken nondestructively in the undulation of the TGO. Preliminary results from first line mapping of TGO peak and trough scan, at a resolution of 200 nm, have shown a non-uniform TGO stress variation. The results obtained from this study can be used to understand the stress variation in the peak and trough of a DVC sample's TGO undulation and how it contributes to the life of the TBC coating.