Konventionelle Wärmedämmschichtensysteme bestehen aus einer Yttriumoxid-stabilisierten Zirkoniumdioxid-Deckschicht auf einer MCrAIY Haftschicht; wobei M für Co, Ni oder CoNi steht. Während der Nutzung bildet sich durch die Kombination von Wärme und Sauerstoff die Reaktionszone in der BC/TC-Grenzfläche. Diese Reaktionszone besteht aus thermisch wachsenden Übergangsmetalloxiden. In dieser Dissertation wurde das Phänomen der Bildung von TGO in TBC-Systemen betrachtet. Co32Ni21Cr8Al0.5Y Haftschichten wurden mithilfe des Verfahrens des atmosphärischen Plasmaspritzens (APS) auf Inconel 600 Substrate aufgebracht. Jm nächsten Schritt wurden durch DC-Magnetronsputter dünne Aluminumschichten auf die Oberfläche aufgetragen. Schließlich wurde YSZ TC mittels APS auf die Oberfläche gespritzt. Die beiden TBC-Systeme wurden zur Unterscheidung des Einflusses der thermischen Auslagerung unterschiedlich lange ausgelagert, um das thermochemischen Transformationsverhalten der Al-Zwischenschicht zu bestimmen. Die Schichtlebensdauer wurde unter thermischer Zyklierung mit einer definierten Verweilzeit untersucht. Das veränderte TBC-System mit der Al-Zwischenschicht (Al TBC) wurden mit dem TBC-System ohne Al-Zwischenschicht (R TBC) verglichen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das Hinzufügung der Al-Schichte in der BC/TC Grenzfläche nützlich für die Bildung der kontinuierlichen α Al2O3-Schicht während der Vorbereitungsphase der Wärmebehandlung ist. Diese dichte α Al2O3-Schicht bildet offensichtlich eine Durchgangsbarriere für den Sauerstoff während des Lebensdauertests. Dies hat Potential für die Verringerung der Bildung schädlicher Oxide. Der Ansatz ist nützlich für die Verlängerung der stabilen Wachstumsphase von TGO. In der Folge ermöglicht dies eine höhere Lebensdauer von Al-TBC-Systemen im Vergleich zu R-TBC-Systemen für die betrachteten thermischen Bedingungen und Zyklierungen.:Table of contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Motivation and overall interest 3 3 State of science and technology 5 3.1 Thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems 5 3.1.1 Substrate material 6 3.1.2 Ceramic top coating 6 3.1.3 Metallic bond coating 8 3.1.4 Thermally grown oxides (TGO) 12 3.1.5 Approaches on controlled TGO formation 15 3.1.6 Failure modes of TBC systems 17 3.2 Thermal spray technology 20 3.2.1 Atmospheric plasma spray (APS) technique 20 3.2.2 Formation sequence of the coating 21 3.2.3 Structure of the coating 22 3.3 Technology of thin layer deposition 23 3.4 Conclusions from the state of science and technology 24 4 Scientific objectives and work program 26 5 Experimental procedure 30 5.2 Material selection 30 5.3 Feedstock materials and thermal spray powders 32 5.4 Process selection 33 5.5 Specification of the scientific instruments 33 5.6 Detailed experimental procedure 34 5.6.1 Characterization of thermal spray powders 34 5.6.2 Preparation and characterization of overlaid coatings 35 5.6.3 Thermal treatment of TBC systems 39 5.6.4 Characterization of heat treated coating systems 40 5.6.5 Evaluation of TGO thickness and crack propagation 41 6 Results and discussions 43 6.1 Thermal spray powders and as sprayed coatings 43 6.1.1 Thermal spray powders 43 6.1.1.1 CoNiCrAlY thermal spray powder 43 6.1.1.2 ZrO2 – 8 %Y2O3 thermal spray powders 47 6.1.2 As-sputtered Al layer 50 6.1.2.1 Microstructure features 50 6.1.2.2 Elemental and phase composition analyses 50 6.1.3 As-sprayed coating systems 51 6.1.3.1 Bare and Al-covered CoNiCrAlY coatings 51 6.1.3.2 As-sprayed TBC systems 55 6.2 TBC systems after thermal treatment with different spans of dwell time 58 6.2.1 Thermal treatment with 5 and 30 min dwell time 58 6.2.2 Thermal treatment with 60 and 120 min dwell time 67 6.3 Lifetime test of TBC systems 68 6.3.1 Features in the cross section microstructure 68 6.3.2 Phase composition analyses 71 6.3.3 Elemental and Raman analyses 72 6.3.4 Features in the BC/TC of TBC systems after 80 thermal cycles 87 6.4 Thickness of TGO in the TBC systems 89 6.5 Length of cracks in the TC of the TBC systems 91 6.6 Relation between thickness of TGO and length of cracks 93 6.7 Discussion of loading condition and failure mode 95 6.8 Lifetime prediction of the TBC systems 97 6.9 Oxidation model of the TBC systems 98 7 Complementary work with discussion 100 7.1 Oxidation behavior of the TBC systems based on slow heating and cooling rates 100 7.1.1 Thickness of TGO and length of cracks 108 7.1.2 Raman analyses 112 7.1.3 Oxidation model of the TBC systems 116 7.2 Effect of Al content in the metallic coating 118 8 Complementary discussion 121 8.1 Effect of temperature on the oxidation behavior 121 8.2 Effect of deposition technique for metallic coating on the oxidation behavior 122 8.3 Effect of deposition technique for ceramic coating on the oxidation behavior 122 9 Summary and conclusion 124 10 References 128 / Conventional thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems consist of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) top coat (TC) on a MCrAlY bond coat (BC), where “M” stands for Co, Ni or CoNi. During their service under a combined heat and oxygen load, a reaction zone forms in the BC/TC interface. This reaction zone consists of thermally grown transition metal oxides (TGO). In the present thesis work, a phenomena related to the TGO formation is introduced. Co32Ni21Cr8Al0.5Y BC was overlaid by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) technique on Inconel 600 substrates. Thin Al layers were deposited subsequently by DC-Magnetron sputtering on top. Finally, YSZ TC was sprayed by APS technique on the Al layers. The TBC systems were subjected to different thermal treatment procedures in order to investigate the thermo-chemical transformation behaviour of the Al-interlayer. The lifetime of the coatings was investigated under thermal cycling loading with dwell time. The altered TBC systems with Al interlayers (Al-TBC) were compared with the reference TBC systems without Al interlayers (R-TBC). The results show, that the addition of Al layers in the BC/TC interfaces is useful to form a continuous α-Al2O3 layer during the preliminary stage of heat treatment. The in-situ formed dense α-Al2O3 layer obviously acts as a diffusion barrier for oxygen during lifetime test. This has the potential to reduce the formation rate of detrimental oxides. This approach is beneficial to prolong the steady-state growth stage of the TGO, hence allows a higher lifetime for the Al-TBC systems in comparison to the R-TBC systems for the applied thermal loads.:Table of contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Motivation and overall interest 3 3 State of science and technology 5 3.1 Thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems 5 3.1.1 Substrate material 6 3.1.2 Ceramic top coating 6 3.1.3 Metallic bond coating 8 3.1.4 Thermally grown oxides (TGO) 12 3.1.5 Approaches on controlled TGO formation 15 3.1.6 Failure modes of TBC systems 17 3.2 Thermal spray technology 20 3.2.1 Atmospheric plasma spray (APS) technique 20 3.2.2 Formation sequence of the coating 21 3.2.3 Structure of the coating 22 3.3 Technology of thin layer deposition 23 3.4 Conclusions from the state of science and technology 24 4 Scientific objectives and work program 26 5 Experimental procedure 30 5.2 Material selection 30 5.3 Feedstock materials and thermal spray powders 32 5.4 Process selection 33 5.5 Specification of the scientific instruments 33 5.6 Detailed experimental procedure 34 5.6.1 Characterization of thermal spray powders 34 5.6.2 Preparation and characterization of overlaid coatings 35 5.6.3 Thermal treatment of TBC systems 39 5.6.4 Characterization of heat treated coating systems 40 5.6.5 Evaluation of TGO thickness and crack propagation 41 6 Results and discussions 43 6.1 Thermal spray powders and as sprayed coatings 43 6.1.1 Thermal spray powders 43 6.1.1.1 CoNiCrAlY thermal spray powder 43 6.1.1.2 ZrO2 – 8 %Y2O3 thermal spray powders 47 6.1.2 As-sputtered Al layer 50 6.1.2.1 Microstructure features 50 6.1.2.2 Elemental and phase composition analyses 50 6.1.3 As-sprayed coating systems 51 6.1.3.1 Bare and Al-covered CoNiCrAlY coatings 51 6.1.3.2 As-sprayed TBC systems 55 6.2 TBC systems after thermal treatment with different spans of dwell time 58 6.2.1 Thermal treatment with 5 and 30 min dwell time 58 6.2.2 Thermal treatment with 60 and 120 min dwell time 67 6.3 Lifetime test of TBC systems 68 6.3.1 Features in the cross section microstructure 68 6.3.2 Phase composition analyses 71 6.3.3 Elemental and Raman analyses 72 6.3.4 Features in the BC/TC of TBC systems after 80 thermal cycles 87 6.4 Thickness of TGO in the TBC systems 89 6.5 Length of cracks in the TC of the TBC systems 91 6.6 Relation between thickness of TGO and length of cracks 93 6.7 Discussion of loading condition and failure mode 95 6.8 Lifetime prediction of the TBC systems 97 6.9 Oxidation model of the TBC systems 98 7 Complementary work with discussion 100 7.1 Oxidation behavior of the TBC systems based on slow heating and cooling rates 100 7.1.1 Thickness of TGO and length of cracks 108 7.1.2 Raman analyses 112 7.1.3 Oxidation model of the TBC systems 116 7.2 Effect of Al content in the metallic coating 118 8 Complementary discussion 121 8.1 Effect of temperature on the oxidation behavior 121 8.2 Effect of deposition technique for metallic coating on the oxidation behavior 122 8.3 Effect of deposition technique for ceramic coating on the oxidation behavior 122 9 Summary and conclusion 124 10 References 128

Yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is the state of the art ceramic top coat material used for TBC applications. The desire to achieve a higher engine efficiency of agas turbine engine by increasing the turbine inlet temperature has pushed YSZ toits upper limit. Above 1200°C, issues such as poor phase stability, high sinteringrates, and susceptibility to CMAS (calcium magnesium alumino silicates) degradation have been reported for YSZ based TBCs. Among the new materials,gadolinium zirconate (GZ) is an interesting alternative since it has shown attractive properties including resistance to CMAS attack. However, GZ has a poor thermo-chemical compatibility with the thermally grown oxide leading to poor thermal cyclic performance of GZ TBCs and that is why a multi-layered coating design seems feasible.This work presents a new approach of depositing GZ/YSZ multi-layered TBCs by the suspension plasma spray (SPS) process. Single layer YSZ TBCs were also deposited by SPS and used as a reference.The primary aim of the work was to compare the thermal conductivity and thermal cyclic life of the two coating designs. Thermal diffusivity of the YSZ single layer and GZ based multi-layered TBCs was measured using laser flash analysis (LFA). Thermal cyclic life of as sprayed coatings was evaluated at 1100°C, 1200°C and 1300°C respectively. It was shown that GZ based multi-layered TBCs had a lower thermal conductivity and higher thermal cyclic life compared to the single layer YSZ at all test temperatures. The second aim was to investigate the isothermal oxidation behaviour and erosion resistance of the two coating designs. The as sprayed TBCs were subjected toisothermal oxidation test at 1150°C. The GZ based multi-layered TBCs showed a lower weight gain than the single layer YSZ TBC. However, in the erosion test,the GZ based TBCs showed lower erosion resistance compared to the YSZ singlelayer TBC. In this work, it was shown that SPS is a promising production technique and that GZ is a promising material for TBCs.

Reducing the heat losses in heavy-duty diesel engines is of importance for improving engine efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions. Depositing thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) onto engine components has been demonstrated to have great potential to reduce heat loss from the combustion chamber as well as from exhaust components. The overall aim of this thesis is to evaluate the thermal cycling lifetime and thermal insulation properties of TBCs for the purpose of reducing heat losses and thermal fatigue in heavy-duty diesel engines. In the thermal cycling test inside exhaust manifolds, nanostructured yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) performed best, followed by YSZ with conventional microstructure and then La2Zr2O7. Forsterite and mullite could not withstand the thermal cycling conditions and displayed large cracks or spallation. Two sol-gel composite coatings displayed promising thermal cycling performance results in a furnace test under similar conditions. Thermal cycling testing of YSZ coatings having different types of microstructure, in a furnace at temperatures up to 800°C, indicated that the type of microstructure exerted a great influence. For the atmospheric plasma sprayed coatings, a segmented microstructure resulted in the longest thermal cycling lifetime. An even longer lifetime was seen for a plasma spray–physical vapour deposition (PS-PVD) coating. In situ heat flux measurements inside the combustion chamber indicated that plasma-sprayed Gd2Zr2O7 was the TBC material providing the largest heat flux reduction. This is explained by a combination of low thermal conductivity and high reflectance. The plasma-sprayed YSZ and La2Zr2O7 coatings provided very small heat flux reductions. Long-term testing indicated a running-in behaviour of YSZ and Gd2Zr2O7, with a reduction in heat flux due to the growth of microcracks in YSZ and the growth of macrocracks in Gd2Zr2O7. / <p>QC 20170821</p>

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.

The development of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) has been undoubtedly the most critical advancement in materials technology for modern gas turbine engines. TBCs are widely used in gas turbine engines for both power-generation and propulsion applications. Metallic oxidation-resistant coatings (ORCs) are also widely employed as a stand-alone protective coating or bond coat for TBCs in many high-temperature applications. Among the widely studied durability issues in these high-temperature protective coatings, one critical challenge that received greater attention in recent years is their resistance to high-temperature degradation due to corrosive deposits arising from fuel impurities and CMAS (calcium-magnesium-alumino-silicate) sand deposits from air ingestion. The presence of vanadium, sulfur, phosphorus, sodium and calcium impurities in alternative fuels warrants a clear understanding of high-temperature materials degradation for the development of fuel-flexible gas turbine engines. Degradation due to CMAS is a critical problem for gas turbine components operating in a dust-laden environment. In this study, high-temperature degradation due to aggressive deposits such as V2O5, P2O5, Na2SO4, NaVO3, CaSO4 and a laboratory-synthesized CMAS sand for free-standing air plasma sprayed (APS) yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ), the topcoat of the TBC system, and APS CoNiCrAlY, the bond coat of the TBC system or a stand-alone ORC, is examined. Phase transformations and microstructural development were examined by using x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. This study demonstrated that the V2O5 melt degrades the APS YSZ through the formation of ZrV2O7 and YVO4 at temperatures below 747°C and above 747°C, respectively. Formation of YVO4 leads to the depletion of the Y2O3 stabilizer and the deleterious transformation of the YSZ to the monoclinic ZrO2 phase. The investigation on the YSZ degradation by Na2SO4 and a Na2SO4 + V2O5 mixture (50-50 mol. %) demonstrated that Na2SO4 itself did not degrade the YSZ, however, in the presence of V2O5, Na2SO4 formed vanadates such as NaVO3 that degraded the YSZ through YVO4 formation at temperature as low as 700°C. The APS YSZ was found to react with the P2O5 melt by forming ZrP2O7 at all temperatures. This interaction led to the depletion of ZrO2 in the YSZ (i.e., enrichment of Y2O3 in t' -YSZ) and promoted the formation of the fluorite-cubic ZrO2 phase. Above 1250°C, CMAS deposits were observed to readily infiltrate and significantly dissolve the YSZ coating via thermochemical interactions. Upon cooling, zirconia reprecipitated with a spherical morphology and a composition that depended on the local melt chemistry. The molten CMAS attack destabilized the YSZ through the detrimental phase transformation (t - > t - > f + m). Free standing APS CoNiCrAlY was also prone to degradation by corrosive molten deposits. The V2O5 melt degraded the APS CoNiCrAlY through various reactions involving acidic dissolution of the protective oxide scale, which yielded substitutional-solid solution vanadates such as (Co,Ni)3(VO4)2 and (Cr,Al)VO4. The molten P2O5, on the other hand, was found to consume the bond coat constituents significantly via reactions that formed both Ni/Co rich phosphates and Cr/Al rich phosphates. Sulfate deposits such as Na2SO4, when tested in encapsulation, damaged the CoNiCrAlY by Type I acidic fluxing hot corrosion mechanisms at 1000°C that resulted in accelerated oxidation and sulfidation. The formation of a protective continuous Al2O3 oxide scale by preoxidation treatment significantly delayed the hot corrosion of CoNiCrAlY by sulfates. However, CoNiCrAlY in both as-sprayed and preoxidized condition suffered a significant damage by CaSO4 deposits via a basic fluxing mechanism that yielded CaCrO4 and CaAl2O4. The CMAS melt also dissolved the protective Al2O3 oxide scale developed on CoNiCrAlY by forming anorthite platelets and spinel oxides. Based on the detailed investigation on degradation of the APS YSZ and CoNiCrAlY by various corrosive deposits, an experimental attempt was carried out to mitigate the melt-induced deposit attack. Experimental results from this study demonstrate, for the first time, that an oxide overlay produced by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) can effectively perform as an environmental barrier overlay for APS TBCs. The EPD protective overlay has a uniform and easily-controllable thickness, uniformly distributed closed pores and tailored chemistry. The EPD Al2O3 and MgO overlays were successful in protecting the APS YSZ TBCs against CMAS attack and hot corrosion attack (e.g., sulfate and vanadate), respectively. Furnace thermal cyclic oxidation testing of overlay-modified TBCs on bond-coated superalloy also demonstrated the good adhesive durability of the EPD Al2O3 overlay.

Τα δομικά στοιχεία των μηχανολογικών κατασκευών υπόκεινται σε επαναλαμβανόμενες κυκλικές καταπονήσεις, από τις οποίες δημιουργούνται και διαδίδονται ρωγμές. Οι καταπονήσεις αυτές, οι οποίες προκαλούν κόπωση στις κατασκευές, μπορεί να είναι είτε καθαρά μηχανικές είτε θερμικές ή να προκύπτουν σα συνδυασμός θερμικής και μηχανικής φόρτισης. Τυπικές περιπτώσεις θερμικών και θερμομηχανικών φορτίσεων εμφανίζονται σε κατασκευές, όπως σωλήνες κυκλωμάτων ψύξης, πιεστικά δοχεία, συνιστώσες ηλεκτρικών κυκλωμάτων, θάλαμοι μηχανών εσωτερικής καύσης και πτερύγια στροβιλοκινητήρων. Η κυκλική μεταβολή του θερμικού φορτίου στις προαναφερθείσες περιπτώσεις, συνιστά συνθήκες θερμικής κόπωσης. Επίσης, λόγω της σχετικά υψηλής συχνότητας του φορτίου η θερμοκρασία παρουσιάζει έντονη μεταβολή στο χώρο και στο χρόνο. Ο προσδιορισμός της διάρκειας ζωής ενός δομικού στοιχείου κατά τη φάση του σχεδιασμού μπορεί να γίνει με τη βοήθεια πειραματικών διαδικασιών. Τα πειράματα όμως κόπωσης είναι δαπανηρά και χρονοβόρα και προφανώς απαιτούνται περισσότερες από μια πειραματικές δοκιμές. Οπότε, είναι εύλογο να υπάρχουν υπολογιστικά εργαλεία που να δίνουν τη δυνατότητα στο μηχανικό να εκτιμήσει την διάρκεια ζωής ή τη σοβαρότητα της βλάβης ενός εξαρτήματος. Τα περισσότερα υπολογιστικά μοντέλα αναφέρονται σε καθαρά μηχανικές καταπονήσεις. Έτσι υπάρχει πρόσφορο έδαφος για την ανάπτυξη υπολογιστικών εργαλείων για την ανάλυση προβλημάτων θερμικής και θερμομηχανικής κόπωσης. Τέτοιου είδους εργαλεία θα πρέπει να λαμβάνουν υπόψη το κλείσιμο των ρωγμών, που συμβαίνει λόγω των θερμικών παραμορφώσεων, διότι είναι δυνατόν να επηρεάζεται τοπικά το θερμοκρασιακό πεδίο. Επομένως, χρειάζεται επαναληπτική διαδικασία για τον προσδιορισμό του θερμικού και τασικού πεδίου που αλληλεπιδρούν. Είναι προφανές ότι η ανάλυση της θερμικής κόπωσης εξελίσσεται σε συνθέτη διαδικασία, που θα πρέπει να συμπεριλαμβάνει τον υπολογισμό της κατανομής της θερμοκρασίας, την τοπική επίδραση του άκρου της ρωγμής στο τασικό πεδίο καθώς και την επαφή των επιφανειών της ρωγμής. Η μέθοδος των συνοριακών στοιχείων είναι ικανή να αντιμετωπίζει τέτοιου είδους τοπικές επιδράσεις. Η παρούσα διατριβή επικεντρώνεται στην ανάπτυξη υπολογιστικού εργαλείου βασισμένου στα συνοριακά στοιχεία, για την πρόβλεψη της διάδοσης ρωγμών και την εκτίμηση της διάρκειας ζωής, εξαρτημάτων υπό θερμική και θερμομηχανική κόπωση. Έμφαση δίνεται σε περιπτώσεις που το θερμικό φορτίο προκαλεί κλείσιμο της ρωγμής και σε περιπτώσεις διεπιφανειακών ρωγμών, όπου το θερμοκρασιακό πεδίο επηρεάζεται από την θερμική αντίσταση ανάμεσα στις επιφάνειες της ρωγμής. Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο γίνεται βιβλιογραφική ανασκόπηση σε εργασίες που εστιάζουν σε φαινόμενα κόπωσης και διάδοσης ρωγμών, καθώς και στην ανάπτυξη υπολογιστικών μοντέλων για την πρόβλεψη της διάδοσης ρωγμών. Επιπλέον, προσδιορίζεται λεπτομερώς το αντικείμενο της παρούσας διατριβής και εξηγείται η συνεισφορά της και τα καινοτόμα σημεία της. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο περιγράφεται η ιδιόμορφη συμπεριφορά του άκρου της ρωγμής, δίνονται οι διατυπώσεις των μεγεθών θραύσης που χρησιμοποιούνται στην ανάλυση της κόπωσης και αναφέρονται τρόποι με τους οποίους μελετάται η διάδοση ρωγμών. Στο τρίτο κεφάλαιο περιγράφονται λεπτομερώς οι ολοκληρωτικές συνοριακές διατυπώσεις για την επίλυση προβλημάτων θερμοελαστικότητας. Στο τέταρτο κεφάλαιο περιγράφονται οι υπολογιστικές διαδικασίες που ακολουθούνται στην παρούσα εργασία για τον προσδιορισμό του πεδίου θερμοκρασιών και μετατοπίσεων, καθώς και ο τρόπος που προσομοιώνεται η διάδοση ρωγμής. Στο πέμπτο κεφάλαιο παρατίθενται τα αποτελέσματα που προέκυψαν από τις αναλύσεις για διάφορες περιπτώσεις, ενώ στο έκτο κεφάλαιο εξάγονται συμπεράσματα και διατυπώνονται προτάσεις για μελλοντική έρευνα. / The prediction of fatigue life is essential for the integrity and reliability of a structure when designing engineering components that undergo cyclic loading. In most cases, the mechanical cyclic loads are taken into account in order to evaluate the life and damage tolerance of structures with existing cracks. However, there exists a category of structures that experience severe thermal cycling that acts alongside the mechanical loads. Such structures include cooling system pipes, pressure vessels, pistons and combustion chambers of internal combustion engines, gas turbine blades and components of electrical circuits. Interfacial crack growth is of paramount importance when designing components that are protected by thermal barrier coatings in order to increase their endurance and efficiency. These types of structures are exposed to very intense thermo-mechanical cycling, which gradually causes delamination and eventually leads to spallation of the coating Numerical simulations, via the finite element method, are a common trend, when analysing the endurance of coated components. However, important aspects such as the heat exchange between the contacting faces and friction are not taken into account in fracture assessments of these components. The boundary element method is very attractive for crack-growth analyses because only the boundary is meshed, rather than the whole domain of the problem. In the present thesis, the boundary integral equations of uncoupled, time-dependent thermo-elasticity are employed to account for the time-varying nature of the thermal load. Our study discusses the influence of crack closure on quasi-static, sub-critical crack extension in the presence of thermo-mechanical cyclic loading. Appropriate thermal and mechanical boundary conditions are imposed on the numerical model to account for the contact state. The validity of the code to compute the temperature distribution under thermal cycling is checked through analytical solutions. Afterwards, a pure mode-I and mixed mode fracture problems in homogeneous material are analysed and the results are compared to other boundary element solutions. The singularity resulting from tractions and heat flux around the crack tip is effectively captured by singular quarter-point elements, while the fracture magnitudes can be computed using appropriate traction formulas. In these problems, the fatigue life is evaluated in terms of load cycle when the crack closure is considered. The number of cycles required for an existing crack to grow a certain length can be empirically predicted using the Paris’ law. The crack extension angle is evaluated by means of the maximum circumferential stress. The results are discussed, clearly indicating the impact of crack closure on fatigue life evaluation. The main conclusion is that crack closure should be incorporated into the analysis whenever the contact effect is inevitable. Otherwise, the fatigue life may be underestimated, leading to a conservative design. Finally, the sub-domain boundary element procedure is applied to interfacial cracks where the crack closure is more pronounced. Specifically, a case of a thermal barrier coating system is investigated. The thermal resistance between the contacting crack faces is incorporated into the procedure and it is assumed to be dependent on the contact pressure. If crack closure due to thermal distortion takes place, then the displacement and traction field may affect the heat flux between the crack faces, and the thermal and mechanical parts of the problem will need to be solved repeatedly until thermo-mechanical convergence is achieved. The results suggest that there are significant effects on the behaviour of stably growing cracks and the evaluation of failure capacity, emanating from crack closure, the amount of thermal resistance and the phase angle between the mechanical and thermal loads.

The main objective of this work was to design a suitable composition of a protective coatings, made of several different layers of specific materials - with respect to residual stress, induced due to a mismatch in thermal expansion coefficients of each layer. Protective coating in this work means both the thermal and the environmental barrier. These coatings protect components against high temperatures and harsh environment. In this work, necessary theoretical background in the field of the thermal and environmental barrier coatings is introduced. There are mentioned some basic design approaches, commonly used materials and processing methods for the coating structure. The literature review gives an overview of modeling of such coated structures, in particular it is devoted to the thermal barrier coatings deposited by air plasma spray process. The next chapter closely describes classical laminate theory used for calculation of residual stresses in the coating. One of the assumptions of this theory is homogenous temperature field through the coating’s thickness. However, in this work was revealed a way to extend the classical lamination theory of such cases, in which the temperatures vary along the thickness of the coating. In the practical part, the analytical model was used for designing suitable properties of some coatings, which were consists of two, three and four layers. The calculations were performed both for constant temperature and for the temperature gradient. All results obtained from analytical approach were verified by numerical calculations.

Complex thermal barrier coating systems are one the most efficient high-temperature surface treatments which open up practical applications in land-based turbines and air jet engines. In the case of most exposed rotor and stator jet engine components, the combination of thermal barrier coatings together with the inner cooling system made it possible to increase working temperature by several tens of degrees of Celsius. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to achieve any further increase in working temperature by using the conventional thermal barrier coatings based on the ZrO2-Y2O3 ceramic top coat and the MCrAlY metallic bond coat, which currently work at their material limits. The working temperature inside the combustion chamber of the jet engine is proportional to engine’s efficiency and inversely proportional to fuel consumption and production of undesirable CO2 emission. Therefore, a considerable effort has recently been devoted to research and development of new types of ceramic coatings that can withstand long term extreme working conditions. New design approaches of multi-layer composite thermal barrier coating systems can sustain the required trend of increasing working temperature of jet engines mainly because of possibility of optimization of high-temperature durability and long lifetime. The theoretical part of thesis provides a fundamental overview of thermal barrier coatings, their properties, deposition technologies and testing methods. The experimental part is focused on optimization of deposition parameters of conventional ZrO2-Y2O3 / MCrAlY thermal barrier coatings prepared by means of atmospheric plasma spraying. Furthermore, a novel multi-layer thermal barrier coating system based on ZrO2-Y2O3-Al2O3-SiO2 / ZrO2-Y2O3 / MCrAlY, which contains amorphous and/or nanocrystalline regions, is developed, tested and characterized as well. Structural stability, phase transformations and growth of the thermally grown oxide in both conventional and experimental systems after high-temperature isothermal oxidation, cyclic oxidation and burner-rig tests were evaluated by means light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive microanalysis and X-ray diffraction. In comparison with the conventional thermal barrier coatings, the novel multi-layered systems have lower thermal conductivity, slower thermally grown oxide kinetic, better structural stability, and generally higher lifetime in all high-temperature tests.

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are commonly used for thermal protection of components in modern gas turbine application and typically consisting of ceramic top coat and CoNiCrAlY bond coat (BC), both thermally sprayed. Nanostructured CoNiCrAlY bond coatings were deposited onto Ni-based alloy (Inconel 718) by both HVOF and CGDS spraying techniques. Subsequently the deposits were remelted by electron beam up to depth of about 100 m which resulted in removal of defects on the substrate to the bond coat interface. The primary objective of this thesis was to investigation of the influence of parameters used for EB remelting, including multiple remelting on the microstructural changes, phase modification and final state of the coatings. The amount of porosity in the coatings and surface roughness has been evaluated. Scanning electron microscopy and X-Ray diffraction were performed in order to characterize the phase modification before and after the applied treatment. The results indicated that multiple remelting process improved the coating properties in terms of porosity, smooth surface, strength and chemical homogeneity and at last but not least this study demonstrate that low-temperature processing of CoNiCrAlY bond coat represents an interesting and promising alternative for their manufacturing.

The master thesis is dealing with characterization of the structure and properties of the YSZ thermal barrier coating deposited by water hybrid plasma spray technology on the CoNiCrAlY bond coats modified by using electron beam and vacuum annealing. Deposition of the bond coats was performed via high velocity oxy-fuel technology and cold spray. In case of experimental evaluation, the microstructure and chemical composition of the ceramic top coat deposited with powder and suspension feedstock was analyzed. The same analysis procedure was used also for bond coats after electron beam remelting by using two sets of parameters. Furthermore, the changes in microstructure and chemical composition of the remelted and annealed bond coats was evaluated. Eventually, the micromechanical properties of the top coats and the bond coats were measured. The ceramic top coats deposited with powder feedstock exhibited the structure composed by splats, while the top coats deposited in form of suspension showed fine structure with columnar grains. The dendritic structure was observed on remelted bond coats. The annealing process had an influence on the structure in form of coarsened phases and the chemical composition was changed due to diffusion of the elements.