Stress state in thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) has an influence on the service property and safety of coatings. The stress in TBCs should be characterized and measured. This is helpful for the guidance of design and preparation, the study of failure mechanism and the promotion of application of TBCs. This chapter reviewed the research progress on the stress measurement for air plasma spray (APS)-prepared TBCs. The origin and category of stress during preparation process and service were discussed. Then, the measurement technology and characterization method for stress in APS-prepared TBCs were focused. The common stress measurement techniques such as X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence piezospectroscopy, curvature measurement, material removal and indentation method were detailed. Furthermore, some suggestions were presented for the future work by summarizing the shortcomings of the exiting research.
Methods for Film Synthesis and Coating Procedures2 'partially stabilized' with about 6-8 wt.% yttria (7YSZ), which has the good heatinsulating property and long thermal cycle life. TGO, whose composition is α-Al 2 O 3 , is formed by the reaction between aluminum diffusing from the bond coat and exterior oxygen. TGO can provide good bonding of TBC to bond coat. The bond coat contains the source of elements to create TGO in oxidizing environment and provides oxidation protection, primarily of NiCoCrAlY-or NiAlPt-based compositions. The superalloy substrate, which has high strength at high temperatures, can experience complicated mechanical loads during service [1,2,4].Recently, many methods have been developed to prepare the ceramic top coat, such as air plasma spray (APS) and electron beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) process [5,6]. In APS process, the ceramic feedstock are injected into the high temperature plasma plume, heated to the molten or high-plasticity condition, impinge onto the surface of specimen with a certain momentum, and rapidly solidify. Then the lamellar microstructures, which consist of a large number of overlapped splats, are formed, as shown in Figure 2(a). In EB-PVD process, ingots of a ceramic composition are vaporized in a vacuum chamber using a focused electron beam. The ceramic vapor gradually deposit on the specimen and form columnar microstructure, which are perpendicular to the surface of specimen, as shown in Figure 2(b).TBCs prepared by APS process, which has lower cost, has been widely used in the larger stationary components. However, the failure behavior such as premature spallation of TBCs during preparation and operation process is still an overriding concern. The premature spallation of TBCs may expose the superalloy substrate to hot gases, resulting in the oxidization of superalloy. This may influence the service performance, lifetime and safety of aircraft, even lead to catastrophic damage [7]. The premature spallation of TBCs mainly results from intralayer and interlayer fractures [8]. The fracture behavior of materials is closely...