Microstructural Stability of a Metallic Thermal Barrier Coatings for Rocket Engine

Abstract

Metallic thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) consisting of a bond coating and a top coating have been extensively utilized for protecting the walls of rocket combustion chambers. However, standard coating systems often encounter failures due to the significant differences in coating composition and thermal expansion coefficient compared to the substrate under high heat flux conditions. To protect liquid rocket combustion chamber walls, a novel metallic multilayer TBC system applied with atmospheric plasma spraying is developed in the present work. It attempted to deposit dense Ni-based alloy and Cu-based bonding coatings with low oxide contents achieved by introducing boron as a deoxidizer element through atmospheric plasma spraying. The structural stability of the TBC was assessed through high temperature thermal exposure experiments, while the thermal cycle life is evaluated using laser thermal shock. Results show that the NiCrCu2B and CuNi2B bonding coatings prepared through in situ deoxygenation effect of boron exhibit dense structures, low oxide content, and excellent bonding quality. The high temperature thermal exposure experiment reveals that the multilayer structural TBC can withstand 850 °C for 10 hours without the formation of Kirkendal effect pores. Moreover, the thermal cycling life results indicate that the multilayer structural TBC designed in this study, employing a composition gradient transition and the in situ deoxygenation effect of boron, possesses a significantly improved thermal cycle lifetime compared to traditional structural TBCs.