Porosity Effects on Thermo-Physical Properties of Standard and Vertically Cracked Thermal Barrier Coating Samples

Abstract

Yttria-Stabilized-Zirconia (YSZ) is the most common material used in the fabrication of Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBCs) for gas turbine applications. Due to the low thermal conductivity and a small mismatch of the thermal expansion coefficient to the high temperature alloy, YSZ is commonly used as the top coat layer to provide a thermal barrier effect. The aim of this work is to study the thermo-physical properties of standard (STD) and vertically cracked (VC) thermal barrier coatings fabricated by Atmospheric Plasma Spray (APS) for two different thicknesses, 400 and 600 μm respectively. This paper reports the thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity, specific heat, porosity, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of STD-TBC samples and VC-TBC samples. In addition, a heat transfer model is presented for the STD-TBC and VC-TBC microstructures. The results show an increase in both thermal diffusivity and conductivity for the VC-TBC samples, compared to the STD-TBC sample over the temperature range tested (400°C to 800°C). In addition, there is a temperature dependence of the thermal diffusivity and the thermal conductivity for both VC-TBC and STD-TBC samples. The change of thermo-physical properties is directly linked to the microstructure of the samples, demonstrated by the porosity measurements, SEM images, and the heat transfer model.