Study On Preparation Technologies Of Thermal Barrier Coatings

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) is one of the main key technology for the high-pressure turbine blades which are the main components of the high-performance aerospace engines. It offers protection for underline metallic components from corrosion, oxidation and localized melting by insulating the metal from hot gases in the engine core. The properties and lifetime of TBCs are greatly influenced by the preparation technology, which includes plasma spraying (PS), physical vapor deposition (PVD) and laser re-melting (LM). In this paper, three technologies used to prepare the TBCs are reviewed. Resulting features of coating fabricated by each technology are also discussed such as: the porosity, the thermally grown oxide (TGO), the erosion resistance, the thermal shock and so on. Especially, it is pointed out that the performances of gradient coating and nano-coating are better than the traditional coatings. In addition, it is widely accepted that laser can be applied to re-melt the PS coating and even directly clad the gradient coating. In the future, the traditional preparation technology should be improved continually in order to enhance the coating lifetime, enhance the properties of coating and lower the cost of process. Moreover, the researches on gradient-nano-structured coatings preparation are absent and should be done with emphasis since the nano-structure and gradient structure can both benefit the lifetime and properties of coatings.