Transient Residual Stresses in Thermal Barrier Coatings: Analytical and Numerical Results

Abstract

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) provide thermal insulation to high-temperature superalloys. Residual stresses develop in TBCs during cool-down from processing temperatures due to the thermal expansion mismatch between the different layers (substrate, bond coat, and the ceramic TBC). These residual stresses can initiate microcracks at the bond coat/TBC interface which can lead to debonding at the bond coat/TBC interface. Elasticity-based modeling was used to determine the transient stresses in the TBC, bond coat, and the superalloy substrate with specific attention to the interfaces. For the steady-state case, finite element modeling was undertaken as well. Closed-form elasticity solutions correlated well with the finite element results for the steady-state case. The highest residual stresses occurred at the interface between the bond coat and the TBC. An important result of this investigation was that the TBC/bond coat interface was under biaxial stress field. An important result was that the residual stresses developed in the substrate are higher for the case of partly cooled specimen compared to the fully cooled specimen which can be rationalized due to the presence of higher temperature gradients at earlier times during cool-down from processing temperature.