Field Evaluation of Gas Turbine Protective Coatings

Abstract

The hot corrosion resistance of several protective coatings that had been applied to MAR-M-509 nozzle guide vanes and exposed in a utility gas turbine has been evaluated. The coatings included basic aluminide, rhodium-aluminide, platinum-rhodium-aluminide, and palladium-aluminide diffusion coatings, and cobalt-chromium-aluminum-yttrium (CoCrAlY) and ceramic overlay coatings. A combination of metallographic examination of vane cross sections and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS) was employed in the evaluation. The results showed that none of the coatings was totally resistant to corrosive attack. The CoCrAlY and platinum-rhodium-aluminide coatings exhibited the greatest resistance to hot corrosion. The CoCrAlY coated vanes were, however, susceptible to thermal fatigue cracking. Except for the poor performance of the palladium-aluminide coating, the precious metal aluminides offered the best protection against corrosion. Hot isostatically pressing coatings was not found to be beneficial, and in one case appeared detrimental.