Silicate ash-resistant novel thermal barrier coatings in gas turbines

Gas turbines, used to propel aircraft or generate electricity, are vulnerable to attack by environmental silicate debris. When silicate ash is ingested into gas turbines, it melts and may adhere to the hot-section components of gas turbines (typically operating at > 1250 °C), infiltrating into their thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). These ash-related TBC issues pose a critical hazard for aircraft aviation. Here, we have developed here a novel NdYbZr2O7 coating substrate which addresses these challenges. We have quantitatively analyzed the in-situ wetting process of three representative silicate ash compositions—CMAS, volcanic ash and fly ash, and compare their infiltration behavior in the newly-developed NdYbZr2O7 coating substrate. The widely differing chemical compositions of the three ash samples yield differences in their high temperature viscosities which in turn impact their respective propensities for wetting and infiltration. CMAS exhibits the greatest dynamic wettability due to its lower viscosity over the entire range of temperature. Volcanic ash exhibits the largest infiltration depth, probably related to the relatively high solubility of rare-earth oxides (RE2O3) in volcanic ash melt. Nevertheless, compared with a traditional YSZ coating, the NdYbZr2O7 coating exhibits a better corrosion resistance in the presence of all three silicate ash samples due to the rapid precipitation of (Nd, Yb)-apatite and c-ZrO2 phases, which build a dense reaction layer, inhibiting further melt infiltration.