Microstructural evolution and growth kinetics of thermally grown oxides in plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings

The formation of thermally grown oxide(TGO) during high temperature is a key factor to the degradation of thermal barrier coatings(TBCs)applied on hot section components. In the present study both the Co Ni Cr Al Y bond coat and Zr O-8 wt.% YO(8YSZ) ceramic coat of TBCs were prepared by air plasma spraying(APS). The composition and microstructure of TGO in TBCs were investigated using scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS) and X-ray diffraction(XRD) analysis. The growth rate of TGO for TBC and pure BC were gained after isothermal oxidation at 1100 °C for various times. The results showed that as-sprayed bond coat consisted of β and γ/γ’phases,β phase reducesd as the oxidation time increased. The TGO comprised α-AlOformed in the first 2 h. Co O, Ni O, CrOand spinel oxides appeared after 20 h of oxidation. Contents of Co O and Ni O reduced while that of CrOand spinel oxides increased in the later oxidation stage.The TGO eventually consisted of a sub-Al2O3 layer with columnar microstructure and the upper porous CS clusters. The TGO growth kinetics for two kinds of samples followed parabolic laws, with oxidation rate constant of 0.344 μm/hfor TBCs and 0.354 μm/h0.5for pure BCs.