Thermal Cycling Assessment of Steel-Based Thermal Barrier Coatings for Al Protection

There is a strong interest from the transportation industry to achieve vehicle weight reduction through the replacement of steel components by aluminum parts. For some applications, aluminum requires protective coatings due to its limited wear and lower temperature resistance compared to steel. The objective of this study was to assess the potential of amorphous-type plasma-sprayed steel coatings and conventional arc-sprayed steel coatings as thermal barrier coatings, mainly through the evaluation of their spalling resistance under thermal cycling. The microstructures of the different coatings were first compared via SEM. The amorphicity of the coatings produced via plasma spraying of specialized alloyed steel and the crystalline phases of the conventional arc-sprayed steel coatings were confirmed through x-ray diffraction. The thermal diffusivity of all coatings produced was measured to be about a third of that of bulk stainless steel. Conventional arc-sprayed steel coatings typically offered better spalling resistance under thermal cycling than steel-based amorphous coatings due probably to their higher initial bond strength. However, the presence of vertical cracks in the steel-based amorphous coatings was found to have a beneficial effect on their thermal cycling resistance. The amorphous plasma-sprayed steel coatings presented indications of recrystallization after their exposure to high temperature.