Microstructural evolution of the nickel platinum-aluminide bond coat on electron-beam physical-vapor deposition thermal-barrier coatings during high-temperature service

The microstructural evolution of a (Ni,Pt)-aluminide bond coat underneath the ZrO2-based thermal-barrier coating (TBC) topcoat system on a René N5 Ni-based superalloy turbine blade during prolonged high-temperature service has been characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The as-deposited bond coat has a spatially varying microstructure, which consists of an outer layer of single-phase β-(Ni,Pt)Al, a middle layer of a β-(Ni,Pt)Al matrix containing a high number density of μ-phase precipitates, and an inner layer containing a γ/γ′ matrix and numerous μ- and σ-phase precipitates. During service, microstructural changes in the hotter sections of the blade are more extensive than those in the cooler parts, as expected. As a result of interdiffusion, the inner layer grows into the γ/γ′ substrate, with the formation of some M23C6 precipitates, and the β matrix in the middle layer is transformed into a two-phase mixture of β and γ′. Corresponding changes occur in the morphologies and volume fractions of the various precipitate phases present in the bond coat. The single-phase β material in the outer layer retains its basic structure, except that the compositional changes due to diffusion between the bond coat and turbine blade cause a martensitic transformation to occur in the hottest sections during the final cooling of the blade. The distribution of various elements in the different layers has also been analyzed, as has growth of the thermally grown oxide (TGO) at the bond coat/TBC interface.