SBIR Phase I: A Thermal Barrier Coating with Low Thermal Conductivity for use in Turbine Engines

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目解决了对改进热障涂层（TBC）技术的需求。 热障涂层是一种先进的材料，作为一层薄薄的涂层涂在基材（通常是金属）的表面，以保护它们免受长时间的热负荷。 航空电子行业（代表着7.15亿美元的TBC市场）已经为下一代燃气涡轮发动机设定了基准标准，以在更高的温度（1500 C与目前的1300 C）下运行，以实现整体效率提高3.9%，每年仅从燃料成本方面估计就可为美国航空业节省近40亿美元。 涡轮机发动机TBC固有的热保护性能包括高熔化温度、低导热率和高温相稳定性。 当前的工业标准热障涂层在低于该新的目标工作温度的温度下发生结构变化，因此需要新的材料。 该项目旨在测试一种用作TBC的新型材料，以满足下一代燃气涡轮发动机的需求。 在航空电子工业之外，这种材料在高温烘箱、柴油发动机和发电厂中有着更广泛的应用潜力。该项目的智力价值在于确定了一种用作上级TBC的新型材料。 研究目标涉及使用工业标准工艺的薄层形式的材料的应用，材料的结构特性的表征，薄层形式的材料的热保护特性的测定，以及材料对物理和热应力的响应的测定。 该研究将涉及使用电子束气相沉积将这种材料沉积到基板上，使用电子显微镜和超声光谱对涂层进行结构分析，评估热保护性能，包括热导率，熔化温度和最高使用温度测试，以及使用热循环和杨氏模量测试进行物理应力评估。 考虑到与电子束气相沉积相关的孔隙率的增加以及与使用中的其他TBC在结晶度上的相似性，预期薄层形式的材料将表现出具有降低的高温热导率的成功的基板结合。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project addresses the need for improved thermal barrier coating (TBC) technology. TBCs are advanced materials applied as a thin layer to the surface of substrates, often metals, to protect them from prolonged heat loads. The avionics industry (representing a TBC market of $715 million) has set benchmark standards for the next generation of gas-turbine engines to operate at higher temperatures (1500 C versus the current 1300 C) to achieve a 3.9% increase in overall efficiency and nearly $4 billion in estimated savings to the US airline industry, per year, from fuel costs alone. Thermal protection properties inherent to turbine engine TBCs include a high melting temperature, low thermal conductivity, and high temperature phase stability. Current industry-standard TBCs undergo structural changes at temperatures below this new target operating temperature, necessitating the need for new materials. This project seeks to test a novel material for use as a TBC to meet the demands of next generation gas-turbine engines. Outside the avionics industry, there is the potential for broader application of this material in high-temperature ovens, diesel engines, and power plants.The intellectual merit of this project is the identification of a novel material for use as a superior TBC. The research objectives relate to the application of the material in thin layer form using industry standard processes, characterization of the structural properties of the material, determination of the thermal protection properties of the material in thin layer form, and determination of the response of the material to physical and thermal stresses. The research will involve deposition of this material onto substrates using electron beam vapor deposition, structural analysis of the coating using electron microscopy and ultrasound spectroscopy, evaluation of thermal protection properties including thermal conductivity, melting temperature, and maximum use temperature testing, and physical stress evaluation using thermal cycling and Young's modulus testing. Given the increase in porosity associated with electron beam vapor deposition and the similarities in crystallinity with other TBCs in use, it is anticipated that successful substrate binding with reduced high-temperature thermal conductivity will be exhibited by the material in thin layer form.