Advanced thermal protection coatings

热障涂层（tbc）已经在航空燃气轮机上使用了几十年。热障涂层的早期沉积方法之一，即空气等离子喷涂（APS），今天仍被用于生产由氧化钇稳定氧化锆（YSZ）制成的热障涂层。然而，这些涂层在高温下长时间暴露方面存在局限性。更重要的是，新一代燃气涡轮发动机，特别是航空发动机，对tbc具有更高的耐温性和性能要求。较高的温度对降低发动机的运行成本和碳排放有直接影响。该项目的重点是改进航空发动机性能的先进tbc。该项目涉及开发新型tbc的三个主要步骤。为了应对这一挑战，该公司首先通过微结构改进，研制出一种由锆酸钆（GZO）制成的先进工程纳米结构涂层，这种陶瓷更耐高温。在这种方法中，APS沉积在理想的工艺窗口内进行了优化，以产生工程化的微观结构，与目前工业中使用的tbc相比，涂层导热系数降低了50%。该项目将通过对一种新兴喷涂工艺（即悬浮等离子喷涂（SPS））进行详细的计算和实验研究来并行推进，该工艺可以提供具有低导热性和提高机械性能的纳米结构涂层。最后，该项目将通过基于构成元素原子特性的计算方法，解决在更高温度下性能更好的新材料/组合物的开发问题。

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) have been used in aircraft gas turbines for several decades. One of the early deposition methods for thermal barrier coatings , i.e. air plasma spray (APS), is still being used today for producing TBCs made of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). However these coatings have limitations in terms of long time exposure at high temperature. More importantly, new generations of gas turbine engines especially in aero-engines demand for TBCs with higher temperature resistance and performance. A higher temperature has direct effect on lower operating costs and carbon emission of the engines.This project is focused on advanced TBCs with improved performance for aero-engines. The project tackles three major steps in the development of novel TBCs. It approaches this challenge first through microstructural improvement toward an advanced engineered nanostructured coating made of gadolinium zirconate (GZO), a ceramic still more resistant to high temperature. In this approach, APS deposition is optimized within an ideal process window to generate an engineered microstructure that yields up to 50% reduction of the coating thermal conductivity compared to TBCs currently used in industry. The project will advance in parallel by detailed computational and experimental studies on an emerging spray process i.e., suspension plasma spray (SPS), which can provide nanostructured coatings with substantially lower thermal conductivity and improved mechanical performance. Finally the project will address the development of new materials/compositions for better performance at higher temperatures through computational methods based on the atomistic characteristics of the constituting elements.