Cyclic Oxidation Behavior of Thermal Barrier Coatings in Environments Containing Water Vapor

The cyclic oxidation of thermal barrier coating (TBC) specimens consisting of nickel-base superalloy, low pressure plasma sprayed Ni-24Cr-6Al-0.7Y (wt.%) bond coatings and air plasma sprayed 7.5 wt.% yttria stabilized zirconia top coatings was studied at 1050°C in air, (air + 5%H2O), O2 and (O2 + 5%H2O) respectively. The oxidation kinetics of the TBC in each test environment accords with parabolic law at the initial stage and obeys almost liner law at the final stage. The cyclic oxidation life of the TBC is 500h (1h/cyc) in O2 and (O2 + 5%H2O) and 900 h in air and (air + 5%H2O). The SEM observations indicated the oxide formed along the bond coat and top coat interface after failure at 1050°C in different environments are all consisted of Al2O3, Ni(Al,Cr)2O4, NiO and Cr2O3.