Modeling of Chemical Vapor Deposited Zirconia for Thermal Barrier and Environmental Barrier Coatings

Thermal and environmental barrier coatings are important components of current and future energy systems. Such coatings – applied to hot, metallic surfaces in combustors, heat exchanger and turbines – increase the allowable operating temperature and increase the efficiency of the energy system. Because of its low thermal conductivity and high thermal expansion yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is the material of choice for protection of structural components in many high temperature applications. Current coating application methods have their drawbacks, however. Air plasma spray (APS) is a relatively low-cost process and is suitable for large and relatively complex shapes. It is difficult to produce uniform, relatively thin coatings with this process, however, and the coatings do not exhibit the columnar microstructure that is needed for reliable, long-term performance. The electron-beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) process does produce the desirable microstructure, however, the capital cost of these systems is very high and the line-of-sight nature of the process limits coating uniformity and the ability to coat large and complex shapes.