Increased Coatings Manufacturing Reliability for Gas Turbine Components

Advanced gas turbine component operational boundaries are increasingly dependent on the reliability and consistency of advanced thermal barrier coating systems. The correct design of coating system followed by appropriate process controls to ensure robustness of the process is becoming increasingly important. Methodologies to ensure product and property consistency between different vendors is also critical to maintain uniform component performance. This is achieved by advanced techniques in coating design and process monitoring, for example by utilization of commercially available equipment, such as process monitoring equipment (for eg. Accuraspray) and property monitoring equipments (for eg. ICP/ECP). What is the knowledge regarding the thermal state and properties of coatings at different vendors ? How is the thermal state correlated to thickness, deposition efficiency and key coating properties ? Are there successful applications and short comings in a production environment ? What is the future outlook in the area of production and process monitoring ?