Non-Flammable Suspension for Columnar Suspension Plasma Sprayed Coatings

Thermal barrier coatings are applied in industrial gas turbines or aero turbines as thermal insulating layer to protect the metal components at high temperature operating conditions TBCs are applied in industrial gas turbines or aero turbines as thermal insulating layer to protect the metal components at high temperature operating conditions. Suspension plasma spraying (SPS) has become an emerging technology for TBC application due to the advantageous properties and lower manufacturing costs. The current state of the art suspensions for columnar SPS coatings contain ethanol as carrier liquid. Since ethanol is classified as a highly flammable material, it has extra regulations on safe handling, storage and transportation, which involves higher cost for the manufacturing. In this work we present a non-flammable suspension that is capable to produce columnar structured TBC coatings and compare them with state of the art standard ethanol based suspension coatings. Detailed performance testing of the coatings involves microstructure, deposition efficiency, thermal properties, high temperature behavior (furnace cycling test), erosion resistance and adhesion.