Oxidation Resistance of Thermal Barrier Coatings Based on Hollow Alumina Particles

Thermal barrier coatings were synthesized in a single step process from a slurry containing Al microspheres onto different Ni-based superalloys. Upon growth of the coating a top coat of hollow alumina spheres linked to an aluminium diffused coating through an alumina TGO formed. The isothermal and cyclic oxidation tests at different temperatures (900 till 1100 A degrees C) up to 1000 h or 1500 cycles revealed progressive growth of different thermal oxides depending on the substrate composition. Faster degradation of the coatings occurred in the titanium-rich substrates (e.g. IN-738LC and PWA1483) compared to the titanium-poor ones (CM-247LC and Ren, N5). By comparing with conventional low activity aluminide coatings, it appeared that the incorporation of alloying elements (notably Ti and Ta) to the diffused layers upon the high activity slurry coating process is responsible for such fastest degradation.