Understanding of degradation-resistant behavior of nanostructured thermal barrier coatings with bimodal structure

Nanostructured thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) often provide high degradation resistance, as well as extended lifetime. However, the underlying mechanism has not been fully understood. In this study, the sintering characteristics of nanostructured yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) coatings were investigated, and compared with those of the conventional YSZ coatings. Multiscale characterizations of the changes in microstructures and properties were performed. Results showed that the enhanced high-performance durability was mainly attributed to different sintering mechanisms of lamellar zones and nanozones. Sintering characteristics of the lamellar zones were similar to those of the conventional coatings. Stage-sensitive healing of two-dimensional (2D) pores dominated the sintering behavior of the lamellar zones. However, the differential densification rates between nanozones and lamellar zones of the nanostructured TBCs led to the formation of coarse voids. This counteractive effect, against healing of 2D pores, was the main factor contributing to the retardation of the performance degradation of bimodal TBCs during thermal exposure. Based on the understanding of the performance-degradation resistance, an outlook towards TBCs with higher performances was presented. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science & Technology.