An Investigation on Effect of Bond Coat Replacement on Hot Corrosion Properties of Thermal Barrier Coatings

In the present study NiCrAlY bond coating layer was produced by electroplating against common atmospheric plasma spraying (APS). Both types of the bond coats were applied on IN738LC base metal then, the YSZ (ZrO2-8% Y2O3) thermal barrier top layer was coated by atmospheric plasma spray technique. Hot corrosion is one of the main destructive factors in thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) which come as a result of molten salt effect on the coating–gas interface. In this investigation the hot corrosion behavior of coatings was tested in the furnace which was contain Na2SO4-55% V2O5 and mixed salts environment at 900°C up to 15 hr dwell time. Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM / EDS) and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) was used to determine the crystallographic structure and phase transformation of the coatings before and after the hot corrosion tests. The transformation of tetragonal Zirconia to monoclinic ZrO2 and formation of YVO4 crystals as hot corrosion products caused the degradation of mentioned TBCs. The results showed NiCrAlY coated by economical electroplating method a viable alternative for common thermals sprayed bond coats in hot corrosive environments with same corrosion behavior.