TBC process condition monitoring in a production environment

Plasma sprayed Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBC) have been studied extensively through the years to understand variations in coating properties as well as to achieve control on microstructure of the coatings. The principle goal of this SBIR partnership between a small business such as Plasma Technology Inc. and The Center for Thermal Spray Research at Stony Brook University is to critically examine issues in TBC process reproducibility and reliability through an integrated strategy. Specifically, PTI will serve as a test bed to examine the applicability of process science, monitoring and control strategies under development at Stony Brook for enhancing reliability and reproducibility of thermal barrier coatings as applied to AF engines. Furthermore, the partnership will assess the applicability of indirect link ensemble sensors that are more suitable for application in a spray shop with fully integrated direct and integrated link sensors being utilized at Stony Brook. During this Phase II program, we will further enhance the sensor integration (particle and coating), methodologies and analysis tools and critically examine component level TBC reliability issues. We plan to extend the reliability assessment for a more extensive set of feedstock and process conditions as well as relate coating production reliability to coating performance reliability.