Thermal Barrier Coatings for Titanium and High Temperature Polymeric Composite Components

Thermal barrier coatings are used to protect metallic alloys from corrosive and ablative effects of high temperature environments. Their utility has been proven in jet and automotive engines with demonstrated improvements in performance and fuel economy.Few materials can withstand long term exposure to the inside of a jet engine, and so their construction tends to be limited to super alloys, which are heavy. Added weight to a military jet decreases maneuverability, payload and range. Lighterconstruction materials will improve these performance characteristics, but candidate materials such as titanium alloys and polyimides will need thermal barrier coatings to survive for useful amounts of time. Current thermal barrier coatings are primarilyyttria-stabilized alumina or zirconia that are compositionally graduated to prevent spalling. They are applied using specialized equipment in vacuum chambers, and this limits their widespread use, particularly in field applications. TRI/Austin proposes acompletely different coating material that can be applied in the field by spraying, dipping or brushing onto a wide variety of materials, and cured using readily available means. The coating will have extremely low thermal conductivity, and if exposed tocontinuous temperatures above 1400*C, it will convert to a ceramic, increasing its thermal performance. TRI/Austin views this work as an excellent opportunity to broaden its coating product line to provide a variety of thermal barrier coatings for military, aerospace and commercial utility. These coatings will allow use of lighter weight materials in ornear the engines of emerging military and commercial aircraft, but will also find application for space reentry vehicles, power generation turbines, automotive engine components, industrial reactor vessels, home furnaces, home appliances, and even asprotective coatings on the sides of pots and pans to decrease accidental burns.