Low-Cost, High-Performance Nanostructured Thermal Barrier Coatings for Turbine Engine Applications

Brayton and combined-cycle (turbine) engines are widely used for a variety of applications, including aeropropulsion and power generation. The performance of turbine engines is limited by the allowable use temperature of their hot-section components. Dueto increasingly complex cooling passages and greater turbine temperature and life requirements, current protective coating compositions and deposition/application technologies are inadequate for future turbine engines. In this project, Ultramet willdevelop a low-cost, low temperature wet chemical synthesis and application technique to produce a superior thermal barrier coating (TBC) system consisting of high melting point, low thermal conductivity, low oxygen permeability oxides. The low oxygenpermeability and improved thermal insulation properties, particularly at higher temperatures, of this TBC system will be demonstrated through cyclic oxidation verification testing. This new TBC system for high temperature turbine engines will allowoperation at higher temperatures (>=2800¿F) while increasing the life and reducing the cost of such systems. Not only will the new coating system allow turbine engines to operate more economically, but it will also reduce coating cost relative to existingstate-of-the-art systems.The next-generation TBC system to be developed in this project will have improved thermal performance, longer life, and greater quality comparable to current coatings, with the potential for an 80-90% reduction in cost. ImprovedTBCs will have wide application to military and commercial propulsion and power generation systems, including turbine and reciprocating engines.