J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2024, Vol. 180: 69-79.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2023.07.078

• Research article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Solid dust induced roughening and overheating of TBC-coated superalloy

Jia-Qi Hana, Mei-Jun Liua, Javad Mostaghimib, Guan-Jun Yanga,*   

  1. aState Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China;
    bDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, Canada
  • Received:2023-05-15 Revised:2023-06-30 Accepted:2023-07-22 Published:2024-05-01 Online:2023-11-20
  • Contact: *E-mail address:. ygj@mail.xjtu.edu.cn (G.-J. Yang)

Abstract: Thermal barrier coatings (TBC) on superalloy blade/vane enable an increase in turbine inlet temperature (TIT) and aero-engine efficiency. However, the deposition of dust on TBC significantly ablates superalloys and becomes a bottleneck for advanced engine development. This paper presents a comprehensive modeling approach, based on an experiment involving dust deposition on a TBC-coated substrate, aimed at understanding the fundamental cause of substrate ablation. The results show that a significant increase in surface roughness is obtained experimentally with dust accumulation. The temperature field within the TBC-substrate system is disturbed by surface roughening. Consequently, the film cooling is seriously destroyed. While the dust accumulated on the TBC surface also contributes to heat insulation by increasing the effective TBC thickness, localized overheating of the substrate occurs and then leads to ablation and premature failure of the substrate. This elucidation of the overheating mechanism could inform the development of strategies to resist dust accumulation in advanced aero engines.

Key words: Thermal barrier coating, Superalloy, Dust, Roughness, Overheating