Shakedown Analysis and Experimental Study of Thermal Barrier Coatings

Interfacial stress–strain fields become complicated in thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) under cyclic thermal loading, which affects the stability and spalling failure of TBCs directly. The convex and concave interfacial structures of TBCs were approximated as a multilayer cylinder model, and an analytical method of TBCs for shakedown analysis was established. A series of 8-YSZ TBC specimens were prepared by the plasma spraying process, followed by isothermal and thermal shock tests. The results showed that the stability limit is significantly greater than the elastic limit, the limit for the convex model was higher than that in the concave model, the first failure occurs in the concave area, and the main failure mode of a thermal barrier coating is the appearance of cracks at the interface layer during a thermal shock test. For the coating samples prepared in this study, the stability limits were between 950 °C and 1050 °C, and the validity of the stability limit analysis model of a multilayer structure was verified.