On the thermally induced interfacial delamination of a segmented coating

The thermally induced interfacial delamination problem of a segmented coating is investigated using finite element method (FEM). The coating–substrate system, modeled as a coated semi-infinite medium with periodic segmentation cracks within coating, is assumed to be exposed to convective cooling from surface. The failure criterion based on the interfacial fracture toughness is adopted, in which the energy release rate for an interface crack is considered to be the driving force for interfacial delamination extension. The results confirm that a segmented coating has higher delamination resistance than an intact one under the same thermal transients, as the segmentation crack spacing is smaller than a critical value. Based on dimensional analysis, sensitivity analyses of the crack driving force are also obtained as a function of various dimensionless parameters such as time, convection severity and material constants. These results may provide some helpful references for the integrity of coating–substrate systems under thermal loading.