Interlamellar cracking of thermal barrier coatings with TGOs by non-standard four-point bending tests

This work concerns the failure mode and fracture toughness of plasma-sprayed 8 wt% yttria-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) deposited on a cold-sprayed MCrAlY bond coat (BC) after thermal oxidation. Upon high-temperature exposure, a thermally grown oxide (TGO) layer was formed along the interface between the BC layer and YSZ ceramic coating layer through oxidation of the bond coat. By utilizing a non-standard modified four-point bending specimen, in conjunction with fractured surface examinations by scanning electron microscope and energy disperse spectroscope, the failure mode of this thermal barrier coating (TBC) system has been checked experimentally. It is shown that delamination cracks firstly initiate at the YSZ/BC interface edge, and then propagate along a wavy path near the interface, not only through the TBC but also within the TGO and along the interlamellar interfaces. Through a theoretical analysis of the bending specimen, the fracture toughness of this TBC system, in terms of strain energy release rate, has been determined from the load–displacement curves which were recorded during the tests.