Influence of SiC Addition on Mechanical Behavior of Thermal Barriers with the Aid of Acoustic Emission

The improvement of high temperature materials with lower heat transfer coefficients lead to the development of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). One of the most widely used materials for thermal barrier coatings is Y2O3 stabilized ZrO2 (Y-TZP) because of its excellent shock resistance, low thermal conductivity, and relatively high coefficient of thermal expansion. The aim of this work is to study the TBCs mechanical behavior with the addition of SiC into the suspension of Y-TZP/Al2O3 by acoustic emission (AE). Additionally, a microstructural analysis and a finite elements model were carried out in order to compare results. The coatings were made by suspension plasma spray (SPS) on metal plates of 70 × 12 × 2 mm3. An intermetallic was deposited as a bond coating, followed by a coating of Y-TZP/Al2O3 with and without 15 wt.% SiC, with thicknesses between 87 and 161 μm. The AE becomes a fundamental tool in the study of the mechanical behavior of thermal barriers. The use of wavelet transforms streamlines the study and analysis of recorded sound spectra. The crack generation arises at very low stress levels.