Computational Methods to Accelerate Development of Corrosion Resistant Coatings for Industrial Gas Turbines

Oxidation resistant overlay coatings protect the underlying superalloy component in industrial gas turbines from oxidation attack. Rate of depletion of the Al-rich β-phase in the bond coat governs the lifetime of these coatings. The applicability of a computational method in accelerating the development of corrosion resistant coatings and significantly reducing the extensive experimental effort to predict coating lifetimes and microstructural changes in three-coated Ni-based superalloys for real operational durations (20–40 kh) was undertaken in the present study. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and electron microprobe analysis (EPMA) were employed to characterize MCrAlY-coated superalloy substrates (1483, 247 and X4) after exposure at 900 °C in air + 10% H2O for up to 20,000 h. The model predicted the longest coating lifetime for the coating on X4 substrate. Precipitation of γ′ in the coatings was correctly predicted for all three coating systems. Additionally, the model was able to predict the formation of topologically close packed (TCP)-phases in the investigated coating systems.