Durability Analysis and Experimental Validation of Environmental Barrier Coating (EBC) Performance Using Combined Digital Image Correlation and NDE

To understand the failure mechanism or to predict the spallation life of environmental barrier coatings (EBC) on fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites, the fracture strength of EBC and the process of the crack growth in EBC layers need to be experimentally determined under standard or simulated engine operating conditions. The current work considers a multi layered barium strontium aluminum silicate (BSAS)-based EBC-coated, melt infiltrated silicon carbide fiber reinforced silicon carbide matrix composite (MI SiC/SiC) specimen that was tensile tested at room temperature. Numerous tests were performed under tensile loading conditions, and the specimen was loaded until failure under pre-determined stress levels. The specimen was examined with optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), computed tomography (CT) scan, and digital image correlation (DIC) camera. Observation from the computed tomography scanning, the SEM, and the optical microscopy did not offer conclusive information concerning the cracks that spawned during the tests. However, inspection with the DIC camera offered some indication that cracks had developed and allowed their detection and the location of their initiation site. Thus, this study provides detailed discussion of the results obtained from the experimental investigation and the nondestructive evaluation (NDE), and it also includes assessment of the stress response predicted by analytical modeling and their impact on EBC durability and crack growth formation under complex loading settings.