Fatigue of thermal barrier coatings

Thermal barrier coatings (TBC) have a high potential with respect to higher turbine gas temperatures and hence reduced fuel consumption of turbine engines. This potential can be exhausted only, if these coatings can reliably withstand their extreme thermal and mechanical fatigue loading for an economically acceptable time. All available laboratory tests have serious deficiencies with respect to the real service environment. Demonstration of TBCs reliability requires realistic testing, to make sure that lifetime determining mechanisms under testing conditions are the same as in real engines. Reliable fatigue life prediction of TBCs on turbine blades under service conditions is the aim of future efforts.