Mustafa Gok

By Mustafa Guven Gok and Gultekin Goller

The fast consumption of fossil fuel resources and economic competitiveness makes it necessary to increase the efficiency of turbine engines. For this purpose, thermal barrier coating (TBC) has been used on some critical parts of gas turbines. Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is widely and commercially used as a ceramic top coat material for TBC in the gas turbine system. On the other hand, the efforts to identify new material having better properties than YSZ have been continued. Gadolinium zirconate (GZ) is a promising alternative TBC material with its lower thermal conductivity, better sintering ability, and higher melting point and phase stability than YSZ. However, recent research studies on the responses of GZ-based TBC materials to the complex demands of modern gas turbine applications should be gathered under a study by comparing them with the results of traditional TBC material. This chapter discusses the GZ based TBC system, specifically addressing issues related to the production process and designing of the coating architecture, in comparison with some of the significant properties with YSZ and the test methodology. Moreover, the chapter also contains information about laser surface modification of the GZ-based TBC.

Part of the book: Methods for Film Synthesis and Coating Procedures