Effects of interface roughness on the life estimation of a thermal barrier coating layer

Methodology development for life estimation of thermal barrier coating (TBC) applied on a gas turbine engine combustor liner has been undertaken using finite element method. 3-D finite element analyses (FEA) are performed using ABAQUS followed by fatigue analysis through FESAFE for life estimation of a TBC layer. Analysis considers a typical mission cycle of a gas turbine engine while modelling the transition liner of a reverse flow combustion chamber. This paper presents the influence of interface roughness on the life of TBC layer. Three different cases of interface roughness have been studied. Roughness is found to affect TBC life adversely. In addition to effect of interface roughness, the life estimation methodology is also discussed.