Effects of CMAS penetration on the delamination cracks in EB-PVD thermal barrier coatings with curved interface

Abstract During the high-temperature operation of electron beam physical vapor deposited (EB-PVD) thermal barrier coating (TBC), the penetration of environmental calcium-magnesium-alumina-silicate (CMAS) compositions into the ceramic top-coat would affect the growth of delamination cracks. In this work, the effects of CMAS penetration on the delamination cracks in EB-PVD TBC with curved interface are investigated by finite element analysis. In the numerical model, the curved interface evolves as the cyclic displacement instability of the thermally grown oxide (TGO) layer. The penetration of CMAS into the columnar gaps of EB-PVD TBC mainly increases the in-plane modulus of TC layer. It is demonstrated that, with the increase of in-plane modulus in an intact TC, the level of tensile stress, which mainly occurs in the region above the curved interface and responsible for initiating the delamination cracks, presents a decrease; meanwhile, the level of shear stress, which mainly occurs in the region at the periphery of the curved zone to drive the delamination crack when it propagates into this region, presents a increase. Furthermore, the calculation of the strain energy release rate shows that, for the crack located above the curved interface, the increase of in-plane modulus in TC layer can prevent the accumulation of strain energy release rate, and therefore make it more difficult for delamination initiation. However, once the crack propagates into the flat periphery, CMAS penetration would begin to enhance its growth.