Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are used in gas turbines to prolong the life of the underlying substrates and to increase the efficiency of the turbines by enabling higher combustion temperatures. TBCs may fail during service due to thermal fatigue or through the formation of non-protective thermally grown oxides (TGOs). This study compares two atmospheric plasma sprayed (APS) TBC systems comprising of two identical TBCs deposited on two different substrates (Haynes 230 and Hastelloy X). The thermal fatigue life was found to differ between the two TBC systems. The interdiffusion of substrate elements into the coating was more pronounced in the TBC system with shorter life, however, very few of the substrate elements (only Mn and to some extent Fe) formed oxides in the bond coat/top coat interface. Fractography revealed no differences in the fracture behaviour of the TBCs; the fracture occurred, in both cases, to about 60% in the top coat close to the interface and the remainder in the interface. Nanoindentation revealed only small differences in mechanical properties between the TBC systems and a finite element crack growth analysis showed that such small differences did not cause any significant change in the crack driving force. The oxidation kinetics was found to be similar for both TBC systems for the formation of Al2O3 but differed for the kinetics of non-Al2O3 TGOs where the TBC system with shortest life had a faster formation of non-Al2O3 TGOs caused by a faster Al depletion. The difference in non-Al2O3 TGO growth kinetics was considered to be the main reason for the difference in life.
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