The Project Scope is to offer highly improved services integrated at European level for developing novel thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) based on ultra-high temperature ceramics with potential applications in aircraft parts working in extreme thermal shock and erosion conditions, using a modernized combinatorial EB-PVD coating equipment. The ambition of AERO-COAT project is to create an unique point of entry at National level (similar to EU pilot bed tests concept) offering high-level research and technological services to improve the actual TBCs for aerospace application, design and develop completely new coating solutions fully characterized and certified required in extreme conditions application and also offering rapid solutions for repairing damaged parts by coating with novel materials.

Specific Objectives:

• Design, manufacture and install new facilities for heating and on-line temperature monitoring of substrates and coatings;
• Establishing the coating process parameters for development of La and Gd zirconates coatings using the up-graded EB-PVD equipment;
• Elaboration of a specific thermal shock methodology using rapid heating and cooling cycles using air and liquid nitrogen cooling;
• Process optimization and databases correlating process parameters with microstructure and thermal shock properties;
• Validation of the coating technology and testing methodology.

The short-term innovation proposed is to develop multiple layers of La and Gd zirconates with perovskite structure to be tested by thermal shock method at working temperatures up to 1600°C. The up-graded EB-PVD combinatorial system will allow to obtain these coatings with the optimal thickness and adhesion force in one step process. New thermal shock methods will be implemented and used to develop databases on the correlations between the intrinsic material properties (lattice parameters, crystallite sizes, thermal conductivity), coating parameters (deposition rate, substrate temperature) coating microstructure and coating properties (thermal conductivity, thermal shock resistance, adhesion force to substrate). Research will also give new insight in the mechanism of nucleation and growth of La and Gd zirconates vs. deposition parameters.

The project web page is here