An investigation on the microstructure and oxidation behavior of laser remelted air plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings

NiCrAlY bond-coat was coated on Inconel 718 substrate by air plasma spraying (APS) followed by APS ZrO2-8 wt.%Y2O3 as top-coat. Using CO2 laser of different energy densities, ceramic top-coat surface was remelted. Laser remelting with high energy density (4 J/mm2) produced a dense microstructure over the whole thickness of top-coat, while low energy density (0.67 J/mm2) laser remelting produced a ~ 50 μm thick dense layer on the top-coat surface. It was found that the volume fraction of monoclinic phase decreased from 9% in as-sprayed coating to 4% and 3% after laser remelting with high and low energy density respectively. After isothermal oxidation at 1200 °C for 200 h, the thickness of oxide layer (TGO) in the sample produced by low energy density laser remelting was ~ 5.6 μm, which was thinner than that of oxide layer in as-sprayed (~ 7.6 μm) and high energy density laser remelted (~ 7.5 μm) samples. A uniform and continuous oxide layer was found to develop on the bond-coat surface after low energy density laser remelting. Thicker oxide layer containing Cr2O3, NiO and spinel oxides was observed in both as-sprayed and high energy density laser remelted coatings. After cyclic oxidation at 1200 °C for 240 h, the weight gain per unit area of as-sprayed coating was similar to that of high energy density laser remelted coating while a significantly smaller weight gain was found in low energy density laser remelted coating.

► We produced three YSZ coatings with different thicknesses of dense ceramic layer.
► The amount of monoclinic ZrO2 was the least in thin dense layer by laser remelting.
► The thickness of TGO after oxidation was the thinnest for thin dense layer sample.
► Cr2O3, NiO and spinel oxides in TGO were the fewest for thin dense layer sample.