Parametric studies of failure mechanisms in elastic EB-PVD thermal barrier coatings using FEM

Catastrophic failure of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs), usually occurs due to large scale buckling and spallation, primarily originating at the bond coat and TGO interface. Spallation in TBCs is preceded by a competition between buckling and interface delamination that is stimulated by the waviness of the interface. In the presence of thermal loading, the waviness is responsible for growth of interfacial delamination. In this paper, a finite element model of the two and three layer TBC’s is developed in the commercial code ANSYS to investigate the buckle and interface delamination mechanisms and develop a simplified parametric understanding of these mechanisms. The models for simulation are validated with analytical and experimental results. Parametric relations, in terms of geometric and material parameters representing constituents of the TBC, are developed in this paper for critical stresses and energies causing buckling and debonding initiated instabilities. Through these relations, critical parameters that control failure mechanics are identified for a fail-safe design space.