Remote temperature sensing on and beneath atmospheric plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings using thermographic phosphors

Investigations on remote temperature sensing of yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) at the surface and at the bond-coat/top-coat interface were carried out. Using Y2O3:Eu thermographic phosphor as an embedded temperature sensing layer, sub-surface temperature probing through 300 μm of atmospheric plasma sprayed YSZ is demonstrated. The Y2O3:Eu thermographic phosphor displays a temperature sensitivity ranging between 400 °C up to a maximum of 900 °C when utilizing the luminescence originating from the 611 nm emission band. Dysprosium stabilized zirconia (10 wt.% DySZ), a TBC material, is also investigated and established as a temperature sensor from 400 °C up to a temperature of 1000 °C using both the intensity decay time and emission intensity ratio methods. In addition, the luminescence of presumed optically inactive YSZ materials was spectroscopically investigated in terms of optical interferences caused by impurities. A validation temperature probing measurement through 300 μm of YSZ top-coat was successfully performed in a SGT-800 Siemens burner running at six different operating conditions in an atmospheric combustion rig.