General Electric Company

Rudolfo Viguie

Robert William Bruce

David John Wortman

David Vincent Rigney

Antonio Frank Maricocchi

Bangalore Aswatha Nagaraj

David William Skelly

Curtis Alan Johnson

John Douglas Evans, Sr

William Seth Willen

Bhupendra Kumar Gupta

Warren Arthur Nelson

Seetha Ramaiah Mannava

Keith Humphries Betscher

Christopher Lee Lagemann

Jon Conrad Schaeffer

Irene T Spitsberg

Don Mark Lipkin

Brian Thomas Hazel

William Scott Walston

Roger Dale Wustman

William Paul Minnear

Joshua L Miller

Mark Alan Rosenzweig

Brett Allen Rohrer Boutwell

Richard Arthur Nardi, Jr

Michael Howard Rucker

A method for forming a nickel aluminide based coating on a metallic substrate includes providing a first source for providing a significant portion of the aluminum content for a coating precursor and a separate nickel alloy source for providing substantially all the nickel and additional alloying elements for the coating precursor. Cathodic arc (ion plasma) deposition techniques may be utilized to provide the coating precursor on a metallic substrate. The coating precursor may be provided in discrete layers, or from a co-deposition process. Subsequent processing or heat treatment forms the nickel aluminide based coating from the coating precursor.

Nickel aluminide coating systems and coated articles

A thermal barrier coating and deposition process for a component intended for use in a hostile thermal environment, such as the turbine, combustor and augmentor components of a gas turbine engine. The TBC has a first coating portion on at least a first surface portion of the component. The first coating portion is formed of a ceramic material to have at least an inner region, at least an outer region overlying the inner region, and a columnar microstructure whereby the inner and outer regions comprise columns of the ceramic material. The columns of the inner region are more closely spaced than the columns of the outer region so that the inner region of the first coating portion is denser than the outer region of the first coating portion, wherein the higher density of the inner region promotes the impact resistance of the first coating portion.

Thermal barrier coating and process therefor

An electron beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD) apparatus for producing a coating material (e.g., a ceramic thermal barrier coating) on an article. The EBPVD apparatus generally includes a coating chamber that is operable at elevated temperatures and subatmospheric pressures. An electron beam gun projects an electron beam into the coating chamber through an aperture in a wall of the chamber and onto a coating material within a coating region defined within the chamber, causing the coating material to melt and evaporate. An article is supported within the coating chamber so that vapors of the coating material deposit on the article. The operation of the EBPVD apparatus is enhanced by the inclusion within the coating chamber of a second chamber that encloses the aperture so as to separate the aperture from the coating region. The second chamber is maintained at a pressure lower than the coating region.

Electron beam physical vapor deposition apparatus

An electron beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD) apparatus and a method for using the apparatus to produce a coating material (e.g., a ceramic thermal barrier coating) on an article. The EBPVD apparatus generally includes a coating chamber that is operable at elevated temperatures and subatmospheric pressures. An electron beam gun projects an electron beam into the coating chamber and onto a coating material within the chamber, causing the coating material to melt and evaporate. An article is supported within the coating chamber so that vapors of the coating material deposit on the article. The operation of the EBPVD apparatus is enhanced by the inclusion or adaptation of one or more mechanical and/or process modifications, including those necessary or beneficial when operating the apparatus at coating pressures above 0.010 mbar.

Method of operating an electron beam physical vapor deposition apparatus

An electron beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD) apparatus and a method for using the apparatus to produce a coating material (e.g., a ceramic thermal barrier coating) on an article. The EBPVD apparatus generally includes a coating chamber that is operable at elevated temperatures and subatmospheric pressures. An electron beam gun projects an electron beam into the coating chamber and onto a coating material within the chamber, causing the coating material to melt and evaporate. An article is supported within the coating chamber so that vapors of the coating material deposit on the article. The operation of the EBPVD apparatus is enhanced by the inclusion of a crucible that supports the coating material and is configured to be efficiently cooled so as to reduce the rate at which the process temperature increases within the coating chamber.

Electron beam physical vapor deposition apparatus and crucible therefor

An article having a substrate is protected by a thermal barrier coating system. An interfacial layer contacts the upper surface of the substrate. The interfacial layer may comprise a bond coat only, or a bond coat and an overlay coat. The interfacial layer has on its upper surface a preselected, controllable pattern of three-dimensional features, such as grooves in a parallel array or in two angularly offset arrays. The features are formed by an ablation process using an ultraviolet laser such as an excimer laser. A ceramic thermal barrier coating is deposited over the pattern of features on the upper surface of the interfacial layer.

Method for producing an enhanced thermal barrier coating system

A thermal insulating ceramic layer for use in a thermal barrier coating system on a component designed for use in a hostile thermal environment, such as turbine, combustor and augmentor components of a gas turbine engine. The ceramic layer is formed of zirconia stabilized by yttria and characterized by a columnar grain structure in which a monoclinic phase is present. To attain the monoclinic phase, the ceramic layer contains less than six weight percent yttria, with about two to five weight percent yttria being preferred. The ceramic layer is preferably part of a thermal barrier coating system that includes a substrate and a bond coat adhering the ceramic layer to the substrate. To obtain the desired columnar grain structure, the ceramic layer is deposited by a PVD technique, preferably EBPVD.

Thermal barrier coating system

A thermal barrier coating adapted to be formed on an article subjected to a hostile thermal environment while subjected to erosion by particles and debris, as is the case with turbine, combustor and augmentor components of a gas turbine engine. The thermal barrier coating is composed of a metallic bond layer deposited on the surface of the article, a ceramic layer overlaying the bond layer, and an erosion-resistant composition dispersed within or overlaying the ceramic layer. The bond layer serves to tenaciously adhere the thermal insulating ceramic layer to the article, while the erosion-resistant composition renders the ceramic layer more resistant to erosion. The erosion-resistant composition is either alumina (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3) or silicon carbide (SiC), while a preferred ceramic layer is yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) deposited by a physical vapor deposition technique to have a columnar grain structure.

Thermal barrier coating resistant to erosion and impact by particulate

Enhanced thermal barrier coating system

Evaporated ceramic coatings are prepared by furnishing an ingot of a ceramic material, treating the ingot to reduce sources of gas within the ingot, and evaporating the ceramic material in the ingot by melting the surface of the ingot with an intense heat source. The evaporated ceramic is deposited upon a substrate as the ceramic coating. The reduced gas content of the ingot decreases the incidence of spitting and eruptions from the molten surface of the ingot, thereby improving the quality of the deposited coating, and facilitating increases in evaporation rates and coatings process production rates.

Vapor deposition of ceramic materials

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Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

Rudolfo Viguie