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Fulfilling customer needs are essential for business success. The activities of
an automobile manufacturer have to be oriented towards the customer’s expectation
and customers delight. Nowadays, needs like functionality, comfort, safety, reliability,
as well as high level of quality are taken for granted. Design, material quality and
their perception are reflected. Correct material selection is essential in order to
guarantee functionality or grace fullness of the multitude components of an
automobile. The piston, cylinder liner and valves are the important parts of the
internal combustion engine to be given more attention.
In baseline engine, the liner undergoes a severe wear at high temperatures of
combustion which results in seizure of the liner. Due to heat losses through the
cylinder walls, the thermal efficiency of the engine decreases. Reduction of emissions
from diesel engine is becoming increasingly important, because of promulgation of
stringent emissions legislation. Particulate and NOx emission are the primary concern
for diesel engine owing to the nature of the compression ignition process and diesel
fuel consumption. The challenging problems occurring are due to the presence of
solid particulates in the exhaust, in addition to gas phase pollutants. In order to
minimize these pollutants, it is necessary to go for an alternate method to design
engine cylinder and its combustion chamber components. The rapid increase in fuel
expenses, the decreasing supply of high grade fuels in the market and environmental
concerns stimulated research for more efficient engines.
To increase wear resistance, thermal efficiency, and minimize pollutants in the
exhaust of the engine, a thermal barrier and wear resistant coating is applied to inner
walls of the cylinder which replaces conventional liner.
Thermal barrier Coating (TBC), a new technique used at present scenario.
TBC is a thin layer of ceramic coating applied to combustion chamber components, mainly
for piston crown, valves, cylinder cover and cylinder walls. By using this technique, the
present problems could be solved to some extent.
The problem faced by gas turbine engineers was the failure of components
exposed to not combustion gases. This problem was exacerbated by oxidizing
components of combustion gas (C02 and O2), high pressure (4 MPa) and the very high
loads experienced by gas turbine blades. Common causes of failure in hot end of
component even to date are creep, oxidation and thermo-mechanical fatigue.
There have been three major engineering advances in dealing with problem:
1. The development of the super alloys( 1950 to 1980)
2. The development of air cooling system( 1960 to present)
3. The development of durable thermal barrier coatings (1980 to present).
The gains in gas temperatures obtained were of the order of about 2000 c for the
development of super alloys, 5000C for air cooled system and 3000C for thermal barrier
coatings. Hence in the hot end of modem gas turbine engines most components are
made of super alloys with air cooled system and an increased number of components
now have thermal barrier coatings.
Modem TBCs are required not only to limit the heat transfer through the coating
but also to protect the engine components from oxidation and corrosion. No single
coating composition appears to satisfy these multifunctional requirements. As a result, a
"coating system" needs to be evolved. Research in the last 20 years have led to a
preferred coating system, consisting of three separate layers to achieve long term
effectiveness in the high temperature, oxidative and corrosive environment in which
they are to function.
First, a thermally protective TBC layer with a low thermal conductivity is
required to maximize thermal drop across the thickness of coating. This coating is likely
to have a thermal expansion co-efficient which differs from that of the component
material. This layer should therefore have a high in-plane compliance to accommodate
the thermal expansion mismatch between the TBC and the underlying super alloy
component. In addition to this it should be able to retain this property and its low
thermal conductivity during prolonged environmental exposure. A porous, columnar,
100-200µm thick, yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) layer is currently preferred for this
function.
Second, an oxidation and hot corrosion resistant layer is required to protect the
underlying component from environmental degradation. This layer is required to remain
relatively stress free during long term exposure and remain adherent to the substrate to
avoid
For last 100 years, engineers have searched for the best materials for
cylinder, pistons and rings. In the early years of automotive engines. the choice of
materials was cast iron. Engineers used cast iron in pistons, rings and cylinders. Cast
iron worked fine for cylinders and rings, but pistons made of cast iron were heavy, Cast
iron pistons were replaced by aluminum pistons due to the lower density of the
aluminum alloy. Due to the combination of cast iron cylinders and rings, aluminum
pistons are still in use in most automotive engines today. In the present investigations,
Aluminium-6061 (AI-606J) and Cast Iron are selected as engine cylinder materials.
These are also called as substrates of TBC system developed in the present work. Bond
coating is an intermediate layer of the TBC system. It is mainly used to bond a
subsequent over coat design for a particular function. The bond materials are specially
designed to provide optimal properties for both adherence of the top coating and
integrity of the interfacing substrate. Grading the TBC system from the bond coat to top
ceramic coat by incorporating one or more intermediate layers into the coating system
can minimize ceramic metal thermal expansion coefficient. The bond coat materials are
selected considering coincidence of thermal expansion coefficient values of the coating
and the relative elastic moduli, good wettability of the coating material at the surface of
support during its applications, suitable chemical affinity between the two systems. In
the present work, commercially available three bond coat materials, viz., Al25Fe7Cr5Ni
(Metco 446 metal powder), Ni9Cr3Si (Metco 451) and Fe38NilOAl (Metco 452, metal
powder) are selected. On AI-6061 substrate, two coating systems are developed. The
first coating system consists of two bond layers (A125Fe7Cr5Ni as Bond coat I-BCI and
Ni9Cr3Si as Bond Coat 2-BC2) and a top coat. The second coating system consists of
one bond coat (BC I) and a top coat. Similarly, two more coating systems are developed
on cast iron substrate. In this, the first coating system consists of two bond layers
(Fe38Ni10Al as bond coat l and Ni9Cr3Si as bond coat 2) and a top coat. The second
coating system consists of one bond coat and a top coat.
The performance of a TBC system as a liner in IC engine mainly depends on top
coat. Top coat should have characteristics of high wear and erosion resistance, low
thermal conductivity and high expansion coefficient. A significant amount of research
activities have been carried out on coating systems which utilizes alumina (Al2O3) and
Zirconia as top coats. The survey of the published literature shows that alumina is used
as a wear and erosion resistant coating where as Zirconia is used as thermal barrier
coating to minimize heat loss. The thermal conductivity of alumina is significantly high
compared to that of Al-6061. Also alumina has high hardness. Due to this, alumina can
be used as thermal barrier as well as wear resistant coating with AI-606 I substrate. The
addition of CaO, MgO, Y2O3 to zirconia decreases both the cubic to tetragonal and
tetragonal to monoclinic transformation temperatures. Thus, with sufficient additions of
various oxides to zirconia, the cubic phase can be stabilized. At concentrations less than
this limit, partial stabilization occurs, and all three phases i.e. cubic, tetragonal and
monoclinic can be retained on cooling to room temperature. The resulting ceramic is
referred as Partially Stabilized Zirconia (PSZ). The thermal shock resistance of PSZ has
been found to be superior to that of a fully stabilized and pure zr02. Thus partially
stabilized zirconia can be used as thermal barrier coating in both AI-6061 and cast iron
engine cylinders. In the present work, commercially available two materials viz.,
alumina (Metco 105SFP) and ZrO225CeO2 (Metco 205 NS) are selected as top coat
materials. The first coating system of AI-606 I and cast iron consists of alumina as a top
coat and second systems consists ZrO225CeO2 as top coat. The top coat thickness in all
the coating systems is varied as 100 ,200 and 300.
The performance of TBC coating system depends upon top layer morphology as
well as the coating technique. A manifest of this is seen when TBC top layers are
deposited using Atmospheric Plasma Spray ( APS) or Electron Beam-Physical Vapour
Deposition (EBPVD)Techniques. Coatings produced by APS have a thermal
conductivity in the range of 0.8-1.0 W/mK at 25°C. This is significantly lower than the
1.5-1.9 W/mK reported for EBPVD coatings at 25°C and as a result, the APS coatings
provide superior thermal protection. However the spallation resistance of these layers
is less than that of EB-PVD TBC layers (S to 10 time's shorter spallation lifetimes).
This arises because of the superior in-plane compliance of EB-PVD coating. As a
result, EB-PVD TBC layers are preferred for aerospace gas turbine applications. But
thicker TBCs are applied using plasma spraying technique. Plasma spraying can be
used to deposit a wide range of ceramics and metals and any combinations of these. It
is possible to deposit alloys and mixed ceramics with components of widely differing
vapor pressures without significant changes in composition. Very homogenous
coatings can be formed that display no significant changes of composition with
thickness. High deposition rates are possible without extreme investments in capital
equipment. Plasma spraying can be carried out in virtually any environment, air,
encoded inter low and high-pressure environment (relative to ambient) or underwater.
Thus in the present investigation, atmospheric plasma spraying method is selected for
coating the materials on substrate.
LITERATURE SURVEY
2.1 Coating Techniques
The following block diagram gives the different techniques used for depositing metal, cermet
and ceramic non-metallic powders.
(B) Diamond Jet HVOF Thermal Spraying is a flame deposition technique wherein
powder material is melted by the combustion of oxygen with a fuel gas and it is propelled
at a high velocity with the help of compressed air, towards surface to be coated. In the
combustion zone, the powder material enters the flame, where it becomes molten or
semi-molten, depending upon the melting temperature and the feed rate of the material.
The flame temperature for the HVOF process is about 2300 – 3000 0C. The molten or
semi-molten particles are then propelled out of the gun nozzle at supersonic velocities,
exceeding 1350 mS-1 towards the substrate or forming die.
Morel [4] has analyzed that a significant part of the retained heat is directly converted
to positive work. He has also examined that a typical highway truck engine with a practical
zirconia coating able to achieve a 5% performance benefit over that of an engine cooled
baseline at rated conditions.
Wong [5] has considered different combinations of coatings with different thermal
characteristics and coating thicknesses to predict the pattern of fuel consumption in IC
engines. The simulation model developed by him considers the influence of transient heat
transfer into and out of the combustion chamber surface throughout the entire engine
operating cycle. The simulation also included an advanced liner friction model which
accounts for the effects of liner surface temperatures and lubricating oil viscosity. Results of
the analysis showed that all thermal barrier coating materials provided a performance benefit
that is strongly dependent on the coating thickness. Most coatings for the piston and head
face surfaces provided a maximum benefit at a coating thickness of 0.1mm. The predicted
maximum benefit in thermal performance is found to range from 1 to 2%. It is predicted that
a coating thickness of 0.5 mm in the liner would provide an optimum oil viscosity and a
reduced friction with a 5% increase in performance.
Dennis Assanis and Kevin Wiese [6] have carried out work on zirconia band TBC coated
on to the piston of diesel engine with a coating thickness of thickness of 0.5 mm and 1mm.
They have compared the performance and exhaust emission of coated piston engine with that
of base line piston engine. They have found that 0.5mm thick ceramic coated piston engine
has in comparison with that of the metal piston engine. On the other, the thermal efficiency of
1mm thick ceramic coated piston was only 4% higher than that of base line engine piston.
Due to more complete combustion in the insulated configuration, exhaust CO levels are
found to be 30 to 60% lower than that of base line engines. Similarly unburned hydrocarbon
levels were 35 to 40% lower than that of baseline engine. The NOx concentration is also
found to 10 to 30% lower than that of baseline engine due to the changes in the nature of
combustion. The variation in thermal efficiency and BSFC as a function of engine speed is
shown in Fig. 2.7.
Fig: 2.7 Thermal Efficiency and BSFC as a Function of Speed for Baseline and Ceramic Coated Engines [6]
Hejwowski [12] has suggested that TBC with NiCrAl bond coat and Alumina –
Titania or yttria partially stabilized ZrO2 can be used to constitute a durable and efficient
thermal barrier coating on gasoline and diesel engine piston crowns. An optimum thickness
for TBC is slightly below 0.5 mm according to him. Further, he has also found that, that the
Specific Fuel Consumption (SFC) is lowered by 15 to 20 % with the use of coated piston
crown with 8% increase in power (Fig. 2.9). TBC with alumina –titania shows good
resistance to conditions prevailing in a gasoline engine combustion chamber. The fuel
consumption of a modified engine is found to reduce by 4.2 % at a speed of 1100 rpm, 11.7
% at 4000 rpm and 20.7% at 2500 rpm. Temperatures of cooling water and oil are slightly
higher in a modified engine.
Fig: 2.9 Variation of Brake Power and BSFC with Speed (1) Baseline Engine (2) Ceramic Coated Engine
Computer aided modeling and analysis carried out by Melvin Woods [13] has shown
that the conventional thermal spray coatings (slurry densified Zirconia) experience thermal
fatigue and does not provide the desired durability. He has also reported that a coating
thickness of 1.25 mm of zirconia can produce same insulation level that of 2.5 mm thick
coating by changing the piston material to titanium alloy.
Prasad and Ravindra [14] have carried out an investigation on heat transfer in an oil
cooled piston with and without ceramic insulation on crown face. A 2 mm thick oxide based
ceramic insulation material is coated on the piston crown of diesel engine. They have
predicted the isothermal distribution in the piston body and the heat flow rate through the
different cooling media at different engine loads for both the cases with and without
insulation coating and found that there is a reduction in heat loss of 12 to 30% for the piston
with insulation coating, assuming that both the heat transfer and temperature of the
combustion products remain unchanged.
Kulkarni and Jagdish. R [15] has indicated that ceramics, a family of heat resistant
super tough materials, contribute to energy savings. Cylinder head liners, valve train
components and exhaust ports with ceramic coatings are form to retain heat and eliminate the
need for cooling systems.
Poola and Ramesh. B [16] have characterized the TBCs that are applicable to SI
engines. Improving the fuel economy while reducing the exhaust emissions of a conventional
carbureted two stroke spark ignition engine was the main thrust of their investigations. An in
cylinder catalyst in the form of coating is found to provide a moderate thermal insulation in
the combustion chamber by deposition of thin ceramic material.
Ashok Kumar [17] has evaluated the performance of aluminum-titanate coated piston
crown of a CI engine. The insulating piston crown is found to increase the temperature of
cylinder wall which in turn contributes to reduction in volumetric efficiency which has a
significant impact on the power developed. The aluminum-titanate coating is found to
increase the temperature of combustion chamber, reducing the amount of lubrication and an
increase in friction. He has also proposed that the increase in the energy content of the
exhaust gases can be effectively utilized for turbo compounding.
The roughness [20] on the surface of work pieces increases with the thickness of
the inial oxide layer. It is maximum at the final removal of oxide layer. The bonding or
adhesive strentgth of the sprayed surface also is maximum in such a condition. Bonding
strength increases with the arithmetical mean height of the surface roughness due to the
thickness of the initial oxide layer. Further, when the arithmetical mean height of the
surface which is pre-treated by the cathode spots is the same, bonding strength is also
increases which are due to the narrow mean spacing of profile irregularities.
O. Sarikaya [21] has reported that the increase in the roughness of substrate
surface also increases the porosity and roughness of coatings. Higher hardness, lowest
porosity and the lowest coating roughness has been obtained by him at a substrate
roughness of 3.28IJm. Roughness of the coating also increases with enhanced thickness
of the coating. He has examined the coatings prepared at 500°C substrate temperature and
found that their microhardness increased at 28% level, where as porosity and coating
roughness decreased at 86 and 36% levels respectively. It has also been reported that the
thicker top coat is mechanically weakened with the increase in volume of pores and
magnitude of residual stresses.
Z. Liu [22] has reported that plasma sprayed Zr02 8%Y203 coatings on mild
steel substrate possess surface roughness of 4.51Jm in as-sprayed condition. The
surface quality is found to improve upon laser treatment. He has shown the roughness
of the coating increases with the increase in traverse speed of the laser beam, where as
the roughness decreases with the increase in the pulsing frequency. Further there is a
marginal increase in the roughness levels with the increase in the fluence. This is
attributed to simultaneous occurrence of ablation and thermal effects during the
sealing process of an excimer laser
R. Krishnan et.al. [24] Have examined the surface texture of as-sprayed and
CO2 infra red laser treated alumina air plasma sprayed coatings on copper substrate.
They have reported that the surface roughness of as-sprayed coatings is about 5µm
The surface roughness is found to 2.5 µm at 50 W powers and minimum at l.0 µm at
100 Wand increases to 1.3 µm at 150W power. The reduction in surface roughness of
laser treated coatings is mainly due to the transformation of γ-AL 2O3 to α-Al 2O3 and
densification through elimination of pores.
Porosity can be classified into three distinctive groups such as; oblate, oriented
with high aspect ratios and volumetric pores. The oblate pores originate from incomplete
contact locations of adjacent splats due to insufficient wetting. These voids are generally
flat with high aspect ratios and their dominant orientation is parallel to the substrate.
Vertically oriented voids are present between horizontally (i.e. parallel to the substrate
surface) adjacent splats. The oblate pores mainly contribute to the inner surface area
porosity but they are only a small fraction of the total porosity . Due to their high aspect
ratios, these voids have a major effect on the elastic constants of the coatings since they
effectively decrease the crosssectional area of the coatings . Volumetric or globular pores
are fonned not only because of trapped gases but also due to incomplete filling of surface
pits and gaps left by solidified splats. It has been found that their contribution to the inner
surface area is small but they contribute up to 30% of the total porosity . The aspect ratio
of the pores is small and there is no preferred orientation for them. Globular pores are
found to decrease the Young's modulus of the coatings in small volume fraction .
Depending upon the spray conditions, some fraction of the pores can be surface-
connected. Network pore structure is found to reduce the elastic modulus. Factors such
as speed and temperature of the particles have a strong influence on all aspects of the
porosity .
Residual stress in coatings is an important issue since it enables the coating to get
debonded from the substrate . Residual stresses are introduced in the coatings during the
impact quenching of the molten particles causing a difference in the magnitudes of
coefficients of thermal expansion between the coating and the substrate. Pore structure
also contributes to the residual stresses since they are influenced by elastic modulus and .
The strains mainly determined by the thermal conditions during the deposition process.
Portinha [25] has carried out the characterization of plasma sprayed thermal
barrier coatings possessing porosity gradients while using Zr02+8%Y203 as top coat and
NiCoCrAlY bond coat on Nickel super alloy inconel 738 LC substrate. Samples are
initially annealed at 11000 C for 100hurs in air and are subjected to a thermal shock
heating at 10000 C and cooling in water, for 100 cycles. The as-sprayed coatings are
found to exhibit a porous and lamellar structure with porosity in the range of 12 to 15%.
Upon annealing in air, all coatings present a sintered structure with reduction in their
porosity levels. The porosity of sintered coatings is found to be in the range of 7 to 8%.
The sintering effects are found to increase the thermal conductivity, elastic modulus with
a loss in their strain tolerant behavior. Thermally shocked coated samples showed no
spallation and only exhibited some densification at the surface with the appearance of
small cracks which are perpendicular to the coating plane found to enhance the strain
accommodation. The porosity is found to increase from the bond coat interface towards
the surface of the top coat. In as-sprayed condition, the absolute porosity is found to vary
from 3 to 5% from interface to top coat surface and in annealed condition is from 1 to
2%. The reduction is due to the sintering effects at high temperature. Porosity is also
found to depend on deposition parameter. It increases with increase in the working
distance and decreases significantly at higher powers of the plasma gun. It is mainly due
to the reduced velocity of the melted particles in the first case when they reach to the
coating in growth and in the second case the particles have more velocity at higher
temperatures.
It is established that the wear resistance of a material is closely related to its micro
hardness, toughness, microstructure, defect content and the ratio of its hardness to the
hardness of the abrasive. Hardness has a large effect on the wear of materials through
the mechanisms of plastic deformation, while fracture toughness is a dominant factor in
wear involving brittle fracture. In case of plasma sprayed coatings, better correlations are
found between the hardness of the worn material and the modes of wear where plastic
deformation is a major mechanism. the relationship between hardness and wear is in the
form of W=k/Hn where W is the wear rate, k and n are constants and H is the hardness of
the surface. Exponent n is varied form 2.8 for adrasion and 1.6 foe small particle and low
angle erosion. Many studies have suggested that a high hardness is desirable for both
brittle and ductile materials, while a brittle material benefits father from a high
toughness there is no simple relationship between the abrasive wear resistance and
hardness of the coating. The abrasive wear mechanism of the coating IS found to be not
only .dependent on coating hardness and density, but also on particle size, type of
powder used, coating microstructure, as well as micro structural changes occurring
during the process of wear. The wear resistance of alumina coatings can be changed
significantly by selecting different powder process methods or by adding different
additives, even if the hardness is almost similar.
d) Effect of Load
Load or the contact stress is the most obvious and easily monitored parameter that
can affect wear. The magnitude of the normal load or the contact stress is important since
it increases both the area of contact and the depth below the surface at which the
maximum shear stress occur as well as the elastic or plastic deformation states.
e) Effect of Residual Stress
Wear behavior of APS and VPS coatings have been found to be dependent on the
levels of residual stress in the coatings. The resistance of materials to abrasive wear has
often been correlated with hardness and the levels of residual stress in thin films have
also been correlated with hardness, clearly indicating that the resistance of the coating to
deformation process must play an important role in the wear tests. The wear resistance of
plasma sprayed alumina increases with the increase in levels of compressive residual
stress in the coatings. To obtain the best wear performance it is therefore necessary to
maximize these stresses without compromising on the coating-substrate adhesion.