ABSTRACT

The first use of Thermal barrier coating (TBC) was for aircraft engine performance.
The concept of thermal barrier coating for diesel engines began in 1980s. The petroleum
crisis and the subsequent increase in the cost of fuels, the improvement of fuels and the
improvement of fuel economy of the I.C Engines has become a high priority to the
researchers. Numerous investigations have modelled and analysed the effects of in-cylinder
thermal insulation. Reducing heat rejection in reciprocating engines is a possible way of
reducing fuel consumption. This may be possible by eliminating a part of the cooling system
and incorporating high-temperature insulting materials in the combustion chamber to
withstand the higher combustion gas temperature. The advent of high temperature, high
performance ceramics has tempted engine researchers to strive for higher operating
temperatures with subsequent higher engine thermal efficiency by reducing fuel
consumption.
 CONTENTS

Chapter No Title Page No

1 INTRODUCTION 1

2 COATING MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS 2

3 TBC COATING IN COMBUSTION CHAMBER 3

3.1 Coating Process 4

3.1.1 Surface Preparation: 5

3.1.2 Bond Coating: 5

3.1.3 Ceramic Coating: 5

4 TBC PERFORMANCE IN IC ENGINE 7

4.1 Fuel Consumption 7

4.2 Brake Thermal Efficiency 8

4.3 Volumetric Efficiency 9

4.4 Exhaust Gas Temperature 10

5 EFFECT OF TBC IN EXHAUST EMISSION 11

5.1 Unburned Hydrocarbons 11

5.2 Oxides of Nitrogen 12

5.3 Carbon Monoxide 12

6 SCOPE OF FUTURE WORK 14

7 CONCLUSION 15

REFERENCES 16
 LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. No Title Page No

3.1 TBC in piston crown, valves & cylinder head 3

3.2 Thermal barrier coating 4

3.3 Vacuum plasma spray process 6

4.1 BSFC Vs Load 8

4.2 Brake thermal efficiency for different loads 9

4.3 The percent reduction in cylinder heat rejection 9

4.4 Load Vs exhaust gas temperature 10

5.1 Load Vs unburned hydrocarbon 11

5.2 Load Vs NOx 12

5.3 Load Vs CO 13
Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
In general, conventional IC engines are fed up with problems like emission,
incomplete combustion, thermal wear, etc. These problems can be solved by the application
of thermal barrier coating (TBC) to the piston crown, cylinder walls, cylinder heads and valve
heads. The material which best suits for the above application is Nano structured yttria
partially stabilized zirconia.

Coating process includes cleaning, bond coating and top thermal barrier coating.
plasma spray process is used here to coat the top coat over the prepared bond coat. Thickness
is maintained at a controlled rate for optimum performance. The engine exhaust temperature
has increased in the case of TBC engine, which promotes better energy recovery .The
insulation of the combustion chamber with ceramic coating influences the performance and
exhaust emissions. The insulation modifies the boundary conditions for the combustion
process which in turn shortens the ignition delay period hence lowers the fuel consumption,
reduces the heat loss and increases the exhaust temperature, which in turn influences the
engine performance and emissions. Ceramic coatings provide potential for higher engine
thermal efficiencies, longer life and higher reliability of engine components. Thermal barrier
coatings offer the possibility of reducing particulate emissions Thermal barrier coatings
decrease the amount of condensable hydrocarbons.

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

CHAPTER 2

COATING MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS

The basic requirements of the ceramic coat materials are that the co-efficient of
thermal expansion of the material should be of the same order of the base structures, so that
under the wide range of cyclic temperature variation, the coating materials should adhere to
the metallic surface without any significant interface stresses. In addition they should have
low thermal conductivity, high specific heat and high thermal strength.

The material which best caters the above needs is nano structured yttria partially
stabilized zirconia. In this material zirconia (ZrO2) is usually stabilized with about 8% of
yttria (Y2 O3) to get the required composite. The micro hardness of this nano material is
8.6mpa which is 1.6 times more than conventional coating techniques.

Property Requirement Reason

Melting point High Operating environment at high temperature

Thermal Conductivity Low Temperature reduction inversely

proportional to thermal conductivity

Coefficient of Thermal High Expansion should be close to that of super

expansion alloy substrate and bond coats on which
coatings are deposited

Phase Stable Phase change in thermo cyclic environment

is structurally detrimental

Oxidation resistance High Operating environment highly oxidizing

Corrosion resistance Moderate to High Operating environment may be corrosive

Strain tolerance High Operating environment imposes large stain

ranges

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

CHAPTER 3

TBC COATING IN COMBUSTION CHAMBER

At present TBCs are applied to combustion components of IC engines, mainly for
pistons crown, valves, cylinder cover, and cylinder liner.

Fig 3.1 TBC in piston crown, valves & cylinder head

However, the extended application of TBC to cylinder liner has not been explored
practically. Cylinder liner is one of the important components of IC engine which severely
under goes wear and tear due to reciprocating motion of piston. At the same time, linear as
subjected to thermal stresses caused by hot gasses of combustion. TBC in the place of linear
has to play very important role in minimizing wear and tear, heat transfer from cylinder to
surroundings. The problem presently faced in implementing of TBC as engine cylinder is
thermal mismatch which mainly occurs due to improper adhesion and difference in thermal

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

expansion coefficient between bond coat and cylinder materials. TBC must also withstand
wear and tear. There is a need to overcome these problems for employing TBC to engine
cylinder as a liner the present work is undertaken with the following main objects.

1. To search a proper bond coatings and top coat materials based on composition of
substrates.
2. Selection of proper coatings techniques.
3. Preparation of plasma sprayed coated samples for various tests.
4. To check the microstructure and Topology of coating.
5. To check the surface texture parameter of coating.
6. To determine the bond strength of coating.
7. To determine micro hardness of coating.
8. To determine abrasive wear of coating.
9. To determine erosion wear of coating.
10. To establish the suitability of coatings for its application in internal combustion
Engine as a linear.

3.1 Coating Process

The process of coating involves the following steps:

1. Surface preparation
2. Bond coating
3. Ceramic coating

Fig 3.2 Thermal barrier coating

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

3.1.1 Surface Preparation:

The surface to be coated is initially prepared by cleaning process. This is done

usually to get rid of foreign materials bound to the substrate. First the substrate surface is
mechanically cleaned by conventional dry cleaning process using compressed air. Then it is
grit blasted to get rough surface for effective bonding with the bond coat. This is followed by
ultrasonic cleaning.

3.1.2 Bond Coating:

The prepared surface is then coated with an adhesive elastic bond coat by physical
vapor deposition. Usually MCrAlY material is used as the bond coat. In the metallic MCrAlY
bond coat M is selected from Ni, Co, Fe or a combination thereof. The thickness of this bond
coat is maintained between 0.075mm to 0.125mm for effective adhesion. The bond coat is
then grit blasted for effective adhesion with top coat.

The vaporization coating technique, involving transfer of material at an atomic level.

The process involves the following four stages.

 The material to be deposited is bombarded by a high-energy source such as beam of

electrons or ions dislodging the atoms from the surface of the target

 The movement of vaporized atoms from the target to the substrate to be coated.

 The metal atoms react with appropriate gases during the transportation stage.

Coating build up on the substrate surface

3.1.3 Ceramic Coating:

Vacuum Plasma arc spraying is chosen over other conventional process for the
following reasons:

1. It has lower degrees of oxide formation when compared to the conventional one
2. Only in plasma arc spraying, coating thickness in the range of 0.125mm to 0.375 mm
could be achieved with good bond strength.

A plasma arc gun is a water-cooled device, which has an open ended chamber in
which the plasma is formed. The compact gun in its most practical form contains a central
tungsten electrode or cathode mounted concentrically relative to a narrow circular orifice of
about 9mm diameter in a copper anode

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

Fig 3.3 Vacuum plasma spray process

The arc is initiated between the two electrodes of the plasma gun either by touching
them together or preferably by means of a high frequency spark from a high frequency arc
starter. Once discharge is initiated, the plasma can conduct currents as high as 2000A direct
current, with voltage potentials ranging from approximately 30 to 80V. The exit gas velocity
is high enough to force the arc beyond the anode orifice. The forced high temperature gas
breaks the yttria partially stabilized zirconia into nano structured grains and adheres it to the
bond surface. This coating is performed in vacuum and hence the name

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

CHAPTER 4

TBC PERFORMANCE IN IC ENGINE

Much less attention has been placed on TBCs in SI engines due to the adverse effects
elevated in-cylinder temperatures produced by the TBCs are known to have on engine knock.
However, by selectively applying thin coatings in the combustion chamber, the increased gas
and surface temperatures may provide several benefits. Thermal barrier coating reduces the
heat loss from the cylinder to the surroundings. Therefore the efficiencies are increased and
the emissions are reduced because of various chemical reactions takes place inside the
cylinder at high temperature. Brake thermal efficiency and mechanical efficiency of coated
piston are increased by the average value of 9% and 25% respectively. 7% reduction in total
fuel consumption and 6% reduction in specific fuel consumption were achieved with the
coated piston. 23% of unburned HC emissions were reduced by using the coated piston. CO
emissions are reduced by 48% because of at high temperature CO easily combines with O2
and reduces CO emission.

The major advantages of thermal barrier coatings for diesel engines are low cetane
fuels can be burnt, improvements occurs at emissions except NOx, waste exhaust gases are
used to produce useful shaft work, increased effective efficiency, increased thermal
efficiency, using lower-quality fuels within a wider distillation range, ignition delay of the
fuel is considerably reduced, faster vaporization and the better mixing of the fuel, reduced
specific fuel consumption, multi-fuel capability, improved reliability, Smaller size, lighter
weight, decreased the heat removed by the cooling system, first start of engine on cold days
will be easier, decreasing knocking and noise caused by combustion.

Though results were somewhat conflicting, the potential benefits of using TBCs to
limit the heat losses in IC engines are evident.TBCs have shown the potential to improve
emissions and performance characteristics in both diesel and spark ignition engine

4.1 Fuel Consumption

As compared to standard baseline engine, the BSFC (Brake specific fuel

consumption) is reduced. Decrease in BSFC is due to the reduction in the fuel consumption
and improved energy conversion rate at all loading conditions in the TBC coated engine. This
may be due to the increased temperature of the combustion chamber walls, which increases

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

the temperature of the fuel issuing from the heated fuel injecting nozzle resulting in the
reduced fuel viscosity and better combustion of the fuel

In order to extract maximum benefits from the introduction of ceramic coatings,

combustion quality must be optimized by making appropriate changes to the injection timing.

Fig 4.1 BSFC Vs Load

4.2 Brake Thermal Efficiency

Fig shows the deviation in brake thermal efficiency with increasing load for TBC
coated engine and standard engine. It is significant that TBC coated engine has higher
efficiency than that of standard engine at all loading conditions. This may be due to thermal
resistance on the piston crown which cannot allow the heat energy to the coolant and other
medium.

The improvement in engine thermal efficiency by reduction of in-cylinder heat

transfer is the key objective of reduced thermal efficiency

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

Fig 4.2 Brake thermal efficiency for different loads

4.3 Volumetric Efficiency

The volumetric efficiency is an indication of breathing ability of the engine. It

depends on the ambient and operating conditions of the engine. Reducing heat rejection with
the addition of ceramic insulation causes an increase in the temperature of the combustion
chamber walls of an IC engine. The volumetric efficiency should drop, as the hotter walls and
residual gas decrease the density of the inducted air

Fig 4.3 The percent reduction in cylinder heat rejection

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

4.4 Exhaust Gas Temperature

Figure given depicts the variation of exhaust gas temperature with load for coated
combustion chamber and standard engine. It can be observed that when the combustion
chamber is coated, the combustion temperature is high which increases exhaust temperature.
The increase in temperature is due to the better combustion of oxygenated fuels.

Fig 4.4 Load Vs exhaust gas temperature

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

CHAPTER 5

EFFECT OF TBC IN EXHAUST EMISSION

5.1 Unburned Hydrocarbons:

Hydrocarbon exhaust emission may arise from three sources as

a) Wall quenching
b) Incomplete combustion of charge
c) Exhaust scavenging in 2-stroke engines

In an automotive type 4-stroke cycle engine, wall quenching is the predominant

source of exhaust hydrocarbon under most operating conditions

Figure given below shows the comparison of Hydrocarbon emission for different
loads. The emission of unburned Hydrocarbon from the LHR engines is more likely to be
reduced because of the decreased quenching distance and the increased lean flammability
limit. The higher temperatures both in the gases and at the combustion chamber walls of the
LHR engine assist in permitting the oxidation reactions to proceed close to completion which
reduces hydrocarbon emission compared to standard engine

Fig 5.1 Load Vs unburned hydrocarbon

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

5.2 Oxides of Nitrogen

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are formed by chain reactions involving Nitrogen and Oxygen
in the air. These reactions are highly temperature dependent.Nitric oxide is formed within the
combustion chamber at the peak combustion temperature and persists during expansion and
exhaust in non-equilibrium amount. Upon exposure to additional oxygen in the atmosphere,
nitrogen dioxide ( NO2) and other oxides may be formed.The inherent availability of nitrogen
and oxygen in the fuel accelerates the formation of NOx. While observing the trends of
modified combustion chamber, it is noticed that higher the combustion and maximum
temperature in the combustion chamber which in turn results in higher NOx.

Fig 5.2 Load Vs NOx

5.3 Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide remains in the exhaust if the oxidation of CO to CO2 is not

complete. This is because carbon monoxide is an intermediate product in the combustion
process. The variation CO emissions for coated combustion chamber and standard engine are
shown in Figure given below. The reduction in CO emission is due to complete combustion
of fuel

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

Fig 5.3 Load Vs CO

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

CHAPTER 6

SCOPE OF FUTURE WORK

Some of the work related to Thermal Barrier Coating undergoing at

NASA-Lewis are

 A study of solid-state reactions between the ceramic layer, the bond coat metal
oxides,the bond coat and substrate.
 A study to determine the kinetics of phase transformation in the ZrO2-12Y2O3
system and the effect of such transformations on mechanical properties.

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

CHAPTER 7

CONCLUSION
With insulating combustion chamber components, it is available to keep combustion
temperatures high. Due to high combustion temperatures thermal efficiency can be increased,
exhaust emissions can be improved and fuel consumption can be decreased on diesel engines.
Ceramic materials which have low thermal conductivity and high thermal expansion
coefficient are used for making combustion chamber components thermal insulated. In this
paper the effects of thermal barrier coatings on diesel engines and some ceramic materials
used for thermal barrier coating is taken into consideration.

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Seminar Report 2019-2020 Thermal Barrier Coating in IC Engine

REFERENCES
[1] M Azadi, M. Baloo,G. H. Farrahi, S. M. Mirsalim , “A review of thermal barrier
coating effects on diesel engine performance and components lifetime” . jurnal,
international journal of automotive engineering. March 2013
[2] Vijaya Kumar K.R, Sundareswaran V, Department of Mechanical engineering, Anna
University. “The Effect of Thermal Barrier Coatings on Diesel Engine Performance
of PZT Loaded Cyanate Modified Epoxy Coated Combustion Chamber”. Journal Oct
2011
[3] T.K.Chandrashekar, C.R.Rajshekar, R.Harish Kumar. Professors, Department of
Mechanical Engineering,Channabasaveshwara Institute of Technology, Gubbi,
Tumkur, Karnataka, India. “AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF
THERMAL BARRIER COATING ON DIESEL ENGINE PERFORMANCE”.
International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology.
Aug 2013

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