Materials Science and Engineering A288 (2000) 154 – 159

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Experimental and numerical residual stress analysis of layer

coated composites
M. Buchmann *, R. Gadow, J. Tabellion
Institut für Fertigungstechnologie keramischer Bauteile (IFKB), Allmandring 5b, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany

Abstract

Industrial requirements concerning the increased efficiency of modern machine components combined with low material and
production cost targets result in the development of new composite materials and material combinations. Especially the
application of functional coatings on light metals by thermal spraying can fulfil both requirements. The knowledge of the
mechanical and functional properties of the coating is a key requirement for an optimized and repeatable manufacturing process
and reproducible high quality composites. These coating properties as well as the lifetime and operation behaviour are mainly
influenced by the residual stress situation. This paper describes a new approach to the simulation of the thermal spraying process
by modelling a moving heat source in combination with the material transfer and deposition process. The calculated stresses and
deformations are consistent with experimental residual stress measurements by means of the advanced hole drilling method. In
addition the influence of the residual stresses on the mechanical coating properties is investigated. © 2000 Elsevier Science S.A.
All rights reserved.

Keywords: Thermal spraying; Ceramic coatings; Residual stresses; Hole drilling method; FEM simulation of the thermal spray process

1. Introduction The properties of the coating influence the engineering

The thermal spray process offers the possibility to
apply a broad variety of metallurgical and ceramic
coatings on the surface of machine components, even
on system components with complex geometries. The
coatings are commonly used to improve the wear and
corrosion resistance, to increase the operation tempera-
ture and thermal shock resistance or to influence the
electrical, magnetic and biological behaviour of the
composites. During thermal spraying, the spray powder
is injected by means of a carrier gas into the nozzle,
molten partially or completely, accelerated to high ve-
locities and propelled onto the substrate surface with-
out fusing the substrate surface. The latest
technological features are high energetic spray systems.
The HVOF (high velocity oxygen fuel) process uses
liquid fuels or fuel gases (6max 300 – 600 m s − 1;
qmax 2.500–3.200°C) and leads to extremely dense
coatings. During the APS (atmospheric plasma spray-
ing) process temperatures up to 20.000°C are obtained,
thus this system is mainly used for refractory materials.
* Corresponding author.
applicability, the operation behaviour and finally the
component lifetime. The quality of the coatings with
regard to residual stresses, microstructure, porosity and
mechanical properties can widely be varied by tuning
the spray parameters like process cooling, substrate
preheating, energy supply, spraying distance, etc. The
correlation between coating quality and spray parame-
ters has to be known to optimize the whole thermal
spray process.
2. Residual stresses in thermally spray coated
composites
Residual stresses arise during the thermal spray pro-
cess and influence significantly the coating quality and
composite performance. Critical residual stresses can
cause failure of coatings in form of delamination effects
in the coating and the interface as well as cracking if
the stress level reaches the ultimate strength of the
coating or lead to plastic strain in the interface. Tensile
residual stresses in the coating reduce component life-
time since this favours crack formation and propaga-

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 M. Buchmann et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A288 (2000) 154–159
tion. Furthermore condensed corrosive products can
penetrate the coating through microcracks, destabilize
the coating and attack the substrate material or the
interface layer. Tensile stresses in the coating propagate
stress corrosion cracks. The final residual stress situa-
tion of thermally coated components is superimposed
by several individual stress mechanisms. The reasons
for residual stresses during manufacturing are tempera-
ture gradients in material combinations with originally
incompatible thermophysical properties and mechanical
loads which occur during substrate preprocessing, ther-
mal spraying and finally composite post-processing.
Substrate pre-processing in form of grit blasting with
corundum of defined particle size induces compressive
stresses into the substrate surface due to local non-ho-
mogeneous plastic deformations. The size and depth
range of these compressive stresses depend on the blast-
ing conditions (time, distance, velocity), the used shot
(size and hardness) and finally the blasted components
(geometry, hardness, deformation behaviour) [1]. Dur-
ing thermal spraying a large number of not melted or
partially melted particles impact on the substrate and
subsequent coating layers, form disc shaped splats and
solidify abruptly. The kinetic energy of the impacting
Fig. 1. Hole drilling appliance.
Fig. 2. High speed drilling turbine with soldered strain gauge.
155
particles induces compressive stresses into the com-
posite material, depending on process velocity and per-
centage of particle fusion [2]. When splats quench and
solidify, the contraction, suppressed by the substrate,
causes tensile stresses in the coating. After temperature
compensation between substrate and coating, thermal
stresses arise during subsequent cooling. The mismatch
in the physical material properties, mainly the differ-
ences in the thermal expansion coefficients, result in
tensile coating stresses for acoating \ asubstrate and in com-
pressive stresses for acoating B asubstrate. The absolute val-
ues of the residual stresses depend on the Young’s
Modulus Ec/s, where Ec is reduced by the coating
porosity. In order to achieve defined surface qualities,
mechanical surface post-treatment by means of grind-
ing, polishing and lapping as well as a thermal treat-
ment of the composites is necessary. This causes stress
peaks, which superimpose and change the residual
stress situation of the whole composite.
3. Hole drilling method
Residual stresses in coatings have been measured by
various techniques like X-ray diffraction, micromechan-
ical layer removal method and different bending and
deformation methods. In this study, an advanced incre-
mental microdrilling and milling method was used to
measure residual stresses in coatings (for the appliance
compare Figs. 1 and 2). With this method the residual
stresses in coatings are determined quasi non-destruc-
tively. In several drilling and milling processes a circu-
lar, cylindrical shaped microhole is brought step by step
( 5 – 10 mm) into the component surface. The combi-
nation of a drilling and a milling process as well as a
low feed rate (60 mm min − 1) in combination with a
high cutting rate (300.000 rpm) and the low drilling
depth per drilling step guarantees a stress free drilling
process with neglectable heat development [3].
The residual stresses in the component are relieved
due to this material removal, deform the surface
around the drilled hole and are measured by means of
strain gauges (DMS) for every drilling step in form of
relaxed surface strains oz0. Using calibration curves
K1,2(z) and material properties (E, m) the measured
surface strains oz0 are converted to the nominal strains
oz at the bottom of the drilled hole for every drilling
step. Out of these oz strains, the in plane stresses s11 and
s22 for the equivalent drilling depth z can be deter-
mined incrementally by Hooke’s law (see Eq. (1) [4]).
Fig. 3 shows a general process scheme for the hole
drilling measurement.
s1,2(z)
E
= [K (z )o% (z )+ mK2(zn )o%1,2(zn )] (1)
K (zn )− m 2K 22(zn ) 1 n 1,2 n
2
1
156 M. Buchmann et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A288 (2000) 154–159
Fig. 3. Process scheme for the hole drilling method.
Fig. 4. FEM model for the calculation of the calibration curves.
Fig. 5. Calculated surface strains over the drilling depth for an
assumed stress field of s11 = − 100 MPa, s22 = 50 MPa.
For accuracy reasons it is very important to drill the
hole perpendicular to the surface exactly at the marked
location on the strain gauge. The justification of the
drilling tool and also the whole drilling process is
controlled by an online CCD camera. For the machin-
ing of the ceramic coatings diamond drilling tools are
used, having either diamond particles embedded into a
NiCr coating or the hard alloy drilling tool being
completely coated with a CVD diamond coating.
4. FEM calculation of calibration curves K
By means of strain gauges the surface deformation
during the drilling process is measured as relaxed sur-
face strains. With calibration curves K1,2 a correlation
can be calculated between the measured surface strains
and the nominal strains at the bottom of the hole for
every drilling depth z. As a requirement the calibration
curves have to be material and stress independent.
Calibration curves can be determined either experimen-
tally or numerically by FEM calculations. For this
study, a three-dimensional FEM plate model was devel-
oped for the simulation of the drilling process, the
calculation of calibration curves K and the assessment
of the calculated calibration curves. For the FEM
model a CEA-06-062UM-120 strain gauge type with a
diameter proportion for strain gauge diameter D to
bore hole diameter D0 of D/D0 = 2.8 is assumed.
For experiments, plates with the dimensions
100*100*10 mm3 are used. For the FEM simulation
only a quarter of the plate (50*50*10 mm3) is modelled
due to symmetries, to reduce the number of elements as
seen in Fig. 4. The drilled hole is located exactly in the
middle of the plate. To guarantee an exact initial stress
field (sN = constant), the nodes on the borders must be
totally fixed. The drilling process is simulated by ele-
ment removal, according to the drilling process for the
experimental residual stress measurement. For every
defined drilling depth z, normalized to the hole diame-
ter D0, the surface strains o11 and o22 in nominal direc-
tion are determined for the modelled strain gauges, as
shown in Fig. 5.
The calibration curves can be determined for a ho-
mogeneous nominal stress field as the ratio of the
differentiated surface strains doz0 11,22/dz and the given
nominal strains eN 11,22 (z). In simulations with different
stress fields and material properties, no significant devi-
ations in the determined calibration curves K1,2 are
seen. Fig. 6 shows the calculated calibration curves.
In order to proof the calculated calibration curves, a
composite model with an inhomogeneous stress distri-
Fig. 6. Calculated calibration curves K1,2.
 M. Buchmann et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A288 (2000) 154–159
Fig. 7. Comparison between calculated and defined stresses for a
composite material with an inhomogeneous stress field.
Fig. 8. Schematic drawing of the APS coating process.
Fig. 9. FEM plate model for the simulation of the coating process.
bution over the drilling depth was developed. Material
1 was defined with a Young’s modulus of 60 GPa and
a coating thickness of 0.3 mm, material 2 with a
Young’s modulus of 70 GPa and a thickness of 10 mm.
Using the strain results from the simulated strain
gauges and the given calibration curves K1,2, see Fig. 6,
157
the stresses over the drilling depth can be calculated
and compared with the defined stress field. A nearly
identical trend between the predefined. and the calcu-
lated stresses is visible (see Fig. 7).
5. FEM simulation of the coating process
For the simulation of the coating process, a coupled
temperature stress analysis is performed. The developed
model simulates the APS coating process, compare Fig.
8. The used materials are Al2O3 for the coating and
AlMg3 for the substrate material. Because of the large
facility dimensions, the feed and coating direction for
the samples can be assumed to be a linear traverse.
A three-dimensional plate model (100*100*10 mm3)
with a coating thickness of 160 mm is developed. To
increase the accuracy, a mesh refinement for the coating
and interface area is modelled, as shown in Fig. 9.
For the Al2O3 coating, linear-elastic and for the
AlMg3 substrate elastic-plastic material properties are
used. The temperature dependent material characteris-
tics (r, cp, l, o, a, E, 6, Rp) for substrate and coating
material are experimentally determined and defined via
user data bases for the FEM simulation [5]. The coating
process is simulated in real time with two transitions of
a heat and spray torch. The time aspect is of great
importance, because the heat supply and finally the
whole component deformation increases with increasing
transition time. The heat supply by the plasma flame
and by the heat capacity of the fused powder particle is
modelled as a Gaussian distribution parallel to the
surface by means of user subroutines (compare Figs. 10
and 11). Synchronous to the energy input, the coating is
applied locally by changing the material properties,
defined by field variables as seen in Figs. 12 and 13,
from air into Al2O3.
The heat loss during the coating process and the
subsequent cooling period is defined by thermal convec-
Fig. 10. Moving heat source at a given process time (t=4.01 s).
158 M. Buchmann et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A288 (2000) 154–159

6. Comparison of experimental and numerical results

The modification of the manufacturing process due

to the results of numerical process simulations and
experimental residual stress measurements will lead to
stress-optimized coated components. Additionally,
there will be a better understanding of the stress history
during the coating process.
In order to verify the numerically calculated residual
stresses, a comparison of the calculated stresses and the
experimental residual stress measurements is done. Fig.
14 shows the calculated and measured stress results for
an Al2O3 APS-coating (dc = 160 mm) on an AlMg3
substrate (dc = 10 mm) without process cooling and
Fig. 11. Moving heat source at a given process time (t= 4.04 s).
without substrate preheating. In Fig. 15, the results
without process cooling but with substrate preheating
(393 K) are shown.
For both variations a good consistence between mea-
sured and numerically FEM simulated stresses in the
coating can be detected. Deviations between calculation
and measurement can be seen in the substrate material.
The measured samples were grit blasted to improve the
coating adherence. This grit blasting step induces com-

Fig. 12. Simulation of the coating process at a given process time

(t= 4.01 s).

Fig. 14. Comparison between calculated and measured stresses with-

out substrate preheating.

Fig. 13. Simulation of the coating process at a given process time

(t = 4.04 s).

tion and radiation to an ambient temperature of 20°C.

For the calculation of the temperature dependent heat
transfer coefficient, the formulation of Pollhausen for Fig. 15. Comparison between calculated and measured stresses with
plane plates is used. substrate preheating (393 K).
 M. Buchmann et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A288 (2000) 154–159
Fig. 16. Measurement positions for the reliability investigations.
Fig. 17. Measured residual stresses over the drilling depth.
pressive stresses into the upper regions of the substrate
material, whereas no grit blasting process was included
for the simulation. As expected, compressive stresses in
the coating increases with increasing preheating temper-
ature. The mismatch in the heat expansion coefficients
between coating and substrate in addition with the
higher temperature level for the composite results in
increasing compressive stresses in the coating.
In order to prove the reliability of the experimental
stress measurement equipment, a comparison study was
performed. The residual stress situation in an Al2O3
coated AlMg3 plate over the drilling depth was mea-
sured at nine different measurement positions on the
sample surface, compare Figs. 16 and 17 for the exact
positions. The coating thickness is constant 130 mm
over the surface. In the measurements and the stress
evaluation no directional dependency (x, y) of the
residual stresses was detected. All residual stress mea-
surements show a nearly identical trend over the
159
drilling depth. In the coating, low tensile stresses be-
tween 10 and 30 MPa are measured. In the interface
area between coating and substrate, defined by the
surface roughness after grit blasting, the tensile stresses
are slightly increasing. The following compressive
stresses, measured in the substrate, are stresses caused
by grit blasting as explained earlier. The measured
standard deviations of the residual stresses are very
small, the maximum is about 40 MPa. The reasons for
the deviations could be slight variations of the coating
thickness and locally different blasting conditions as
well as locally different substrate temperatures during
thermal spraying.
7. Conclusion
Residual stresses induced by the thermal spray pro-
cess have a great influence on the properties and the
operation lifetime of thermally sprayed composites [6].
Two approaches, a numerical and an experimental one,
to determine residual stresses in thermally sprayed com-
posites are shown. The hole drilling method is a very
convenient method to determine residual stresses in
composites over the drilling depth. It was shown that
the calculated calibration curves can also be used for
inhomogeneous stress fields and layer composites with
different material properties. The numerically calcu-
lated results with several transitions of a heat source
agree with the measured results. Future work will be
done on the adaptation of this process simulation on
more complex geometries.
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