Development of A New Coating System for The High Functional Mold in Thin-wall Casting

A new inorganic binder system has been developed to prepare the mold having a high strength for the thin-walled casting. To increase the fracture strength at high temperature, a large amount of inorganic binder should be converted into glass phase and the generated glass phase has to be homogeneously coated on the surface of starting particles. In this work, two types of process were employed to investigate the coating and glassification efficiencies of inorganic precursor. In the first process (process I), the green body consisting of starting powder and organic binder was dipped in the inorganic precursor solution. In the second process (process II), the starting powder was coated by inorganic precursor, and then the organic binder was used to form the green body. The mold sample prepared using process II showed the higher strength value than that using process I, owing to the inclement effect on the glassfication efficiency by the loss of inorganic precursor in process I. The prepared real mold was perfectly produced and the casted product showed a clean surface without defects such as dross, nonmetallic inclusions, and crack. Consequently, the new inorganic binder system could be applied for preparing the mold for the thin-wall casting having high mechanical properties

Formation of Nanometer-Thick Water Layer at High Humidity on Dynamic Crystalline Material Composed of Multi-Interactive Molecules

Crystalline powders self-assembled from interactive discrete molecules reversibly transformed from a porous structure to a 2D one with a nanometer-thick H2O layer by hydration/dehydration. Multi-point weak intermolecular interactions contributed to maintenance of each phase. This structure transformation induced a humidity-dependent ion conductivity change from insulator to 3.4 x 10(-3) S cm(-1).open1122sciescopu

Crack-Resistance Behavior of an Encapsulated, Healing Agent Embedded Buffer Layer on Self-Healing Thermal Barrier Coatings

In this work, a novel thermal barrier coating (TBC) system is proposed that embeds silicon particles in coating as a crack-healing agent. The healing agent is encapsulated to avoid unintended reactions and premature oxidation. Thermal durability of the developed TBCs is evaluated through cyclic thermal fatigue and jet engine thermal shock tests. Moreover, artificial cracks are introduced into the buffer layer’s cross section using a microhardness indentation method. Then, the indented TBC specimens are subject to heat treatment to investigate their crack-resisting behavior in detail. The TBC specimens with the embedded healing agents exhibit a relatively better thermal fatigue resistance than the conventional TBCs. The encapsulated healing agent protects rapid large crack openings under thermal shock conditions. Different crack-resisting behaviors and mechanisms are proposed depending on the embedding healing agents

Crack-Growth Behavior in Thermal Barrier Coatings with Cyclic Thermal Exposure

Crack-growth behavior in yttria-stabilized zirconia-based thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) is investigated through a cyclic thermal fatigue (CTF) test to understand TBCs’ failure mechanisms. Initial cracks were introduced on the coatings’ top surface and cross section using the micro-indentation technique. The results show that crack length in the surface-cracked TBCs grew parabolically with the number of cycles in the CTF test. Failure in the surface-cracked TBC was dependent on the initial crack length formed with different loading levels, suggesting the existence of a threshold surface crack length. For the cross section, the horizontal crack length increased in a similar manner as observed in the surface. By contrast, in the vertical direction, the crack did not grow very much with CTF testing. An analytical model is proposed to explain the experimentally-observed crack-growth behavior

Improvement in the hygroscopicity of inorganic binder through a dual coating process

The use of an anti-absorbent is proposed in this work to reduce the hygroscopicity of the inorganic binder in the casting mold, in which the anti-absorbent is coated on the mold prepared with an inorganic binder. Three types of polymers were used to select material with optimal water resistance. Polystyrene (PS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were used as a water-insoluble polymer and water-soluble polymer, respectively. In addition, polyurethane (PU) prepolymer has intermediate properties between PS and PVA. PVA and PU prepolymer were used for comparative testing with PS. For this testing process, the prepared green body was dipped into a solution of inorganic binder precursor mixed with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS, SiO2 precursor) and sodium methoxide (NaOMe, Na2O precursor), and then dipped into a solution of coating reagent after a drying process. Thus, these series of coating processes in a green body is called a dual coating process. Finally the sample was heat-treated at 1000 °C to generate a glass phase by an organic–inorganic conversion process. In the sample prepared with PS, the highest contact angle and a high firing strength were exhibited, independent of polymer concentration, while the sample coated with PVA showed lower green and firing strengths. When prepolymer, PU, was applied, the green strength was remarkably improved, showing lower firing strength compared with that of PS. The green and firing strengths were optimized through the dual coating process with PS. Moreover, the moisture-proof effect of the dual coating process was verified through the moisture steam test

Fracture behavior and thermal durability of lanthanum zirconate-based thermal barrier coatings with buffer layer in thermally graded mechanical fatigue environments

The effects of buffer layer on the fracture behavior and lifetime performance of lanthanum zirconate (La2Zr2O7; LZO)-based thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) were investigated through thermally graded mechanical fatigue (TGMF) tests, which are designed to simulate the operating conditions of rotating parts in gas turbines. To improve the thermal durability of LZO-based TBCs, composite coats consisting of two feedstock powders of LZO and 8 wt% yttria-doped stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) were prepared by mixing different volume ratios (50:50 and 25:75, respectively). The composite coat of 50:50 volume ratio was employed as the top coat, and two types of buffer layers were introduced (25:75 volume ratio in LZO and 8YSZ, and 8YSZ only). These TBC systems were compared with a reference TBC system of 8YSZ. The TGMF tests with a tensile load of 60 MPa were performed for 1000 cycles, at a surface temperature of 1100 °C and a dwell time of 10 min, and then the samples were cooled at room temperature for 10 min in each cycle. For the single-layer TBCs, the composite top coat showed similar results as for the reference TBC system. The triple-layer coating (TLC) showed the best thermal cycle performance among all samples, suggesting that the buffer layer was efficient in improving lifetime performance. Failure modes were different for the TBC systems. Delamination and/or cracks were created at the interface between the bond and top coats or above the interface in the single-layer TBCs, but the TBCs with the buffer layer were delaminated and/or cracked at the interface between the buffer layer and the top coat, independent of buffer layer species. This study allows further understanding of the LZO-based TBC failure mechanisms in operating conditions, especially in combined thermal and mechanical environments, in order to design reliable TBC systems

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Heterogeneous Ceramic-Polymer Composite Using Interpenetrating Network

Prepolymer, which can be polymerized by a photo, has been infiltrated into a porous ceramic to improve the addition effect of polymer into the ceramic, as a function of the functionality of prepolymer. It induces the increase in the mechanical properties of the ceramic. The porous alumina (Al2O3) and the polyurethane acrylate (PUA) with a network structure by photo-polymerization were used as the matrix and infiltration materials, respectively. The porous Al2O3 matrix without the polymer shows lower values in fracture strength than the composites, since the stress is transmitted more quickly via propagation of cracks from intrinsic defects in the porous matrix. However, in the case of composites, the distribution of stress between heterophases results in the improved mechanical properties. In addition, the mechanical properties of composites, such as elastic modulus and fracture strength, are enhanced with increasing the functionality of prepolymer attributed to the crosslinking density of polymer

Thermoelastic Characteristics in Thermal Barrier Coatings with a Graded Layer between the Top and Bond Coats

A graded layer was introduced at the interface between the top and bond coats to reduce the risk of failure in a thermal barrier coating (TBC) system, and the thermoelastic behavior was investigated through mathematical approaches. Two types of TBC model with and without the graded layer, subject to a symmetric temperature distribution in the longitudinal direction, were taken into consideration to evaluate thermoelastic behaviors such as temperature distribution, displacement, and thermal stress. Thermoelastic theory was applied to derive two governing partial differential equations, and a finite volume method was developed to obtain approximations because of the complexity. The TBC with the graded layer shows improved durability in thermoelastic characteristics through mathematical approaches, in agreement with the experimental results. The results will be useful in discovering technologies for enhancing the thermomechanical properties of TBCs

Thermal durability and fracture behavior of layered Yb-Gd-Y-based thermal barrier coatings in thermal cyclic exposure

The effects of structural design on the thermal durability and fracture behavior of Yb-Gd-Y-based thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) were investigated through thermal cyclic exposure tests, such as furnace cyclic thermal fatigue (FCTF) and jet engine thermal shock (JETS) tests. The effects of composition in the bond coat and feedstock purity for the buffer layer on its lifetime performance were also examined. To overcome the drawbacks of Yb-Gd-Y-based material with inferior thermal durability due to poor mechanical properties and low coefficient of thermal expansion, a buffer layer was introduced in the Yb-Gd-Y-based TBC systems. In FCTF tests, the TBCs with the buffer layer showed a longer lifetime performance than those without the buffer layer, showing the longest thermal durability in the TBC with the Co-Ni-based bond coat and the buffer layer of regular purity. In JETS tests, the TBC with the Ni-based bond coat and the buffer layer of high purity showed a sound condition after 2000 cycles, showing better thermal durability for TBC with the Co-Ni-based bond coat rather than that with the Ni-based bond coat in the single layer coating without the buffer layer. The buffer layer effectively enhanced the thermal durability in slow temperature change (in the FCTF test), while the bond-coat composition and the feedstock purity for the buffer layer were found to be important factor to improve the thermal durability of the TBC in fast temperature change (in the JEET test). Finally, these research findings allow us to control the structure, composition, and feedstock purity in TBC system for improving the thermal durability in cyclic thermal environments

Antiosteoporosis Activity of New Oriental Medicine Preparation (Kyungokgo Mixed with Water Extract of Hovenia dulcis

Protective effect of new oriental medicine (Kyungokgo mixed with water extract of Hovenia dulcis, KOGHD) was assessed on the bone loss induced mice by ovariectomy. In the in vivo experiments, antiosteoporosis effect of KOGHD was investigated using ovariectomized osteoporosis mice model. After 6 weeks of treatment, the mice were euthanized, and the effect of Kyungokgo (KOG) and KOGHD on body weight, spleen weigh, thymus weight, uterine weight, serum biochemical indicators, bone weight and length, immune cell population, bone morphometric parameters, and histological stains was observed. Our results showed that KOGHD prevented the deterioration of trabecular microarchitecture caused by ovariectomy, which were accompanied by the lower levels of bone turnover markers and immune cell population as evidenced by the inhibition of RANKL-mediated osteoclast differentiation without cytotoxic effect on bone marrow derived macrophages (BMMs). Therefore, these results suggest that the Hovenia dulcis (HD) supplementation in the KOG may also prevent and treat bone loss