Fiber-reinforced self-healing environmental barrier coating

Abstract

An environmental barrier coating system for a turbine component, including an environmental barrier layer applied to a turbine component substrate containing silicon; the environmental barrier layer comprising an oxide matrix surrounding a fiber-reinforcement structure and a self-healing phase interspersed throughout the oxide matrix; wherein the fiber-reinforcement structure comprises at least one first fiber bundle oriented along a load bearing stress direction of said turbine component substrate; wherein the fiber-reinforcement structure comprises at least one second fiber bundle oriented orthogonal to the at least one first fiber bundle orientation; wherein the fiber-reinforcement structure comprises at least one third fiber woven between the at least one first fiber bundle and the at least one second fiber bundle.

Claims

1. An environmental barrier coating system for a turbine component, comprising: an environmental barrier layer applied to a turbine component substrate containing silicon; said environmental barrier layer comprising an oxide matrix surrounding a fiber-reinforcement structure and a self-healing phase interspersed throughout said oxide matrix; wherein said fiber-reinforcement structure comprises at least one first fiber bundle oriented along a load bearing stress direction of said turbine component substrate; wherein said fiber-reinforcement structure comprises at least one second fiber bundle oriented orthogonal to said at least one first fiber bundle orientation; wherein said fiber-reinforcement structure comprises at least one third fiber woven between said at least one first fiber bundle and said at least one second fiber bundle.

2. The environmental barrier coating of claim 1, wherein said turbine component substrate comprises a ceramic matrix composite material.

3. The environmental barrier coating of claim 1, wherein said fiber-reinforcement structure comprises a continuous weave of fibers.

4. The environmental barrier coating of claim 1, wherein said fiber-reinforcement structure comprises a SiC material composition.

5. The environmental barrier coating of claim 1, wherein said turbine component substrate comprises a turbine blade, and said load bearing stress direction is oriented along a root to tip direction.

6. The environmental barrier coating of claim 1, wherein said turbine component substrate comprises at least one of a turbine vane and a turbine blade, and said load bearing stress direction is oriented along a contour of a platform fillet.

7. The environmental barrier coating of claim 1, wherein said fiber-reinforcement structure comprises fibers that are oxygen getter materials.

8. The environmental barrier coating of claim 1, wherein said fiber-reinforcement structure comprises fibers that are coated with an interface coating.

9. The environmental barrier coating of claim 8, wherein said interface coating is selected from the group consisting of boron nitride, silicon carbide, an oxide, and carbon.

10. The environmental barrier coating of claim 1, wherein said matrix comprises a multi-phase mixture.

11. The environmental barrier coating of claim 10, wherein said multi-phase mixture comprises SiO.sub.2.

12. The environmental barrier coating of claim 1, wherein said self-healing phase comprises a glass phase.

13. The environmental barrier coating of claim 1, wherein said self-healing phase comprises a material having properties of being in thermodynamic equilibrium with SiO.sub.2 during operation at predetermined temperatures.

14. The environmental barrier coating of claim 1, wherein said self-healing phase comprises a material having properties of flowing into cracks formed in said matrix during operation at predetermined temperatures.

15. The environmental barrier coating of claim 1, further comprising an oxygen getter phase interspersed throughout said matrix.

16. The environmental barrier coating of claim 1, further comprising: a protective layer applied on said environmental barrier coating.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a cross section of an exemplary coating on a substrate containing silicon according to the disclosure.

(2) FIG. 2 is a cross section of an exemplary coating on a substrate containing silicon according to the disclosure.

(3) FIG. 3 is cross section of the exemplary coating on a substrate containing silicon according to the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(4) Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an environmental barrier coating 10 formed over a substrate 12 of an article 14, configured to inhibit the formation of gaseous species of silicon when the article 14 is exposed to a high temperature, steam-laden environment. The coating 10 can be designed for maximum protection between 1100° C. and 1700° C. The substrate 12 can be associated with articles 14 such as, at least one of a turbine vane and a turbine blade, and particularly a gas turbine engine component, such as components in the hot section of the gas turbine engine, including rotating components and portions of combustors, shrouds, and the like.

(5) The substrate 12 of the article 14 can include portions that experience certain forces that result in a load bearing stress often oriented in a particular direction, i.e., a load bearing stress direction 16 of the substrate 12 of the article 14, illustrated as an arrow 16. It is contemplated that the load bearing stress direction 16 can be oriented in a variety of directions as well as multiple directions depending on the design of the substrate 12 and service of the article 14 in the gas turbine engine.

(6) In an exemplary embodiment the load bearing stress direction 16 can be oriented from a root 18 of the article 14 to a tip 20 of the article 14, such as a blade root to a blade tip. In another exemplary embodiment, the load bearing stress direction 16 can be oriented along a contour of a fillet between a platform and an airfoil portion of the article 14, such as a blade/vane platform fillet 22. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the root to tip direction can be understood as orthogonal to the plane of the page shown in the bundle of fibers 38.

(7) The substrate 12 can be constructed from materials containing silicon and can be a ceramic matrix composite material, a silicon ceramic substrate or a silicon containing metal alloy. In an exemplary embodiment, the substrate 12 can be silicon containing ceramic material such as, for example, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, silicon oxy-nitride and silicon aluminum oxy-nitride. In accordance with a particular embodiment, the silicon containing ceramic substrate comprises a silicon containing matrix with reinforcing materials 24 such as fibers, particles and the like and, more particularly, a silicon based matrix which is fiber-reinforced. Particularly suitable ceramic substrates are a silicon carbide coated silicon carbide fiber-reinforced silicon carbide particle and silicon matrix, a carbon fiber-reinforced silicon carbide matrix and a silicon carbide fiber-reinforced silicon nitride matrix. Particularly useful silicon-metal alloys for use as substrates for the article 14 can include molybdenum-silicon alloys, niobium-silicon alloys, iron-silicon alloys, and aluminum-silicon alloys.

(8) Referring also to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, an environmental barrier layer 26 can be applied to the substrate 12. A protective layer 28 can be applied on the environmental barrier layer 26. The protective layer 28 is configured to resist vaporization when exposed to steam. In an exemplary embodiment, the protective layer can be a rare earth disilicate, such as Y.sub.2Si.sub.2O.sub.7, Yb.sub.2Si.sub.2O.sub.7; a rare earth monosilicate, such as Y.sub.2SiO.sub.5, Yb.sub.2SiO.sub.5, HfSiO.sub.4, ZrSiO.sub.4, HfO.sub.2, BSAS (Ba.sub.xSr.sub.1-xAl.sub.2Si.sub.2O.sub.8 where x may be 0.25).

(9) The environmental barrier layer 26 can include an oxide matrix 30 surrounding a fiber-reinforcement structure 32 and a self-healing phase 34 interspersed throughout the oxide matrix 30. In an alternative embodiment, the oxide matrix 30 can be a single phase without self-healing phase present. In another embodiment, the oxide matrix 30 can include a multi-phase mixture, such as SiO.sub.2 rich phase. The self-healing phase 34 can include a glass phase. The self-healing phase 34 can include a material having properties that are in thermodynamic equilibrium with SiO.sub.2 during operation at predetermined temperatures. The self-healing phase 34 comprises a material having properties of flowing into cracks 48 formed in the matrix 30 during operation at those predetermined temperatures. The self-healing phase 34 can be sufficiently fluid at high temperatures to flow into cracks 48 in the coating 10, which imparts a self-healing functionality. Between 1000° C. and 2000° C. these materials can exist as mixtures of solid and liquid phases. The temperature at which liquid formation occurs can be controlled by the chemical composition. In an exemplary embodiment, liquid formation initiates between 1150° C. and 1500° C., with the volume fraction of liquid increasing with temperature. The viscosity of the liquid phase can vary from 0.1 to 100,000 Pa*s with the exemplary viscosity varying between 10-10,000 Pa*s. An example of the self-healing phase 34 can include a mixture of BaMg.sub.2Al.sub.6Si.sub.9O.sub.30 and SiO.sub.2. Another example can include the mixture of CaAl.sub.2Si.sub.2O.sub.8, CaSiO.sub.3 and SiO.sub.2. Another example includes the mixture of Y.sub.2Si.sub.2O.sub.7, Al.sub.2O.sub.3 and SiO.sub.2. Alternatively, the materials listed above could be premixed and processed to form a glass. The initial composition of the glass could be: 2% BaO, 3% MgO, 10% AlO.sub.1.5, 85% SiO.sub.2, or 8% CaO, 17% AlO.sub.1.5 75% SiO.sub.2, or 10% YO.sub.1.5, 10 AlO.sub.1.5, 80% SiO.sub.2.

(10) An oxygen getter phase 36 can also be interspersed throughout the oxide matrix 30. The oxygen getter phase 36 can comprise an oxy-carbide material. In an exemplary embodiment, the oxy-carbide material can include a glass that contains oxygen and carbon and silicon dioxide as well as particles of amorphous carbon and silicon carbide.

(11) The fiber-reinforcement structure 32 can include a continuous weave of fibers. In an exemplary embodiment, the fiber-reinforcement structure 32 comprises a SiC material composition. The fiber-reinforcement structure 32 can include at least one first fiber bundle 38 oriented along the load bearing stress direction 16 of the substrate 12. In an exemplary embodiment, the first fiber bundle 38 can be oriented from blade root 18 to blade tip 20 and aligned along the root to tip direction, so as to provide structural support along the same orientation as the load bearing stress direction 16. In another exemplary embodiment, the first fiber bundle 38 can be oriented along the load bearing stress direction 16 oriented along the contour of the blade/vane platform fillet 22.

(12) In another exemplary embodiment, the fiber-reinforcement structure 32 comprises at least one second fiber bundle 40 oriented orthogonal to the first fiber bundle 38 orientation. In another exemplary embodiment, the fiber-reinforcement structure 32 comprises at least one third fiber 42 woven between the first fiber bundle 38 and the second fiber bundle 40. In an exemplary embodiment, the fiber-reinforcement structure 32 comprises fibers that comprise oxygen getter materials 44. In another exemplary embodiment, the fiber-reinforcement structure 32 comprises fibers that are coated with an interface coating 46. The interface coating 46 can include materials selected from the group consisting of boron nitride, silicon carbide, an oxide and carbon.

(13) The environmental barrier layer 26 can be present on the article at a thickness of greater than or equal to about 0.5 mils (0.0005 inch), preferably between about 3 to about 30 mils and ideally between about 3 to about 8 mils.

(14) The environmental barrier layer 26 can be applied by preparing the substrate 12 surface.

(15) There are several methods that could be used to introduce a glass-ceramic into the fiber reinforcement structure 32 being provided for the environmental barrier coating 10. In one approach, a fiber preform can be infiltrated using a glass particulate suspension, which would be added to the fiber preform layer by soaking, spraying or other means, at ambient temperature. The infiltrated fabric or preform is placed adjacent to the silicon containing CMC substrate 12, and the assembly is heated. Pressure can be applied using graphite dies, powdered media such as carbon or boron nitride, and the like, in order to de-gas the environmental barrier layer 26 at temperatures suitable for melting the glass. The subsequent assembly can undergo annealing to obtain a desired microstructure.

(16) In another exemplary embodiment, an alternate technique of assembly would be to place a fiber preform in contact with the silicon containing CMC substrate 12. The fiber perform can then be rigidized using a variety of techniques, including but not limited to adding a ceramic sol and freezing the substrate followed by freeze drying. The assembly is then placed into a graphite die which comprises an outer profile of the EBC coated article 14. Molten glass is then injected into the die and flows into and among the fibers of the preform. The assembly can then be cooled and (re)heated to a temperature suitable to promote the formation of the desired microstructure.

(17) Alternative approaches to introducing oxide or silicate phases into a relatively thin fiber preform, can include but are not limited to spraying the preform with a suspension, followed by heating the surface via flame or plasma spraying molten oxide and/or silicate materials onto the preform, and the like. Generally, sharp temperature gradients between the substrate and the created layer should be avoided to enhance adherence.

(18) A self-healing, fiber-reinforced oxidant barrier offers a robust mechanism for protecting load bearing materials in the hot-section of gas turbine engines. This disclosure describes the use of fiber reinforcements in the environmental barrier coating to increase durability. Additionally, the self-healing, multi-phase matrix that surrounds the fibers inhibits the permeability of oxidants through the coating. The fibers will also increase the creep resistance of the coating, enhancing durability on rotating components.

(19) An environmental barrier coating prevents CMC recession caused by Si(OH)x formation. Interaction of the environmental barrier coating with the steam laden combustion environment results in the formation of Si(OH)x, but the rate of formation is much less than that of an uncoated SiC CMC.

(20) There has been provided a coating. While the coating has been described in the context of specific embodiments thereof, other unforeseen alternatives, modifications, and variations may become apparent to those skilled in the art having read the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace those alternatives, modifications, and variations which fall within the broad scope of the appended claims.