Measurement of residual stress in plasma-sprayed composite coatings with graded and uniform compositions

Residual stresses in plasma sprayed composite coatings were studied experimentally by both curvature and neutron diffraction measurements. Graded and uniform composite coatings, consisting of nickel + alumina and NiCrAlY + yttria-stabilized zirconia, were investigated. This paper briefly summarizes our recent work dealing with the effects of coating thickness, composition, and material properties on the evolution of residual stresses in coatings. Analysis of the results allowed in some cases the separation of the quenching stress and thermal stress contributions to the final residual stress, as well as the determination of the through-thickness stress profile from measurements of different thickness specimens. In the ceramic-metal composites, it was found that the thermal mismatch stress plays a dominant role in the ceramic phase, whereas the stress in the metallic phase is mostly dominated by quenching stress. The residual stress measurement methods employed here were found to be complementary, in that each can provide unique information about the stress state. Through-thickness stress profiles in graded coatings were determined with high spatial resolution by the curvature method, and determination of the stress in each separate phase of a composite was made by neutron diffraction.