Stock material or miscellaneous articles – All metal or with adjacent metals – Composite; i.e. – plural – adjacent – spatially distinct metal...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-05
2001-03-20
Speer, Timothy M. (Department: 1775)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
All metal or with adjacent metals
Composite; i.e., plural, adjacent, spatially distinct metal...
C428S633000, C428S650000, C428S469000, C428S472000, C428S472200, C416S24100B
Reexamination Certificate
active
06203927
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the field of thermal barrier coatings, and more particularly to a thermal barrier coating for a very high temperature application such as a combustion turbine engine. In particular, this invention relates to the field of multi-layer ceramic thermal barrier coatings resistant to sintering damage for coating superalloy components of a combustion turbine.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The demand for continued improvement in the efficiency of combustion turbine and combined cycle power plants has driven the designers of these systems to specify increasingly higher firing temperatures in the combustion portions of these systems. Although nickel and cobalt based superalloy materials are now used for components in the hot gas flow path, such as combustor transition pieces and turbine rotating and stationary blades, even these superalloy materials are not capable of surviving long term operation at temperatures sometimes exceeding 1,200 degrees C.
It is known in the art to coat a superalloy metal component with an insulating ceramic material to improve its ability to survive high operating temperatures; see for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,310 issued on Mar. 23, 1982, to Ulion et al. It is also known to coat the insulating ceramic material with an erosion resistant material to reduce its susceptibility to wear caused by the impact of particles carried within the hot gas flow path; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,683,825 issued on Nov. 4, 1997, to Bruce et al. and 5,562,998 issued on Oct. 8, 1996, to Strangman. Each of the above mentioned patents are incorporated by reference herein.
Much of the development in this field of technology has been driven by the aircraft engine industry, where turbine engines are required to operate at high temperatures, and are also subjected to frequent temperature transients as the power level of the engine is varied. A combustion turbine engine installed in a land-based power generating plant is also subjected to high operating temperatures and temperature transients, but it may also be required to operate at full power and at its highest temperatures for very long periods of time, such as for days or even weeks at a time. Prior art insulating systems are susceptible to degradation under such conditions at the elevated temperatures demanded in the most modern combustion turbine systems.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a device which is capable of operating at temperatures in excess of 1,200 degrees C. for extended periods of time with reduced component degradation. It is a further object of this invention to provide a method of producing such a device that utilizes only commercially available materials processing steps.
SUMMARY
In order to achieve these and other objects of the invention, a device for operating over a range of temperatures and having a thermal barrier coating on at least a portion of its surface is provided according to this invention. The device has a substrate; a bond coat layer disposed on the substrate; a ceramic layer disposed on the bond coat layer, the ceramic layer having a microstructure characterized by a plurality of gaps extending from an outer surface of the ceramic layer toward the bond coat layer; and a sintering inhibiting material disposed within the gaps. Further, a method according to this invention for producing a device operable over a range of temperatures includes steps of: providing a substrate; disposing a bond coat layer on the substrate; disposing a ceramic layer on the bond coat layer in a manner that provides the ceramic layer with a microstructure characterized by a plurality of gaps extending from an outer surface of the ceramic layer toward the bond coat layer; and depositing within the gaps a sintering inhibiting material.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4321310 (1982-03-01), Ulion et al.
patent: 4321311 (1982-03-01), Strangman
patent: 4401697 (1983-08-01), Strangman
patent: 4405659 (1983-09-01), Strangman
patent: 4738227 (1988-04-01), Kamo et al.
patent: 4761346 (1988-08-01), Naik
patent: 5238752 (1993-08-01), Duderstadt et al.
patent: 5514482 (1996-05-01), Strangman
patent: 5562998 (1996-10-01), Strangman
patent: 5683825 (1997-11-01), Bruce et al.
patent: 0 415 217 (1991-03-01), None
patent: 0 712 940 (1996-05-01), None
patent: 0 783 043 (1997-07-01), None
patent: 0 937 787 (1999-08-01), None
patent: 99 18259 (1999-04-01), None
Sabol Stephen M.
Subramanian Ramesh
Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott , LLC
Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation
Speer Timothy M.
Young Bryant
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