Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) has been widely used on the surface of hot end components because its excellent high temperature oxidation resistance, adiabatic performance and corrosion resistance. In service environments with temperatures in excess of 1000 ℃, external oxygen elements will diffuse through the toping coating to the interface of the bonding coating, and reacts with the metal elements in it to form a layer of thermal growth oxidation (TGO). With the increase of service time, the TGO interface generates high thermal stress during the continuous growth of TGO leads to crack initiation and propagation, which results in the peeling off of large areas of the coating. Therefore, the study of TGO oxidation failure is both a tough and a popular problem. This paper summarizes the main models used in the study of TGO interface establishment, such as concentric circle interface model, curved string interface model and real interface model. The curve string geometry generally requires only amplitude and wavelength to describe the interface well, so most modeling are established by the curve model. Based on this, the influence of interfacial topography, interfacial roughness and TGO thickness on stress distribution are summarized, and the interfacial damage behavior is discussed from both the strain energy release rate and the crack trajectory. The mentioned studies have provided a sound illustration of the TGO growth process, but only the influence of morphological features on stress distribution has been considered, therefore further research should consider the real TGO interface and refine the accuracy of the simulation results, and develop FEM techniques to achieve predict crack propagation trajectory and service life under realistic conditions.