Research Progress on Microstructure Regulation and Repair Technology of Thermal Barrier Coatings for Aeroengine Turbine Blades

LIU Yanfei; TIAN Wei; KONG Linggang; GUO Huiming; WANG Xinguang

doi:10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2026.19.002

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Surface Technology ›› 2026, Vol. 55 ›› Issue (19) : 21-28. DOI: 10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2026.19.002

Special Topic—Advanced Thermal Barrier Coating Technologies and Applications for Advanced Aero-engines and Gas Turbines

Research Progress on Microstructure Regulation and Repair Technology of Thermal Barrier Coatings for Aeroengine Turbine Blades

LIU Yanfei^1,2, TIAN Wei^1,*, KONG Linggang³, GUO Huiming¹, WANG Xinguang^2,4

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Abstract

To satisfy the ever-increasing development requirements of high thrust-to-weight ratio, lightweight structural design and long-term operational reliability for modern advanced aeroengines, it is of great significance and urgency to upgrade the high-temperature resistance and service stability of turbine blades. As the core hot-end components inside aeroengine turbomachinery, turbine blades are subject to harsh service conditions including extreme high-temperature gas flow, complex mechanical loads, thermal-mechanical coupling fatigue and corrosive oxidation environments during long-term operation. Under such severe service circumstances, the performance degradation and premature failure of turbine blades will directly restrict the thrust output, service life and safety margin of the whole propulsion system. As one of the most indispensable thermal protection technologies for aeroengine turbine blades, thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are widely adopted to reduce the metal substrate temperature, alleviate thermal-mechanical damage and extend the service cycle of high-temperature alloy blades. In recent years, with the continuous improvement of aeroengine performance indicators, researchers and engineering practitioners have paid widespread attention to improving the comprehensive service performance of TBCs and cutting down their full-life-cycle application, maintenance and repair costs. The trade-off between high thermal insulation capacity, excellent mechanical robustness and low-cost maintainability has become a key technical challenge in the research and engineering application of turbine blade thermal barrier coatings.
In order to fully exploit the engineering service potential of thermal barrier coatings applied on aeroengine turbine blades, the work aims to conduct a study on the real-world engineering application scenarios instead of simple laboratory experimental conditions. Based on practical engineering experience and relevant technical investigations, the key technical control points for turbine blade TBCs are systematically summarized, covering three core technical links, namely coating structural design, thickness and microstructure regulation, as well as service-induced damage repair. On the basis of comprehensive literature review and engineering case analysis, the underlying effect mechanisms of multiple critical coating characteristic parameters are further elucidated, including overall coating architecture, coating thickness, internal porosity, and inter-column gaps within the ceramic top-layer, on the thermal insulation effect and impact-resistant performance of the whole thermal barrier coating system. The above-mentioned microstructural features jointly determine the heat-transfer behavior, thermal stress distribution and mechanical failure resistance of TBCs under complex service loads. Special emphasis is placed on the technical principles, typical technical routes and current practical engineering application status of damaged ceramic top-layer removal, which acts as the prerequisite step for TBCs repair of turbine blades. The discussion and analysis presented in this work can provide valuable theoretical reference and practical technical guidance for improving the thermal insulation performance and impact resistance of turbine blade thermal barrier coatings, as well as effectively reducing their engineering application and maintenance expenses.
Furthermore, aiming at the existing bottlenecks in performance improvement and maintainability of turbine blade thermal barrier coatings, this work puts forward targeted development suggestions for comprehensive performance enhancement and efficient repair technologies from multiple technical dimensions. These proposals include the optimization design of multi-layer coating architectures, differentiated zonal microstructure control for coatings deposited on blade airfoils, and the introduction of repairability requirements into the design and development of novel coating materials. It is expected that these technical ideas and development orientations can accelerate the popularization and large-scale engineering application of thermal barrier coating technologies for critical hot-end components of aeroengines. Meanwhile, the research conclusions and proposed strategies can provide meaningful reference for the subsequent development of thermal protection systems, and further contribute to the overall performance upgrading, reliability improvement and cost control of advanced aeroengines.

Key words

turbine blade / thermal barrier coatings / structural design / microstructure control / repair process

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LIU Yanfei, TIAN Wei, KONG Linggang, GUO Huiming, WANG Xinguang. Research Progress on Microstructure Regulation and Repair Technology of Thermal Barrier Coatings for Aeroengine Turbine Blades[J]. Surface Technology. 2026, 55(19): 21-28

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