Micromechanical Characteristics of Plasma Thermal Barrier Coatings after Thermal Holding and Cyclic Deformation

For plasma thermal barrier coatings with a ceramic layer based on zirconium dioxide, we study the influence of the high-temperature holding time (1100°C, 2–100 h) and subsequent cyclic deformation in the elastic region and the ratio of the ceramic and intermediate metal layer thicknesses on the micromechanical characteristics estimated during instrumented indentation (Young’s modulus, kinetic hardness parameters, plastic deformation, creep) and on the flexural strength. When the thermal action time increases to 2 h, Young’s modulus, the kinetic hardness characteristics, and the strength of the coating are found to decrease significantly, and the fraction of energy spent on plastic deformation and the creep increase. When the thermal holding time is 50 h or more, the kinetic microhardness characteristics increase and the plasticity characteristics decrease. The highest strength of the coating is achieved at the ratio of the metallic sublayer and ceramic layer thicknesses of 0.2–0.3.