Simulation of Functionally Graded Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) Over Al–Si Piston Using Finite Element Method

The piston is an essential part of an internal combustion engine which transfers force from gas expansion in cylinder to the crankshaft. Owing to its functionality, piston is subjected to high thermal gradients due to expansion of gases which often leads to development of high thermal stresses. Use of coating on engine components has been found to yield the efficiency of the engine as it entraps unwanted heat transfer to the engine components. Over the years functionally graded materials are gaining importance as thermal barrier coating owing to its spatial variation of constituent. FGM consists of metallic and ceramic phases which vary in composition from one end to other in a well-defined way. The effort to increase the performance of piston using thermal barrier coatings in form of functionally graded materials have been the main aim of current work. Spatial variation of constituents in FGM has enabled it to be used as thermal barrier coatings as its ceramic constituent exposed to high-temperature acts as a barrier to heat transfer due to its lower thermal conductivity. Functionally graded thermal barrier coating enhances high-temperature durability of the components by reducing heat transfer between the underlying piston metal. Current work focuses on finite element analysis of Al–Si piston using ANSYS workbench having different type of FGM coatings (MgZrO3 − NiCrAl, YSZ − NiCoCrAlY, NiCrAlY − YSZ, La2Zr2O7 − NiCoCrAlY). The major aim of this study is to predict the most suitable FGM coating after comparing the outcomes of the analysis performed using the Finite element method.