This paper on "Micromechanics and Finite Element Analysis of the Production and Performance of Plasma-Sprayed Ceramic Coatings" was presented at the NAFEMS World Congress on Design, Simulation & Optimisation: Reliability & Applicability of Computational Methods - 9-11 April 1997, Stuttgart, Germany.

Summary

The study aims at the numerical modelling of the manufacturing of ceramic coatings, and the performance prediction of coated structural components subject to thermal cycling. For this purpose, micromechanical approaches are employed for the coating deposition process, and for the constitutive description of the produced material. Finite element models are utilized for the computer simulation of the thermal and mechanical response to thermal cycling of coated components. Experimental test data are used for model development and validation. Industrial applications deal with coated pistons from automotive engineering, and with coated turbine blades from aerospace engineering.