The immense durability of thermal barrier coatings makes them one of the best ways to preserve materials that must operate in extreme heat. However, even the most dependable protective coatings have limits.
At times, the amount of thermal shock a thermal barrier coating must face is simply too much for it to endure. Still, this breaking point happens at an extremely high threshold that makes thermal barrier coatings an excellent option despite having a finite limit to the temperatures they can endure.
In this article, we’ll explore what thermal shock is, how it affects thermal barrier coatings, and how much heat you can expect your thermal barrier coating to withstand. Read on to learn more about the thermal shock limits of these coatings.
What is Thermal Shock?
Before we discuss the specific effects of thermal shock on thermal barrier coatings, it’s vital for you to understand what thermal shock is in a more general sense. Put simply, thermal shock refers to stress that high temperatures can impart to materials.
Thermal shock typically occurs following an abrupt and extreme temperature change. When thermal shock occurs at a high enough degree, it can cause materials to fail, often by cracking or forming some other type of damage.
How Thermal Shock Affects Thermal Barrier Coatings
As their name implies, thermal barrier coatings are manufactured to help materials survive even when faced with extreme thermal energy changes. However, despite surviving in some of the hottest settings, even these high-tech coatings have a breaking point. In fact, thermal shock is one of the leading types of failure in thermal barrier coatings.
Rapid and repeated increases in thermal energy place extreme tensile stress on thermal barrier coatings. When this stress reaches a certain point, the coating can often fail by developing fissures on its surface.
This type of thermal barrier coating failure is most common in settings such as the interior of engine turbines. Since the turbines involve extreme heat and must turn on and off repeatedly, they can cause thermal barrier coatings to crack and fail.
How Much Heat Can a Thermal Barrier Coating Withsand?
After learning that a thermal barrier coating can break down in extreme heat, it’s only natural to wonder what the specific temperature limit of these coatings is. The truth is that every thermal barrier coating product will come with different specifications and the ability to withstand extreme heat.
Still, many of the leading thermal barrier coatings on the market today can survive in temperatures of 1,200 °C or more. That impressive temperature range ensures that thermal barrier coating is useful in many settings and in many industries.
How Thermal Barrier Coatings Help Manage Thermal Energy
Now that we’ve discussed the limits of thermal energy coatings let’s discuss how well they manage thermal energy in most scenarios. When below their extreme temperature limit, thermal energy coatings have an incredible ability to limit thermal energy transfer, which protects materials of many different types and ensures they remain operable even in the hottest environments.
Thermal barrier coatings achieve this fantastic effect thanks to the layers that comprise them. While different coating products might come with varying numbers of layers, most have at least two foundation layers that provide the coating’s primary function.
The first main layer is known as the metallic bond coat. This layer is responsible for helping the thermal barrier coating adhere to the surfaces of the materials it protects. The second main layer is called the ceramic top coat. This layer is what allows the thermal barrier coating to dramatically minimize thermal energy transfer and keep materials intact for longer timeframes.
A Few Thermal Barrier Coating Applications
Given their admirable ability to manage thermal energy transfer, thermal barrier coatings have a wide range of uses across many different industries. The list below provides a few leading examples of thermal barrier coating applications:
- Storage
- Transportation
- Shipping
- Manufacturing
- Building insulation
- Marine applications
These are just a few examples of the industries that can benefit from the use of thermal barrier coatings. The odds are that your industry can also benefit from the strategic use of one of the coatings.
Get an Industry-Leading Thermal Barrier Coating
While thermal barrier coatings have their limits when it comes to thermal shock, they remain a highly useful protective element in many industries. If you’re impressed by the astounding capabilities these coatings provide, you should consider using one today.
The best approach when buying a thermal barrier coating is to work with a supplier that has experience selling the best products on the market today. At ThermaCote, we are proud to offer industry-leading thermal barrier coatings to all who need them. Contact us today to learn more about what we can offer.