Ceramic nanoparticle coating protects aero engines from heat

In tests, this is said to have increased the service life of the coating by 300 per cent and it is hoped that components with the new thermal barrier coating will be in production within two years.

To increase the service life of aircraft engines, a heat-insulating surface layer is sprayed on top of the metal components. The goal of the University West research group was to control the structure of the surface layer in order to increase its service life and insulating capability.

The thermal barrier coating is manufactured using thermal spray application, whereby a ceramic powder is sprayed onto a surface at a very high temperature –7,000 to 8,000 degrees C – using a plasma stream. The ceramic particles melt and strike the surface, where they form a protective layer that is approximately half a millimetre thick.

‘The base is a ceramic powder, but we have also tested adding plastic to generate pores that make the material more elastic,’ said Nicholas Curry, who has presented his doctoral thesis on the subject.