Experimental Study and Numerical Simulation of the Tensile Test for GH4169 Coated with YSZ Coating at High Temperature

In this study, high temperature tensile test was conducted on the specimen of superalloy GH4169 coated with wt8%-YSZ under the conditions of 950°C and 80MPa. By using finite element (FE) simulation method, the failure initiation and evolution of the metal substrate and YSZ coating were predicted. It was found that stress concentration originally occurred in the YSZ ceramic top coating, causing an axial stress and triggering severe debonding failure in the center region of the specimen at t=180s. With increased load, further interfacial debonding failure of the residual coating occurred due to the presence of oblique tensile stress and at t=900s, and only a few residues can be seen at the arc transitional region. Subsequently, the metal substrate was subjected to uniform tensile deformation and finally ruptured at t=76min with apparent necking. In addition, it was notable that YSZ coating can relieve stress significantly (nearly 40% lower), thus helping prolong the substrate's service life in the same environment. Simulated results were consistent with observed behavior.