Jason S. Van Sluytman, Honeywell Aerospace, Phoenix, AZ
Despite the impact attributed to the COVID pandemic, todays aerospace market forecast is steadfast – continued growth well past 2030. Consequently, the reliance of EBPVD processing for thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) applied to critical high pressure turbine components within the aero-engine will remain unabated as well. This talk starts with the current status of EBPVD utilized on the de facto>/i> industrial material standard: (7-8) weight percent yttria-stabilized-zirconia (7YSZ). Aside from the desired intrinsic properties offered by 7YSZ, the process stability and reproducibility to evaporate this ceramic oxide under the e-beam results in high throughput with minimal downtime. Yet, as this ceramic made inception into modern aero-engines, unanswered questions lingered, such as evaporative species, vapor cloud dynamics and in-situ monitoring. As the industry pivoted toward Lower-k TBC materials, these questions became challenges, revealing material advantages and limitations compared to 7YSZ. If these challenges can be understood and addressed, then the final part of this talk offers perspective concerning the future use of EBPVD within the aerospace industry.