Enhancing turbine blade durability: Evaluating protective ceramic coatings for Ti6Al4V alloy

Ti64 turbine blades face extreme conditions during solid particle erosion, accelerating the erosive and corrosive processes. Hard-coating materials such as DLC, AlTiN, TiSiN, AlCrN, and AlTiCN have been introduced through physical vapor deposition to enhance the turbine blade characteristics and increase the component lifespan. The results showed preferential orientations of (002) and (022) in coating crystallization with DLC exhibiting the highest compressive residual stress. DLC and AlTiCN coatings demonstrated fewer macroparticles and white spots, correlating with a lower coefficient of friction (COF) and surface roughness. The wear analysis revealed that DLC had the lowest COF and wear rate, followed by AlTiCN. Electrochemical tests indicated DLC's superior corrosion resistance of DLC. Although the properties of AlTiCN are comparable, DLC has emerged as the most promising coating material for achieving high erosion particle resistance in Ti64 turbine blades.