Thermal Barrier Coating Thermal barrier coatings (TBC) are layer systems deposited on thermally highly loaded metallic

components, as for instance in gas turbines. The cooling of the components causes a pronounced reduction of the metal temperature, which leads to a prolongation of the mechanical component's lifetime. Alternatively, the use of thermal barrier coatings allows to raise the process temperature, obtaining thus an increased efficiency. Thermal barrier coatings usually consist of two layers (duplex structure). The first layer, a metallic one, is the so-called bond coat, whose function is, on the one side, to protect the basic material against oxidation and corrosion and, on the other side, to provide with a good adhesion to the thermal insulating ceramic layer. Such a ceramic coating is mostly made of yttria partially stabilized zirconia (YSZ), since this material has turned out particularly suitable during the last decades. Recently, nevertheless, also new developments such as those intensely carried out in the institute IWV1, have become increasingly interesting. Nowadays, in the industrial production there are two different processes for the manufacturing of thermal barrier coatings: the electron beam - physical vapour deposition (EB-PVD) and the plasma spraying (PS). Whilst EB-PVD process is usually used to deposit an aluminium layer as bond coat, the plasma spraying technology applies vacuum plasma-sprayed bond coats, which are mostly made of MCrAlYs (M=Ni, Co). Recently, the high velocity oxy-fuel technology (HVOF) is also increasingly used for this task. The ceramic layer is usually deposited by means of the atmospheric plasma spraying (APS).

thermal barrier coating in exhaust manifold

Thermal Barrier Coating in Lamborghini Reventn

One of the example of thermal barrier coating is the one used in Lamborghinis state-of-the-art car, the 1,000,000.00 Lamborghini Reventn. Lamborghini Reventn is a mid engine supercar with V12 6496 cc engine capable to produce 650 HP power and 487 at 6000 rpm, and can run the car from 0 60 miles

per hour in only 3.3 secs with top speed exceeds 200 miles per hour. As for that, the Lamborghini Reventn requires high quality materials to build such a supercar. One that need an extra cautions is the exhaust system of Reventn. With a 6496 cc engine, Reventns engine can produce a very high temperature exhaust gas that discharged through the exhaust system. The problems arise if the exhaust system materials is unable to withstand the constant high temperature and allow the heat to flow out from the exhaust system wall. It can be disastrous to a Reventn which has a superlight chassis made from composites materials; the component near the exhaust manifold could exposed to an elevated temperature from the exhaust system such as exhaust manifold and thus could reduce the service life of the component and lowering the build quality of Reventn. Thats why the exhaust system of Lamborghini Reventn must be made from the material which can withstand the high temperature and insulate the heat so it will not leak into outer side of the exhaust system and exposed to Reventns component. Nowadays there are a lot options of temperature resistant alloy for used in exhaust system, but to insulate the heat we need a ceramic coating to prevent heat leakage from inner exhaust system to the component.

The Lamborghini selected Zircotec to supply a thermal barrier for its one million Euro Reventn car. The internal exhaust such as the exhaust manifold use a coating of Yttria Stabilized Zirconia to provide a high thermal insulation, because the temperature of the exhaust manifold is nearly as high as the engine itself, so it requires a highly insulated material to prevent a heat leakage that can reduce the service life of the other component of Reventn. The Yttria Stabilized Zirconia also provide a good mechanical properties such as high shock resistant, corrosion resistant, and a better mechanical damage resistant compared to other ceramic coating materials. Zircotec's plasma-sprayed Diamond Black coating is applied to the exhaust and inhibits heat transfer from the tailpipe protecting heat

sensitive components from damage. As for the exhaust tip, Lamborghini needed a durable solution that protected the composite bodywork and components at the rear of the car. Traditional paint finishes were unable to meet the stringent quality and durability requirements set by Lamborghini. Zircotec's coating is plasma-sprayed to the base material, making it extremely well adhered to the underlying component to provide an extremely hard and durable surface that is highly resistant to vibration, mechanical damage and more resilient during heat cycling and life testing. Together with the new black finish, Zircotec delivers not only a highly durable coating but one that satisfied the requirements of Lamborghini's Styling Department.

coating in Reventns manifold

coating in exhaust tip

Coating Process The coating process of Reventns exhaust system use a highly advanced coating system used in aerospace industry and turbine blade production, the Plasma Spray Technology. The plasma spray coating mechanism can be illustrated in the figure below:

In plasma spray gun, the electric arc is conducted by several hundred amperes of current and 30 70 volt of voltage resulting in a high temperature Inert gas such as Hydrogen and Argon is pumped into the spray gun with a very high velocity. The high temperature generated by the electric arc (~ 15,000 K) ionize the gas into plasma and further increasing the temperature to melt the coating material Ceramic material for coating in the powder form is injected into the spray of the gas nozzle. The ceramic material is then melted by the heat generated and go with the gas stream The molten ceramic powder form a droplets of liquid and is pushed to the surface of the substrate, and piled there forms a coating surface that is heat resistant and insulate the heat.

Plasma Spray Technique for Thermal Barrier Coating is far superior to other methods for coating the same type, because of its ability to melt the coating material is higher than with other methods of thermal spray. In addition, the results with plasma spray coatings are high porosity and low impurities, reaching 2-5%, especially if done on the Vacuum condition (Vacuum plasma spraying). The only drawback of this method is that the process is very expensive compared to other thermal coating processes, because the equipment is very expensive and must be done by programmed robot, because it is impossible to obtain a similar thickness of the coating by manual spraying.

Lamborghini Reventn for 1,000,000 is one of the few cars that use this coating technology in its exhaust system is designed for a performance of "monster", so that the plasma spray coating process shall be conducted in the exhaust system