A multicomponent diffusion model for prediction of microstructural evolution in coated Ni based superalloy systems

A multicomponent model which can simulate the microstructural evolution of a coated Ni based superalloy system has been developed. The model consists of a one-dimensional finite difference diffusion solver to calculate the component distribution, a power law based model for predicting surface oxidation and a thermodynamic calculation routine for determining the phase evolution. Apart from forecasting concentration and phase profiles after a given thermal history, the model can estimate the losses due to oxidation and the remaining life of a coating based on a concentration and/or phase fraction dependent failure criteria. The phase constitution and concentration profiles predicted by the model have been compared with an experimental NiCoCrAlY coated CMSX-4 system, aged for times up to 10 000 h between 850 and 1050°C, and many experimental features can be predicted successfully by the model. The model is expected to be useful for assessing microstructural evolution of coated turbine blade systems.