• The MIM-TBC project has developed a microstructure-informed modelling framework to improve durability, efficiency and reliability in aerospace and power-generation systems

Researchers at IMDEA Materials Institute have developed an advanced computational modelling framework that enables the systematic analysis of potential failure and degradation mechanisms in thermal barrier coatings (TBCs).

Such coatings are essential for protecting critical high-temperature components in demanding applications such as gas turbines.

Through understanding the complex physical processes that govern coating degradation, the framework provides a foundation for understanding TBC performance, leading to the development of more durable coating systems.

“TBC’s play a critical role in protecting the hot-section components of gas turbines from high-temperature corrosion and, most critically, oxidation,” explains Dr. Mohammad Jalili, lead researcher of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions-funded MIM-TBC project.

“Owing to their exceptionally low thermal conductivity, ceramic TBCs act as an insulating layer, limiting heat transfer into the underlying metal substrate and reducing its temperature by approximately 100-300 °C.”

“This thermal protection allows turbines to operate at temperatures that can approach or even exceed the nominal melting point of their metallic components, enabling higher thermal efficiency, increased power output, and reduced fuel consumption,” he adds.

In aviation, this capability is essential for achieving the demanding thrust-to-weight ratios and specific fuel consumption targets of next-generation aircraft. In land-based power generation, it enables higher firing temperatures while providing the operational flexibility required to complement and balance intermittent renewable energy sources.

The durability of zirconia-based ceramic coatings has been well established over several decades of research and industrial use. However, a critical vulnerability remains within the metallic bond coat that provides adhesion between the ceramic topcoat and the underlying metal substrate.

This bond coat is exposed to complex thermal, chemical, and mechanical conditions that can progressively drive degradation and ultimately compromise the integrity and lifetime of the entire TBC system.

“What distinguishes this research is its Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) perspective, aimed at developing a virtual platform that reproduces the actual operating conditions of TBCs,” explains Dr. Jalili. “This enables systematic assessment of the influence of different microstructural and material features and, ultimately, optimisation of TBC design.”

Microstructural evolution of the system constituents, combined with the thermal expansion mismatch between the ceramic coating, bond coat, and metallic substrate, leads to stress accumulation at the interfaces between the different layers, promoting crack initiation and growth and, ultimately, degradation of the bond coat-TGO interface.

Owing to the harsh operating conditions, experimental characterisation is particularly challenging. An experimentally validated virtual testing platform would therefore provide a powerful means to better understand the underlying degradation mechanisms.

The MIM-TBC project, supervised by IMDEA Materials Principal Investigator Prof. Javier Segurado, aims to address this challenge through the development of an innovative computational framework that can be used as a design tool to mechanistically predict the evolution of the TBC system throughout its service life.

By capturing the key degradation processes and their interactions, the framework will enable the prediction of TBC behaviour under relevant operating conditions and support the design and optimisation of coatings with improved durability and extended service life.

The framework explicitly accounts for their evolving microstructural characteristics and the dynamic changes that occur throughout their service life. It integrates oxidation kinetics, diffusion-driven compositional and material changes, oxide growth, plastic deformation, creep, and interfacial damage within a unified, fully coupled modelling environment.

“This approach enables the framework to capture the complex interactions between microstructural evolution and the mechanical and chemical degradation of the TBC system, providing a more realistic prediction of its behaviour over time,” says Dr. Jalili.

“In its fully developed form, it represents a significant advancement beyond traditional empirical approaches, providing engineers with a direct, quantitative link between measurable microstructural characteristics and the long-term performance and durability of TBC systems,” explained Dr. Jalili.

The project’s theoretical foundations were presented to the international research community at the Congress on Numerical Methods in Engineering (CMN 2026) earlier this year, marking an important milestone in disseminating and validating the framework’s governing equations and constitutive models. International publications for peer-reviewed journals are now under preparation.

Although final experimental verification is still underway, the project has already established the fundamental modelling architecture required to enable a physically based lifetime prediction methodology for thermal barrier coating systems.

Funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement 101152123. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.