Thermal Barrier Coatings
Reason for use: Applied to vehicle components to reduce heat transfer and improve vehicle performance.
Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBCs) consist of ceramic materials which are widely used on vehicle exhausts, turbocharger casings, heat shields and other vehicle components to reduce heat transfer and improve vehicle performance. Heat soak from hot exhaust systems transfers into other vehicle components causing reduced performance or damage. Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBCs) are used in motorsport and on high-performance vehicles to reduce this effect.
The TBC's give two benefits: Keeping the heat in the exhaust system reduces under bonnet temperatures and also keeps the heat energy in the exhaust gas, which improves the thermodynamic performance of the turbocharger. Both effects enable more power to be produced and improve reliability.
The Thermal Barrier Coating system is applied with a Powder Flame Spray Pistol. The Thermal Barrier Coating is typically a two part process with a bond coat of Ni/Al or Ni/Cr type layer and a top coat of a suitable ceramic.
Powder flame applied Thermal Barrier Coating’s are an excellent solution for the majority of exhaust related applications. However, for extreme performance applications, the thermal barrier coatings can also be applied by the plasma spraying process, producing coatings that are denser and with higher bond strengths than with powder flame spray.
Ceramic powder spraying of exhaust manifold.
