Article protected by thermal barrier coating having a sintering inhibitor, and its fabrication

A method for fabricating an article protected by a thermal barrier coating system, comprising the steps of

• providing a substrate having a substrate surface;
• and
• applying a thermal barrier coating system overlying the substrate by the steps of
• depositing onto the substrate surface a thermal barrier coating system comprising a thermal barrier coating material arranged as a plurality of columnar grains extending generally perpendicular to the substrate surface and having grain surfaces and gaps between the columnar grains, and
• producing a sintering inhibitor within the columnar grains but concentrated at the grain surfaces, wherein the sintering inhibitor has a higher melting point than the thermal barrier coating material, and wherein the step of producing includes the steps of
• liquid phase infiltrating an inhibitor precursor material into the gaps of the thermal barrier coating, wherein the step of infiltrating comprises the steps of
• forming a liquid solution containing the inhibitor precursor material dissolved in a solvent, and
• contacting the liquid solution to the thermal barrier coating, and
• chemically reacting the infiltrated inhibitor precursor material and the thermal barrier coating material to form the sintering inhibitor.

A method for fabricating an article protected by a thermal barrier coating system, comprising the steps of

• providing a substrate having a substrate surface;
• and
• depositing onto the substrate surface a thermal barrier coating formed of a thermal barrier coating material arranged as a plurality of columnar grains extending generally perpendicular to the substrate surface with gaps between the columnar grains, and
• liquid phase infiltrating an inhibitor precursor material into the gaps of the thermal barrier coating, wherein the step of infiltrating comprises the steps of
• forming a liquid solution containing the inhibitor precursor material dissolved in a solvent, and
• contacting the liquid solution to the thermal barrier coating, and
• chemically reacting the infiltrated inhibitor precursor material and the thermal barrier coating material to form a sintering inhibitor.