Abstract: Indentation creep behavior with cylindrical flat indenters on the thermal barrier coating (TBC) was studied by finite element method (FEM). On the constant applied indentation creep stress, there is a steady creep rate for each case studied for different creep properties of the TBC system. The steady creep depth rate depends on the applied indentation creep stress and size of the indenters as well as the creep properties of the bond coat of the TBC and the substrate. The possibilities to determine the creep properties of a thermal barrier system from indention creep testing were discussed. As an example, with two different size indenters, the creep properties of bond coat of the TBC system can be derived by an inverse FEM method. This study not only provides a numerical method to obtain the creep properties of the TBC system, but also extends the application of indentation creep method with cylindrical flat indenters.

Key words: thermal barrier coating (TBC) system, indention creep testing, finite element creep analysis