Process for obtaining a flexible/adaptive thermal barrier

1. A process for obtaining a flexible/adaptive thermal barrier, the thermal barrier comprising a ceramic layer with a thickness of at least 80 μm, deposited on a substrate covered with a sublayer, the ceramic layer being deposited by thermal spraying using a plasma arc torch, an operation of the torch being defined by a power of the torch, a material flow rate, a spraying distance from the torch to a component to be coated and a speed of movement of the torch relative to the component, the process comprising: depositing, directly on the sublayer and in just a single pass, the ceramic layer while maintaining the spraying distance between 20 mm and 90 mm, the speed of movement of the torch between 2 mm/s and 10 min/s, the material flow rate between 40 g/min and 100 g/min and an arc current of the torch between 500 A and 800 A, so as to obtain, after cooling, at least two approximately vertical cracks per millimeter that pass right through the ceramic layer.

2. The process as claimed in claim 1 , the component being a blade with a geometrical axis, comprising an airfoil and a root, the ceramic layer being applied to the airfoil, the process comprising:

holding the root of the blade in place by a tool that can rotate at a rotation speed V about the geometrical axis;

exposing the airfoil to a jet of the torch capable of relative movement D 1 parallel to the geometrical axis and relative movement D 2 perpendicular to the geometrical axis; and

spraying ceramic in a single movement of the jet from one end of the airfoil to the other, the blade being rotated about the geometrical axis, the torch being moved along D 2 in order to remain at a constant distance from a surface of the airfoil, the torch being moved along D 1 in order to form, on the surface of the airfoil, a spiraled ceramic layer with a pitch equal to a width of the jet.

3. The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a temperature at a point of deposition is maintained high and combination of the high temperature and the speed of the movement of the torch assure a dense microstructure with minimum horizontal microcracks, delaminations, and pores and with improved cohesion of the deposited material.

4. The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the sublayer comprises MCrAlY, where M is a material selected from the group consisting of Fe, Ni, Co, and NiCo.

5. The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the thickness is less than 250 μm.

6. The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the thickness is between 100 and 150 μm.

7. The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein dimensions of the vertical cracks depend on the thickness of the ceramic layer, the thicker the ceramic layer, the broader the cracks, and the lower the number of cracks per millimeter.