Thermally insulating layer incorporating a distinguishing agent
View Patent ↗Thermally insulating layer incorporating a distinguishing agent and method for inspecting the insulating layer are provided. The distinguishing agent may be used for determining a remaining thickness of the thermally insulating layer.
1. A component comprising a thermally insulating layer disposed over a substrate material, said thermally insulating layer comprising a distinguishing agent for monitoring a remaining thickness of said thermally insulating layer, wherein the distinguishing agent comprises a non-luminescent colorant, wherein said distinguish agent is varyingly distributed throughout the thermally insulating layer to form a distinguishing color or color shade change in the thermally insulating layer, wherein said distinguish agent comprises a stack of discrete layers in said thermally insulating layer.
2. The component of claim 1 , wherein adjacent layers in the stack of discrete layers have a different color.
3. The component of claim 1 wherein the distinguish agent is introduced in only a portion of a thickness of the insulating layer.
4. The component of claim 1 wherein said distinguishing agent is selected from the group consisting of transition element oxides and rare earth element oxides.
5. The component of claim 1 wherein said distinguishing agent is perceptible in a range of an electromagnetic spectrum visible to human vision.