Characterization and Simulation of Advanced Coatings for Space Applications

Space structures face extreme thermal loads during missions, requiring adequate thermal protection. While protective coatings are widely used in aeronautics, their potential in space applications remains underexplored. Techniques like Thermal Plasma Spray (TPS) and High-Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) can produce thin, high-performance coatings, but their effectiveness depends on microstructure, influenced by deposition parameters. This work aims to develop a numerical model to predict coating effectiveness. An advanced finite element method has been proposed to solve the thermoelastic problem at the mesoscale level; an RVE homogenization approach has been used to predict the coating properties starting from the microstructure morphology.