Ceramic-based abradable sealing coatings for advanced aeroengines: Materials design, structural strategies, and multifunctional performance

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  • a State Key Laboratory of Precision Welding & Joining of Materials and Structures, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China 

    b Institute for Advanced Ceramics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080, China 

    c School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080, China 

    d Key Laboratory of Advanced Structure-Function Integrated Materials and Green Manufacturing Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China 

    e School of Materials Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, 010051 PR China

Correspondence to: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, PR China. wang-shuqi@hit.edu.cn (Shuqi Wang), wangyaming@hit.edu.cn (Yaming Wang)

Received date: 2025-07-17

  Revised date: 2025-08-25

  Accepted date: 2025-08-26

  Online published: 2025-08-26

Abstract

With the advancement of modern aeroengines toward higher thrust-to-weight ratios and increased gas temperatures, the control of rotor–stator clearances has become a critical factor influencing engine performance and efficiency. Abradable seal coatings (ASCs), as an effective means of clearance control, have been widely applied to the inner casings of engines. Under high-temperature service conditions (≥1300 ℃), conventional metal-based ASCs are increasingly exhibiting service performance limitations due to their insufficient thermal stability. In contrast, ceramic-based abradable seal coatings, owing to their excellent high-temperature stability and low thermal conductivity, are considered promising candidates for next-generation high-temperature sealing materials. However, the design of such novel ASCs faces numerous key challenges, including crack propagation, the trade-off between abradability and erosion resistance, and coating failure mechanisms under extremely complex service environments. This review systematically summarizes the recent progress in high-temperature ceramic-based ASCs, with a focus on typical material systems, fabrication techniques, key structural design strategies, and their relationship with performance evolution. Comprehensive analysis reveals significant coupling and trade-offs among abradability, hardness, erosion resistance, thermal shock resistance, and corrosion resistance. Achieving balanced performance requires multiscale structural design and multifunctional synergistic optimization. Finally, this paper summarizes the main challenges currently faced in this field and emphasizes that future research should focus more on understanding the evolution of failure mechanisms under complex service environments and on the design and construction of integrated multifunctional coating architectures.

Cite this article

Leyao Wang, Shuqi Wang, Guoliang Chen, Yongchun Zou, Shuang Yu, Enyu Xie , Qingyuan Zhao, Zhiyu Ye, Jiahu Ouyang, Yaming Wang, Dechang Jia, Yu Zhou . Ceramic-based abradable sealing coatings for advanced aeroengines: Materials design, structural strategies, and multifunctional performance[J]. Extreme Materials, 0 : 0 . DOI: 10.1016/j.exm.2025.08.003

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