Patent ID: 8470458

Claim:
A workpiece comprising: a substrate formed from a nickel base superalloy; a thermal barrier coating deposited on and in direct contact with said substrate; said thermal barrier coating being formed from a zirconia based material; a hard erosion barrier deposited over said thermal barrier coating and having bonds between the erosion barrier and said thermal barrier coating, said hard erosion barrier being an outermost layer and having a Vickers hardness in the range of from 1300 to 2750 kg/mm 2 and consisting of a material selected from the group consisting of alumina, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, and molybdenum disilicide; and an infiltrated region between said thermal barrier coating and said erosion barrier, wherein said thermal barrier coating has a thickness and said infiltrated region constitutes from 5.0 to 100% of the thermal barrier coating thickness.