A kind of composite ceramic coating was prepared on the surface of Ti-6Al-4V alloy to improve its thermal shock resistance by micro-arc oxidation method in a NaAlO2 and NaH2PO2 solution doped with ZrO2 micro-particles. Phase structure of the MAO coatings was studied by XRD techniques. The main crystal phases of the composite coating were Al2TiO5, rutile TiO2 and ZrO2, no corundum phase, alpha-alumina and gamma-alumina. SEM investigations revealed that in Al-P MAO coating a volcano top-like pore surface was exhibited, while for Al-P-Zr MAO coating only few pores and island-like melting oxidation with different sized around the volcano. The presence of doped ZrO2 particles was beneficial to the growth of the coatings, but not good for surface toughness. Thermal shock resistant property was tested using the home-made thermal shock testing device. The thermal shock results indicated that no cracks occurred on the surface and no peeling phenomenon happened on the interface bonding zone after 50 cycles under temperature drop of 980 degrees C. A thermal shock mechanism was proposed based on the microstructure and good metallurgical bond strength of membrane-based interface as well. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.