An oscillatory pressure sintering of zirconia powder: Rapid densification with limited grain growth

A novel oscillatory pressure sintering (OPS) process is reported to prepare high‐quality ceramics. The oscillatory pressure was applied at three stages (initial, intermediate, and final) during sintering process of zirconia ceramics for the first time. The microstructure of the samples prepared by OPS develops in a more homogeneous manner, leading to a higher final density, a smaller average grain size, and a narrower distribution of grain sizes compared with the samples prepared by conventional pressureless sintering (PS) and hot‐pressing (HP) processes. Remarkably, the OPS samples was obtained at relatively lower heating temperature and less soaking time for 1300°C and 0.5 hours than the samples prepared by other two techniques at 1450°C and 1 hour. The current results suggest that OPS is an effective technique for preparing high‐quality zirconia ceramics with low heating temperature and short sintering time, thus, it obviously reduces cost.     

Sintering mechanism of high-intensity and low-density ceramic proppants prepared by recycling of waste ceramic sands

Waste ceramic sands were effectively used to prepare the high-intensity and low-density ceramic proppants, realising the recycling of the waste ceramic sands. The technology involved the pelletising in an intensive mixer, in which the waste ceramic sands and other starting materials were added, and followed by heat-treatment under different sintering conditions. The sintering temperature, holding time and heating rate were optimised by investigating the crystalline phase, microstructure, density and breakage ratio of the obtained proppants. The results showed that the proppants sintered at 1260°C for 2?h with a heating rate of 5°C?min^–1 under air atmosphere exhibited high crush resistance and low density, with the breakage ratio of 8.5% under 52?MPa closure pressure and bulk density of 1.65?g?cm^–3. The proppants prepared by bauxite, waste ceramic sands and sintering aids are promising candidates as high-intensity and low-density fracturing proppants in future applications.     

Effect of transition metal doping on the sintering and electrochemical properties of GDC buffer layer in SOFCs

A dense Ce_0.9Gd_0.1O_2−d (GDC) interlayer is an essential component of the SOFCs to inhibit interfacial elemental diffusion between zirconia-based electrolytes (eg YSZ) and cathodes. However, the characteristic high sintering temperature of GDC (>1400°C) makes it challenging to fabricate an effective highly dense interlayer owing to the formation of more resistive (Zr,Ce)O₂ interfacial solid solutions with YSZ at those temperatures. To fabricate a useful GDC interlayer, we studied the influence of transition metal (TM) (Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, & Zn) doping on the sintering and electrochemical properties of GDC. Dilatometry data showed dramatic drops in the necking and final sintering temperatures for the TM-doped GDCs, improving the densification of the GDC in the order of Fe > Co > Mn > Cu > Zn. However, the electrochemical impedance data showed that among various transition metal dopants, Mn doping resulted in the best electrochemical properties. Anode supported SOFCs with Mn-doped, nano, and commercial-micron GDC interlayers were compared with regard to their performance and stability levels. Although all of the SOFCs showed stable performance, the SOFC with the Mn-doped GDC interlayer showed the highest power density of 1.14 W cm⁻² at 750°C. Hence, Mn-doped GDC is suggested for application as an effective diffusion barrier layer in SOFCs.     

Friction and wear behaviours of surface densified powder metallurgy Fe–2Cu–0.6C material

Surface rolling was employed to fabricate a densified layer on a powder metallurgy (PM) Fe–2Cu–0.6C piece. A densified surface layer with a depth of 335?μm and a surface hardness of 330?HV_0.1 was obtained, in which the lamellar spacing of pearlite and grain size of ferrite were refined. Friction and wear behaviours of the surface densified material were studied. Results indicated that friction coefficient of the rolled material decreased as the load increased, which was lower than that of the un-rolled material. Wear volumes were lower than that of the un-rolled material, which increased as the load increased. Wear loss was caused by flake spalling and grooves, and the wear mechanism mainly was abrasive wear. The surface densified layer with higher hardness and lower porosity can hinder the cracks initiation and propagation on the surface and under the surface, which enhance the wear resistance of the PM material.     

烧结工艺对90W-Ni-Mn合金微观结构和力学性能的影响

针对W-Ni-Mn合金难以烧结致密化的问题,在传统氢气烧结工艺的基础上,发展新型氢气烧结工艺,使90W-4Ni-6Mn合金的相对密度达到98.32%,但仍未达到全致密,并存在部分形状不规则的孔隙和锰的氧化物。为使合金能够烧结全致密,本文再次开发了一种新的真空-氩气烧结工艺,使90W-4Ni-6Mn合金的相对密度高达99.82%,近乎全致密。对合金进行力学性能测试,并利用扫描电镜(SEM)观察其微观结构和断口形貌,结果表明:90W-4Ni-6Mn合金的抗拉强度和伸长率均随预烧结保温还原时间延长而增大,在100 min时达最大值,分别为1 030.25 MPa和24.2%,此时钨晶粒尺寸为6.2μm。经分析,90W-4Ni-6Mn合金的优异性能主要得益于烧结密度的提高和晶粒尺寸的细化。     

Effect of Pd concentration on electroless dense Pd-PSS membrane fabrication

Abstract

This work addresses the effect of palladium solution concentration on combinatorial plating characteristics of surfactant and sonication coupled electroless plating baths for the fabrication of dense palladium films on porous stainless steel substrates. All plating experiments were carried out using palladium solution concentration of 0·005 and 0·01M plating baths with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide surfactant at four critical micelle concentrations and loading ratio of 203 cm² L^?1. The evaluated combinatorial plating characteristics include selective conversion, plating efficiency, plating rate, Pd film thickness and per cent pore densification. The enhancement in palladium solution concentration was found to be insignificant to provide better combinatorial plating characteristics, and the plating bath consisting of 0·005M Pd solution concentration has provided 99·98% per cent pore densification with a Pd film thickness of 8·81 μm and plating efficiency of 80·69%.     

混凝土表层致密化技术在水利工程试点应用

混凝土表层致密化技术,方法之一系在常用模板内侧粘贴一层透水模板布,混凝土浇筑过程中水、空气透过模板布排出,降低了表层混凝土的水胶比,提高表层混凝土密实性和强度。工程试点应用表明使用透水模板布能提高表层混凝土抗碳化能力,降低表层混凝土透气性,可作为提高混凝土耐久性的附加措施。     

压力和温度对铱铑合金热等静压致密化的影响

纯铱具有较大的致密度,将铑粉与铱粉合金化可以增强铱的高温抗氧化性能。设计了5组热等静压工艺参数制备Ir-20Rh合金。通过观察热等静压后样品的金相显微组织,测量合金的硬度、计算孔隙率以及致密度,研究压力和温度条件对铱铑合金热等静压致密化的影响。结果表明,随着压力和温度的升高,Ir-20Rh合金的致密度都会有所增加,且温度对Ir-20Rh合金致密度的影响幅度大于压力对Ir-20Rh合金致密度的影响。最佳热等静压工艺参数为在1300℃、140 MPa保温2 h。     

ZrB_2-SiC粉末与等离子射流场的相互作用

为了探究等离子喷涂制备ZrB_2-SiC涂层组织结构疏松、致密性差的原因,采用去离子水对经过射流场加热的粉体进行收集,对比前后粉体的组织结构特征以及物相变化。设计单颗粒沉积试验探究粉体的熔化状态以及变形颗粒的形貌特征,并与等离子喷涂制备涂层进行对应分析。结果表明,由于"涡流效应"使得经过等离子射流场的ZrB_2-SiC粉体与卷入的氧气发生反应,粉体出现轻微氧化现象。经过等离子射流场后,ZrB_2-SiC粉体呈现3种形貌特征:表面光滑型、表面多孔型、表面团聚型。其原因与等离子射流温度场非均匀性以及粉体的飞行路径有关。变形颗粒呈现与之相对应的3种形貌特征:熔化充分颗粒、团聚堆积颗粒、以及介于两者间的半熔融半疏松颗粒。共晶组织包裹的ZrB_2颗粒容易在涂层中形成致密区,而团聚堆积的ZrB_2和SiC颗粒是涂层形成疏松区的主要原因。     

Hardness and toughness improvement of SiC-based ceramics with the addition of (Hf0.2Mo0.2Ta0.2Nb0.2Ti0.2)B2

The influences of different contents ranging 0–15 wt% of high-entropy boride (HEB) (Hf_0.2Mo_0.2Ta_0.2Nb_0.2Ti_0.2)B₂ on the mechanical properties of SiC-based ceramics using Al₂O₃-Y₂O₃ sintering additives sintered by spark plasma sintering process were investigated in this study. The results showed that the introduction of 5 and 10 wt% (Hf_0.2Mo_0.2Ta_0.2Nb_0.2Ti_0.2)B₂ could facilitate the densification and the grain growth of SiC-based ceramics via the mechanism of liquid phase sintering. However, the grain growth of SiC-based ceramics was inhibited by the grain boundary pinning effect with the addition of 15 wt% (Hf_0.2Mo_0.2Ta_0.2Nb_0.2Ti_0.2)B₂. The SiC-based ceramics with 15 wt% (Hf_0.2Mo_0.2Ta_0.2Nb_0.2Ti_0.2)B₂ showed the enhanced hardness (21.9±0.7 GPa) and high toughness (4.88±0.88 MPa·m^1/2) as compared with high-entropy phase-free SiC-based ceramics, which exhibited a hardness of 16.6 GPa and toughness of 3.10 MPa·m^1/2. The enhancement in mechanical properties was attributed to the addition of higher hardness of HEB phase, crack deflection toughening mechanism, and presence of residual stress due to the mismatch of coefficient of thermal expansion.