The oxidation resistance mechanism of SiC-B4C-xAl2O3 ceramics at 1400 ℃ in air atmosphere

The oxidation property of SiC-B₄C-xAl₂O₃ (x ranges from 0 wt% to 30 wt%) ceramics was studied in air at 1400 ℃. Results show that the porous oxide layer becomes dense and smooth with addition of Al₂O₃. When the content of Al₂O₃ is proper, the DOP (degree of polymerization) of borosilicate network can be improved with increase of Al₂O₃ content, inhibiting the migration of atoms and molecular groups. With that, the crystallization of SiO₂ and volatilization of B₂O₃ can be restrained. When the content of Al₂O₃ is excessive, the DOP of borosilicate network will be decreased, deteriorating the oxide layer morphology. It is believed that the damage of borosilicate network by excess Al₂O₃ should be responsible for this phenomenon. In this research, the SiC-B₄C ceramic with optimal oxidation resistant can be obtained when the content of Al₂O₃ is 15 wt%.     

Effect of low content sintering aids addition on β-SiC sintered by spark plasma sintering

The influence of low content of sintering aids addition on the properties of β-SiC sintered by spark plasma sintering was studied based on X-ray diffraction and SEM observations. Three dopants, respectively Al₂O₃, Al₂O₃-Y₂O₃ and Al₂O₃-AlN were chosen, and the investigation was undertaken in the [0.5–5 wt%] content range. The analyses revealed the possibility to increase the density of sintered pellets close to 100% of theoretical density (T.D.), even with the addition of very low sintering aids contents, as low as 0.5 wt%, for each dopant. The combination with high sintering pressure allowed keeping a fine microstructure and a pristine cubic crystalline structure while avoiding the formation of secondary phases.     

Flash cosintering of a lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite nanofibre/Gd-doped ceria bilayer structure

For solid oxide fuel cells, an important structural requirement is that the electrolyte layer needs to be dense and the electrode layer porous, which is difficult to obtain by conventional cosintering. In this work, flash cosintering of a double layer structure consisting of a Gd-doped ceria substrate with a lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite nanofibre coating is investigated. Experimental and finite element modelling results reveal that when the LSCF layer is connected to the electrode, the heat is concentrated in the LSCF layer, which leads to a huge temperature gradient and introduces severe cracking. When the LSCF layer is electrically isolated from the electrode, the heat is concentrated in the GDC layer, and the temperature gradient is dramatically reduced. In this situation, the density of GDC can reach 92.86% while a high porosity of 52.26% is maintained in the LSCF layer, which is higher than that of the conventional cosintered sample.     

纯钼薄板温热条件下的各向异性及本构建模研究

目的研究交叉轧制纯钼薄板温热条件下的各向异性和本构关系。方法对纯钼薄板进行不同温度及方向下的拉伸实验,根据各向异性的特征并基于Hu2003屈服准则,以修正的Johnson-Cook模型对屈服准则的参数进行识别,建立考虑温度和应变的屈服准则。结果退火后的纯钼薄板具有一定的面内各向异性和显著的厚向异性,面内各向异性随温度升高而减弱,厚向异性对温度不敏感;加入温度变量的Hu2003屈服准则对不同温度下的屈服面描述较为准确,室温及100℃时屈服面减小速率较大,温度高于300℃时,屈服面减小速率减小并趋于稳定,屈服面形状并未发生明显扭曲变形;屈服面随应变增加未出现较为明显的扭曲强化现象。结论对钼板各向异性和本构关系的研究可用于指导钼板件冲压成形。     

Probing the tribochemical degradation of hydrogenated amorphous carbon using mechanically stimulated gas emission spectroscopy

Mechanically Stimulated Gas Emission (MSGE) spectroscopy was used for investigation into tribochemical reactions and gas emission for four types of amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) coatings, which were obtained by either ion beam deposition (IBD) or plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). The results of statistical analysis, which was employed to identify the components of the emitted gases from the mass-spectrometry data, argue against the hypothesis that considerable amount of CH₃ could be present in the emitted gases. For the IBD coatings the main components of the emitted gases were methane and/or argon, whereas for the PECVD coatings they were mainly methane and hydrogen. Noticeable emission of ethane, propane, carbon mono- and dioxides was also detected under sliding of PECVD coatings deposited with the lowest ion energy. While frictional heating has been definitely ruled out as the driving mechanism for MSGE, there are experimental evidences that MSGE has to be associated with structural degradation of the coating.     

Zero degree neutron time-of-flight facility at RCNP

An outline of the 0° neutron time-of-flight facility at RCNP is briefly described. A technique has been developed for obtaining a narrow beam burst width by detuning the isochronous cyclotron magnetic field. An overall subnanosecond time resolution has been achieved for 50–80 MeV proton beams. Applications have been made to polarization transfer experiments for the (p, n) reaction at 0°.     

Nano-texture for a wear-resistant and near-frictionless diamond-like carbon

The effect of nano-scale surface texture on wear resistance of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films was studied using a reciprocating ball-on-flat tribometer in dry, humid, and liquid water environments. The nano-scale surface texture was produced by depositing ∼1 μm thick DLC films onto silicon substrates pre-textured with pyramidal wells and polystyrene spheres. The surface roughness of the textured DLC films was about 50 nm in both cases. The friction and wear behavior of the flat and nano-textured DLC films were tested with AISI 440C-grade stainless steel balls at a contact load creating about 360 nm deep Hertzian deformation which is significantly larger than the surface roughness. At this condition, nano-texturing did not affect the friction coefficient, but it significantly reduced the wear of DLC films in dry and humid nitrogen compared to flat DLC. In dry nitrogen, the nano-textured DLC films showed the ultra-low friction without substantial wear of DLC and deposition of thick transfer films onto the counter-surface. The wear reduction appeared to be related to the stress relief in the nano-textured DLC film. In liquid water, surface features on the nano-textured DLC films were diminished due to tribochemical oxidation and material removal at the sliding interface.     

A novel approach to prepare reticulated porous TiN ceramics with high strength and high porosity by in-situ synthesis

Titanium nitride (TiN) with high porosity (90%) was successfully in-situ prepared by a novel approach with the combination of carbothermic reduction nitriding method and replication template method. The microstructure of porous TiN prepared with different temperature and phenolic resin (PF) content were revealed by XRD, Raman spectrum, SEM, TEM, respectively. The results show that when the mass ratio of PF and TiO₂ is 1:2 and the sintering temperature is 1850 ℃, porous TiN with high purity and ideal strength could be synthesized. In addition, the synthesis path and thermodynamic mechanism of porous TiN were analyzed by TG-DSC and Gibbs free energy calculation. The mechanical properties and corrosion resistance were preliminarily explored.     

A leaf-like structured ITO conductive transparent thin film from visible to near-infrared region with enhanced stability

ITO thin films as the optical and electrical windows to transform photons and charges have been applied in many areas. Here, a leaf-like structured particle is composed of small particles growing along three different orientations leading to low thermal stress accompanied by well transmittance (85%) in a wide wavelength range from visible to near-infrared region and a narrowed band gap 3.07 eV. The evolution of structure and electronic performance was studied to obtain the low resistivity (12 μΩ m) and enhanced stability of the film (1000 °C). The leaf-like structure can be maintained under 600 ℃ and the electrical properties can be modified in He and N₂ atmosphere, owing to the reduced defects, increased concentration of Sn and carrier mobility. Although the structure has changed after being annealed at 1000 °C in N₂, the thin film performs excellent electrical properties (?3.44 × 10²⁰ cm^?3 and 28 cm² V^?1 s^?1).