Advances in ultra-high temperature ceramics, composites, and coatings

Ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs) are generally referred to the carbides, nitrides, and borides of the transition metals, with the Group IVB compounds (Zr & Hf) and TaC as the main focus. The UHTCs are endowed with ultra-high melting points, excellent mechanical properties, and ablation resistance at elevated temperatures. These unique combinations of properties make them promising materials for extremely environmental structural applications in rocket and hypersonic vehicles, particularly nozzles, leading edges, and engine components, etc. In addition to bulk UHTCs, UHTC coatings and fiber reinforced UHTC composites are extensively developed and applied to avoid the intrinsic brittleness and poor thermal shock resistance of bulk ceramics. Recently, highentropy UHTCs are developed rapidly and attract a lot of attention as an emerging direction for ultra-high temperature materials. This review presents the state of the art of processing approaches, microstructure design and properties of UHTCs from bulk materials to composites and coatings, as well as the future directions.

The Effect of Boron on the Microstructure and Properties of Refractory Metal Intermetallic Composites (RM(Nb)ICs) Based on Nb-24Ti-xSi (x = 16, 17 or 18 at.%) with Additions of Al, Cr or Mo

This paper is about metallic ultra-high temperature materials, in particular, refractory metal intermetallic composites based on Nb, i.e., RM(Nb)ICs, with the addition of boron, which are compared with refractory metal high entropy alloys (RHEAs) or refractory metal complex concentrated alloys (RCCAs). We studied the effect of B addition on the density, macrosegregation, microstructure, hardness and oxidation of four RM(Nb)IC alloys, namely the alloys TT2, TT3, TT4 and TT8 with nominal compositions (at.%) Nb-24Ti-16Si-5Cr-7B, Nb-24Ti-16Si-5Al-7B, Nb-24Ti-18Si-5Al-5Cr-8B and Nb-24Ti-17Si-3.5Al-5Cr-6B-2Mo, respectively. The alloys made it possible to compare the effect of B addition on density, hardness or oxidation with that of Ge or Sn addition. The alloys were made using arc melting and their microstructures were characterised in the as cast and heat-treated conditions. The B macrosegregation was highest in TT8. The macrosegregation of Si or Ti increased with the addition of B and was lowest in TT8. The alloy TT8 had the lowest density of 6.41 g/cm3 and the highest specific strength at room temperature, which was also higher than that of RCCAs and RHEAs. The Nbss and T2 silicide were stable in the alloys TT2 and TT3, whereas in TT4 and TT8 the stable phases were the Nbss and the T2 and D88 silicides. Compared with the Ge or Sn addition in the same reference alloy, the B and Ge addition was the least and most effective at 800 °C (i.e., in the pest regime), when no other RM was present in the alloy. Like Ge or Sn, the B addition in TT2, TT3 and TT4 did not suppress scale spallation at 1200 °C. Only the alloy TT8 did not pest and its scales did not spall off at 800 and 1200 °C. The macrosegregation of Si and Ti, the chemical composition of Nbss and T2, the microhardness of Nbss and the hardness of alloys, and the oxidation of the alloys at 800 and 1200 °C were also viewed from the perspective of the alloy design methodology NICE and relationships with the alloy or phase parameters VEC, δ and Δχ. The trends of these parameters and the location of alloys and phases in parameter maps were found to be in agreement with NICE.

Hydrogen Generation Supports Plasma Wire Arc Metal Additive Manufacturing Powder Production

Wire atomization processes used to make refractory and high temperature alloy powders are relatively expensive due to the cost of feedstock, energy, and gas. A new process based on Transferred Arc Wire Atomization technology, however, has the potential to overcome these problems. This paper introduces the innovative process which, in combination with hydrogen generation, presents new opportunities for several alloys that can be more easily processed by plasma wire atomization. The new approach shows promise to reduce both fixed and variable costs for certain refractory and high temperature materials.

Modeling the Tensile Strengths of Nickel-Based Superalloys at a Wide Range of Isothermal Exposures by Artificial Neural Networks

The nickel-based superalloys are unique high-temperature materials that are applied in gas-turbine engine manufacturing. The superalloys are compositions with complex doping. The master mechanical property of the alloys is the heat resistance, which is depicted by the values of the tensile strength after long isothermal exposures. However, for each superalloy, only certain temperature-time exposure parameters are known. The availability of information on the properties in the entire range of temperatures and holdings would significantly expand the possibilities of the superalloys applications. We have applied the artificial neural network to predict the missing tensile strength values for superalloys based on the chemical composition and the known tensile test conditions. The additional data preprocessing and the bootstrap have improved the model performance. A comparison of the modeled and the real experimental data has shown their convergence. The model verification has been carried out on the set of 10 common cast superalloys.