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At least 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1980

Effect of starting powder characteristics on density, microstructure and low temperature oxidation behavior of a Si3N48w/o Y2O3 ceramic

The densification and oxidation behavior of Si3N4 - 8w/oY2O3 prepared from three commercial starting powders were studied. Bars of SN 402, SN 502, and CP 85/15 were sintered for 3 to 4.5 hours at 1750 C. A second set was hot pressed for 2 hours at 1750 C. The microstructures were studied by transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, densities were determined, and the phase compositions were determined by X-ray diffraction. Densification and microstructure were greatly influenced by the starting powder morphology and impurity content. Although SN 402 exhibited the maximum weight lose, the highest sintered and hot pressed densities were obtained with this powder. All powders had both equiaxed and elongated grains. Sintered bars were composed of beta silicon nitride and n-melelite. In contrast, hot pressed bars contained beta silicon nitride, H-phase, and J-phase, but no melelite. Yttria distribution in sintered bars was related to the presence of cation impurities such as Ca, Fe, and Mg. A limited oxidation study at 750 C in air showed no instability in these Si3N4 - 8 w/oY2O3 specimens, regardless of startin powder.

Schuon, S.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Effect of milling and leaching on the structure of sintered silicon

Sintering was performed in He for 16 hours at 1200, 1250, and 1300 C. Compacts of as-received Si did not densify during sintering. Milling reduced the average particle size to below 0.5 micrometer and enhanced densification (1.75 g/cc). Leaching milled Si further enhanced densification (1.90 g/cc max.) and decreased structural coarsening. After sintering, the structure of the milled and leached powder compacts appears favorable for the production of reaction bonded silicon nitride.

Yeh, H. C.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Development of an improved toughness hyperpure silica reflective heat shield

High purity three dimensionally woven silica-silica materials were evaluated for use as a tough reflective heat shield for planetary entry probes. A special weave design was selected to minimize light piping effects through the heat shield thickness. Various weave spacings were evaluated for densification efficiency with an 0.7 micron particle size high purity silica. Spectral hemispherical reflectance was measured from 0.2 to 2.5 microns at room temperature. Reflectance increases due to densification and purity of material were measured. Reflectance of 3D hyperpure silica was higher than 3D astroquartz silica for all wavelengths. Mechanical properties were measured in beam flexure and beam shear tests. Results indicated strengths lower than reported for slip cast fused silica. Low strengths were attributed to low densities achieved through vacuum impregnation.

Rusert, E. L.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Effect of milling and leaching on the structure of sintered silicon

The effects of attrition milling and acid leaching on the sintering behavior and the resultant structures of two commercial silicon powders were investigated. Sintering was performed in He for 16 hours at 1200, 1250, and 1300 C. Compacts of as-received Si did not densify during sintering. Milling reduced the average particle size to below 0.5 microns and enhanced densification (1.75 g/cc). Leaching milled Si further enhanced densification (1.90 g/cc max.) and decreased structural coarsening. After sintering, the structure of the milled and leached powder compacts appears favorable for the production of reaction bonded silicon nitride.

Yeh, H. C.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Integral throat entrance development, qualification and production for the Antares 3 nozzle

Although design analyses of a G-90 graphite integral throat entrance for the Antares 3 solid rocket motor nozzle indicated acceptable margins of safety, the nozzle throat insert suffered a thermostructural failure during the first development firing. Subsequent re-analysis using properties measured on material from the same billet as the nozzle throat insert showed negative margins. Carbon-carbon was investigated and found to result in large positive margins of safety. The G-90 graphite was replaced by SAI fast processed 4-D material which uses Hercules HM 10000 fiber as the reinforcement. Its construction allows powder filling of the interstices after preform fabrication which accelerates the densification process. Allied 15V coal tar pitch is then used to complete densification. The properties were extensively characterized on this material and six nozzles were subjected to demonstration, development and qualification firings.

Clayton, F. I.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Effects of various additives on sintering of aluminum nitride

Effects of thirty additives on sintering A/N were investigated. The addition of alkali earth oxides and rare earth oxides gave fully densified aluminum nitride. This is due to the formation of nitrogen-containing aluminate liquid in the system aluminum nitride-alkali earth oxides or rare earth oxides. Microstructural studies of the sintered specimens with the above two types of additives suggested that the densification was due to the liquid phase sintering. Additions of silicon compounds resulted in poor densification by the formation of highly refractory compounds such as A/N polytypes.

Komeya, K.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Mechanisms of devitrification of grain boundary glassy phases in Si3N4 materials

Changes in the grain boundary (g.b.) phases of Si3N4 are analyzed, the effects of composition and thermal history on devitrification of the g.b. phases are determined, devitrification of the g.b. phases of Si3N are related to mechanical behavior and oxidation sensitivity of the material. The phase relationships that occur within the grain boundaries of Si3N4 containing various densification aids are reviewed. Comparisons of the effects of MgO, Y2O3, CeO2, and Y2O3 + AL2O3 are made in terms of the phase equilibria of the Si3N4 + SiO2 + additive compositional system. Two new equilibrium phase diagrams for the Si3N4-SiO2 and Y2O3 and Si3N4-SiO2-Ce2O3 systems are preented. The effects of Y2O3 vs CeO2 densification aids on the fracture surfaces of Si3N4 are compared. Auger electron spectroscopy shows that both oxides are concentrated within the fracture surface. Scanning electron microscopy shows evidence that Si3N4 with CeO2 formed an intergranular structure of fine grained oxynitride reaction products, as predicted by phase quilibria, whereas the Y2O3 containing sample shows evidence of an intergranular glassy phase.

Hench, L. L.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Life considerations of the shuttle orbiter densified-tile thermal protection system

The Shuttle orbiter themal protection system (TPS) incorporates ceramic reusable surface insulation tiles bonded to the orbiter substructure through a strain isolation pad. Densification of the bonding surface of the tiles increases the static strength of the tiles. The densification proces does not, however, necessarily lead to an equivalent increase in fatigue strength. Investigation of the expected lifetime of densified tile TPS under both sinusoidal loading and random loading simulating flight conditions indicates that the strain isolation pads are the weakest components of the TPS under fatigue loading. The felt pads loosen under repetitive loading and, in highly loaded regions, could possibly cause excessive step heights between tiles causing burning of the protective insulation between tiles. A method of improving the operational lifetime of the TPS by using a strain isolation pad with increased stiffness is presented as is the consequence of the effect of increased stiffness on the tile inplane strains and transverse stresses.

Cooper, P. A.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Consolidation of Si3N4 without additives (by hot isostatic pressing)

The potential of using hot isostatic pressing (HIP'ing) technique to produce dense silicon nitride materials without or with a reduced amount of additives (much less than 5 w/o) was investigated. Hot isostatic pressing technique can provide higher pressure and temperature than hot pressing can, thus has the potential of requiring less densification aids to consolidate Si3N4 materials. It was anticipated that if such dense materials could be fabricated, the high temperature strength of the material should be improved significantly. Observations on the phase transformation, densification behavior, and microstructures of the samples are also documented. Density, microhardness, four point bend strength (room temperature and 1370 C) were measured on selected densified materials.

Yeh, H. C.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Effects of applied pressure on hot-pressing of Beta-SiC

The effects of applied pressure on the densification during hot pressing of beta-SiC compacts were investigated. Beta-SiC powder is Starck made and has the average particle size of about 0.7 micrometer. Hot pressing experiments were carried out in graphite dies at temperatures of 1700 deg to 2300 deg C and at the pressures up to 1000 kg/sq cm. The compacts containing 1 weight percent B4C were examined. Sintered compacts were examined for microstructure and the Rockwell A-scale hardness was measured. The B4C addition was very effective to mitigate the hot pressing conditions. It is found that densification goes with the strengthening of the bonding and does not occur in particle deformation due to concentrated stress.

Kinoshita, M.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Compositional effects on Si3N4 fracture surfaces

Surface analysis techniques (X-ray, infrared reflection spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy) applied to the same samples reveal that fracture surfaces of Si3N4 with Y2O3 densification aids possess a higher concentration of oxygen than the bulk. The oxide densification aids thus concentrate in the grain boundaries, and even low-temperature fracture is seen as occurring preferentially within the oxygen-enriched grain boundaries. It is found that increasing the concentrations of Y2O3 and Al2O3 increases the oxygen content of the fracture surface. A range of 13-15 percent Y2O3 + 6 percent Al2O3 gives an amorphous grain-boundary phase that is resistant to devitrification. Fracture occurs through the amorphous phase, and heat treatment at 1000 C has little effect on the amorphous phase.

Hench, L. L.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Metallurgical and mechanical phenomena due to rubbing of titanium against sintered powder Nichrome

Metallurgical and mechanical changes occurring during high-speed rubbing of Ti-6Al-4V blade specimens against an abradable Nichrome aircraft engine seal material were studied using optical microscopy, electron microscopy, and microhardness techniques. Evidence of temperatures above the beta transus of Ti-6Al-4V (1000 C) and of thermal hardening was found on blade tips that exhibited undesirable abrading characteristics resulting in high forces of interaction, high temperatures, and smearing. The material within the layer of the corresponding seals was found to be work-hardened to a depth of about 0.1 mm and showed evidence of densification extending to a depth of about 0.5 mm below the rubbed surface. Wear particles produced by rub interactions that generated cleanly abraded seal surfaces were found to be several times larger than those produced during interactions which showed evidence of surface smearing and seal densification.

Zenas, R.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Colloidal Oxide Properties and Kinetic Studies

Silica based oxide particles prepared by various methods are compared in terms of their gellation kinetics, densification kinetics, and microable structural evolutions begin at very low temperature. Additional work reported in literature further suggested that the colloidal behaviors and the dried gel structures of the same oxide from different preparation techniques differ fundamentally. These differences significantly affect the densification kinetics and the product microstructure. Gravitational segregation of particles of different sizes in a gravitational field is modelled as a diffusion/segregation problem. A structural free volume model was used to describe the activation process of jump statistics. The sizes of the particles, the interstices, and their packing topology are accounted for in the estimation of the free volume. An attempt frequency is ascribed to particles to account for the vibrational rearrangement during powder packing.

Chen, I. W.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Cast iron freezing mechanisms

This task focused on liquid phase sintering and infiltration studies of refractory metals and metal composites. Particular emphases was placed on those powered metal compacts which produce liquid alloys in sintering. For this class of materials, heating to a two phase region causes the constituent components to react, forming an alloy liquid which must wet the solid phase. Densification is initially driven by the free energy effects which cause rapid rearrangement. Further densification occurs by evaporation and condensation, surface diffusion, bulk flow, and volume diffusion.

Lillybeck, N. P.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Smooth-Surfaced Carbon/Carbon Reflector Panels

Surface-densification technique integral to fabrication of reflective, lightweight, low-outgassing radio-antenna-reflector panels including carbon/carbon surface laminates supported by carbon/carbon core structures. Densification prevents "print-through" of carbon fibers on surface. When properly densified, surface polished to smooth finish.

Schmitigal, Wesley P.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Lunar regolith penetrators and cutters

An apparatus was designed and built for conducting simulation experiments on cutting tool penetration in the centrifuge. This equipment is mounted on the laminar container which is used for the regolith densification study, so that the end product of the latter, i.e., a regolith bed with the proper density profile, can be used directly for the penetration tests. In this apparatus, an etching tool is suspended through a pulley system by the action of a double acting air cylinder. By adjusting the air pressure acting on each side of the cylinder, the net downward force acting on the tool can be controlled. The penetration of the tool is measured by an LVDT. This apparatus was proof-tested in the centrifuge and is ready for use in conjunction with the regolith densification experiments.

Barnes, Frank↗
NASA NTRS1991

Modeling the interaction of ultrasound with pores

Factors that affect ultrasonic velocity sensing of density during consolidation of metal powders are examined. A comparison is made between experimental results obtained during the final stage of densification and the predictions of models that assume either a spherical or a spheroidal pore shape. It is found that for measurements made at low frequencies during the final stage of densification, relative density (pore fraction) and pore shape are the two most important factors determining the ultrasonic velocity, the effect of pore size is negligible.

Lu, Yichi↗
NASA NTRS1993

On the development of constitutive relations for metallic powders

This article describes the development of elastic and plastic constitutive relations as functions of relative density for partially consolidated -100 mesh aluminum powder. First, measurements of yield stress as a function of stress state and relative density are described. Measurements of the plastic strain increments associated with yielding in unconstrained compression tests and elastic properties, both as functions of relative density, are also described. The experimental results are combined with the associated flow rule to show that the yield surface is asymmetric with respect to hydrostatic tension and compression. Second, it is shown that the yield stress results can be represented by a two-part (capped Drucker-Prager) yield surface. The consolidation yield surface moves along the hydrostatic stress axis during densification, while the shear yield surface approaches the Mises yield surface. For the Al powder used in the present investigation, superposition of shear stress on a hydrostatic stress state aids the densification process. However, the hydrostatic stress requirement was found to be reduced by only about 20 pct for relative densities below 0.98.

Watson, T. J.↗