Papers by Author: Koji Matsumaru

Abstract: In this work it was determined the effect of fly ash (FA) as bonding material during the fabrication of low thermal expansion porous materials. SiC, fly ash, Vitrified Bonding Material (VBM), and LiAlSiO4 powders were used as raw materials. Porous materials were sintered at 850°C and 950°C after manual milling and mechanical milling in a planetary ball milling at 800 RPM. SEM micrographs showed the presence of porous materials, and it was observed that fly ash particles did not melt at 850°C. However if sintering temperature increases at 950°C, FA starts to melt and it is forming bridges between SiC particles. Thermal expansion values were around 3.0x10-6 K-1. According to these results, it seems that it is possible to have a favorable synergy between FA and VBM to fabricate SiC porous materials with low thermal expansion values.

Abstract: New cup-type diamond-grinding-wheels with hexagonal pattern have been developed. Grinding stone ratio, R is defined as the ratio between the hexagonal edge area containing abrasive grains and the total area of the wheel surface. In the present work, four kinds of hexagonal grinding wheels with different R (13 %, 19 %, 25 % and 36 %) and a conventional wheel (R: 100 %) were used to grind a light metals, which was represented by magnesium alloy AZ31B. Efficiency of abrasive grains and ground surface for machining a light metals were evaluated by calculating the number of abrasive grains which pass through a unit length of a sample surface for each grinding pass, Ng. The results show that surface roughness becomes smaller, i. e., smoother surfaces as Ng increases. Surfaces ground by the conventional wheel are rougher than those by using newly developed hexagonal grinding-wheels in spite of the larger Ng for the conventional wheel. Surface roughness data forms one curve in roughness vs. Ng graph for all hexagonal wheels, and forms another curve for the conventional grinding-wheel. The difference of two curves indicates that the number of effective working abrasive grains in hexagonal wheels is about 5 times higher than that of the conventional wheel. The similar results were obtained for machining sapphire according to our previous work. Hexagonal wheels show higher abrasive grain efficiency for machining not only hard-to-machine ceramics but also light metals such as magnesium alloys than conventional wheels.

Abstract: Machines for manufacturing large scale flat displays are enlarging as the size of glasses increases. This work develops porous materials with a low thermal expansion coefficient and a high Young’s modulus. SiC and LiAlSiO4 were used for a positive and a negative thermal expansion materials, respectively. Compositions of powders for porous materials were determined to obtain a desirable Young’s modulus and thermal expansion coefficient by using SiC-VBM-LiAlSiO4 phase diagram at 20 % of porosity. The empirical values of Young’s modulus and a thermal expansion coefficient are close to the theoretical values by using the diagram. Fabricated porous material had high enough Young’s modulus of 87 GPa, and low enough thermal expansion coefficient of 2 x 10-6 K-1 at temperatures ranging from -17 °C to 190 °C with 22 % of porosity.

Abstract: Porous ceramic materials with low thermal expansion (LTE) at room temperature were prepared by heating a mixture of SiC or black-Al2O3, vitrified bonding material (VBM) and LiAlSiO4 at temperatures from 850°C to 1100°C. The mixture was prepared in adequate proportions to obtain a material with LTE according to previous works made in our laboratory. It was observed that a change in temperature provoked the formation of a new phase, LiAlSi3O8, which appears above 900°C. The presence of this new phase did not affect the thermal expansion value, keeping LTE at room temperature. All compounds showed around 40% of porosity, and Young’s modulus values of 30 GPa using black-Al2O3 or SiC. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) revealed that above 900°C the phase LiAlSi3O8 starts to appear as a consequence of the melting of VBM, which is reacting with the raw materials. SEM micrographs showed the presence of SiC or black-Al2O3 grains joined by VBM, which is acting as a bridge between them.

Abstract: High-temperature oxidation of sintered β-FeSi2 doped with Mn and Co was evaluated at 800°C in air. Amorphous SiO2 was developed as an oxide scale. Granular ε-FeSi also appeared below the SiO2 scale as a result of consumption of Si in β-FeSi2. Growth of the oxide scale on doped FeSi2 followed a parabolic law and its rate was similar to oxidation of undoped samples. Thermoelectric properties of sintered β-FeSi2 were also evaluated before and after oxidation at 800°C for 7 days. There was no significant change in thermoelectric properties after high-temperature oxidation on β-FeSi2 sintered bodies.

Abstract: Microstructure observation and kinetic analysis were conducted on fine Ni-20Cr powder (spherical shape and 5 m in average particle diameter) to understand the sintering mechanism of fine metallic powder during pulsed electric current sintering (PECS). Insulation of the sample during PECS was carried out to investigate the influences of pulsed electric current passing through the sample. Temperature at the sample/die interface was measured as sample temperature. Pulsed electric current did not influence densification. The microstructure observation revealed that the necks between particles had very small curvature radius, which means the neck formation by compressive deformation of particles owing to creep. As results of the kinetic analysis of the densification, the creep rate of fine Ni-20Cr powder was two digits larger than the extrapolated values of the steady-state creep on PECS of coarse Ni-20Cr powder and creep tests reported previously. The larger creep rate of fine Ni-20Cr powder during PECS may be influenced by not only smaller grain size of powder particles but also contribution of the initial creep, which was faster than the steady-state creep.