Papers by Author: Omer Van der Biest

Abstract: The electrical field drop over a deposit during electrophoretic deposition (EPD) determines the deposition rate and the uniformity of the deposit when a non-uniform electrical field is present. Due to the large practical consequences of a potential drop over the deposit, a procedure was developed to calculate the electrical field strength at the deposition front from currentconductivity measurements during EPD. The evolution of the electrical field strength during EPD was calculated for MEK and ethanol based suspensions. It was found that the suspension composition determines whether a potential drop over the deposit is present or not. EPD experiments on a membrane revealed that the extra potential drop is over the deposit and not caused by electrode polarization for the ethanol-acid based suspensions.

Abstract: Melt-spun flakes and air atomised powder of a multi-component Al-Si-Fe-X alloy were consolidated by field assisted (FAST) or spark plasma sintering (SPS) in vacuum using steel dies and punches. Experiments were carried out at 350, 400, 450 and 500°C under applied loads ranging from 81 to 283 MPa. The resulting compacts were microstructurally and mechanically characterized. Ultimate strength values up to 1000 MPa and plastic strains up to 20% were observed during compression tests. The effect of the powder shape on the sintering behaviour is compared. The effect of process parameters such as temperature and applied load on the densification and mechanical properties is discussed. It was found that compacts sintered from melt-spun flakes resulted in a higher strength and ductility than compacts produced from air-atomized powder, sintered under identical conditions.

Abstract: Future materials for wear resistant components require a combination of excellent mechanical properties such as hardness and toughness, short processing times and good electrical conductivity to facilitate shaping by electro discharge machining (EDM). In this work, the hardness and fracture toughness of t-ZrO2 based electro conductive composites was optimised, while short processing times below 20 minutes using spark plasma sintering were sufficient to obtain near fully dense materials. The influence of powder processing technique using TiC0.5N0.5 as the starting powder and yttria as a stabiliser on the mechanical properties of ZrO2-TiC0.5N0.5-Al2O3 based composites was investigated. Fully dense Y-TZP based composites possessed an excellent toughness of 9.2 MPa.m1/2 and an increased Vickers hardness of 1397 kg/mm².

Abstract: Mixtures of 12 mol% CeO2-stabilised ZrO2 with 5 to 20 wt % Al2O3 were prepared and densified through pressureless sintering in air at 1450° C for 1 to 4 h. The influence of the Al2O3 content and sintering time on the phase constitution, microstructure and mechanical properties of the as-sintered composites were investigated. Fully dense Ce-TZP/Al2O3 ceramics with a good combination of hardness and fracture toughness can be obtained by pressureless sintering in air for only 1 h. The addition of Al2O3 to Ce-TZP improves the mechanical properties and suppresses ZrO2 grain growth. The average ZrO2 grain size increases with increasing sintering time and decreasing Al2O3 content. This leads to an increase in toughness. An excellent fracture toughness of 14.3 MPam1/2 in combination with a Vickers hardness of 9.14 GPa was obtained for 12 mol % CeO2-TZP with 5 wt % Al2O3, sintered for 4 h.

Abstract: In this study, the development of a functionally graded material (FGM) with hard outer surfaces and a tougher inner core was envisaged. The applicability of electrophoretic deposition (EPD) for the processing of FGM materials by continuously changing the suspension composition is shown. Optimisation of the colloidal processing technique was combined with hot pressing experiments on homogeneous composites in the Al2O3-ZrO2-Ti(C,N) system in order to create a very hard functionally graded material with beneficial residual stresses. Finally, the residual stress distribution was briefly discussed using an existing analytical model.

Abstract: CeO2-stabilised ZrO2-based functionally graded materials (FGMs) can be successfully produced using electrophoretic deposition and pressureless sintering in air. A cylindrical Al2O3/ZrO2 FGM, for instance, shows an ideal structure for applications such as drill blanks. It has a central hole with a diameter less than 0.5 mm, a tough Ce-ZrO2 core with a diameter of about 3 mm, a gradient layer of about 1 mm, and a hard Al2O3-rich surface layer. The Ce-ZrO2 core shows a Vickers hardness between 10 and 11 GPa and an excellent toughness (>10 MPa m1/2). In the gradient layer, hardness and toughness vary continuously along the radius. The Al2O3-rich surface layer has a hardness of 15.2 GPa but a modest toughness of 2 MPa m1/2. Annealing experiments of the air-sintered FGM in inert atmosphere (Ar + 5 vol % N2) allows a significant toughness enhancement, especially in the surface layer (up to 8 MPa m1/2). The experimental results indicate that a proper controlled reduction of the Ce-TZP phase allows a modification of the toughness of the Ce-TZP phase. The influence of the annealing cycle on the properties of the FGM are reported and elucidated.

Abstract: Cylindrical specimens made of the Ni-based super-alloy Inconel 625 (IN 625) were coated with (a) NiCoCrAlY, or (b) NiCoCrAlY and yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ: in this case, zirconia with 7-8 wt% yttria), using the electron beam - physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) technique. In the bi-layer coatings, the YSZ layer is the thermal barrier coating (TBC) and the NiCoCrAlY layer is the metallic bond coat (BC). The BC improves the bonding between the substrate and the ceramic TBC, while the low thermal conductivity of the TBC oers high-temperature protection to the substrate. This paper focuses on the determination of the elastic moduli of the substrate and the coating layers of the test samples. The elastic moduli of the three dierent materials (IN 625, NiCoCrAlY and YSZ) were determined by means of a mixed numerical - experimental technique (MNET). The employed MNET was based on the comparison of the experimentally measured resonant frequencies of the rst bending mode of the test samples to the numerically calculated ones. The unknown elastic properties were determined by ne-tuning the elastic material parameters of the numerical models so as to enable the reproduction of the experimentally measured resonant frequencies.

Abstract: The residual stresses were measured on polished cross-sectioned Al2O3/ZrO2 FGM discs by means of Raman spectroscopy. The experiments revealed that it is possible to measure the residual stresses caused by the thermal expansion mismatch between the alumina and zirconia phase as a function of the position in the FGM. These experimental data are in excellent agreement with the thermal stresses calculated from the local composition using the model of Taya. However, the stresses due to the generated FGM profile could not be measured by means of Raman spectroscopy, due to stress relaxation upon cross sectioning of the FGM disc.

Abstract: The thermodynamic properties of the Co-V-C and Co-V8C7 systems are of interest for superfine cemented carbide applications. The model parameters for the Gibbs energy of the individual phases have been evaluated using the CALPHAD method by combining the recently optimized phase diagram information of the V-C, Co-C and Co-V system. The isothermal sections of ternary system Co-V-C at 1400 °C and 1600 °C, as well as the vertical section of Co-V8C7 system were extrapolated. The calculated results, especially the liquid forming temperature of Co-V8C7 system was validated with experiments by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. Through controlling the carbon activity, various vertical sections with different carbon activity in Co-V8C7 system are presented.