Papers by Author: Xing Hong Zhang

Abstract: With honeycomb lattice of sp² hybridized carbon atoms, graphene has demonstrated excellent electrical and mechanical properties. One of its promising applications is to fabricate graphene-ceramic composite to improve the mechanical properties. In order to quantify the strength between graphene-ZrB₂ interactions, molecular dynamic method was utilized to simulate typical interface of graphene/ZrB₂ ceramic structure. Berendsen method was used to control the temperature and pressure during the whole simulation process. Universal potential function was employed to simulate the force filed between graphene and ZrB₂ structure. The binding structures of graphene/ZrB₂ (0001) interface were analyzed in detail and the bonding energy of the interface was calculated. The influence of numbers of graphene layer and sandwich structures on the bonding energy of interface is discussed. The study helped to understand the influence of graphene on mechanical properties of ZrB₂ ceramic.

Abstract: This paper presented the application of microwave-discharge plasma apparatus which was used to evaluate the catalytic properties of ZrB₂-based ultra-high temperature ceramics in the simulated real service environment by the wall temperature response method based on the heat balance principle. The results showed that the material composition had a significant influence on the catalytic properties of ZrB₂-based ultra-high temperature ceramics, and the catalytic activity of ZrB₂-SiC composites with Cr addition had been increased significantly. The relationship between catalytic properties of ZrB₂-based ultra-high temperature ceramics and surface composition was discussed in detail. The composition optimization was considered to be a very effective way to inhibit the recombination reactions of dissociated atoms on the surface of ultra-high temperature ceramics.

Abstract: Ablation behavior of ZrB₂-SiC sharp leading edges with five different curvature radiuses was investigated using an oxy-acetylene torch. During the test, the curvature radiuses were 0.15 mm, 0.5 mm, 1.0 mm, 1.5 mm, and 2.0 mm, respectively. Under the same ablation condition, the smaller was the radius, the severer ablation underwent. The sharp leading edge with a curvature radius of 0.15 mm had the highest surface temperature and maximum surface temperature rising rate, exceeded 2100°C in less than 30 s. However, the surface of sharp leading edge with a curvature radius of 2.0 mm achieved only 1900°C in more than 60 s. After 5 min ablation, the mass and linear ablation rates were measured. All the five sharp leading edges evolved to nearly a same radius after ablation. The microstructure of the oxidation layers was also investigated. A ZrO₂-SiO₂ layer generated from oxidation of ZrB₂-SiC acts as a thermal barrier and reduces the diffusion of oxygen.

Abstract: The highly dense TiC/Fe ceramic coating was fabricated on Q235 steel surface by self- propagating high-temperature synthesis combined with pseudo hot iso-static pressing. The wear-resistant properties were examined by means of ball-on-disk contact wear test. The microstructure of TiC/Fe cermets coating was investigated. The results show that TiC/Fe cermets coating has an excellent wear-resistant property. There is little mass loss after 1200s under 30N loading under the condition of dry sliding wear testing. The major wear mechanisms are described by the following stages: sticking friction, grain abrasion and stripping of hard phase.

Abstract: Abstract. ZrB2-SiC ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs) was hot-pressed at a temperature of 1900°C with the addition of carbon black as a reinforcing phase. Microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. Analysis revealed that the amount of carbon black had a significant influence on the sinterability and mechanical properties of ZrB2-SiC ceramics. When a small amount ( < 10 vol.%) of carbon black was introduced, it may react with oxide impurities (i.e. ZrO2, B2O3 and SiO2) present on the surface of the starting powder, thus promote the densification and grain refining of ZrB2-SiC ceramics. As a result, the mechanical properties including flexural strength and fracture toughness were improved. However, with the further adoption of carbon black, mechanical properties were not improved much, which could be attributed to the redundant phase at grain boundaries. The results presented here point to a potential method for improving densification, microstructure and mechanical properties of ZrB2-based ceramic composites.

Abstract: Ternary ZrC-SiC-ZrB2 ceramic composites were prepared by hot pressing at 1900 °C for 60 min under a pressure of 30 MPa in argon. The influence of ZrB2 content on the microstructure and mechanical properties of ZrC-SiC-ZrB2 composites was investigated. Examination of SEM showed that the microstructure of the composites consisted of the equiaxed ZrB2, ZrC and SiC grains, and there was a slight tendency of reduction for grain size in ZrC with increasing ZrB2 content. The hardness increased considerably from 23.3 GPa for the ZS material to 26.4 GPa for the ZS20B material. Flexural strength was a strong function of ZrB2 content, increasing from 407 MPa without ZrB2 addition to 627 MPa when the ZrB2 content was 20vol.%. However, the addition of ZrB2 has little influence on the fracture toughness, ranging between 5.5 and 5.7 MPam1/2.

Abstract: The oxidation behavior of ZrB2-20 vol.% SiC (ZS) and ZrB2-20 vol.% SiC containing 20 vol.% short carbon fiber (ZSC) was studied using thermal gravimetric analysis and oxyacetylene torch test. It was shown that weight gains changed from 3.71 wt.% for ZS to 4.57 wt.% for ZSC after heating 10°C /min to 1450°C in air. A thin layer of Si-rich glass and then a depletion layer of SiC was found on the cross section of both materials and carbon fiber of ZSC exposed in air was oxidized. Under oxyacetylene, an average mass loss of 0.8 wt.% for ZS and 0.9 wt.% for ZSC was measured after 180 seconds. After exposure, an oxidized layer with the formation of ZrO2 and SiO2 was found on the surface of both materials. Meanwhile, fiber in the surface of ZSC appeared oxidized and removed.

Abstract: In this study, two rare earth oxides, Y2O3 and La2O3, are used as the additives in the sintering of ZrB2-SiC composites to improve the sinterability and control development of microstructure during densification. The results show that the use of rare earth oxides (5vol.%) improves the powder sinterability, hindered excessive growth of matrix particles and increase fracture toughness of ZrB2-SiC composites, in comparison to ZrB2-SiC with additions free. Nearly full dense materials are obtained by hot pressing at 1900°C. XRD analyses indicate that lanthanum-containing phases were formed in the composite with La2O3. Microstructure observations by SEM reveal that the grain size of ZrB2-SiC with Y2O3 and La2O3 composites are less than the sample without additives, which indicates Y2O3 and La2O3 may restrain the grain growth and increase the fracture toughness. The fracture toughness of ZrB2-SiC composites with Y2O3 and La2O3 reached 5.0MPa·m1/2 and 5.5MPa·m1/2 respectively. Therefore, the additive Y2O3 and La2O3 are very effective as sintering aids for the ZrB2-SiC composite.

Abstract: ZrB2-based ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs) were prepared from a mixture powder of Zr/B4C/Si with different ratio via reactive hot pressing. The experimental results showed that the sintering temperature above 1800°C was necessary for enhancing the activity of the powders and thus improving the densification of the product. The sinterability and densification properties of ZrB2-based UHTCs meliorated with the amount of Si increasing. However, many large ZrB2 agglomerates formed when the amount of synthesized SiC in the product reached 25vol%, which led to decrease the mechanical property. The composite had highest mechanical properties when the volume ratio of ZrB2: SiC: ZrC was 73.86:20:6.14, and its flexual strength and the fracture toughness were 645.8MPa and 5.66MPa·m1/2 respectively. The microstructure investigation showed the in-situ formed SiC and ZrC were located in the triple point of ZrB2 grains with a size less than 3μm.

Abstract: SiC whisker-reinforced ZrB2 matrix ultra-high temperature ceramic were prepared at 2000°C for 1 h under 30MPa by hot pressing and the effects of whisker on flexural strength and fracture toughness of the composites was examined. The flexural strength and fracture toughness are 510±25MPa and 4.05±0.20MPa⋅m1/2 at room temperature, respectively. Comparing with the SiC particles-reinforced ZrB2 ceramic, no significant increase in both strength and toughness was observed. The microstructure of the composite showed that the SiC whisker was destroyed because the SiC whisker degraded due to rapid atom diffusivity at high temperature. The results suggested that some related parameters such as the lower hot-pressing temperature, a short sintering time should be controlled in order to obtain SiC whiskerreinforced ZrB2 composite with high properties.