Key Engineering Materials Vols. 336-338

Abstract: Wollastonite powder was selected as a starting material with carbonate as pore-forming agent and binder added. The porous ceramics were prepared at different temperature by sintering method. The process includes batching, granulating, pressing molding, drying and sintering. It is discussed the influence of sintering temperature, dosage of binder, dosage of pore-forming agent, pressure of molding and holding time on the performance of porous ceramics. According to the principle of particles stack, the porous wollastonite ceramics for filtration with various diameters, shapes and porosity were fabricated by serial experiments. These products have 1 to 10 microns in pore size, 30.04 to 66.15% in porosity, 2.82 m2/g in specific surface area.

Abstract: In this study, porous Si3N4 ceramics were fabricated by carbothermal reduction reaction between silicon dioxide and carbon. The influences of different starting powders and sintering additives on microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. XRD analysis demonstrated the formation of single-phase β-Si3N4 except for glass phase and minor of α-Si3N4 phase. SEM analysis showed that the resultant porous Si3N4 ceramics occupied fine microstructure and uniform pore structure. The samples with fine starting powder showed fine, high aspect ratio of β-Si3N4 grains and good mechanical properties. The addition of Al2O3 accelerated the densification of porous Si3N4 ceramics. With an increasing in the sintering additive content, the porosity decreased, the flexural strength increased.

Abstract: This paper describes the fabrication of porous reaction-bonded SiC ceramics with radial directed pores and the application of these materials to transpiration cooling system of rocket engines. A special mold is designed for freeze-casting process to prepare SiC cylinders with radial directed pores. Green bodies with well-oriented pore structure are obtained from slurry with solid loading up to 47vol%. The pore size is in the level of several tens micron. Green bodies with various porosities are infiltrated with different amount of liquid Si. The intrinsic permeability of each sample is measured with air as flowing media. It is concluded that permeability has relationship with not only the porosity but also the pore structure of samples.

Abstract: Wood has strongly anisotropic cellular structure with 50-80 vol% porosity. It can be converted into porous ceramics (e.g., SiC, SiC/Si, TiC, C/C, and TiO2) replicating the wood structure by various processes. Previously porous cellular SiC ceramic was prepared by reaction of wood charcoal with gaseous SiO generated remotely from an equimolar mixture of Si and SiO2. In the present work, poplar charcoal was simply embedded in the powder mixture of Si and SiO2 and heated at 1600°C for 1 h in Ar to produce porous SiC. Samples were also prepared by infiltration of Si melt (1500-1600°C, 2 h) and vapor (1700°C, 2 h) into the charcoal for comparison. Samples prepared by Si melt infiltration showed 15-52% conversion to SiC. Samples prepared by Si vapor infiltration showed severe damage such that the conversion degree could not be measured. In contrast, samples prepared by the embedding process showed full conversion to SiC (mostly β form) with good retention of the cellular structure of the original wood. The embedding process is a simple and efficient way to produce porous cellular SiC from wood.

Abstract: Foaming and gelation of slurry is a recently invented processing route for fabricating porous ceramic. According to the method, a mechanical stir process was introduced to the ceramic slurry added with surfactant, then initiator was added to induce fast gelation between organic monomers and ceramic powder, the green body was obtained after a subsequently drying process. At last, porous ceramic was fabricated after sintering the green body at high temperature. Effects of surfactant volume content and several stirring factors on porosity are studied in this paper. It results that there is a proportional relationship between porosity and Reynolds number which only changes when stir time varies, different slurry or surfactant volume content results in similar relationship between porosity and Reynolds number.

Abstract: A new process of internal gelation for preparing stabilized zirconia ceramic microspheres was developed. The influences of process parameters such as process temperatures, raw material concentrations, and the conditions of drying and calcining on the process and characteristics of the microspheres were investigated in this paper. With Y2O3 and/or MgO as stabilized agents, the microspheres had the characteristics of TZP or PSZ materials confirmed by XRD and SEM observations.

Abstract: In this paper, microspheres were prepared by using Chinese bauxite as raw materials through centrifugal spray drying method. The microstructure and composition of ceramic microsphere were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and X-ray energy spectrum. The particle size was 10~100#m. The XRD analysis reveals that the main crystalline phase of the ceramic microsphere were α-Al2O3 and mullite (3Al2O3•2SiO2). The Al2O3 content (chemical composition) of the microspheres was little more than 70%, and the molar ratio of Al2O3/SiO2 was near to the molar ratio of alumina and silica of mullite.

Abstract: The effects of different kneading sequences, chemical additives, and solid loadings to the homogeneity and rheological behavior of the Al2O3/3Y-TZP (ZTA) feedstock were investigated. The properties of the feedstock were analyzed by the torque rheometry, transmission optical microscopy (OM) and scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM & TEM). The optimal kneading process was determined when good homogeneity was reached. The concepts of critical solid loading and the homogeneity of two-oxide systems, and the power consumption to reach best microstructure will be introduced and quantitatively analyzed.

Abstract: High-purity alumina ceramics was prepared using high-purity α-Al2O3 powder as raw material, nitrates or oxides of magnesium, chromium and copper as additives by a wet ball milling with a later dry pressing forming and normal pressure sintering process. The influence of additives on the sintering temperature, microstructure and bending strength of the prepared alumina ceramics was studies. The results showed that the additive doped with nitrate can be dispersed uniformly in the body with molecule scale, and the oxides obtained by decomposing of nitrates have the higher reactivity. Thus, the nitrate additives have better capacity than oxide additives in reducing the sintering temperature and inhibiting the abnormal grain growth, and the alumina ceramics prepared by adding of nitrate additives have higher density and bending strength.

Abstract: We have demonstrated that textured Al2O3-mullite-SiC nanocomposites can be fabricated by slip casting followed by partial oxidation – reaction sintering of mixed suspensions of Al2O3 and SiC powders in a high magnetic field. The sintered density was changed by the degree of oxidation at 1200
and 1300
. The degree of orientation of alumina in the nanocomposite was examined on the basis of the X-ray diffraction patterns and scanning electron micrographs. It is confirmed that alumina-oriented nanocomposites were fabricated. The three-point bending strength at room temperature was observed for the nanocomposites.