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Wind turbine rotor blade shells are manufactured as sandwich structures with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) due to the material’s high specific stiffness and strength. With a growing renewable energy industry and thereby a spread of wind energy farms, especially in offshore applications, the need to fully utilize turbines through their designed lifespan is becoming increasingly essential. However, due to imperfections during manufacturing, which are then propagated by harsh environmental conditions and a variety of loads, blades often fail before their projected lifespan. Thus, the need for localized repair patch methods for the outer shell portions of the blades has become of greater interest in recent years, as it is crucial to the optimal compromise between continuation of wind energy production, cost efficiency, and restoration of structural performance. To increase the understanding of the effect on the fatigue life of the rotor blades, this study tests localized repair patch methods and compares them to each other as well as to reference, non-repaired specimens. Manufactured with the vacuum-assisted resin infusion process, the shell test specimens are produced as a curved structure with glass FRP sandwiching a polyvinyl chloride foam core to best represent a portion of a rotor blade shell. Patch repairs are then introduced with varying layup techniques, and material properties are examined with cyclic fatigue tests. The intermediate scale test specimens allow for the observation of material as well as structural variables, namely of interest being the stiffness and strength restoration due to the repair patches. Damage onset, crack development, and eventual failure are monitored with in-situ non-destructive testing methods to develop a robust understanding of the effects of repair concepts.
As a type of high-performance composite material, glass-fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP) are favored for the construction of wind turbine rotor blades due to their high specific strength and stiffness properties (Grasse et al, 2010). During the blade manufacturing process, however, imperfections are often introduced, then further propagated due to harsh environmental conditions and a variety of loads (Caminero et al, 2013; Trappe et al, 2018). This leads to failure significantly before their designed lifespan. Since replacement of entire blades can be a costly potential outcome, localized repairs of the damaged region to restore structural integrity and thus lengthen its lifespan can executed in the field by technicians accessing the blades directly by suspended roping. These methods involve replacing the lost load path with a new material that is joined to the parent structure. In recent years, considerable studies have been conducted to investigate the influence of different repair parameters on the stress distribution, ultimate strength, impact behavior, and residual stresses of bonded repaired structures [Caminero et al, 2013; Trappe et al, 2018; Shufeng et al, 2014; Harman and Rider, 2011; Ahn and Springer, 2000; Lekou and Vionis, 2002). However, there currently do not exist any standardized repair procedures for wind turbine rotor blades. Namely, there is a lack of understanding about the effects of the layup of various repair methods, especially on the damage mechanism and fatigue life of the shells of rotor blades (Caminero et al, 2013; Trappe et al, 2018).
This work therefore aims to begin to enrich this knowledge gap by testing the influence of different variables among repair patches on the mechanical properties of sandwich composite structures. Manufactured with the vacuum-assisted resin infusion (VARI) process, the test specimens are produced as a GFRP structure to represent the outer shell portion of a wind turbine blade, then repaired with a scarf joint. Scarf repairs are favored as the most efficient of the common structural joints, as the removal of the damaged area with angled walls leads to a nearly uniform shear stress distribution along the bond surface and no eccentricity in the load distribution (Caminero et al, 2013; Lekou and Vionis, 2002; Siener, 1992).
The performance of specific layup methods of repair patches, namely a large-to-small versus small-to-large scheme of repair layers, is studied with static and load-controlled fatigue testing, then compared to pristine test specimens as well as to each other in terms of mechanical property restoration. The transition layer between repair and parent material is especially of interest in the performance of the structure. Damage onset, crack development and eventual failure are monitored in-situ with non-destructive testing methods, including thermography with an infrared camera system and a 3D deformation analysis system, to develop a more robust understanding of the effects of these repair concept variables on wind turbine blade shell structures.
Additive manufacturing (AM) of metallic alloys has gained momentum in the past decade for industrial applications. The microstructures of AM metallic alloys are complex and hierarchical from the macroscopic to the nanometer scale. When using laser-based powder bed fusion (L-PBF) process, two main microstructural features emerge at the nanoscale: the melt pool boundaries (MPB) and the solidification cellular substructure.
Here, details of the MPB are revealed to clearly show the three-dimensional nature of MPBs with changes of cell growth of direction and their relation to their surrounding cellular substructure, as investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for L-PBF 316L austenitic stainless steel (cf. Figure 1). A hitherto unknown modulated substructure with a period of 21 nm is further discovered within cells as the result of a partial Ga+-focused ion beam-induced ferritic transformation of the austenite. Cell cores and cell boundaries differ notably regarding the modulated substructure.
The use of increasingly finer starting powders up to nanopowders can also be observed in the field of ceramics. Their advantages consist, for example, in their lower activation energy, an increase in strength or unique optical properties. However, handling and characterization of the powders are much more difficult. The main reason for this is the very high adhesive forces between the particles and between particles and other surfaces, too. Therefore, submicron and even more so nanoparticles tend to agglomerate and their separation into primary particles during sample preparation prior to particle sizing is of particular challenge. A representative measurement sample is only obtained when it no longer contains agglomerates. The evaluation of the dispersion process and a decision on whether it was successful thus increases in importance for the reliability of the measurement results of particle sizing.
The presentation uses examples to show possible approaches and provides information on possible sources of error.
It is shown that successful granulometric characterisation of fine powders requires both an improved dispersion technique and very often an effective combination of two or more measurement methods.
Wind turbine rotor blades are produced as aerodynamic, three-dimensionally formed sandwich shell structures using mainly glass fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP). The GFRP used today have the potential to withstand the harsh operating conditions of rotor blades over the projected service life of 20 years. Premature damages that occur can be traced primarily back to design and/or manufacturing imperfections, as well as unusually high load scenarios (for instance lightning strikes, or strong winds combined with system control errors). Therefore, rotor blades have to be repaired several times (on average 2-3 times) during their projected service life. Approximately 70% of these are repairs of small- to medium-sized sandwich shells, carried out by technicians directly accessing the blade by suspended roping at the wind turbine location. The goal is to execute repairs that will last over the remaining service life, i.e. be sustainable.
Within the framework of a research project carried out at BAM, Division 5.3 Polymer Matrix Composites, Department 5 for Materials Engineering, not only was the geometric shape (round vs. square in relation to the top view) varied, but also the layup of the scarf repair structure, variables that have not been studied systematically to-date. Sub-component scale sandwich shell specimens with representative repairs were used in this work in addition to coupon-scale specimens that are more commonly seen in literature. These sub-component shell specimens were tested using a unique shell test bench under loading conditions representative of wind turbine blade shell operating conditions with respect to fatigue strength. Using non-destructive testing methods (field strain measurement and thermography), damage development and distribution was monitored and analyzed in-situ. As a result, a concept was developed in which the repaired areas showed at least equivalent if not higher fatigue strength than the reference shells that were not repaired.
Recently, detection and conversion of high energy radiation such as ultraviolet and X-rays has gained renewed attention. In part, technological applications in radioimaging and tomography have developed considerably as to allow lower dosages and higher resolutions, which require optimized scintillators and dosimeters. On the other hand, the increasing effort to reduce carbon footprint in energy production has triggered an intensive search for materials that can be excited with sunlight, ranging from photocatalysts to solar concentrators. At LEMAF – Laboratory of Spectroscopy of Functional Materials at IFSC/USP, we have been developing bulk glasses, polycrystalline and composite materials designed to target both challenges and, in this work an overview of recent progresses and of the state of art of these materials will be given.
For instance, the few available comercial scintillators are crystalline materials with costly and time consuming growth which hinders the development of new compositions. Glasses and glass ceramics, such as the NaPGaW composition developed in our lab, present high density, very good optical properties and high chemical stability which allow them radioluminescent response when doped with low concentrations of Ce3+, Eu3+ and Tb3+ offering a promise as alternatives to crystal scintillators. On the other hand, phosphor in glass (PiG) composites based on the persistent luminescent polycrystalline material Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu2+,Dy3+ (SMSO) embedded into NaPGa glasses offer interesting perspectives for the of UV light into visible, useful for white light generation (lighting), improved harvesting and conversion of solar light when coupled to c-Si PV cells and photocatalysis. These and other examples will be discussed.
The glasses are prepared through the conventional melt quenching technique, followed by controlled heating when glass ceramics are desired. The persistent luminescent phosphor is prepared by the microwave assisted technique (MAS) much faster and with considerable energy consumption reduction than in the usual solid state synthesis. The materials are characterized from the structural, morphological and spectroscopic (optical – UV-Vis, PL, PLE, and structural – NMR, EPR) points of view such that structure-property correlations are constantly sought to feedback synthesis and processing. Fig. 1, illustrates two examples of scintillator glasses doped with Tb3+ and PiG composites doped with Eu2+ and Dy3+.
Following the new paradigm of materials development, design, and optimization, digitalization is the main goal in materials sciences and engineering (MSE) which imposes a huge challenge. In this respect, the quality assurance of processes and output data as well as the interoperability between applications following FAIR principles are to be ensured. For storage, processing, and querying of data in contextualized form, Semantic Web technologies (SWT) are used since they allow for machine-actionable and human-readable knowledge representations needed for data management, retrieval, and (re)use.
The project ‘platform MaterialDigital’ (PMD) aims to bring together and support interested parties from both industrial and academic sectors in a sustainable manner in solving digitalization tasks and implementing digital solutions. Therefore, the establishment of a virtual material data space and the systematization of the handling of hierarchical, process-dependent material data are focused. Core points to be dealt with are the development of agreements on data structures and interfaces implemented in distinct software tools and to offer users specific support in their projects. Furthermore, the platform contributes to a standardized description of data processing methods in materials research. In this respect, selected MSE methods are semantically represented on a prototypical basis which are supposed to serve as best practice examples with respect to knowledge representation and the creation of knowledge graphs used for material data.
Accordingly, this poster presentation illustrates demonstrators developed and deployed within the PMD project. Semantically anchored using the mid-level PMD Core Ontology (PMDco), they address data transformation leading to a novel data management which is based on semantic integrated data. The PMD data acquisition pipeline (DAP), which is fueled by traditional, diverse data formats, and a pipeline applying an electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) as data source are displayed. Additionally, the efficient combination of diverse datasets originating from different sources is demonstrated by the representation of a use case dealing with the well-known Orowan relation.
The life time of mechanical components in high temperature applications is basically determined by their workings. Corrosion determines the loss of material corresponding to the loss of the effective load-bearing section and consequently increasing stress levels. To improve the material selection for such applications a numerical life prediction corrosion model for different alloys and environments is needed. Based on the ferritic alloys FeCr and FeCrCo a first quantitative model is to be developed. For this purpose, the alloys are aged at 600 °C, 650 °C and 700 °C in synthetic air under normal pressure for between 10 and 240 hours. The first objective is to establish a quantitative relationship between the oxidation rate as a function of composition and microstructure of the alloys. The influence of the inner interface as an essential parameter for transport by diffusion on the oxidation kinetics is discussed in this paper.
Ti-6Al-4V alloy is intensively used in the aerospace industry because of its high specific strength. However, the application of Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) Ti-6Al-4V alloy for structurally critical load-bearing components is limited. One of the main limiting factors affecting the structural integrity, are manufacturing defects. Additionally, the high cooling rates associated with LPBF process result in the formation of large residual stress (RS) with complex fields. Such RS can cause cracking and geometrical distortions of the part even right after production. Also, the microstructure of LPBF Ti-6Al-4V in the as-built condition is significantly different from that of the conventionally produced alloy. All these factors affect the mechanical behavior of the material. Therefore, to improve the material performance it is important to evaluate the individual effect of RS, defects, and microstructure on fatigue life. To this aim Ti-6Al-4V LPBF material in as-built condition and subjected to different post-processing, including two heat treatments (for stress relief and microstructural modification) and Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP, for densification), were investigated.
Prior to fatigue tests at elevated temperature, the microstructure, the mesostructure, and subsurface RS on the fatigue samples were investigated. It was found that the fatigue performance of HIPped samples is similar to that of conventionally produced Ti-6Al-4V. The tensile RS found at the surface of as-built samples decreased the fatigue life compared to heat-treated samples. Additionally, the modification of the microstructure (by heat treatment) did not affect the fatigue performance in the regime of mostly elastic strain. This shows that in the absence of tensile RS the manufacturing defects solely control the failure of LPBF components and densification has the strongest effect on the improvement of the mechanical performance.
Fracture mechanics is a key to fatigue assessment in AM metal components. Short fatigue cracks are initiated at defects and pronounced surface roughness intrinsic to AM. The subsequent crack-propagation is strongly influenced by microstructural interactions and the build-up of crack-closure. The aim of the present study is to give an insight into short-crack propagation in AM-metals. Fatigue crack propagation resistance curves were determined experimentally for AISI 316L manufactured by Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) which was heat treated at three different temperatures. Differences in the build-up of the fatigue-crack propagation threshold in between the L-PBF specimens and compared to wrought material are due to the residual stress states, a pronounced roughness of the crack-faces in the L-PBF specimens and phase transformation in the vicinity of the crack-tip, resulting in increased crack-closure. This, together with crack-branching found along the crack path, enhances the resistance to the propagation of fatigue cracks.
The suitability of an Al2O3 coating for corrosion protection on X20Cr13 was evaluated in various artificial geothermal brines, focusing on the influence of different pH (4, 6 and 8) and their chemical compositions on the coating properties. All experiments were performed in the laboratory using autoclaves at 150 ◦C and 1 MPa in deaerated condition for 1 and 7 days. Results showed that the pH of geothermal waters is the most detrimental factor in the transformation of ɣ-Al2O3 and its protective abilities. Delaminations were found in the Coating exposed to geothermal brines with pH 4. FTIR spectra indicated a transformation of ɣ-Al2O3 to boehmite AlOOH after exposure to pH 4 and 6, and bayerite Al(OH)3 was formed after exposure to pH 8. Different Crystal structures of the hydrated Al2O3 also contribute to the stability of the coatings, observed by the SEM- EDX of the surface and cross-section of coatings. This study indicated that ɣ-Al2O3 sol-gel coating presents a promising aspect of corrosion protection in geothermal environment with a neutral pH.
Efficient energy provision using fuel cells requires effective hydrogen storage capacities. Glass is a material of low intrinsic hydrogen permeability and is therefore a promising material for hydrogen storage containers or diffusion barriers. Pioneer work on oxidic glasses seems to indicate a correlation between glass composition and hydrogen permeation, which was mainly derived from the behavior of silica glass. In this study, we focus on the relationship between topologic (free volume; network polymerization) and thermodynamic (configurational entropy) glass parameters. Experiments were performed well below the glass transition temperature, which excludes significant structural relaxation and chemical dissolution of hydrogen. The compositional dependence of seven glasses on the SiO2-NaAlO2 join pointed out that in fully polymerized glasses the H2 permeability cannot be solely derived from the total free volume of the glass structure. Hence, evidence is provided that the size distribution of free volume contributes to hydrogen diffusion and solubility. Additionally, results indicate that hydrogen permeability of the glasses is affected by the configurational heat capacity ΔCp at Tg.
Network modifier ions can decisively influence properties and structure of low melting alkali-zinc-borate glasses and thus cause complex effects on the liquid phase sintering of silver-glass metallization pastes. This effect was studied for X2O-ZnO-B2O3 (X = Li, Na, Rb) glasses for silver-glass metallization pastes. Viscosity and the glass transition temperature, Tg, were measured with rotational viscometry and dilatometry. Dried model pastes with 30 vol% LZB, NZB or RZB glass were prepared for sintering studies by means of heating microscopy measuring the silhouette area shrinkage of uniaxially pressed powder compacts during heating at 5 K/min. For comparison, the silhouette area shrinkage of pure glass and silver powder compacts were determined. Glass-silver wetting was investigated during heating of bulk glass cylinders placed on silver substrates. Glass RZB turned out to have the lowest viscosity among the glasses under study. Its glass transformation temperature, Tg, was found at 444 °C and it caused the lowest sintering onset for its glass and paste powder compacts. Slightly increased values of Tg were found for NZB and LZB (468 °C and 466 °C, respectively) and a slightly retarded sintering was found for both paste powder compacts. These results indicate that liquid phase sintering of silver-glass pastes under air atmosphere is mainly influenced by glass viscosity.
In many late-breaking research fields as in photovoltaics, microelectronics, nuclear waste glasses or at least mirror glasses silver diffusion in glasses is relevant to the issues of high-level functionality and recycling. The present study is focused on silver diffusion in innovative, low-melting alkali zinc borate glasses (X2O-ZnO-B2O3, X = Li, Na, K, Rb) potentially usable for silver metallization-pastes in solar cells. The glasses were coated with a thin metallic silver layer and heat treatments in air and nitrogen close to Tg at 470 °C for 2 h were performed. After heat treatment under air and nitrogen atmospheres the coating thickness, measured by a white light interferometer, was about 1.8 µm thick. Silver depth profiles determined by means of secondary neutral mass spectrometry (SNMS) indicate the fastest silver diffusion to a depth of 3.5 µm for Li2O-ZnO-B2O3 (LZB) glass. Nevertheless, the influence of the different alkali ions on the silver diffusion is small. The oxygen availability determines the silver diffusion into the glasses. The oxygen promotes the oxidation of the silver layer enabling Ag+ to diffuse into the glass and to precipitate as Ag0. Both species were detected by x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The precipitated metallic silver particles in Na2O-ZnO-B2O3 (NZB) glass have a mean size of 5.9 nm ± 1.2 nm diameter, which was determined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Phase separation in zinc-rich and zinc-poor phases with a mean diameter of 75 nm ± 20 nm occurred in NZB glass after heat treatment. Ion diffusion of the glasses into the silver layer was suggested by EDX-line scans.
Substitution of lead oxide in low-melting glasses, e.g., for application in silver metallization pastes, is a current research goal. This work is focused on the investigation of silver diffusion in alkali zinc borate glasses (X2O-ZnO-B2O3, X = Li, Na, K, Rb). In addition, the redox state of silver (Ag) and thus the type of diffusing silver species were studied. For this purpose, a metallic silver coating was applied on glass cubes by means of sputtering. Heat treatment of the samples was performed close to the glass transition temperatures at 470 °C for 2 h under air and nitrogen atmosphere. Coating thickness was 1.8 µm after heat treatment, measured by a white light interferometer.
Silver diffusion profiles were measured by means of secondary neutral mass spectrometry. The silver diffusion coefficients are in the range of ~10-14 cm2/s and indicate no significant differences depending on the type of alkali ions in the glass. Dissolved Ag+-ions and [Agm]n+-clusters in the glasses were differentiated using fluorescence spectroscopy.
Precipitated metallic silver particles in the sodium containing glass were observed by means of transmission electron microcopy. Their mean particle diameter was ~6 nm.
Single crystal superalloys usually contain pores of sizes 5-10 micro-m after casting and heat treatment. These pores can be reduced under compression by combined creep and diffusion in a subsequent treatment called Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP). The paper presents a methodology to simulate pore shrinkage under HIP conditions in two dimensions (2D).
At the scale of the pores, which is also the scale of the sub-grains (<50 micro-m) the dislocation sources cannot be assumed to be homogeneously distributed. Thus, the applicability of classical crystal plasticity is questionable. In this case, the transport of dislocations under an applied stress from the location where they are nucleated must be explicitly modelled. This is done by solving the transport equations for the dislocation densities and the elasticity equations in 2D. The dislocations are assumed to be nucleated at Low Angle Boundaries. They glide or climb through the sub-grains with a stress dependent velocity.
The transport equations are solved by the Flux-Corrected Transport method, which belongs to the predictor-corrector class of algorithms. In the first step, an artificial diffusion is introduced, which suppresses spurious oscillations of the solution. In a second step, the solution is corrected in such a way that no additional extremes appear and that the extremes do not grow. The algorithm is validated by simulating the transport of simple distributions with a constant velocity field.
With the dislocation velocities and the computed dislocation densities, the inelastic shear rate at the slip system level is computed by integrating the Orowan equation. In the 2D-setting, three slip systems are considered. The contributions of these slip systems are summed up to obtain the total inelastic strain rate. Dislocation glide and climb and the coupling of climb with vacancies diffusion are considered.
The resolution of the equilibrium equations from the inelastic strains turned out to be prone to numerical instabilities. As an alternative, the stresses are directly computed from the distribution of geometrically necessary dislocations following the method presented in. The resulting boundary value problem is solved by the Least-Square Finite Element method.
Examples of simulations are presented for a representative region under creep tension and for a pore shrinking under external pressure.
Sintered bioactive glass scaffolds of defined shape and porosity, e.g. made via additive manufacturing, must provide sufficient bioactivity and sinterability. As higher bioactivity is often linked to high corrosion and crystallization tendency, a certain compromise between sintering ability and bioactivity is therefore required. Groh et al. developed a fluoride-containing bioactive glass (F3), which allows fiber drawing and shows a bioactivity well comparable to that of Bioglass®45S5.
To study whether and to what extent the sinterability of F3 glass powder is controlled by particle size, coarse and fine F3 glass powders (300-310µm and 0-32µm) were prepared by crushing, sieving and milling. Sintering, degassing and phase transformation during heating were studied with heating microscopy, vacuum hot extraction (VHE), DTA, XRD, and SEM.
For the coarse glass powder, sintering proceeds slowly and is limited by surface crystallization of primary Na2CaSi2O6 crystals. Although the crystallization onset of Na2CaSi2O6 is shifted to lower temperature, full densification is attained for the fine powder. This finding indicate that certain porosity might be tuned via particle size variation. Above 900°C, intensive foaming is evident for the fine powder. VHE studies revealed that carbon species are the main foaming source.
The lecture focuses on the mechanisms of non-desired gas bubble formation and foaming during the sintering of glass powder compacts. It is shown that foaming is driven by carbon gases and that carbonates, encapsulated in micropores or mechaniacally dissolved beneath the glass surface, provide the major foaming source.
Glass powders are promising candidates for manufacturing a broad diversity of sintered materials like sintered glass-ceramics, glass matrix composites or glass bonded ceramics with properties and complex shape. Powder processing, however, can substantially affect sinterability, e.g. by promoting surface crystallization. On the other hand, densification can be hindered by gas bubble formation for slow crystallizing glass powders. Against this background, we studied sintering and foaming of silicate glass powders with different crystallization tendency for wet milling and dry milling in air, Ar, N2, and CO2 by means of heating microscopy, DTA, Vacuum Hot Extraction (VHE), SEM, IR spectroscopy, XPS, and ToF-SIMS. In any case, foaming activity increased significantly with progressive milling. For moderately milled glass powders, subsequent storage in air could also promote foaming. Contrarily, foaming could be substantially reduced by milling in water and 10 wt% HCl. Although all powder compacts were uniaxially pressed and sintered in air, foaming was significantly affected by different milling atmosphere and was found most pronounced for milling in CO2 atmosphere. Conformingly, VHE studies revealed that foaming is mainly driven by carbonaceous species, even for powders milled in other gases. Current results of this study thus indicate that foaming is caused by carbonaceous species trapped on the glass powder surface.
Glass powders are promising candidates for manufacturing a broad diversity of sintered materials like sintered glass-ceramics, glass matrix composites, glass bonded ceramics or pastes. Powder processing, however, can substantially affect sinterability, e.g. by promoting surface crystallization. On the other hand, densification can be hindered by gas bubble formation for slow crystallizing glass powders. Against this background, we studied sintering and foaming of silicate glass powders with different crystallization tendency for wet milling and dry milling in air, Ar, N2, and CO2 by means of heating microscopy, DTA, Vacuum Hot Extraction (VHE), SEM, IR spectroscopy, XPS, and ToF-SIMS. In any case, foaming activity increased significantly with progressive milling. For moderately milled glass powders, subsequent storage in air could also promote foaming. Contrarily, foaming could be substantially reduced by milling in water and 10 wt% HCl. Although all powder compacts were uniaxially pressed and sintered in air, foaming was significantly affected by different milling atmosphere and was found most pronounced for milling in CO2 atmosphere. Conformingly, VHE studies revealed that foaming is mainly driven by carbonaceous species, even for powders milled in other gases. Current results of this study thus indicate that foaming is caused by carbonaceous species trapped on the glass powder surface.
Today, more than 12% of the primary energy is lost in the form of waste heat. Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) can convert waste heat directly into electrical power by utilizing the Seebeck effect. The performance of such a generator is defined by a dimensionless figure of merit ZT of the thermoelectric pairs and the resistance R of the metallic contacts between these pairs. The figure of merit of thermoelectric oxides is considerably smaller compared to semiconductors. Still, thermoelectric oxides like calcium cobaltite (Ca3Co4O9) are attractive for applications at elevated temperatures in air. In contrast to the established π-type architecture of common TEGs, tape casting and multilayer technology may be applied for cost-effective manufacturing of oxide TEGs. Promising demonstrations of multilayer TEGs have been published in the last years. Still, the development of reliable and scalable manufacturing processes and proper material combinations is necessary. The aim of our project is to evaluate the feasibility of low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) technology for a practical manufacturing of oxide multilayer TEGs of Ca3Co4O9 (p-type) and calcium manganate (CaMnO3, n-type). Ca3Co4O9 exhibits an undesired phase decomposition at 926 °C. Because of that, the application of sintering strategies and interconnect concepts well known from LTCC technology is a promising approach. We present results of pressure-assisted sintering of Ca3Co4O9 multilayer at 900 °C and axial pressures of up to 7.5 MPa. Ca3Co4O9 was produced by solid state reaction of CaCO3 and cobalt(II,III)oxide at 900 °C. Green tapes were prepared by a doctor-blade process, manually stacked and laminated by uniaxial thermocompression. Sintering was conducted in a LTCC sintering press between SiC setter plates. The thickness shrinkage was recorded by an in-situ technique. After sintering under 7.5 MPa, the microstructure of the single phase material shows a high density of 95 % and an advantageous alignment of the platelet grains. This results in good electrical conductivity and a comparatively high ZT of 0.018 at room temperature. However, the lowering of CaMnO3 sintering temperature from above 1200 °C to below 920 °C remains a challenge. To select a proper metal paste for interconnections of an oxide TEG, several pastes have been investigated regarding contact resistance of internal and external (soldered) connections in a preliminary study. Commercial pastes containing Ag, Au, Au/Pt, Ag/Pd, and Ag/Pd/Bi were manually applied and post-fired on sintered test bars of Ca3Co4O9 and CaMnO3 at 900 °C for 2 h. All tested pastes formed mechanically stable metallization after firing. For resistance measurement, 4-wire method and a custom-made probe head were used. The contacts on Ca3Co4O9 exhibit significantly (2-sample t-test, α = 5%) higher resistance compared to contacts on CaMnO3. Pure silver paste exhibits the lowest resistance for internal contacts on both materials, lower than 5 mΩ on CaMnO3. Ag/Pd/Bi paste resulted in conspicuously high variance of resistance. EDX analyses clarified an enrichment of Bi in the thermoelectric material near the interface and thereby the formation of an oxide layer with probably high electrical resistance. The thickness of that layer varies with the thickness of metallization. In conclusion, the use of Bi containing pastes is not advisable. Pure Ag paste shows the best results regarding resistance and solderability.
High conductive silver-glass-metallization-pastes are key components in photovoltaics and advanced microelectronics. However, the underlying mechanisms of liquid phase sintering as silver dissolution, diffusion and reprecipitation are poorly understood so far.
In the current work, the influence of different network modifier in alkali-zinc-borate paste-glasses on liquid phase sintering of silver-glass-composites was studied. Therefore, silver-glass-composites containing 30 vol% glass were prepared, using low melting X2O-ZnO-B2O3 glasses with X = Na, Li, and Rb (NZB, LZB, and RZB). Glass transition temperature, viscosity, glass-silver wetting, crystallization and sintering behavior was studied by means of thermal analysis, dilatometry, heating microscopy and microscopy.
Similar glass transition temperatures of 450 °C (RZB), 460 °C (LZB) and 465 °C (NZB) were found by means of thermal analysis for glasses under study. Also, all glasses have a similar crystallization onset at about 550 °C, even though exhibiting with a different degree of crystallization.
Despite these similarities, however, the sintering behavior, measured in terms of area shrinkage, significantly differs for the composites. This finding indicates a different degree of silver dissolution. Assuming that dissolved silver reduces the viscosity, this effect could explain why glass crystallization starts at lower temperature in the composites. For example, the crystallization peak of LZB at 629 °C measured for pure glass powder compacts was decreased to 586 °C for the composite. Confirmatively, microstructure analyses indicate different degrees of silver dissolution, as e.g. revealed by different amount of silver precipitates within the residual glass phase, and reprecipitation. Best silver dissolution appeared for the RZB glass. Nevertheless, the final densification of RZB was retarded probably due to swelling and crystallization.
High conductive silver metallization pastes are key components in advanced electronics and photovoltaics. Increasing demands on efficiency, miniaturization and ever shorter time-to-market require tailored glass-silver-pastes. In these pastes, low-melting glasses act as a sintering aid achieving better sintering, adhesion and contact formation for solar cells. Yet, the related liquid phase sintering of silver-glass-composites and the underlying mechanism of silver dissolution, transport and reprecipitation are rarely investigated. In this study, systematically varied low melting alkaline zinc borate, alkaline earth borate, and Pb- and Bi-glasses are investigated. Glass transition and crystallization are studied with dilatometry, DTA and XRD. Sintering of the pure glasses, pure silver and silver-glass-composites is analyzed with Hot Stage Microscopy, optical and electron microscopy. Since oxygen dissolved in silver powders can affect the silver dissolution as silver oxide in the matrix oxide glasses, the O2-content of silver powders is determined by Vacuum Hot Extraction. The glass transition temperature of the glasses under study varies between 370 °C and 590 °C whereas the sinter onset largely ranges between 400 °C and 600 °C. On the other hand, it scattered between 200 °C and 450 °C for selected commercial Ag-powders of different particle size and morphology.
Since decades electric contacts based on silver metallization pastes are key components of photovoltaics and advanced microelectronics. For the metallization of commercial Si solar cells, high conductive silver glass pastes are cost effectively applicated by screen printing. Nevertheless, silver pastes are still one of the most crucial and expensive none Si materials in solar cells. Ever shorter time to market as well as increasing demands on reduced Ag consumption and line width require the targeted development of silver-glass-pastes with increased sinter ability and electrical conductivity. As a main difficulty, however, the liquid phase sintering of silver glass pastes is poorly understood so far.
In the present study, the influence of different network modifier in alkali-zinc-borate paste glasses on liquid phase sintering of silver-glass-pastes was investigated. Low melting X2O-ZnO-B2O3 glasses with X = Na, Li and Rb (abbr. LZB, NZB, and RZB) were utilized to prepare silver-glass-composites containing 30 %Vol glass. Shrinkage behavior of the silver-glass-composites compared with that of pure silver and pure glass powder compacts was studied with heating microscopy. The powder compacts were uniaxially pressed and heated at 5 K/min to the glass softening temperature. Glass transformation temperature and viscosity of the glasses were respectively measured with dilatometry and rotational viscometry. The thermal behavior of the pure glasses was analyzed with thermal analysis. Additionally, the contact angle of glass on pure silver foil was determined by means of heating microscopy between room temperature and 830 °C.
Thermal analysis of the alkali-zinc-borate-glasses under study has shown transformation temperatures between 450 °C (RZB), 460 °C (LZB) and 465 °C (NZB). For all glasses crystallization was found to start approximately at about 550 °C. However, different peak areas hint on a different degree of crystallization. Conformingly, the sintering behavior, measured in terms of area shrinkage, significantly differed for the silver-pastes under study. For silver-pastes with NZB or LZB-glass, sintering starts at 464 °C for NZB Ag pastes and at 451 °C for LZB Ag pastes and ends at 597 °C for NZB Ag paste and at 594 °C for LZB Ag paste. The sintering of the RZB Ag paste proceeds between 426 °C and 703 °C. The final densification was retarded possibly due to crystallization or swelling. The low sinter onset at 426 °C seems to correlate with the good wetting behavior of the RZB glass. Thus, the lowest apparent contact angle between the just densified powder compact sintered at a silver substrate was found for this glass. Moreover, microstructure analyses of the various composites indicate differences in silver dissolution and reprecipitation.
Biomaterials for bone replacement and grafting should possess sufficient strength, be bioresorbable and demonstrate osteoconductive and osteoinductive properties. However, resorption of modern materials for bone grafting (hydroxyapatite (HA) and tricalcium phosphate (TCP)) is reported, in some cases, to be not enough, this is why the search for more soluble compounds compared to HA and TCP looks very perspective. A possible way to increase ceramics solubility leads to partial substitution of Ca2+ -ions in Ca3(PO4)2 by alkali cations, like Na+ or/and K+. Improvement of solubility stems from decreasing lattice energy of a substituted phase, as well as the increase in hydration energy of the ions releasing from the phase to ambient solution. From this viewpoint, bioceramics based on compositions from Ca3(PO4)2 - CaKPO4 - CaNaPO4 ternary system seems to be prospective for bone replacement and grafting in the sense of resorption properties. At the same time, one should bear in mind that solubility level (resorbability) is governed not only by reduction of lattice energy but also by microstructure features. Grain sizes and porosity contribute much to dissolution rate making the study of sintering of the ceramics mentioned above highly important.
To control Ca3(PO4)2 - CaKPO4 - CaNaPO4 based ceramic microstructure it is necessary to know possible phase transformations in the system and the way to manage microstructure by sintering schedule or sintering process.
In this work, an isothermal section for phase diagram of Ca3(PO4)2 - CaKPO4 - CaNaPO4 ternary system is studied with several techniques. According to the XRD of quenched samples, this phase triangle has four single-phase areas at 1200˚C (Figure 1). It was shown that single-phase CaK0.6Na0.4PO4 cannot be sintered to full-dense ceramics by conventional sintering regardless time-temperature schedule. Two-step sintering technique, beneficial in the case of HA-ceramics, was unsuccessful in all cases of calcium-alkali phosphate compositions. However, field-assisted sintering techniques like, e.g. Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS), can overcome this problem due to significant impact on grain boundary diffusion. In connection with this fact, grains grow much slower retaining sintering process in a pore control regime. In this work CaK0.6Na0.4PO4 low-porous ceramics was also fabricated by FAST-methods of sintering. Moreover, other alternative sintering techniques, such as reaction sintering, may be useful in accelerating ions diffusion but stopping excessive grain growth.Strength properties of ceramics were evaluated by B3B-testing, micro- and nanoindentation techniques. Fracture toughness also becomes higher with potassium content increase, guiding porosity level.
Resorption properties of sintered ceramics were studied in different solutions with pH=5 and 7.4.
Acknowledgements. The research of sintering processes in calcium phosphate materials were funded by RFBR according to the research project № 18-33-00974.
The use of high niobium alloyed cast iron alloys is a relatively new approach in which the niobium addition intends to improve the properties of the material by the precipitation of hard niobium carbides during solidification. Steels can be replaced by ductile cast iron in some rolling applications, such as gears and cams, in order to reduce material costs. The aim of this work is to evaluate ductile iron alloyed with 1 weight percent (wt.%) niobium for the as cast specimens and with 1.8 wt.% and 2.4 wt.% niobium for the austempered specimens under lubricated slip-rolling tests using mixed/boundary conditions in an Amsler-type machine. Austempered ductile iron (ADI) alloyed with 1 wt.% chromium, or Carbidic ADI, was tested for comparison. For the as cast conditions, the niobium addition resulted in an increase of wear resistance owing to the low contact pressure of these tests. However, for the austempered specimens, the best performance was found for unalloyed ADI. The main factor acting in the initiation and propagation of cracks in ductile iron is the presence of the graphite nodules. The coarse carbides also contributed to the initiation of cracks and spalling of the material.
Efficient studies of scarce or expensive materials require material saving processes. Therefore, a high yield concept for small batch preparation of ready-to-press powder is exemplarily presented for yttria stabilized nano-zirconia (d50 < 50 nm).
The concept involves small batch preparation in an ultrasound resonator, dispersant selection based on zeta potential measurements, evaluation of slurry stability using an analytical centrifuge, and preparation of ready-to-press powder by freeze drying.
Freeze drying offers key advantages. Process efficiency and high yield above 95 % are independent of sample size. The dried product does not require further mechanical treatment like milling or grinding. Side effects like migration of additives are avoided.
An optimized freeze drying process tolerates slurries with moderate stability. Thus, efforts for slurry development can be reduced. Generally, identifying a suitable dispersing agent requires only 3-5 zeta potential measurements. Slurry stability is rechecked using an analytical centrifuge, which also accounts for steric stabilization. An ultrasound resonator is used to disperse the powder without contamination, which becomes critical for small batches.
The described route is exemplarily presented for the development of an additive recipe for nano-sized zirconia powder, targeting for good pressing behavior and high green density. Therefore, a variety of binding and lubricating agents were tested.
Following the presented route, 80 g zirconia powder were sufficient to conduct a study including slurry development and five sample sets with varying composition, each set comprising five discs (d = 20 mm and h = 2 mm).
Small-angle scattering data analysis round robin - Anonymized results, figures and Jupyter notebook
(2023)
The intent of this round robin was to find out how comparable results from different researchers are, who analyse exactly the same processed, corrected dataset.
This zip file contains the anonymized results and the jupyter notebook used to do the data processing, analysis and visualisation. Additionally, TEM images of the samples are included.
Functional fatigue of shape-memory alloys is a considerable threat to the reliable service of actuation devices. Here, we demonstrate the essentially degradation-free cyclic phase-transformation behavior of Ni-Mn-Ga microcrystals up to one million stress-driven superelastic cycles. Cyclic dissipation amounts to about 1/5 of the bulk counterpart and remains unaffected during cycling, even after the introduction of dislocation structures via plastic straining. Plastic yielding and the transformation stress largely exceed the known bulk values. However, the transformation-stress is found to depend on plastic pre-straining, which suggests that the size-affected transformation stress is sensitive to the initial defect structure and that it can be tuned by a targeted introduction of dislocations. These findings demonstrate the high suitability of Ni-Mn-Ga as a robust shape-memory alloy in small-scale functional device engineering.
Spectroscopy Lectures
(2024)
As a guest professor of FUNGLASS, I delivered 3 lectures on spectroscopy to the Graduate School Program, the postdoctoral fellows and other researchers: 1) Introduction to spectroscopy applied to solid state materials (with focus on glass and glass ceramics); 2) Vibrational spectroscopy (Infrared and Raman); 3) Electron Paramagnetic Resonance
Among the very few techniques to localize hydrogen (H) at the microscale in steels, Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) was proven to be a reliable tool. The necessity to detect hydrogen stems from its deleterious effects in metals, that are often used as structural components and to obtain better understanding of the underlying metallurgical mechanisms of hydrogen embrittlement (HE) which are still unclear.
Austenitic stainless steels are nowadays commonly used in a wide variety of application, from hydrogen transport and storage facilities to petrochemical and offshore applications where they are exposed to aggressive environments and therefore prone to HE. One of the greater risks in the austenitic class is the embrittlement of the material due to the instability of the γ austenite and its transformation into a brittle α martensitic phase. This transformation takes place due to the local stresses that are induced by the uptake of hydrogen during service. Nonetheless, it was shown that this transformation can occur as an artefact during SIMS analysis itself where Cs-sputtering is necessary not only to remove surface contaminations but mainly to enhance H/D secondary ion yield.
In the following contribution we show the influence of different sputtering conditions on AISI 304L austenitic stainless steel in order to distinguish the artefact from the hydrogen induced transformation. The material was charged electrochemically in a deuterium based electrolyte. Deuterium (D) must be in these experiments as a replacement for hydrogen which cannot be used because adsorbed hydrogen superimposes hydrogen originating from charging the sample in the SIMS images. ToF-SIMS analyses were conducted by ToF SIMS IV (IONTOF GmbH, Münster, Germany). The experiments were carried out on deuterium charged and non-charged samples. The structural characterization was carried out by SEM and EBSD examinations before and after charging, both with a Leo Gemeni 1530VP field-emission scanning electron microscope and a Zeiss Supra 40 instrument (Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, Oberkochen, Germany). The results showed that the use of 1keV Cs+ beam induces stacking faults while higher sputter beam energies results in γ→α transformation.
Statistical analysis of Vickers induced subcritical crack growth in soda-lime silicate glasses
(2018)
Studies on Vickers induced subcritical crack growth are controversially discussed since the stresses that drive the crack growth are distributed three dimensionally within the material and cannot be retraced by available methods. Hence, empirical approaches are used to calculate mechanical material parameters such as the stress intensity factor KI. However, the results of these approaches show large deviations from those measured by standardized techniques such as double cantilever beam (DCB) or double cleavage drilled compression (DCDC). Yet, small specimen sizes and low specimen quantities can prevent the execution of DCB and DCDC measurements. Here we present an approach that is based on a statistical analysis of Vickers induced radial cracks. For this purpose more than 150 single radial cracks were analyzed. The cracks were generated in a commercial soda-lime silicate glass. The experiments were performed in a glovebox purged with dry nitrogen gas to minimize the influence of atmospheric water on crack growth. The temporally resolved evolution of the radial cracks was monitored in-situ using an inverted microscope equipped with a camera system directly below the Vickers indenter. An automated image analysis software was used to determine the crack length over time. The data show that the crack propagation and thereby the crack velocities are not uniformly but statistically distributed. These findings allow, using the statistical mean value of the distributions in combination with DCB data, a precise formulation of KI for each measured crack length.
Dry pressing of ceramic materials requires homogeneously soft granules with good flowability to allow rapid die filling and to avoid packing defects. Spray-drying granulation appears to be the best method for obtaining granules with high flowability in industrial scale. But, strength reducing internal microstructural defects caused by spray-dried granules with hollow and hard shells are often observed using nano and/or multi-component starting powders.
Using the example of a ZTA composite, the potential of slurry optimization, ultrasound atomization and infrared drying for better granule properties and compaction behavior were investigated. Starting granules produced in a conventional spray dryer (Niro, Denmark) with a two fluid nozzle showed typical defects like large central pores and dimples.
The early step of slurry preparation already possesses an essential optimization possibility in the form of stability adjustments. Granule compaction was clearly improved upon a specific reduction in slurry stability. The second optimization opportunity to improve the granule quality was the atomization step. Implementation of an ultrasound atomizing unit into the conventional spray dryer positively affected granule size distribution and therefor flowability and as well granule yield. But, a combination of both process optimizations delivered the best sinter bodies with highest density and strength due to further reduction in maximum size and fraction of pores.
As last step of a spray drying process, the drying is the focus of further investigations. A current setup implying a spray dryer prototype utilizes stacked infrared heater in a countercurrent setup delivering a further increase in granule yield and enduring spraying process stability.
The main deference between high entropy alloys and conventional alloys is the solid solution strengthening effect, which moves from a single element to a multi-element matrix. Little is known about the effectiveness of this effect at high temperatures. Investigation of temperature dependent solid solution strengthening in single phase multicomponent alloys with medium and high entropy using creep testing was performed. Creep tests carried out on single phase SX CrCoNi , CrMnFeCoNi and pure Ni from 700 to 1200 °C excluding oxidation, grain boundaries and multiphase effects. It was found that the influence of solid solution strengthening of CrCoNi and CrMnFeCoNi increases by decreasing temperature (1200 to 700 °C), and dislocation forests occur in CrCoNi and CrMnFeCoNi in comparison to pure Ni.
As the development of optimized glass compositions by traditional trial-and-error methods is laborious, time consuming, and expensive, it is desirable to develop glass compositions based on a fundamental understanding of the glass structure and to establish structure-property relation models. Particularly, when it comes to optical applications of glasses doped with emissive trivalent rare earth ions (RE), the chemical environmental around the ions will have a direct influence on the radiative/non-radiative emission probabilities. The local vibrational environment and the chemical nature of the bonds in the first coordination sphere of the ions can be tailored, to good extent, based on structural information given by magnetic resonance techniques (NMR and EPR), associated to Raman and photophysical characterization. For the past 5 years, while still employed at the University of São Paulo, in Brazil, one of the interests of my research group has been the development of high-density fluoride-phosphate glasses as promising UV and X-ray scintillator materials. The targeted glasses offer a lower vibrational energy, less hygroscopic fluoride environment for the RE ions whereas the phosphate network provides better mechanical and chemical stability than a purely fluoride glass matrix. Different sets of glasses, based on the compositional system (Ba/Sr)F2-M(PO3)3-MF3-(Sc/Y)F3 where M = Al, In, Ga, and the phosphate component is substituted by the fluoride analogue in 10 - 30 mol%, were investigated, using Sc3+, Y3+, and the Eu3+ and Yb3+ dopants, as structural probes. Overall, results show that the desired RE coordination by fluorine, at a given F/P ratio, is proportional to the atomic mass of M (In> Ga> Al) and that the Ga- and In- based systems differ from the Al- one by near absence of P-O-P network linkages. That is, the network structures are dominated by Ga-O-P or In-O-P linkages, as evidenced by 31P MAS-NMR and Raman. These results are nicely corroborated by observation of decreased intensity of the vibronic band in Eu3+-doped glasses and marked increase in excited state lifetime values. Radioluminescence studies were carried out for a series of In-based glasses doped with Ce3+ and Tb3+, yielding intense emissions in the blue and green, respectively, compatible to the spectral region of the highest sensitivity of radiation sensor detectors. The aim of the presentation is to show how powerful the NMR and EPR techniques can be to provide decisive structural information, and to present the research perspectives in my new role as the Head of Division 5.6 – Glass at BAM.
Structure-property correlations in RE-doped fluoride-phosphate glasses sought by NMR, EPR & PL
(2024)
As the development of optimized glass compositions by traditional trial-and-error methods is laborious, expensive, and time consuming, it is desirable to gather fundamental understanding of structure and to develop structure-property relation models, which allow best and faster choices. Particularly, when it comes to optical applications of glasses doped with emissive trivalent rare earth ions (RE), the chemical environmental around the ions will have a direct influence on the radiative/non-radiative emission probabilities. The vibrational environment and the chemical nature of the bonds in the first coordination sphere of the ions can be tailored, to some extent, based on structural information given by magnetic resonance (NMR and EPR) techniques associated to Raman and photophysical characterization. For the past 5 years, one of the interests of my research group at the University of São Paulo, in Brazil, has been the development of high-density fluoride-phosphate glasses as promising UV and X-ray scintillator materials. The targeted glasses offer a lower vibrational energy, less hygroscopic fluoride environment for the RE ions whereas the phosphate network provides improved mechanical and chemical stability than a purely fluoride glass matrix. Different sets of glasses, based on the compositional system (Ba/Sr)F2-M(PO3)3-MF3-(Sc/Y)F3 where M = Al, In, Ga, and the phosphate component is substituted by the fluoride analogue in 10-30 mol%, were investigated, using Sc3+, Y3+, and the Eu3+ and Yb3+ dopants, as structural probes. Overall, results show that the desired RE coordination by F, at a given F/P ratio, is proportional to the atomic mass of M (In> Ga> Al) and that the Ga- and In- based systems differ from the Al- one by near absence of P-O-P network linkages i.e, the network structures are dominated by Ga-O-P or In-O-P linkages as evidenced by 31P MAS-NMR and Raman. These results are nicely corroborated by observation of decreased intensity in the vibronic band of Eu3+ and significant increase in the excited state lifetime values. Radioluminescence studies were carried out for a series of In-based glasses doped with Ce3+ and Tb3+ yielding intense emissions in the blue and green, respectively, compatible to the spectral region of highest sensitivity of radiation sensor detectors. The aim of the presentation is to show how powerful the combination of NMR, EPR, Raman and PLE spectroscopies can be to provide structural information and to present the perspectives for their introduction in the research agenda of Division 5.6 – Glass, which I now lead, at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) in Berlin, Germany.
Lock-in- and flash thermography are standard methods in active thermography. They are widely used in industrial inspection tasks e.g. for the detection of delaminations, cracks or pores. The requirements for the light sources of these two methods are substantially different. While lock-in thermography requires sources that can be easily and above all fast modulated, the use of flash thermography requires sources that release a very high optical energy in the very short time.
By introducing high-power vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) arrays to the field of thermography a source is now available that covers these two areas. VCSEL arrays combine the fast temporal behavior of a diode laser with the high optical irradiance and the wide illumination range of flash lamps or LEDs and can thus potentially replace all conventional light sources of thermography.
However, the main advantage of this laser technology lies in the independent control of individual array areas. It is therefore possible to heat not only in terms of time, but also in terms of space. This new degree of freedom allows the development of new NDT methods. We demonstrate this approach using a test problem that can only be solved to a limited extent in active thermography, namely the detection of very thin, hidden defects in metallic materials that are aligned vertically to the surface. For this purpose, we generate destructively interfering thermal wave fields, which make it possible to detect defects within the range of the thermal wave field high sensitivity. This is done without pre-treatment of the surface and without using a reference area to depths beyond the usual thermographic rule of thumb.
Study of Polyaniline/Silicon Dioxide based Coating on Carbon Steel in Artificial Geothermal Brine
(2021)
Geothermal brines are corrosive in nature because of their salt contents and high temperatures. Therefore, they pose a major challenge to geothermal power-plants, which are mostly built of low alloyed steels, e.g., carbon steel. Carbon steel is susceptible to uniform and localized corrosion when exposed to geothermal brines having acidic-saline properties. To overcome this limitation, geothermal power plants should be built by either high alloyed materials or by integrating protection systems on carbon steel, such as coatings and inhibitors. We studied a coating system containing polyaniline/silicon dioxide basing on locally available resources that provides protection against corrosion of carbon steel and enhance the thermal resistance in geothermal environments. Here, exposure and electrochemical tests of coated carbon steels were performed in an artificial geothermal brine. The solution had a pH of 4, with the composition of 1,500 mg/L of chlorides, which is based on the chemical analysis of geothermal brine found in Sibayak, Indonesia. All exposure tests were conducted using autoclaves at 150 °C with a total pressure of 1 MPa, which was performed for up to six months to evaluate the durability of the coating system. Post-experimental analyses were performed by assessing the surface of specimens using optical and electron microscopes. On the other hand, electrochemical tests were performed for seven days at 25 °C and 150 °C to investigate the kinetics of electrochemical reactions by measuring open circuit potential and electrochemical impedance spectra. Experimental results showed the corrosion resistance of PANI/SiO2 composite coatings, where polyaniline and SiO2 play their roles as stabilizers.
Study of Polyaniline/Silicon Dioxide based Coating on Carbon Steel in Artificial Geothermal Brine
(2021)
By using the available resources in Indonesia, such as silicon dioxide and marine coating base, the PANI/SiO2 modified alkyd coating was able to protect carbon steel in a deaerated artificial geothermal water. The screening of coatings shows that the modification by adding individual pigment was not sufficient to protect carbon steel even during a short-term exposure, indicated by the discoloration after only seven days of exposure. Electrochemical tests indicated that there was no significant change in the Ecorr between the coated and uncoated carbon steel at room temperature. At 150 °C, the coated carbon steel has a lower potential than that of carbon steel, indicating that the coating is protecting carbon steel cathodically or slowing down the corrosion reaction. Finally, a long-term exposure test confirmed that the PANI/SiO2 modified coating successfully protects the carbon steel in the Sibayak artificial geothermal water up to 150 °C for 6 months.
Environmental conditions are known to influence sub-critical crack growth (SCCG) that starts from microscopic flaws at the glass surface, leading to stress corrosion phenomena at the crack tip. The processes at the crack tip are complex and water has been identified as a key component governing SCCG at low crack velocities (region I). In particular, the influence of humidity accelerating crack propagation is well studied for dry industrial soda-lime silicate glasses (< 1000 ppm water). To shed light on this influence, the effect of water is mimicked by studying SCCG in water-bearing glasses. For this purpose, water-bearing silicate glasses of up to 8 wt% total water were synthesized in an internally heated pressure vessel at 0.5 GPa and compared to dry glasses. SCCG was measured using the double cantilever beam technique. For dry glasses, three trends in the crack growth velocity versus stress intensity, KI, curve were found. The slope in region I, limited by environmental corrosion, increases in the order soda-lime silicate < sodium borosilicate < barium calcium silicate < sodium zinc silicate < sodium aluminosilicate glass. The velocity range of region II, reflecting the transition between corrosion affected and inert crack growth (region III), varies within one order of magnitude among these glasses. The KI region of inert crack growth strongly scatters between 0.4 and 0.9 MPam1/2. For hydrous glasses, it is found that water strongly decreases Tg, form a new sub-Tg relaxation peak caused by molecular water, and makes the glasses more prone to SCCG. The observed trends will be discussed in terms of the effects of Youngs Modulus on strain energy release rate and energy dissipation related to glass relaxation phenomena.
Premature failure of glass under load is caused by sub-critical crack growth (SCCG) originate from microscopic flaws at the surface. While SCCG is related to the humidity of the ambient atmosphere, leading to stress corrosion phenomena at the crack tip, the detailed mechanism and the effect of different network formers are still not fully understood. For more clarity, various soda silicate glasses with a second network former were investigated by double cantilever beam technique: Na2O*Al2O3*SiO2 (NAS), Na2O*B2O3*SiO2 (NBS), Na2O*PbO*SiO2 (NPbS).
Three effects on the crack growth velocity, v, versus stress intensity, KI, curves were found out. The slope in region I, which is limited by corrosion, increases in the order NAS < NBS ≲ NPbS. The velocity range of region II reflecting the transition between corrosion effected and inert crack growth (region III), varies within one order of magnitude between the glasses. The KI region of inert crack growth strongly scatters between 0.4 and 0.9 MPam1/2. For comparison, crack growth at different humidity in commercial soda lime silicate glass (NCS) was measured.
Environmental conditions are known to influence sub-critical crack growth (SCCG) that are released from microscopic flaws at the glass surface, leading to stress corrosion phenomena at the crack tip. The processes at the crack-tip are complex and water has been identified as a key component governing SCCG at low crack velocities (region I). In particular, the influence of humidity accelerating crack propagation is well studied for industrial soda-lime silicate glasses, which are practically free (< 1000 ppm) of dissolved water. To shed light on the corrosion process, the situation at the crack-tip is reversed in the present study as dissolved water in larger fractions is present in the glass and crack propagation is triggered in dry environment. For this purpose, water-bearing silicate glasses of up to 8 wt% total water were synthesized in an internally heated pressure vessel at 0.5 GPa and compared to dry glasses of standard glass manufacturing. SCCG was measured using the double cantilever beam technique and by Vickers indentation. For dry glasses, three trends in the crack growth velocity versus stress intensity curve were found. The slope in region I limited by environmental corrosion increases in the order sodium aluminosilicate < sodium borosilicate ≲ sodium lead silicate. The velocity range of region II reflecting the transition between corrosion affected and inert crack growth (region III), varies within one order of magnitude among the glasses. The KI region of inert crack growth strongly scatters between 0.4 and 0.9 MPam1/2. For hydrous glasses, it is found that those of low Tg are more prone to SCCG. As water strongly decreases Tg, it promotes SCCG. First results indicate that molecular water has a dominating influence on SCCG.
Ambient water influences sub-critical crack growth (SCCG) from microscopic surface flaws, leading to stress corrosion at the crack tip. The complex influence of humidity accelerating slow crack propagation (region I) is well studied only for dry commercial NCS glass (< 1000 ppm water). To shed light on this influence, the effect of water is mimicked by studying SCCG water-bearing glasses. For this purpose, water-bearing silicate glasses of 8 wt% total water were synthesized at 0.5 GPa and compared to dry glasses. SCCG was measured in double cantilever beam geometry. For dry glasses, 3 trends in crack velocity vs. stress intensity, KI, curve were found. The slope in region I increases in the order NCS < NBS < BaCS < NZnS < NAS glass. The velocity range of region II, reflecting the transition between corrosion affected and inert crack growth (region III), varies within one order of magnitude among these glasses. The KI region of inert crack growth strongly scatters between 0.4 and 0.9 MPam0.5. For hydrous glasses, it is found that water strongly decreases Tg, form a new sub-Tg internal friction peak caused by molecular water, and makes the glasses more prone to SCCG. The observed trends will be discussed in terms of the effects of Youngs Modulus on the strain energy release rate and energy dissipation related to mechanical glass relaxation phenomena.
Glass strength and fatigue is limited by surface cracks. As subcritical crack growth (SCCG) is governed by ambient humidity, stress corrosion at the crack tip is widely accepted to be the underlying mechanism. However, as water is known to have decisive effect on glass properties and can rapidly enter the crack tip near glass region, SCCG could be affected by such water related phenomena. We tried to mimic these effects studying water dissolution and speciation, mechanical properties, and SCCG in water-bearing glasses. For this purpose, glasses up to 8 wt% water have been prepared by means of high-pressure melting of glass powder - water mixtures.
As part of this effort, SCCG in dry and hydrous commercial micros¬cope slide glass (CW = 6 wt%) was studied in double cantilever beam (DCB) geometry and sub-Tg relaxation was measured by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA).
For SCCG in ambient air (24% r.h.), SCCG was promoted by the presence of 6wt% bulk water with respect to the dry glass. On the other hand, stress intensity values, KI, required to cause slow crack growth (v < 10-6 ms-1) resemble literature findings for float glass of similar composition in liquid water, which might represent the maximum possible promoting effect of ambient water on SCCG.
For SCCG in vacuum (10-3 mbar), dissolved bulk water causes even more pronounced effects. Most strikingly, it strongly decreases the slope of the log v(KI)-curve, which is a measure of dissipated energy during fracture. A strong increase of sub-Tg relaxation with increasing water content was confirmed by DMA. As a consequence, slow crack growth occurs at KI values as measured in the dry glass whereas fast crack growth occurs at much larger KI than that of the dry glass. Kinks and shoulders shown by the inert log v(KI)-curve indicate that bulk water does not simply affect bulk mechanical properties.
The presence of water in the surrounding atmosphere of a propagating crack has a major influence on the subcritical crack growth. While these external phenomena are well understood, there is still a lack of knowledge on the influence of structurally bound water on crack propagation. Thus, our recent study aims on the analysis of crack propagation in water bearing soda-lime silicate glasses with up to 8 wt.% water. The samples were synthesized in an internally heated pressure vessel at 0.5 GPa. Since this preparation route limits the sample sizes, standard test geometries allowing for the determination of stress intensity factors, such as double cantilever beam, are not feasible. Thus, radial cracks in the hydrous glasses were initiated by Vickers indentation and crack growth was simultaneously captured with a camera system. An automated image analysis algorithm was used for the analysis of the crack length of each single video frame. To minimize influences by atmospheric water, all experiments were conducted in a glovebox purged with dry N2. About 150 cracks per glass composition were analyzed to provide statistical significance of the Vickers-induced SCCG. The results show that structurally bound water has a major influence on SCCG by means of crack lengths, growth rates and time of crack initiation.