Field Activated Combustion Synthesis of Ceramic and Composite Materials

摘要

The thrust of the work completed is an investigation on the effect of an electric field on the synthesis and densification of complex materials. Experimental investigations were made on the field effect in the synthesis of: (a) solid solution precursors for nanoscale modulated composites, (b) a high temperature ceramic with relatively high fracture toughness, (c) macro-alloyed high temperature silicides, and (d) hard material of boride composites with highly oriented precipitates. Modeling studies on the effect of the electric field (current) on synthesis reactions were also made. In addition, an important new direction in the completed work was the investigation of the simultaneous synthesis and densification of nanometric materials. The latter work has led to the issuance of a U.S. Patent and a pending application for an International Patent. The work was facilitated by the use of the Spark Plasma Synthesis (SPS) apparatus, the only one of its kind in the U.S..