Search

Directionally aligned prismatic and lamellar porous alumina scaffolds with a high strength-to-density ratio were fabricated from submicron Al2O3 powders and a tiny quantity of nanoscale TiO2 sintering aids by freeze casting using TBA and water as solvents. Both freezing temperature (− 10 °C, − 50 °C, − 90 °C) and sintering temperature (1300 °C, 1350 °C, 1400 °C) were varied to adjust pore parameters while a low solid loading (15 vol%) was maintained to ensure high porosity. This paper describes and compares the microstructures, porosity, pore size, wall thickness and compressive behavior of the scaffolds with two typical pore morphologies (lamella and honeycomb), which help to identify their scope of application and to unveil the relationship between pore morphology and mechanical property to optimize the material performance. The failure modes of these two types of scaffolds under compression were simulated. The TBA-based 1 wt% TiO2-containing alumina scaffolds with dense ceramic walls that were freeze-cast at − 90 °C and sintered at 1400 °C exhibited a compressive strength of 160 MPa with a porosity of 59%, indicating lightweight and high-strength characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed a facile and low-cost approach to prepare lightweight and high-strength magnesium-matrix composites with a nacre-inspired laminated structure. First, lamellar Mg2B2O5 whisker (Mg2B2O5w) scaffolds with initial solid loadings of 10, 15 and 20 vol% were prepared by ice templating. The wettability between a molten AZ91D alloy and the Mg2B2O5w scaffold was greatly improved by the incorporation of nano-SiO2 sol in the aqueous slurry, making the preparation of nacre-mimetic AZ91D/Mg2B2O5w composite by way of pressureless infiltration feasible. The SiO2 content in the Mg2B2O5w scaffold has a significant effect on the processing and the microstructure and properties of the composites. The optimum SiO2 content was about 6-8 wt% of the total ceramic loading. A lower SiO2 content resulted in incomplete infiltration, while a higher content led to the formation of a large quantity of Mg2Si in the composite. The flexural strength of the composites seemed independent of the initial ceramic loading (10-20 vol%), whereas the compressive strength and elastic modulus increased considerably and the crack-growth fracture toughness decreased with increasing ceramic content. The mechanism for such variations was addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in situ nano-TiC x /Al–Zn–Mg–Cu composites with different TiC x content (20, 25 and 30 vol.%) were successfully fabricated by combustion synthesis and hot press consolidation in Al–Ti–C/CNTs systems. The compressive properties and abrasive wear resistance of the composites improved with the increase in the TiC x content. The transformation of carbon source from pure C black to the mixture of C black and CNTs to pure CNTs in Al–Ti–C/CNTs systems leaded to a significant improvement in the compressive properties and wear resistance of the composites as well as a significant decrease in the average size of TiC x particles. The average size of the nano-TiC x particles in 30 vol.% TiC x /Al–Zn–Mg–Cu composite synthesized by the carbon source of CNTs reached 81 nm, moreover, the yield strength ( σ 0.2 ), the ultimate compression strength ( σ UCS ) and the fracture strain ( ɛ f ) of the composite reached 597 MPa, 882 MPa and 21.7%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using 3 wt% TiO nanopowders as sintering aid, we prepared porous lamellar AlO-ZrO composites with an initial solid loading of 30 vol% and the AlO/ZrO weight ratios of 1:9, 3:7, 5:5, 7:3, and 9:1 by freeze casting. The viscosity of water-based slurries decreased with increasing AlO content while the porosity and the wavelength of the lamellae in the sintered scaffolds showed first an increase and then decrease with maximum values appearing at AlO:ZrO = 5:5. A relatively large amount of tetragonal (t) ZrO transformed to monoclinic (m) ZrO with the increase in the AlO content and sintering temperature, thus reducing stress-induced phase transformation effect during loading. The compressive strength of the sintered scaffolds depended on sintering temperature, porosity, and the phase composition in the composites. A maximum value of 105 ± 10 MPa was achieved in the scaffolds with a composition of AlO:ZrO = 3:7 after sintering at 1450 °C for 2 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wetting of (100), (110), and (111) MgO single crystals by molten Mg was studied in a flowing Ar atmosphere at 1073 K using an improved sessile drop method. The results show that the contact angle and work of adhesion are mildly dependent on MgO substrate orientation. However, the work of separation calculated by density functional theory shows a sequence of (100) < (110) < (111). This discrepancy was explained by a model considering the possible effects of evaporation and deposition of Mg at the substrate surface on the interfacial adhesion. For Mg on the clean MgO surfaces, the adhesion consists primarily of Mg-O ionic bonds with some Mg-Mg metallic bonds. In addition, a small amount of covalent bonds are present in the metal slab adjacent to the Mg/MgO (110) and Mg/MgO (111) interfaces. The different work of separation at three interfaces depends on the strength and amounts of Mg-O and Mg-Mg bonds as well as on the surface free energy of respective planes. For the MgO surfaces pre-deposited by a monolayer of Mg atoms, the interfaces are dominated by the Mg-Mg bonds, thus mitigating the effect of substrate orientation on the wettability and adhesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnesium alloys are highly desirable for a wide range of lightweight structural components. However, rolling Mg alloys can be difficult due to their poor plasticity, and the strong texture yielded from rolling often results in poor plate forming ability, which limits their further engineering applications. Here we report a new hard-plate rolling (HPR) route which achieves a large reduction during a single rolling pass. The Mg-9Al-1Zn (AZ91) plates processed by HPR consist of coarse grains of 30-60 μm, exhibiting a typical basal texture, fine grains of 1-5 μm and ultrafine (sub) grains of 200-500 nm, both of the latter two having a weakened texture. More importantly, the HPR was efficient in gaining a simultaneous high strength and uniform ductility, i.e., ~371 MPa and ~23%, respectively. The superior properties should be mainly attributed to the cooperation effect of the multimodal grain structure and weakened texture, where the former facilitates a strong work hardening while the latter promotes the basal slip. The HPR methodology is facile and effective, and can avoid plate cracking that is prone to occur during conventional rolling processes. This strategy is applicable to hard-to-deform materials like Mg alloys, and thus has a promising prospect for industrial application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]