Mechanical properties of superconducting ceramic/polymer composites

Conference · Fri Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1993

OSTI ID:143713

Du-Moore, J; Stevens, M G; Unsworth, J; Crosby, B J; Hely, J ^[1]

---

1. Univ. of Technology, Sydney (Australia)

The discovery of high {Tc} oxide ceramic superconductors has opened up a wide variety of applications for superconductivity. However, due to their inherent brittleness, much difficulty is encountered when attempting to prepare them in usable form such as wire, thin sheets, tubes and flexible coils. Some ceramic superconductors like YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7{minus}x} are also chemically unstable, having a propensity to lose oxygen and take up moisture. Incorporating superconducting ceramics into flexible polymers has been proved to be a worthwhile approach to solve the above problems. Polymer matrices offer superior mechanical integrity and chemical stability. Compared with pure superconductor, superconducting ceramic/polymer composites generally have better mechanical properties, greater machinability and processing flexibility. The versatile polymer processing techniques can be used to form superconducting composites into various useful shapes. Encapsulation also protects the superconductor from environmental degradation. The authors have fabricated a wide range of 0-3 type superconducting composites, in which superconducting YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7{minus}x} (`123`) powder is embedded in a polymer matrix, and 3-3 type composites which is made by impregnating the porous YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7{minus}x} ceramic pellet in a low viscosity epoxy resin. The authors present the results of an evaluation of the mechanical properties and machinability of these new composites. The mechanical property measurements include: (1) diametral-compression test on disc shaped samples, (2) tensile testing of composite sheets, and (3) dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). The assessment of machinability includes drilling tests under different feedrates and machining of complex shapes. The effect of different volume percentage of `123` fillers in 0-3 composites on the mechanical properties was investigated.

• OSTI ID: 143713
• Report Number(s): CONF-930246--; ISBN 0-87339-251-5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
BARIUM OXIDES
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
COPPER OXIDES
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
POLYMERS
YTTRIUM OXIDES