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Title: Zirconium Carbide Produced by Spark Plasma Sintering and Hot Pressing: Densification Kinetics, Grain Growth, and Thermal Properties

Journal Article · · Materials
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9070577· OSTI ID:1326683
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. San Diego State Univ., San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
  2. General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
  3. US Army Armament Research Development Engineering Center, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ (United States)
  4. San Diego State Univ., San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of NanoEngineering

Spark plasma sintering (SPS) has been employed to consolidate a micron-sized zirconium carbide (ZrC) powder. ZrC pellets with a variety of relative densities are obtained under different processing parameters. The densification kinetics of ZrC powders subjected to conventional hot pressing and SPS are comparatively studied by applying similar heating and loading profiles. Due to the lack of electric current assistance, the conventional hot pressing appears to impose lower strain rate sensitivity and higher activation energy values than those which correspond to the SPS processing. A finite element simulation is used to analyze the temperature evolution within the volume of ZrC specimens subjected to SPS. The control mechanism for grain growth during the final SPS stage is studied via a recently modified model, in which the grain growth rate dependence on porosity is incorporated. Finally, the constant pressure specific heat and thermal conductivity of the SPS-processed ZrC are determined to be higher than those reported for the hot-pressed ZrC and the benefits of applying SPS are indicated accordingly.

Research Organization:
San Diego State Univ., CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0008581; DBI-0959908
OSTI ID:
1326683
Journal Information:
Materials, Vol. 9, Issue 7; ISSN 1996-1944
Publisher:
MDPICopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 9 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

Synthesis and characterization of (Zr 1/3 Nb 1/3 Ti 1/3 )C metal carbide solid‐solution ceramic journal October 2018
Spark plasma sintering of structure-tailored ultrahigh-temperature components: First step to complex net shaping journal May 2018
Fabrication of Titanium-Niobium-Zirconium-Tantalium Alloy (TNZT) Bioimplant Components with Controllable Porosity by Spark Plasma Sintering journal January 2018