zer0signal667
Materials
Hi everybody,
I need to produce some partially sintered ceramic pellets consisting of about 90%ZrC-10%Al4C3. Both powders are -325mesh. Basically I just want necking to begin so that I can handle them without breaking them. They will later be infiltrated with a liquid metal, so they need to remain porous.
So far I have tried cold pressing with ~2% PVA, then firing at 1800C in vacuum. This did nothing to hold the pellets together, they crumbled apart in the furnace. I realize the vacuum was a mistake since the Al4C3 most likely decomposed, so the next try will likely be in argon, but will most likely not be reaching temps that high again. I may be able to hot press as well.
Does anyone have any suggestions on this material? I'm having trouble finding information elsewhere since nobody uses the stuff (ZrC).
Thanks,
Chris
I need to produce some partially sintered ceramic pellets consisting of about 90%ZrC-10%Al4C3. Both powders are -325mesh. Basically I just want necking to begin so that I can handle them without breaking them. They will later be infiltrated with a liquid metal, so they need to remain porous.
So far I have tried cold pressing with ~2% PVA, then firing at 1800C in vacuum. This did nothing to hold the pellets together, they crumbled apart in the furnace. I realize the vacuum was a mistake since the Al4C3 most likely decomposed, so the next try will likely be in argon, but will most likely not be reaching temps that high again. I may be able to hot press as well.
Does anyone have any suggestions on this material? I'm having trouble finding information elsewhere since nobody uses the stuff (ZrC).
Thanks,
Chris
