Ultra High Temperature Furnace Integrated With Universal Testing Machine for the High Temperature Mechanical Properties Study

The objective of this DURIP research proposal is to have a dedicated high temperature furnace (capable up to 2200 0C) equipped within a mechanical testing facility (such as Instron). The high temperature furnace will be used in studying mechanical behavior of various materials for high temperature applications including rocket nozzles, leading edges of hypersonic vehicles, andhybrid turbine components. Currently, there is no such facility that exists at academic institutions including The Pennsylvania State University. The basic scientific understanding of various interfacial phenomena will assist young engineers and researchers in designing and developing new materials for both military and commercial applications. Process optimization studies can beperformed based on high temperature mechanical properties.The facility will be available to academia national laboratories and private industries on a toll basisthrough a spell out cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) system. Institutions and industries will beable to block the equipment time and operator support formechanical testing of proprietary and nonproprietary materials. The equipment will allow industryto evaluate the performance of their components before investing millions in the fabrication (which is a very important opportunity for the viability of small businesses).Significant progress has been made towards the development of new high temperature materials including W and Ta-based alloys and composites via powder metallurgy using Field Assisted Sintering Technology (FAST), also referred to as spark plasma sintering (SPS). Currently, performance of these high temperature materials is evaluated by private organizations such as Southern Research Institute (SoRI), Birmingham, Alabama. Service charges of conducting the tests are enormously high, thus limiting fundamental research.It has been observed that the mechanical strength of blended powders of W, W-10%Ta, Ta and Ta-10%W sintered by FAST is significantly higher (30-40%) than the base material such as hot forged W, or W-10%Ta alloyed ingots. The strength of these materials is further increased by incorporating small volume fractions of grain growth inhibitors such as HfC, TiC, etc. Mechanical testing was done at 3500 and 4000 0F (2200 0C) at South West Research Institute (SWRI.) It has become a fundamental issue to understand the contributing factors towards increasing strength of these materials that is function of grain size, grain boundary phenomena, and additives. In order to understand the kinetics and thermodynamics of the material response at elevated temperature, additional systematic high temperature mechanical testing is required.The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) is one of the leading institutions in the physical sciences. PSU offers extensive undergraduate and graduate programs in materials science. PSU is the only institution in the country having world class high temperature sintering capabilities, i.e., having three FAST systems (25, 250 and 320 tons) that are capable of producing samples and as well as prototype up to 350mm in diameter. These facilities are also available to academia, national laboratories, and to provide industries under CRADA where researchers can design and develop high temperature materials.