Iranian Journal of Materials Science and Engineering

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Enhancing the properties of dental resin composites is of interest to researchers. The objective of the present investigation was to improve the strength and fracture toughness of dental composites via addition of silicon carbide whiskers and substitution of commonly used filler materials with stabilized zirconia ceramic powder. It was also intended to study the effect of powder- to- whisker ratio on mechanical properties of the resultant composites. The flexural strength and fracture toughness of composite samples with different whiskers loadings were measured. It was found that addition of whiskers to the composites enhances the mechanical properties of the composites. The strength and fracture toughness increased by increasing the amount of whiskers. The flexural strength of a composite having 60wt% whisker and 10wt% zirconia powder was about 210 MPa while that of the composite having only 60wt% ceramic powder was about 110 MPa. The microstructural examinations revealed that reinforcing mechanism was whiskers pull-out as well as crack deflection.

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In situ refractories are defined as brick or unshaped products, which react internally or with furnace atmospheres and/or slag components so as to be enhanced in their performance. Examples of such products are discussed with emphasis on those that are currently employed and are being developed for the melting of iron and steel. Some strategies for the development of future in situ products are outlined.

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Abstract: Zirconia solid electrolytes with nonequilibrium composite structure were prepared by impregnation of a porous 8YSZ matrix with a solution of Zirconia. Microstructures were characterized by XRD and SEM. The electrical properties were studied by impedance spectroscopy as a function of temperature. Biaxial flexural strength and fracture toughness of composite samples were measured by ring on ring and Vickers microhardness indentation methods respectively. The microstructures of the composite electrolytes were composed of cubic grains surrounded by tetragonal second phase grains. It was shown that the electrical and mechanical properties of the prepared electrolyte can be adjusted by controlling the amount of doped zirconia. Increasing the amount of doped zirconia increases the tetragonal phase content which improves fracture toughness and fracture strength. In addition, increasing tetragonal phase content of the composite electrolytes decreases the conductivity at high temperatures while the situation is reversed at low temperatures.

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Synthesis of YSZ nanopowder by alkoxide sol-gel method, through two different hydrolysis routes, one under careful control by using acetyacetone as ligand, and the other through basic hydrolysis, was investigated. The synthesized powders were characterized by various analytical techniques such as, XRD, STA, PSA, BET, SEM, and TEM. The results showed that, the YSZ powders prepared through the basic hydrolysis route consist of weakly agglomerated nanosized spherical particles whereas the products obtained through the controlled hydrolysis route, consist of hard irregular shaped agglomerates. Sinterability of these powders was examined at 1480 °C, which showed that the powder synthesized through the basic hydrolysis route attains a density of 94%, against 60% for the other case. It was therefore concluded that, alkoxide sol-gel method through basic hydrolysis route, can be more suitable for the synthesis of YSZ nanopowder and its subsequent sintering.

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Functionally graded aluminium/zirconia metal matrix composite was fabricated using stir casting technique followed by horizontal centrifugal casting process and a hollow cylindrical functionally graded composite (150 x 150 x 16 mm) was obtained with centrifuging speed of 1200 rpm. The microstructural evaluation and hardness test was carried out on the outer and inner surface of the functionally graded composite at a distance of 1 and 13 mm from the outer periphery. In Response Surface Methodology, Central Composite Design was applied for designing the experiments and sliding wear test was conducted as per the design using a pin-on-disc tribometer for varying ranges of load, velocity and sliding distance. The model was constructed and its adequacy was checked with confirmation experiments and Analysis of Variance. The microstructural examination and hardness test revealed that the outer surface of FGM had higher hardness due to the presence of  particle rich region and the inner surface had lesser hardness since it was a particle depleted region. The wear results showed that wear rate increased upon increase of load and decreased with increase in both velocity and sliding distance. Scanning Electron Microscopy analysis was done on the worn specimens to observe the wear mechanism. It was noted that wear transitioned from mild to severe on increase of load and the outer surface of FGM was found to have greater wear resistance at all conditions.

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In this paper the effect of plasma spray parameters, atomizing gas and substrate preheat temperature on microstructure and phase composition of YSZ coatings produced by SPPS process have been investigated. The experimental results showed that increasing the power of plasma, using hydrogen as the precursor atomizing gas and increasing substrate preheat temperature decrease the amount of non-pyrolyzed precursor in the coatings. At low plasma power most of the deposited precursor is in non-pyrolyzed state, and consequently the applied coatings are defective. The increase in substrate temperature beyond 800^oC either by preheating or heat transfer from plasma torch to the substrate, prevent the coating formation. In SPPS coating formation, up to a special spray distance the optical microscopy image of the coatings showed a snowy like appearance. XRD analysis showed that in this situation the amount of un-pyrolyzed precursor is low. Beyond this spray distance, spherical particles, are obtained and XRD analysis showed that most of the precursor is in un-pyrolyzed state.

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