SBIR Phase I: Ultra High Temperature Microwave Processing of Ceramics

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发微波热密封包，用于使用微波能处理超高温（UHT）纳米材料。 第一阶段的工作还将评估用这种方法加工的关键材料的强度和耐磨性。 1800 °C以上的微波工作由于缺乏适用于微波系统的热封装而受到严重限制。 微波处理为纳米粉末和烧结产品提供了低成本、高能效和快速的制造。 微波加热已被证明可以产生细晶粒的产品，而没有放电等离子体烧结的形状和尺寸限制。 这项研究将通过开发一套用于可靠，可重复使用的UHT微波加工的热包装，使科学探索UHT材料的这些好处。 使用高温微波频率介电数据，建模和实验室实验，包将被设计和测试。 这些热包将提供关键的数据，以评估微波处理在高温，作为一个先决条件的商业超高温微波系统的设计和建设。 与佛罗里达国际大学合作，我们将烧结商用碳化硅粉末，以及原位碳纳米管和碳化硅的混合物。该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将是低温微波处理系统的开发。 这项技术将在多个行业产生商业影响，包括航空航天、装甲、热障涂层和散热器。 这是材料科学中一个基本上未探索的领域，有可能利用纳米材料的优势用于高性能结构应用。 微波加热具有通过降低制造成本为UHT产品打开新市场的潜力。 微波烧结具有极高的能源效率，可将UHT材料制造的能源和碳足迹减少50%以上。 可扩展性、几何形状自由度和成本降低的组合使微波处理与诸如放电等离子体烧结、热压和热等静压等竞争技术区分开来。 许多已发表的UHT微波研究难以验证或重现，并且不存在商业上可用的解决方案。 该提案将导致产生和传播关于UHT微波加工的新数据，这将进一步教育工业专业人员-以及本科生和研究生-在微波材料加工的创新领域。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop microwave thermal containment packages for processing of ultrahigh temperature (UHT) nanomaterials using microwave energy. The Phase I work will also assess the strength and wear resistance of key materials processed with this method. Microwave work above 1800 °C is severely limited by lack of availability of suitable thermal packaging for microwave systems. Microwave processing offers low-cost, energy-efficient, and rapid fabrication for nano-powders and sintered products. Microwave heating has been demonstrated to yield fine grained products without the shape and size limitations of spark plasma sintering. This research will enable scientific exploration of these benefits for UHT materials by developing a set of thermal packages for reliable, reusable, UHT microwave processing. Using high temperature microwave frequency dielectric data, modeling, and laboratory experiments, packages will be designed and tested. These thermal packages will provide critical data to evaluate microwave processing at ultrahigh temperatures, as a prerequisite for the design and construction of commercial UHT microwave systems. In conjunction with Florida International University, we will sinter commercial silicon carbide powders, as well as mixtures of in-situ carbon nanotubes and silicon carbide.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be the development of ultrahigh temperature microwave processing systems. This technology will have a commercial impact in several industries, including aerospace, armor, thermal barrier coatings, and heat sinks. This is a largely unexplored area in materials science with the potential to harness the advantages of nanomaterials for high-performance structural applications. Microwave heating has the potential to open new markets for UHT products by lowering the cost of manufacturing. Microwave sintering is extremely energy efficient, reducing by over 50% the energy and carbon footprint of UHT materials manufacturing. The combination of scalability, freedom of geometry, and cost reduction differentiates microwave processing from competing technologies such as spark plasma sintering, hot pressing, and hot isostatic pressing. Much of the published UHT microwave research is difficult to validate or reproduce, and no commercially available solutions exist. This proposal will result in the generation and dissemination of new data on UHT microwave processing, which will further educate industrial professionals - as well as undergraduate and graduate students - in the innovative area of microwave materials processing.