Development and characterisation of high performance ceramic-metal composites

陶瓷-金属复合材料或金属陶瓷用于需要韧性、高强度和耐腐蚀性和耐磨性的各种工业应用中，特别是在石油、采矿、化学加工、运输以及纸浆和造纸工业中。因此，存在开发用于这些苛刻环境的改进材料的持续动力，无论是散装形式还是涂层形式。近100年来，基于碳化钨/钴（WC/Co）的材料一直是金属陶瓷的首选。然而，WC/Co实际上表现出相对较差的耐腐蚀性和抗氧化性，而机械性能在~500°C以上严重下降。由申请人共同开发的一系列新型金属陶瓷，利用韧性镍铝化物（Ni 3Al）合金，消除了与WC/Co和其他金属陶瓷系统相关的许多问题，并提供了显著的益处，即强度实际上随温度增加，高达~ 1，000 °C。

Ceramic-metal composites, or cermets, are used in a wide variety of industrial applications where toughness, high strength, and resistance to corrosion and wear are required, notably in the petroleum, mining, chemical processing, transportation, and pulp and paper industries. There is consequently a continuing drive to develop improved materials for use in these demanding environments, either in bulk or coating form. For approaching 100 years, materials based on tungsten carbide/cobalt (WC/Co), have been the cermet of choice. However, WC/Co actually exhibits relatively poor corrosion and oxidation resistance, while the mechanical properties are severely degraded above ~500°C. A family of novel cermets, co-developed by the applicant, utilising ductile nickel aluminide (Ni3Al) alloys, eliminate many of the problems associated with WC/Co and other cermet systems, and offer the notable benefit that strength actually increases with temperature, up to ~1,000°C.