FEASIBILITY STUDY OF REFRACTORY OXIDE EUTECTIC FIBER PRODUCTION

THE UTILIZATION OF EDGE-DEFINED, FILM-FED GROWTH (EFG) TECHNIQUE IS PROPOSED TO PRODUCE AL(2)O(3)-Y(3)AL(5)O(12) (YAG) EUTECTIC FIBERS. THE SEED CRYSTAL TO BE USED IS C-ORIENTATION SAPPHIRE. THE RAW MATERIALS REQUIRED FOR THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL BE SYNTHESIZED THROUGH THE HYDROLYTIC DECOMPOSITION OF MIXED METAL ALKOXIDES. FOR FIBER GROWING, THE PROCESSING PARAMETERS TO BE CONTROLLED ARE: DEGREE OF SUPERHEATING, GROWTH RATES, THERMAL GRADIENTS AND CAPILLARY SIZES. THROUGH VARYING THE ABOVE PROCESSING PARAMETERS, VARIOUS FIBER DIAMETERS, AS WELL AS DIFFERENT EUTECTIC MICROSTRUCTURES WOULD BE OBTAINED. EXTENSIVE TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (TEM) AND X-RAY DIFFRACTION (XRD) ANALYSES WILL BE CARRIED OUT TO DETERMINE THE GROWTH DIRECTION AND CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC RELATIONS OF ALUMINA AND YAG EUTECTIC. ROOM TEMPERATURE STRENGTH OF THE EUTECTIC FIBERS WILL BE MEASURED IN TENSION. AN EXTENSIVE SEM FRACTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS WILL BE CARRIED OUT TO STUDY THE CRACK/MICROSTRUCTURE INTERACTIONS OF THE EUTECTIC FIBERS.