High Mobility Silicon Carbide Substrates

THE HIGH TEMPERATURE STRENGTH OF CERAMIC MATERIALS MAKE THEM ATTRACTIVE FOR USE IN HIGH EFFICIENCY COMBUSTION ENGINES. UNFORTUNATELY, THE POOR FRICTION AND WEAR PROPERTIES OF COMMON CERAMICS OFTEN PRECLUDE THEIR USE IN ROTATING AND SLIDING COMPONENTS. SOLID STATE LUBRICANTS ARE A POTENTIAL SOLUTION TO THIS TRIBOLOGICAL PROBLEM BUT THEY ARE USUALLY INCOMPATIBLE WITH OXIDE-BASED CERAMICS. A TITANIUM CARBIDE-GRAPHITE COMPOSITE COMBINES THE HIGH TEMPERATURE STRENGTH AND HARDNESS OF TITANIUM CARBIDES WITH THE LUBRICITY OF GRAPHITE. A NOVEL MELT FABRICATION TECHNIQUE IS PROPOSED WHICH YIELDS A FULLY DENSE MATERIAL WITH CONTROL OVER THE SIZE, SHAPE AND ORIENTATION OF THE GRAPHITE INCORPORATED IN THE TITANIUM CARBIDE MATRIX. IN PHASE I WE PROPOSE TO PRODUCE THREE DIFFERENT TITANIUM CARBIDE-GRAPHITE BASED COMPOSITES, MEASURE THEIR FRICTION AND WEAR PROPERTIES AT 25 AND 900 DEG C, AND DETERMINE THEIR COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH. IN PHASE II PROTOTYPE ROTATING AND SLIDING COMPONENTS WILL BE MANUFACTURED AND TESTED.