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Zirconium Carbide for Hypersonic Applications, Opportunities and Challenges

At ultra-high temperatures, resilient, durable, stable material choices are limited. While Carbon/Carbon (C/C) composites (carbon fibers and carbon matrix phases) are currently the materials of choice, zirconium carbide (ZrC) provides an option in hypersonic environments and specifically in wing lea...

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Autores principales: Peterson, Glenn R., Carr, Ryan E., Marinero, Ernesto E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10532790/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37763436
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma16186158
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author Peterson, Glenn R.
Carr, Ryan E.
Marinero, Ernesto E.
author_facet Peterson, Glenn R.
Carr, Ryan E.
Marinero, Ernesto E.
author_sort Peterson, Glenn R.
collection PubMed
description At ultra-high temperatures, resilient, durable, stable material choices are limited. While Carbon/Carbon (C/C) composites (carbon fibers and carbon matrix phases) are currently the materials of choice, zirconium carbide (ZrC) provides an option in hypersonic environments and specifically in wing leading edge (WLE) applications. ZrC also offers an ultra-high melting point (3825 K), robust mechanical properties, better thermal conductivity, and potentially better chemical stability and oxidation resistance than C/C composites. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms behind ZrC mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties and evaluate: (a) mechanical properties: flexure strength, fracture toughness, and elastic modulus; (b) thermal properties: coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), thermal conductivity, and melting temperature; (c) chemical properties: thermodynamic stability and reaction kinetics of oxidation. For WLE applications, ZrC physical properties require further improvements. We note that materials or processing solutions to increase its relative density through sintering aids can have deleterious effects on oxidation resistance. Therefore, improvements of key ZrC properties for WLE applications must not compromise other functional properties. We suggest that C/C-ZrC composites offer an engineering solution to reduce density (weight) for aerospace applications, improve fracture toughness and the mechanical response, while addressing chemical stability and stoichiometric concerns. Recommendations for future work are also given.
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spelling pubmed-105327902023-09-28 Zirconium Carbide for Hypersonic Applications, Opportunities and Challenges Peterson, Glenn R. Carr, Ryan E. Marinero, Ernesto E. Materials (Basel) Review At ultra-high temperatures, resilient, durable, stable material choices are limited. While Carbon/Carbon (C/C) composites (carbon fibers and carbon matrix phases) are currently the materials of choice, zirconium carbide (ZrC) provides an option in hypersonic environments and specifically in wing leading edge (WLE) applications. ZrC also offers an ultra-high melting point (3825 K), robust mechanical properties, better thermal conductivity, and potentially better chemical stability and oxidation resistance than C/C composites. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms behind ZrC mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties and evaluate: (a) mechanical properties: flexure strength, fracture toughness, and elastic modulus; (b) thermal properties: coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), thermal conductivity, and melting temperature; (c) chemical properties: thermodynamic stability and reaction kinetics of oxidation. For WLE applications, ZrC physical properties require further improvements. We note that materials or processing solutions to increase its relative density through sintering aids can have deleterious effects on oxidation resistance. Therefore, improvements of key ZrC properties for WLE applications must not compromise other functional properties. We suggest that C/C-ZrC composites offer an engineering solution to reduce density (weight) for aerospace applications, improve fracture toughness and the mechanical response, while addressing chemical stability and stoichiometric concerns. Recommendations for future work are also given. MDPI 2023-09-11 /pmc/articles/PMC10532790/ /pubmed/37763436 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma16186158 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Peterson, Glenn R.
Carr, Ryan E.
Marinero, Ernesto E.
Zirconium Carbide for Hypersonic Applications, Opportunities and Challenges
title Zirconium Carbide for Hypersonic Applications, Opportunities and Challenges
title_full Zirconium Carbide for Hypersonic Applications, Opportunities and Challenges
title_fullStr Zirconium Carbide for Hypersonic Applications, Opportunities and Challenges
title_full_unstemmed Zirconium Carbide for Hypersonic Applications, Opportunities and Challenges
title_short Zirconium Carbide for Hypersonic Applications, Opportunities and Challenges
title_sort zirconium carbide for hypersonic applications, opportunities and challenges
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10532790/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37763436
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma16186158
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