SUSPENCE is focused on the development of ceramics with unprecedented strength from room temperature up to at least 2000°C for use in severe environments, like body armour protection and hypersonic aerospace vehicles that can be used for defence against terrorist attacks. The attributes to be exploited include combinations of boride and carbide compounds along with hierarchical micro-nano sub-structures formed in such matrices during sintering in the presence of transition metal additives. The goal is to achieve enhanced strength retention, impact resistance and ablation resistance in nano-textured ceramics in the form of rectangular plates and a sharp cone for testing in relevant environments. The first year was devoted to the processing of TiB2-based ceramic mixtures possessing full density, high hardness and strength over a broad temperature range. The main compositions for application in the ballistic or hypersonic field have been defined and successfully prepared. Powder synthesis and processing, sintering and microstructural characterization have been completed for materials for: i) ballistic application, focusing on the reaction synthesis of (Ti,Cr)B2 solid solutions and tri-phase systems; ii) hypersonic application, focusing on multi-component systems based on the ZrB2-TiB2 system with addition of transition metals.
SUper Strong ceramics for Protection in harsh ENvironments and defenCE 12-month Interim Report
Laura Silvestroni
2021
Abstract
SUSPENCE is focused on the development of ceramics with unprecedented strength from room temperature up to at least 2000°C for use in severe environments, like body armour protection and hypersonic aerospace vehicles that can be used for defence against terrorist attacks. The attributes to be exploited include combinations of boride and carbide compounds along with hierarchical micro-nano sub-structures formed in such matrices during sintering in the presence of transition metal additives. The goal is to achieve enhanced strength retention, impact resistance and ablation resistance in nano-textured ceramics in the form of rectangular plates and a sharp cone for testing in relevant environments. The first year was devoted to the processing of TiB2-based ceramic mixtures possessing full density, high hardness and strength over a broad temperature range. The main compositions for application in the ballistic or hypersonic field have been defined and successfully prepared. Powder synthesis and processing, sintering and microstructural characterization have been completed for materials for: i) ballistic application, focusing on the reaction synthesis of (Ti,Cr)B2 solid solutions and tri-phase systems; ii) hypersonic application, focusing on multi-component systems based on the ZrB2-TiB2 system with addition of transition metals.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
