SBIR-STTR Award

The proposed project will merge two recent breakthroughs in nanomaterials research to develop ceramic composites with an extraordinarily fine scale, uniform structure to produce a new generation of materials for use in high performance applications. By combining Rapid Solidification Processing (RSP) of metastable ceramic powders and Transformation Assisted Consolidation (TAC) of powder compacts, we will be able toproduce bulk samples that are fully dense and still retain the nanoscale grain size.More importantly, the composite will consist of a homogeneous network of two ceramic phases, each of which retards the grain coarsening of the other and provides mechanical reinforcement. The result will be a material that combines the advantagesof composite structures with those of nanomaterials. Our previous research has shownthat such materials have extraordinarily high wear resistance, low friction, highstrength, and high toughness. In addition, we expect the materials to have a veryhigh thermal shock resistance and to be transparent. Our goal in the project will be to scale up the technologies developed to dateand to produce nano-nano-composites that are useful for high performance applicationsin harsh environments. These components will have properties that are far superior toconventional ceramics and composites whose grain sizes have the usual micrometerdimensions. There are many potential applications for these types of materials in both the military and civilian sectors. Examples are plungers, shaft seals, optically flatcomponents, heat resistant and tough components, optically transparent and erosion resistant ceramics, optical sensors in gas turbine engines, and optical sensors in power plants.

Keywords:
Nanoscale Ceramics, Transformation Assisted Consolidati, Ceramic Solid Solutions, Optically Trans