Monolith cracking

ARALL laminates, a family of hybrid composites consisting of aramid fibers bonded with epoxy between 0.3 mm thick aircraft ahoy sheets, were introduced in the 1980s (53). The laminates have lower density than even the new Al—Li ahoys and are greatly superior to monolithic aluminum sheet in resisting the growth of fatigue cracks. ARALL laminates have been specified for aircraft stmcture which is subjected to cycHc tension loads (see Laminates). 

Monolithic refractory coatings have been applied to metallic components in furnaces for fuel ash corrosion control. Results have been less than satisfactory because of the large thermal expansion mismatch between the metal and refractory. Failure usually occurs upon thermal cycling which causes cracking, eventual spalling of the refractory, and direct exposure of the metal to the effects of the fuel ash. 

Because this design has relatively low power density, recent work has focused on a monolithic SOFC, since this could have faster cell chemistry kinetics. The very high temperatures do, however, present sealing and cracking problems between the electrochemically active area and the gas manifolds. 

Fig. 1. Crack-free monolithic titania-silica aerogel photos, (a) aerogel prepared by hi -temperature ethanol supercritical drying, (b) aerogel prepared by low-temperature CO2 supercritical drying.

In a typical synthesis, the corresponding precursor and calcium methoxyethoxide are dissolved in ethanol in an acidic medium (commonly HC1, 1N) under an argon atmosphere. The critical factors in obtaining crack-free star gels monoliths are the temperature and processing times, as indicated in Table 12.2. 

The achievements in optical detection techniques and the interest in the sol-gel process for creation of new materials, are leading to developing of various sensors. The majority of reported sensors developments have concentrated on the use of thin films. There are many reasons for this. The important one is the susceptibility of monoliths to cracking due to internal stresses, particularly when exposed to liquid penetration. More attractive are... 

The transformation of straw and agrofood residues with high sulfur and ash content requires the development of materials for sulfur abatement at high temperature, tar cracking and as monolith for syngas production by exothermic or autothermal processes thanks to catalysts supported on materials with a high thermal conductivity. 

Several groups used sol-gel transition to immobilize the beads packed in a capillary. For example, Dulay et al. [102] packed a slurry of ODS beads in tetraethylorthosilicate solution and heated it to 100 °C to achieve the sol-gel transition and create the monolithic structure shown in Fig. 17. This technology is extremely sensitive and even a small deviation from the optimal conditions leads to cracks in the monoliths and a rapid deterioration in the column performance. However, even the best efficiency of 80,000 plates/m achieved with these column was relatively low. Henry et al. modified the original procedure and increased the efficiencies to well over 100,000 plates/m [103,104]. 

The incorporation of fly ash lowers the initial heat evolution during setting, thereby reducing the incidence of cracking and spalling. It is desirable to maintain the modified cement in monolithic form for optimum leach resistance. 

Waste form leach rates in a geologic repository will be affected by unknown water flow rates and by extensive cracking of the waste form monolith. An understanding of these effects is important in predicting the geochemical behavior of disposed radioactive waste forms over the full range of possible scenarios. The dependence of the waste form source term on the rate of renewal of aqueous solution is first established for the simple but important case of solubility-limited network dissolution control. 

Since fibrous monolithic ceramics are intended for use in applications where stresses are primarily generated due to bending, strength and work-of-fracture in flexure are measured to evaluate their basic mechanical properties. In addition, factors determining the manner of crack propagation should be... 

Optical photograph of crack propagation of the fibrous monolithic Si3N4/BN ceramic after flexural testing (adapted from ref. [29]). 

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