Refractory metals high-temperature strength

Space technology has always demanded materials that can operate at temperatures between those of superaHoys and refractory metals and that have high temperature strength during operation and room temperature ductility for fabrication. The development of dispersion-strengthened and oxide alloy systems has solved part of this problem. 

Forsterite Refractories. Refractories made from forsterite, Mg2Si04, resist alkah attack and have good volume stabiUty, high temperature strength, and fak resistance to basic slags. Uses include nonferrous metal furnace roofs and glass-tank refractories not in contact with the melt, ie, checkers, ports, and uptakes. 

Niobium (also known as columbium) is a soft, ductile, refractory metal with good strength retenti on at high temperature, and a low capture cross-section for thermal neutrons. Itis readily attacked by oxygen and other elements above 200°C. CVD is used to produce coatings or free standing shapes. The properties of niobium are summarized in Table 6.8. 

More Mo is consumed annually than any other refractory metal. The major use for Mo is as an alloying element in alloy steels, tool steels, stainless steels, Ni-based and Co-based superalloys. In these materials, it increases the hardenability, toughness, high-temperature strength, and corrosion resistance. Molybdenum is important in the missile industry, where it is used for high-temperature structural parts, such as nozzles, leading edges of control surfaces, support vanes, struts, reentry cones, radiation shields and heat sinks. In the electrical and electronic industries. Mo is... 

One needs to take this into the account in the analysis of the reasons for the reduction in the high temperature strength of alloys that contain refractory components as admixtures. The decrease in the strength of both solid metals forming the eutectic can be clearly observed when they are brought into contact around the eutectic point, (the so-called contact fusion). 

Refractory metal alloys have superior creep and high temperature strength, Ni-base alloys may be good enough for pressure vessel. 

Sihcon carbide fibers exhibit high temperature stabiUty and, therefore, find use as reinforcements in certain metal matrix composites (24). SiUcon fibers have also been considered for use with high temperature polymeric matrices, such as phenoHc resins, capable of operating at temperatures up to 300°C. Sihcon carbide fibers can be made in a number of ways, for example, by vapor deposition on carbon fibers. The fibers manufactured in this way have large diameters (up to 150 P-m), and relatively high Young s modulus and tensile strength, typically as much as 430 GPa (6.2 x 10 psi) and 3.5 GPa (507,500 psi), respectively (24,34) (see Refractory fibers). 

Because several of the superalloys contain very little iron, they are closely related to some of the non-ferrous alloys. Some of the second- and third-row transition metals possess many of the desirable properties of superalloys. They maintain their strength at high temperatures, but they may be somewhat reactive with oxygen under these conditions. These metals are known as refractory metals, and they include niobium, molybdenum, tantalum, tungsten, and rhenium. 

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