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Ph.D. (Physics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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(a). The time required to dry a test specimen by the use of ultra-high frequency induced current until shrinkage ceases is only thirty percent of the time required when heat is supplied by resistance wire heating coils. (b). It is possible, with the use of the ultrahigh frequency energy, to dry complicated shapes evenly over their cross sections, which will enable much more rapid and safe drying of these shapes. (c). The structures of the pieces are not detrimentally affected by induced current, and the rapid drying of this method. (d). Drying with ultra-high frequency will probably prove to be of economical value in the drying of complicated shapes when additional research has further proved the effectiveness of the use of ultra-high frequency electrical energy. / Master of Science

Solid-state reaction and sol-gel, processing techniques were used extensively to form chemically-modified mullite solid solutions in an effort to lower their thermal expansion coefficients. TiO₂, B₂O₃, CrPO₄, P2O₅, Ga₂O₃, Cr2O₃, and WO₃ and the half-breed SiO₂ compounds AlPas, BPO₄, GaPO₄, BAsO₄, AIAsO₄, GaAsO₄, and GeO₂ were chosen as the modifiers. The results indicate that, apart from TiO₂, none of the substitutions made in mullite significantly change the thermal expansion properties. The solubility of 3 wt% TiO₂ in mullite reduces the coefficient of thermal expansion by about 10%; That corresponds to a reduction in AAl₂O₃/SiO₂ molar ratio ( < 1.5) compared to stoichiometric mullite (3Al₂O₃·2SiO₂). The formation of TiO₂-modified mullite depends on processing condition and heat treatment. The possible mechanism of lowering the CTE of mullite by the addition of TiO₂ is discussed in terms of the bond strength. The axial expansion of a Ga2O₃-modified mullite was measured' up to 1200°C to show that the expansion is increased along the c-axis compared with that of the stoichiometric mullite. / Master of Science

Structure-property studies were carried out on a number of different hybrid sol·gel materials. Multifunctional silicon ethoxides were prepared and studied by solid state ²⁹Si NMR and Raman spectroscopy to determine the type of silicate structures formed and the degree of conversion attained by the sol-gel process under previously established reaction conditions. New procedures were developed to incorporate titaniumisopropoxide as well as Al, Zr and Zn acetylacetonates into functlonalized polyltetramethylene oxide) modified sol-gel systems. The physical properties of titanium containing poIy(tetramethyIene oxide) modified sol-gel materials were studied in detail and correlated to morphological and structural information gained from dynamic mechanical analysis, small angle x-ray scattering and scanning electron microscopy. The incorporation of titanium was found to increase the measured Young’s modulus and stress at break relative to comparable materials based solely on TEOS. / Ph. D.

Monolithic ceramic materials have been used in industry for hundreds of years. These materials have proven their usefulness in many applications, yet, their potential for critical structural applications is limited. The existence of an imperfection in a monolithic ceramic on the order of several microns in size may be critical, resulting in catastrophic failure. To overcome this extreme sensitivity to sman material imperfections, reinforced ceramic materials have been developed. A ceramic matrix which has been reinforced with continuous fibers is not only less sensitive to microscopic flaws, but is also able to sustain significant damage without suffering catastrophic failure. A borosilicate glass reinforced with several layers of plain weave silicon carbide cloth (Nicalon) has been studied. The mechanical testing which was performed included both flexural and tensile loading configurations. This testing was done not only to determine the material properties, but also to initiate a controlled amount of damage within each specimen. Several nondestructive testing techniques, including acousto-ultrasonics (AU), were performed on the specimens periodically during testing. The AU signals were monitored through the use of an IBM compatible personal computer with a high speed data acquisition board. Software has been written which manipulates the AU signals in both the time and frequency domains, resulting in quantitative measures of the mechanical response of the material. This paper will compare the measured AU parameters to both the mechanical test results and data from other nondestructive methods including ultrasonic C-scans and penetrant enhanced X-ray radiography. / Master of Science

Yuan, Wenxiang = CCTO陶瓷材料的制备和性质研究 / 苑文香. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-67). / Text in English; abstracts in English and Chinese. / Yuan, Wenxiang = CCTO tao ci cai liao de zhi bei he xing zhi yan jiu / Yuan Wenxiang. / Acknowledgement --- p.ii / Abstract --- p.iii / Contents --- p.v / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Background --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Structure --- p.1 / Chapter 1.3 --- Models --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Parallel RC --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Two parallel RCs in series --- p.5 / Chapter 1.4 --- Motivation --- p.7 / Chapter 1.5 --- Our work --- p.7 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Experiment --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1 --- Sources and substrate --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2 --- Preparation of the CCTO samples --- p.8 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Experimental equipment --- p.13 / Chapter 3.1 --- Furnace --- p.13 / Chapter 3.2 --- X-ray diffraction (XRD) --- p.13 / Chapter 3.3 --- Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) --- p.16 / Chapter 3.4 --- Impedance analyzers --- p.17 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Selections of the experimental conditions --- p.18 / Chapter 4.1 --- Selection of calcining-process conditions --- p.18 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Experimental results --- p.18 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Comparison with the results of other research groups --- p.21 / Chapter 4.2 --- Selection of sintering-process conditions --- p.22 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- CuO volatilization --- p.22 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- CCTO decomposition --- p.24 / Chapter 4.3 --- Optimizing of the Cu/Ca ratio --- p.29 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Results and discussion --- p.31 / Chapter 5.1 --- Properties of CCTO ceramics sintered at different temperatures for 10 h --- p.32 / Chapter 5.2 --- Properties of CCTO ceramics sintered for different durations at 1000°C --- p.43 / Chapter 5.3 --- Properties of CC3+ΧTO ceramics --- p.52 / Chapter 5.4 --- Discussion --- p.58 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Conclusions --- p.61 / References --- p.63

Thesis--Technische Universität Hamburg. / Includes bibliographical references.