A new material system was developed for fabricating the combustion engine of
an unmanned aerial vehicle. The material system consisted of a mixture of nanoscale
and microscale particles of silicon nitride. Magnesia and yttria were used as sintering
additives. The powders were mixed with a paraffin binder system. The binder-powder
was analyzed for its properties and molding attributes. The study involved several steps of
the development and processing. These steps include torque rheometery analysis, mixing
scale-up, property measurements of binder-powder, injection molding, binder removal,
sintering, scanning electron microscopy analysis and mechanical properties measurements.
Simulations of the injection molding process were conducted to assess the feasibility of
manufacturing a ceramic engine and to determine its optimal process parameters. The
model building required for the simulation was based on flow and solidification behavior
data compiled for the binder-powder mixture. The simulations were performed using the
Moldfow software package. A design of experiments approach was set up in order to gain
an understanding of critical process parameters as well as identifying a feasible process
window. Quality criteria were then analyzed in order to determine the optimal production
parameters. The study resulted in the successful development of design parameters that
will enable fabrication of silicon nitride engine components by powder injection molding. / Graduation date: 2012
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28771 |
| Date | 16 March 2012 |
| Creators | Lenz, Juergen H. (Juergen Herbert) |
| Contributors | Atre, Sundar V. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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