Ceramic Materials Commons^™

Enhanced Bottom Anode Monitoring In Dc Electric Arc Furnaces Using Fiber Optic Sensors, Yeshwanth Reddy Mekala, Rony Kumer Saha, Ogbole Collins Inalegwu, Muhammad Roman, Farhan Mumtaz, Rex Gerald, Jeffrey D. Smith, Jie Huang, Ronald J. O'Malley

PSMRC Faculty Research

A pin style bottom anode employs conductive steel rods that serve as the pathway for the high electrical power through rammed refractory at the bottom of a DC Electric Arc Furnace (EAF). Anode wear during operation is important to monitor, as anode replacement is expensive and impacts EAF productivity. Liquid steel penetration into the un-sintered refractory layer can result from rapid electrical power ramp-up, dips in furnace temperature, or operating the anode for too long between EAF campaigns. In extreme cases, the liquid steel may penetrate the bottom of the furnace when anode wear progresses too close to the bottom …

Fiber-Optic Raman Probe For On-Line Eaf Slag Analysis, Bohong Zhang, Hanok Tekle, Jeffrey D. Smith, Todd Sander, Ronald J. O'Malley, Jie Huang

PSMRC Faculty Research

In Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steelmaking, the push for improved efficiency requires accurate analysis of the chemical composition of its slag system to control slag foaming, provide refractory protection, and maintain high furnace iron yield. Therefore, the ability to obtain real-time slag chemistry data would provide a useful tool to improve the control and efficiency of the process. The work reported here aims to assess the structure and chemistry of EAF slags at high temperatures using a portable fiber-optic Raman probe. The ability to relate Raman spectra peaks to chemistry and structure is demonstrated in experimental result with EAF slags …

Development And Characterization Of Ceramic Devices For Capillary Action In Microgravity For The Purpose Of Growing Vegetables In Space, Lucas S. Mougeot

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The future of humanity is often rendered in spectacular visions of a multiplanetary civilization with a booming space economy. Reaching this reality requires addressing one of the core needs of survival: food. Porous ceramics used for Passive Porous Tube Nutrient Delivery Systems (PPTNDS) offer a promising solution. In microgravity environments such as the International Space Station (ISS), fluid dynamics and liquid coagulation do not support conventional agricultural practices. Porous ceramic materials present a solution that enables nutrient solution diffusion via capillary action.

In this research, it was determined that extruding a wadding ceramic tube and sintering it at 1900 °F …

Fabrication & Characterization Of Hybrid Piezoelectric/Triboelectric Nanocomposite Nanogenerators Via Fusion Deposition Modeling, Khaled El Toukhy

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims to discuss the potential of using piezoelectric and triboelectric nanogenerators (PTENGs) for energy harvesting, particularly in the sportswear industry. PTENG's main advantage is that it offers good flexibility making it suitable for high-strain applications. The piezoelectric effect is induced by embedding piezoelectric nanofillers into one of the two triboelectric layers. PTENGs can generate both piezoelectric and triboelectric signals when strained resulting in an enhanced output compared to regular piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) and triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). TPU was adopted as the matrix for PTENGs advantageous due to their flexibility, low electrical resistivity, and compatibility with additive manufacturing techniques. …

Ai-Enabled Assessment Of Roadway Integrity: Forecasting Bitumen Deformation And Road Stability Throughout The Lifecycle Under Traffic Impact, Sabahudin Vrtagic, Milan Dordevic, Fatih Dogan, Muhammed Codur, Mario Hoxha, Edis Softic

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Asphalt-paved Road junctions frequently encounter deformation and degradation challenges due to heavy vehicular traffic and varying climatic conditions, such as temperature fluctuations and precipitation. This study employs a multifaceted approach, incorporating a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) model, ancillary machine learning techniques, and optimization methodologies, to address these challenges effectively. The primary objectives are the prediction and analysis of pavement deformation, the optimization of maintenance strategies, and the evaluation of road effectiveness. Our findings underscore the substantial contribution of heavy vehicles to road erosion and the profound impact of vehicular retention and braking at intersections. A Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) model is utilized …

Fabrication Of Alumina Membranes From Uv Resin– Alumina Particle Slurries, Dominique Henry Porcincula

Master's Theses

Ceramics membranes are made in a wide variety of different techniques using a wide variety of different materials. However, many of the common techniques utilize a slurry of ceramic particles, additives, and either organic solvent or water that is shaped into a membrane, left to dry, and then sintered together. Drying is a time consuming process, often requiring several hours for the liquid medium to evaporate. Defect formation caused by development of partial pressures across the drying membrane, including cracks and warpage, also typically occurs during the drying process. To address this, slurries of ceramic particles made with a low …

Vacancy Ordering In Zirconium Carbide With Different Carbon Contents, Yue Zhou, Jeremy Lee Watts, Cheng Li, William Fahrenholtz, Gregory E. Hilmas

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Zirconium carbide (ZrCx) ceramics with different carbon contents were prepared by reactive hot-pressing. The rock-salt structure of ZrCx was the only phase detected by x-ray diffraction of the hot pressed ceramics. The relative densities of ZrCx decreased as carbon content increased, in general. The actual carbon contents were measured by completely oxidizing the ZrCx ceramics to ZrO₂. For most compositions, the actual carbon contents were higher than nominal batched compositions, presumably due to carbon uptake from the graphite furnace and hot press dies. Selected area electron diffraction and neutron powder diffraction revealed the presence of carbon vacancy ordering …

Graphite And Dispersant Additives For Battery Paste Compositions, Fatih Dogan, Julian Kosacki

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Various graphite additives were incorporated into the positive battery paste composition to compare their effects on the positive active mass utilization of lead-acid batteries. The disclosure is related to battery paste composition for preparing a lead-acid battery plate comprising a graphite additive selected from the group consisting of globular natural graphite, natural flake graphite, expanded flake graphite, and combinations thereof. The disclosure is also related to a battery paste composition comprising a sodium polymethacrylate dispersant. The disclosure is further related to batteries prepared by these battery paste compositions.

A Transport Property-Based Assessment Of Triple Ionic-Electronic Conductors As Cathodes For Protonic Ceramic Fuel Cells, Jack Harrison Duffy

All Dissertations

Triple ionic-electronic conductors (TIECs) are a widely studied class of materials for electrodes in ceramic electrochemical devices such as protonic ceramic fuel cells. These ceramics are perovskite-based and exhibit concurrent conductivity of protons, oxide ions, and electrons at elevated temperatures. Despite their numerous references in literature, few studies have systematically probed the fundamental surface- and bulk-level properties of TIECs. In this dissertation, dopant levels are systematically altered in the BaCo_0.4Fe_0.4Zr_0.1Y_0.1O_3-δ-type perovskite TIEC to reveal the effects on structure, transport properties, and durability of each material. The results of this work …

Preparation Of High Entropy Titanite Pyrochlore And Radiation Stability Study, Adam Gootgeld

All Theses

Pyrochlore has been studied as a host phase for safe storage of radionuclides and exists naturally with long-term stability with good long-range order [1]. High entropy oxides show promising tunable properties that could demonstrate favorable bulk deposit of radioactive materials such as spent nuclear fuel (Uranium and other actinides). It is proposed that using high entropy oxides (HEOs) as the cation in this framework will shift the gibbs free energy so that radioactive nuclear waste will be stabilized for safe, long-term, eco-friendly storage. We have established a consistent method to fabricate high entropy titanite pyrochlores. In this study, ion beam …

Unlocking Road Stability: Machine Learning-Powered Prediction Of Bitumen Distortion Under Traffic Flow Influence, Sabahudin Vrtagic, Milan Dordevic, Fatih Dogan, Muhammed Codur, Mario Hoxha, Edis Softic

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Road intersections are made of asphalt pavement, a popular road surface material used worldwide. The pavement may suffer deformities and deterioration, resulting in higher maintenance expenses and an elevated likelihood of road accidents, due to factors such as heavy vehicles and environmental variables like temperature and rainfall. To tackle these obstacles, researchers have devised several machine-learning algorithms and optimization techniques. These tools aim to forecast and scrutinize pavement deformation, with the goal of refining pavement design and maintenance approaches, as well as obtaining a more comprehensive comprehension of the factors that impact pavement effectiveness. This paper shows that heavy vehicles …

Lunar In-Situ Aluminum Production Through Molten Salt Electrolysis (Lisap-Mse), Jacob Ortega, Jeffrey D. Smith, Fateme Rezaei, David Bayless, William P. Schonberg, Daniel S. Stutts, Daoru Frank Han

NASA-Missouri Space Grant Consortium

The goal of Artemis is to establish a sustained presence on the Moon. To achieve so, numerous resources are necessary. The Moon contains several essential elements needed to sustain human presence. Most of those elements are trapped in the form of minerals. To refine those minerals into useful materials, reduction methods are needed. Most reduction methods on Earth require large amounts of mass and power which is unrealistic for early stages of building a lunar base. To solve this problem, we are developing a concept of Lunar In-Situ Aluminum Production through Molten Salt Electrolysis (LISAP-MSE).

The LISAP-MSE project, if successful, …

Particle Migration In Large Cross-Section Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion Components, Austin J. Martin, Wenbin Li, Jeremy Lee Watts, Gregory E. Hilmas, Ming-Chuan Leu, Tieshu Huang

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) is a direct ink writing process which allows for the creation of near theoretically dense ceramic components with large cross-sections due to oil-assisted drying. Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) colloidal pastes (∼d50 ≲ 1 µm) were used in CODE to produce dense (multi-road infill and ≳ 98% relative density), large continuous volume (> 1 cm3), and high fidelity (nozzle diameters ≲ 1 mm) structural ceramic components. However, many of these printed components underwent significant particle migration after forming. The reason for this particle migration defect was investigated using the coffee-ring effect for dilute solutions and rheological methods for …

Anisotropic Thermal Expansion In High-Entropy Multicomponent Alb2-Type Diboride Solid Solutions, Frédéric Monteverde, Mattia Gaboardi, Federico Saraga, Lun Feng, William Fahrenholtz, Gregory Hilmas

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

High-entropy (HE) ultra-high temperature ceramics have the chance to pave the way for future applications propelling technology advantages in the fields of energy conversion and extreme environmental shielding. Among others, HE diborides stand out owing to their intrinsic anisotropic layered structure and ability to withstand ultra-high temperatures. Herein, we employed in-situ high-resolution synchrotron diffraction over a plethora of multicomponent compositions, with four to seven transition metals, with the intent of understanding the thermal lattice expansion following different composition or synthesis process. As a result, we were able to control the average thermal expansion (TE) from 1.3 x 10−6 to 6.9 …

Anisotropic Thermal Expansion In High-Entropy Multicomponent Alb2-Type Diboride Solid Solutions, Frédéric Monteverde, Mattia Gaboardi, Federico Saraga, Lun Feng, William Fahrenholtz, Gregory Hilmas

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

High-entropy (HE) ultra-high temperature ceramics have the chance to pave the way for future applications propelling technology advantages in the fields of energy conversion and extreme environmental shielding. Among others, HE diborides stand out owing to their intrinsic anisotropic layered structure and ability to withstand ultra-high temperatures. Herein, we employed in-situ high-resolution synchrotron diffraction over a plethora of multicomponent compositions, with four to seven transition metals, with the intent of understanding the thermal lattice expansion following different composition or synthesis process. As a result, we were able to control the average thermal expansion (TE) from 1.3 x 10⁻⁶ to …

Particle Migration In Large Cross-Section Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion Components, Austin J. Martin, Wenbin Li, Jeremy Lee Watts, Gregory E. Hilmas, Ming-Chuan Leu, Tieshu Huang

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) is a direct ink writing process which allows for the creation of near theoretically dense ceramic components with large cross-sections due to oil-assisted drying. Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) colloidal pastes (∼d50 ≲ 1 µm) were used in CODE to produce dense (multi-road infill and ≳ 98% relative density), large continuous volume (> 1 cm3), and high fidelity (nozzle diameters ≲ 1 mm) structural ceramic components. However, many of these printed components underwent significant particle migration after forming. The reason for this particle migration defect was investigated using the coffee-ring effect for dilute solutions and rheological methods for …

Anisotropic Thermal Expansion In High-Entropy Multicomponent Alb2-Type Diboride Solid Solutions, Frédéric Monteverde, Mattia Gaboardi, Federico Saraga, Lun Feng, William Fahrenholtz, Gregory Hilmas

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

High-entropy (HE) ultra-high temperature ceramics have the chance to pave the way for future applications propelling technology advantages in the fields of energy conversion and extreme environmental shielding. Among others, HE diborides stand out owing to their intrinsic anisotropic layered structure and ability to withstand ultra-high temperatures. Herein, we employed in-situ high-resolution synchrotron diffraction over a plethora of multicomponent compositions, with four to seven transition metals, with the intent of understanding the thermal lattice expansion following different composition or synthesis process. As a result, we were able to control the average thermal expansion (TE) from 1.3 x 10−6 to 6.9 …

Particle Migration In Large Cross-Section Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion Components, Austin J. Martin, Wenbin Li, Jeremy Lee Watts, Gregory E. Hilmas, Ming-Chuan Leu, Tieshu Huang

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) is a direct ink writing process which allows for the creation of near theoretically dense ceramic components with large cross-sections due to oil-assisted drying. Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) colloidal pastes (∼d50 ≲ 1 µm) were used in CODE to produce dense (multi-road infill and ≳ 98% relative density), large continuous volume (> 1 cm3), and high fidelity (nozzle diameters ≲ 1 mm) structural ceramic components. However, many of these printed components underwent significant particle migration after forming. The reason for this particle migration defect was investigated using the coffee-ring effect for dilute solutions and rheological methods for …

Development Of Novel Turbomachinery Manufacturing Methods, Timothy P. Winkler

Theses and Dissertations

Compact turbine engines are of increasing interest as a means of propulsion for small, lightweight, low cost, unmanned aerial systems. This study looks to leverage advancements in novel manufacturing technology to produce turbomachinery components while simultaneously reducing costs and manufacturing time. To determine the feasibility of drop-in replacements for stock components this study focused on several research areas. This included materials research on both polymer-reinforced and ceramic materials, specimen tensile testing to determine temperature-dependent material properties, finite element analysis of multiple candidate materials, design and fabrication of a spin test rig, and physical spin testing of manufactured components to predict …

Atomistic Simulation Studies Of Thin Film Growth And Plastic Deformation In Metals And Metal/Ceramic Nanostructures, Reza Namakian

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Despite the significant improvements in manufacturing and synthesis processes of metals and ceramics in the past decades, there are still areas in which the procedure is still frequently more of an art or skill rather than a science. Therefore, systematic and combined experimental and computational studies are required to facilitate the development of techniques that offer thorough understanding of the events taking place during manufacturing and synthesis processes. With regard to these issues, it is paramount to address microscale characterizations and atomic scale understanding of the events during fabrication processes. One of the focuses of this study is unraveling fundamental …