Grain Boundary Controlled Properties Of Fine Ceramics

Selected papers presented at the International Workshop on Fine Ceramics 92, Materials Processing and Design through Better Control of Grain Boundaries: Emphasizing Fine Ceramics, held in Nagoya, Japan, 12-13 March 1992.

Presents papers from the workshop on the application of grain boundary phenomena to materials and processing design. Topics covered include electronic materials, evaluation methods, structural materials, and interfaces. Includes an overview of current research in grain-boundary-assisted materials pr

One of the key technologies needed to understand and develop the mechanical and electrical properties of ceramics is the field of grain boundary engineering. This book covers new developments in this important field and addresses topics from grain boundary phenomena to grain boundary quantum structures, including the development of new techniques such as multifunctional electronmicroscopes, various kinds of spectroscopic analysis, and first principles calculations. Proceedings of the Japan Fine Ceramics Center Workshop, March 15-17, 2000, in Nagoya, Japan; Ceramic Transactions, Volume 118.

The Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center has conducted the Saga more Army Materials Research Conferences, in cooperation with the Metallurgi cal Research Laboratories of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Metallurgy of Syracuse University, since 1954. The purpose of the conferences has been to gather together scientists and engineers from academic institutions, industry, and government who are uniquely qualified to explore in depth a sub ject of importance to the Army, the Department of Defense and the scientific community. Grain size and its control is a major factor governing the behavior of materi als. Knowledge that one can obtain grain sizes in the 10 micron down to sub micron range has established the basis for a new technology. This volume, Ultrafine-Grain Ceramics, addresses itself to the broad areas of: realization of fine-grain ceramics; preparation of ultrafine particle size materials; characterization of ultrafine particles and ultrafine-grain ceramics; processing and behavior of ultra fine-grain ceramics. The technical advice provided by Dr. S. K. Dutta of the Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center during the editing of this book is acknowledged. The continued active interest and support of these conferences by Dr. E. Scala, Director, Lt. Col. Joseph B. Mason, Commanding Officer, and J. F. Sullivan, Deputy Technical Director, of the Army Materials and Mechanics Re search Center is appreciated.

The nitrides and carbides of boron and silicon are proving to be an excellent choice when selecting materials for the design of devices that are to be employed under particularly demanding environmental and thermal con- tions. The high degree of cross-linking, due to the preferred coordination numbers of the predominantly covalently bonded constituents equalling or exceeding three, lends these non-oxidic ceramics a high kinetic stability, and is regarded as the microscopic origin of their impressive thermal and mechanical durability. Thus it does not come as a surprise that the chemistry, the physical properties and the engineering of the corresponding binary, ternary, and even quaternary compounds have been the subject of intensive and sustained efforts in research and development. In the five reviews presented in the volumes 101 and 102 of "Structure and Bonding" an attempt has been made to cover both the essential and the most recent advances achieved in this particular field of materials research. The scope of the individual contributions is such as to address both graduate students, specializing in ceramic materials, and all scientists in academia or industry dealing with materials research and development. Each review provides, in its introductory part, the chemical, physical and, to some extent, historical background of the respective material, and then focuses on the most relevant and the most recent achievements.

Nanocrystalline materials are three-dimensional ultrafine, polycrystalline microstructures. They give rise to interesting and useful chemical and physical-size effects. This book describes the development of a method of synthesizing chemical vapor for the production of nanocrystalline ceramic powders. The development of the microstructure during sintering is studied and the influence of the synthesis parameters on the structure and properties of the nanocrystalline ceramics from the atomic to the microstructural level is investigated. The emerging unified view, from powder synthesis and ceramic processing to structural characterization and determination of properties, provides a detailed understanding of the materials and enables better quality control of the end products.