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Mechanical Test Facilities |
- Tensile testing with controlled loading and cycling creep deformation
measurement from 22°C to 1500°C in air and inert environments for
small test samples.
- Flexure and compression testing for temperatures from -170°C to
1600°C with displacement measurements in various environments including
controlled water vapor levels.
- Rotation in bend test facility: this equipment is used to measure the
bending fatigue behavior of structural ceramics as a function of temperature
and frequency.
- IR camera: this equipment, which provides real-time temperature maps
by direct imaging., has been used for (1) non-destructive inspection of
delamination in coatings and (2) measurement of temperature distributions
in the centrally heated thick disk specimen used for thermal shock evaluation.
- Fracture mechanics testing to determine fracture toughness, R-curve
behavior, and crack growth behavior with ability to determine local deformation
and crack opening profiles.
- Fracture mechanics (Double Cantilever Beam specimen) and flexure test
modules for use with optical and scannining electron microscopes.
- Instrumented indentation system to characterize interfacial properties
(e.g., debonding energy, shear resistance) in composites and ceramics.
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Microstructural and Property Characterization
Facilities |
- Nikkon optical microscope with PC interfaced digital camera.
- Hitachi S4100 scanning electron microscope with computer interfacing
for energy dispersive spectrometer (DTSA analysis software), digital image
storage, quantitative microstructure analysis (e.g., Prism), displacement
analysis, and high resolution backscatter electron detector.
- Direct access to world-class microstructural characterization facilites
(e.g., high resolution and analytical transmission electron microscopes,
and auger spectroscopy) to define critical structural and compositional
parameters.
- Access to a variety of x-ray and chemical analysis facilities.
- Extensive dilatometer facilities for determination of thermal expansion
response, phase transformations, and softening temperatures over a temperature
range of -260°C to 1600°C in various environments.
- State-of-the-art test modules that can be incorporated on optical microscope,
micro-raman stage, and the scanning electron microscope for in situ
measurements. The modules include two four-point flexure modules for viewing
(1) tensile surface and (2) side surface of test sample and an Applied
Moment-Double Cantilever Beam module for studies of fracture toughness
and R-Curve behavior.
- Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) system: Thermo Nicolet
Nexus 670 Optical Spectrometer with a range of 7,400-350cm-1 and a spectral
resolution of 0.125 cm-1 with a NicPlan IR Microscope with a spatial resolution
of ~10 µm.
- Impedance response/electrochemical interface facility with ability
to characterize electronic and ionic conductivities in bulk and thin film
materials as a function of temperature (< 1100°C) in various gaseous
atmospheres.
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Processing Facilities |
- Gas pressure sintering furnace with up to 7 MPa gas pressures to temperatures
up to 2100°C.
- Sintering dilatometer with temperatures up to 1800°C in controlled
atmospheres with rapid heating rates.
- Instrumented hot press with temperatures up to 2200°C in non-oxidizing
atmospheres.
- Extensive facilities for powder processing and characterizing the properties
of ceramic powders and colloidal suspensions.
- Access to a variety of x-ray and chemical analysis facilities.
- Ceramic forming processes including tape casting, screen printing,
spin coating, uniaxial and isostatic pressing, extrusion.
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Piezospectroscopy Facilities |
- Confocal line imaging for mapping phase content and stress on the surface
and through the depth of a material.
- Laser and optics optimized for operation in the UV, which allows for
Raman spectral measurements up to 1500°C.
- Low dispersion spectrograph for one-shot photoluminescence measurements.
- Maximum spectral coverage 2000 X 800 pixel CCD detector.
- Heating and cooling microscope stage. Range: (-196° to 600°C)
- Fiber Optic Probes for Remote spectral acquisition.
- Loading fixtures (4 point bend and DCB) for in situ stress measurement.
- Diamond Anvil cell for stress and phase change measurements up to 5
GPa.
- Nicolet Nexus 670 FTIR.
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