| Pacific Rim Symposium on Surfaces, Coatings and Interfaces (PacSurf 2016) | |
| Nanomaterials | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session NM-WeE |
| Session: | Nanocomposites |
| Presenter: | John-Andrew Hocker, NASA Langley Research Center, USA |
| Authors: | J-A.S. Hocker, NASA Langley Research Center, USA S-H. Chu, National Institute of Aerospace, USA V. Yamakov, National Institute of Aerospace, USA J. Newman, NASA Langley Research Center, USA S. Messina, NASA Langley Research Center, USA E. Judd, NASA Langley Research Center, USA C. Rohmann, The University of Queensland, Australia D. Bernhardt, The University of Queensland, Australia C. Park, NASA Langley Research Center, USA C. Fay, NASA Langley Research Center, USA |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Titanium alloys, such as Ti-6Al-4V, are used in aerospace applications that require light weight, high strength and corrosion resistance. Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNT) are a unique high strength, high aspect ratio, neutron absorbing nanomaterial with good thermal and chemical stability. Adding low density BNNT enables structural mass savings and may impart multifunctional capabilities such as the piezoelectric effect, and increased thermal conductivity. Recent theoretical studies indicate that BNNTs should exhibit a stronger interfacial binding with titanium than they do with aluminum or copper. Guided by those results, a series of nanocomposites was fabricated to experimentally investigate the reinforcing effect of BNNTs on the Ti-6Al-4V alloy. BNNT-Ti-6Al-4V nanocomposites were prepared by first consolidating the powder/BNNT blends at several loadings, 0.01 to 10 weight percent BNNT, in a circular die at elevated temperature and pressure. These consolidated specimens were then placed in a furnace and sintered under vacuum at ~1300°C. The resulting physical and mechanical properties of the metal matrix nanocomposites will be discussed, and compared with morphological results from X-ray diffraction, and optical, scanning electron, and scanning probe microscopies.