Development of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Stellite Alloy Based Composites for Tribocorrosion Applications.

摘要

This thesis reports the design and development of two classes of new composite materials, which are low-carbon Stellite alloy matrices, reinforced with either chopped plain carbon fiber or chopped nickel-coated carbon fiber. The focus of this research is on obviating the problems related to the presence of carbides in Stellite alloys by substituting carbides as the main strengthening agent in Stellite alloys with the aforementioned carbon fibers. Stellite 25 was selected as the matrix because of its very low carbon content (0.1 wt%) and thereby relatively carbide free microstructure. The nickel coating was intended to eliminate any chance of carbide formation due to the possible reaction between carbon fibers and the matrix alloying additions. The composite specimens were fabricated using the designed hot isostatic pressing and sintering cycles. The fabricated specimens were microstructurally analyzed in order to identify the main phases present in the specimens and also to determine the possible carbide formation from the carbon fibers. The material characterization of the specimens was achieved through density, hardness, microhardness, corrosion, wear, friction, and thermal conductivity tests. These novel materials exhibit superior properties compared to existing Stellite alloys and are expected to spawn a new generation of materials used for high temperature, severe corrosion, and wear resistant applications in various industries.