Materials properties characterization in the most extreme environments

Abstract

There is an ever-increasing need for material systems to operate in the most extreme environments encountered in space exploration, energy production, and propulsion systems. To effectively design materials to reliably operate in extreme environments, we need an array of tools to both sustain lab-scale extreme conditions and then probe the materials properties across a variety of length and time scales. Within this article, we examine the state-of-the-art experimental systems for testing materials under extreme environments and highlight the limitations of these approaches. We focus on three areas: (1) extreme temperatures, (2) extreme mechanical testing, and (3) chemically hostile environments. Within these areas, we identify six opportunities for instrument and technique development that are poised to dramatically impact the further understanding and development of next-generation materials for extreme environments. Graphical abstract

High-Temperature Mechanical Characterization of Materials for Extreme Environments

“…Although polymers tend not to be linked with high-temperature resistance, some engineered polymers and composites are being created to withstand extreme temperatures while maintaining advantages like flexibility and low mass. The present study examines a conceptual dataset and the resulting analysis related to a hightemperature resistant polymer called Polymer high-temperature alloy [45]. It keeps an essential amount of its tensile strength, precisely 80%, when subjected to a temperature rise of 300°C.…”

Cubic and hexagonal boron nitride phases and phase boundaries

“…[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Therefore, experimental exploration and comprehensive understanding of the HTHP stable phases of BN is important and relevant for extreme conditions applications. 23 Different phases of BN have diverse properties, and being able to control/tune their phase formation allows the designing of BN based materials and composites with specific characteristics for various applications. 3,4,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30] Accordingly, experimental investigation of BN phase stability and phase transformations remain an exciting area of unexplored/challenging field of research, with the observations of novel functionalities.…”

Environmental conical nozzle levitator equipped with dual wavelength lasers

“…More information on levitation techniques can be found in the following reviews. [53][54][55][56] The environmental controlled conical nozzle levitator (E-CNL) equipped with dual-wavelength lasers (CO 2 and Yb) is an aerodynamic levitation system designed in collaboration with Materials Development Inc. (MDI) to study ultra-high temperature materials and UHTCs (both oxide and non-oxide) in a controlled (varying gas composition), containerless environment, up to and beyond ∼4000 K. The E-CNL addresses the two key problems with studying UHTCs. Many UHTCs and ultra-high-temperature materials of interest can have a range of electrical conductivity at various temperatures.…”

“…The systems that are currently in operation have been optimized for either oxide or metallic materials, and the highest reported temperatures are ∼3773 K 51 on oxide systems in oxygen using aerodynamic levitation and ∼3673 K on non‐oxide systems in inert atmospheres 41,52 using ESL. More information on levitation techniques can be found in the following reviews 53–56 …”