Thermal erosion test of ZrB2-based ceramics

Abstract

The thermal erosion of a set of bulk fully dense and 10 vol% porous ZrB₂-based ceramics of different composition were machined as sharp wing and tested in an air-fuel mixture flow formed by mixing air and kerosene with an oxygen content ∼5 wt%. The resulting pressure in the combustion chamber was 0.8 MPa and the flow temperature was 1500°C. Microstructural analyses upon the tests evidenced that criteria for material success include high density and high thermal conductivity, along with formation of stable compounds. These results were supported by numerical simulation. Among all tested materials, only ZrB₂ - 15 vol% MoSi₂ (ZM) met all the requirements and successfully survived the thermal erosion test up to 1200 sec.