Internal friction and Young’s modulus of Si<Subscript>3</Subscript>N<Subscript>4</Subscript>/BN fibrous monoliths at various vibrational strain amplitudes

The effect of temperature and vibrational strain amplitude on Young’s modulus and an ultrasound damping (internal friction) of ceramic boron nitride samples and silicon nitride/boron nitride fibrous monoliths was studied. It was shown that the elastic moduli and the elastic vibration decrement of the low-modulus BN ceramic and of the high-modulus Si₃N₄/BN monoliths measured at small strain amplitudes (in the region of amplitude-independent internal friction) exhibit a noticeable temperature hysteresis. Temperature exerts the smallest effect on the amplitude-independent decrement and on the amplitude-dependent damping and Young’s modulus defect of a monolith whose filaments are arranged both along and perpendicular to the axis of a rodshaped sample. These parameters behave in the most complicated way in a sample with all its filaments aligned with the rod axis. The observed relations can be assigned to structural features of the monoliths and the considerable influence of transverse strain on the evolution of defect structure in the materials studied.     

Elasticity and anelasticity of microcrystalline aluminum samples having various deformation and thermal histories

The effect of the amplitude of vibrational deformation on the elastic modulus and internal friction of microcrystalline aluminum samples produced by equal-channel angular pressing was studied. The samples have various deformation and thermal histories. The elastic and inelastic (microplastic) properties of the samples are investigated. As the degree of plastic deformation increases, the Young’s modulus E, the amplitude-independent decrement δ_i, and the microplastic flow stress σ increase. As the annealing temperature increases, the quantities δ_i and σ decrease noticeably and the modulus E exhibits a more complex behavior. The experimental data are discussed under the assumption that the dislocation mobility depends on both the spectrum of point defects and the internal stresses, whose level is determined by the degree of plastic deformation and the temperature of subsequent annealing. The concept of internal stresses is also used to analyze the data on the effect of the degree of deformation and annealing on the rupture strength of the samples.     

Acoustic study of the elastic and inelastic properties of high-pressure polyethylene samples with different irradiation histories

The influence of vibrational deformation amplitude ε on the dynamic elasticity modulus (Young’s modulus E) and internal friction (logarithmic decrement δ) of high-pressure polyethylene samples with different histories is studied. Acoustic measurements are made by a resonance method using the longitudinal vibrations of a composite piezoelectric vibrator at a frequency of ≈ 100 kHz. The dependences E(ε) and δ(ε) are taken at room temperature. From the acoustic data, the elasticity and microplasticity of the samples are estimated. It is found that the microplasticity remains almost unaffected upon irradiation and aging, while the elasticity modulus and breaking elongation per unit length considerably depend on the history and clearly correlated with each other. The observed effects are explained by the fact that atom-atom interaction and defects inside polymer macromolecules substantially influence the elastic modulus and breaking strength, while the inelastic microplastic strain is most likely associated with molecule-molecule interaction, which is affected by irradiation insignificantly.     

Young’s modulus and internal friction in porous biocarbon white pine wood precursors

This paper reports on a study performed in the temperature range 100–293 K, in air and in vacuum, for the amplitude and time dependences of the Young’s modulus and the internal friction (ultrasound damping) of biocarbon precursors prepared from white pine wood at two pyrolysis (carbonization) temperatures of 1000 and 2400°C. The measurements have been conducted by the resonance technique with a composite vibrator on samples cut along and across the tree growth direction. The desorption of molecules of the external medium at low amplitudes of ultrasonic vibrations has been found to produce the pronounced influence on the effective elastic modulus and elastic vibration decrement. The data obtained from acoustic measurements of the amplitude dependences of the elastic modulus have been used to estimate the microplastic properties of the samples. It has been shown that increasing the carbonization temperature gives rise to noticeable changes in the Young’s modulus and internal friction, as well as to reduction of the microplastic stress σ _y of the biomaterial studied. The stress σ _y of the samples cut across the growth direction has been found to be substantially smaller than that of the “longitudinal” samples. The elastic and microplastic properties of precursors prepared from white pine wood have been compared with those of the white eucalyptus wood.     

Internal friction and Young’s modulus of a carbon matrix for biomorphic silicon carbide ceramics

The amplitude, temperature, and time dependences of the Young’s modulus and internal friction (ultrasonic attenuation) of a eucalyptus-based carbon biomatrix intended for preparing biomorphic silicon carbide ceramics were studied. Adsorption and desorption of molecules of the ambient medium (air) was shown to determine, to a considerable extent, the effective Young’s modulus and acoustic vibration decrement of a specimen. A doublet maximum in the temperature dependence of ultrasonic attenuation was observed at a temperature close to the sublimation temperature of solid CO₂. The microplastic properties of the material were estimated from acoustic measurement data.     

Structure-mediated transition in the behavior of elastic and inelastic properties of beach tree bio-carbon

Microstructural characteristics and amplitude dependences of the Young modulus E and of internal friction (logarithmic decrement δ) of bio-carbon matrices prepared from beech tree wood at different carbonization temperatures T _carb ranging from 600 to 1600°C have been studied. The dependences E(T _carb) and δ(T _carb) thus obtained revealed two linear regions of increase of the Young modulus and of decrease of the decrement with increasing carbonization temperature, namely, ΔE ～ AΔT _carb and Δδ ～ BΔT _carb, with A ≈ 13.4 MPa/K and B ≈ ?2.2 × 10^?6 K^?1 for T _carb < 1000°C and A ≈ 2.5 MPa/K and B ≈ ?3.0 × 10^?7 K^?1 for T _carb > 1000°C. The transition observed in the behavior of E(T _carb) and δ(T _carb) at T _carb = 900–1000°C can be assigned to a change of sample microstructure, more specifically, a change in the ratio of the fractions of the amorphous matrix and of the nanocrystalline phase. For T _carb < 1000°C, the elastic properties are governed primarily by the amorphous matrix, whereas for T _carb > 1000°C the nanocrystalline phase plays the dominant part. The structurally induced transition in the behavior of the elastic and microplastic characteristics at a temperature close to 1000°C correlates with the variation of the physical properties, such as electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and thermopower, reported in the literature.     

Elastic and inelastic properties of SiC/Si biomorphic composites and biomorphic SiC based on oak and eucalyptus

This paper reports on the results of a comparative investigation into the elastic and microplastic properties of biomorphic SiC/Si composites and biomorphic SiC prepared by pyrolysis of oak and eucalyptus with subsequent infiltration of molten silicon into a carbon matrix and additional chemical treatment to remove excess silicon. The acoustic studies were performed by the composite oscillator technique using resonant longitudinal vibrations at frequencies of about 100 kHz. It is shown that, in biomorphic SiC (as in biomorphic SiC/Si) at small-amplitude strains ε, adsorption and desorption of the environmental (air) molecules determine to a considerable extent the Young’s modulus E and the internal friction (decrement of acoustic vibrations δ) and that the changes in E and δ at these amplitudes are irreversible. The stress-microplastic strain curves are constructed from the acoustic data for the materials under study at temperatures of 100 and 290 K.     

On the nature of low-temperature anomalies of the anelastic properties of metallic glasses

In Memory of A. M. Roshchupkin The low-temperature (30<T<300 K) internal friction and elastic modulus of the metallic glass (MG) Ni₆₀Nb₄₀ subjected to preliminary cold working by rolling, high-temperature uniform straining, or electrolytic hydrogenation is investigated. It is established that cold rolling, which induces localized plastic flow, or hydrogenation radically alters the temperature dependences of the internal friction and elastic modulus: hysteresis appears in the background damping and intense relaxational peaks arise in the internal friction, accompanied by a defect of the elastic modulus. A uniform strain does not affect the low-temperature anelastic behavior of MGs. Microplastic deformation is observed to accompany the hydrogenation of weakly loaded samples. It is asserted that localized microplastic deformation also occurs on hydrogenation with no load. Plastic flow accompanying both rolling and hydrogenation occurs by the formation and motion of dislocationlike defects, which in the presence of an external load of alternating sign give rise to the observed anelastic anomalies. It is concluded that the low-temperature internal-friction peaks, described in the literature, in the “as-quenched,” cold-deformed, or hydrogenated MGs are all of a dislocation nature. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 67, 35–46 (October 1997) In Memory of A. M. Roshchupkin     

Thermal conductivity and heat capacity of Si3N4/BN fiber monoliths

This paper reports on measurements within the 5–300-K temperature interval of the thermal conductivity of Si₃N₄ and BN polycrystalline ceramic samples and Si₃N₄/BN fiber monoliths (FM) with different fiber arrangement architecture, [0], [90], and [0/90], with fibers arranged, accordingly, along and across the sample axis and the [0] and [90] layers stacked alternately. In the 3.5–300-K interval, the heat capacity at constant pressure, and at 77 K, the sound velocity have been measured in polycrystalline Si₃N₄ and BN samples and in Si₃N₄/BN [0] fiber monoliths. Our studies suggest that, with a high enough degree of confidence, but for some compositions—with minor assumptions, it can be maintained that, in the case of the Si₃N₄/BN fiber monoliths, one can use for calculation of their thermal conductivities and heat capacities within certain temperature intervals simple models considering mixtures of the Si₃N₄ and BN components with due account of their contributions to formation of the Si₃N₄/BN FM. It has been established that in the low-temperature domain (5–25 K), phonons in Si₃N₄/BN [0], [90], and [0/90] fiber monoliths scatter primarily from dislocations. This effect is not observed in ceramic Si₃N₄ and BN samples. The experimental data obtained on the thermal conductivity, heat capacity, and sound velocity have been used to calculate phonon mean free path lengths in polycrystalline Si₃N₄ and BN samples and the effective mean free path length in the Si₃N₄/BN [0] FM.     

Elasticity and inelasticity of the SiC/Al-13Si-9Mg biomorphic metal ceramics

The acoustic investigations of the elastic (Young’s modulus) and microplastic properties of a composite material, the SiC/Al-13Si-9Mg biomorphic metal ceramic, were performed. The ceramic was prepared by infiltration of the Al-13Si-9Mg melt into porous silicon carbide derived from wood of two species of trees, beech and sapele. The measurements were performed with a composite piezoelectric vibrator under resonance conditions, with rod-shaped samples vibrated longitudinally at about 100 kHz over a wide range of vibrational strain amplitudes, which included both the linear (amplitude-independent) and nonlinear (microplastic) regions. It was shown that the Young’s modulus and the microplastic properties of the composite are anisotropic and depend substantially on the tree species, particularly when longitudinal vibrations are excited in samples cut along the tree fibers.     

Magnetoelastic effects in rare-earth vanadates YbVO4 and HoVO4

Magnetoelastic anomalies in the thermal expansion and Young modulus, as well as the ΔE-effect in rare-earth vanadates RVO₄ (R = Ho, Yb), are investigated experimentally and theoretically. A considerable softening of the Young modulus is observed for HoVO₄ and YbVO₄ at T < 70 K and T < 150 K, respectively; this effect is adequately described in the framework of the generalized susceptibility formalism. It is shown that the field dependences of the ΔE-effect and their temperature variation in YbVO₄ can also be described using this approach. To compare with experiment, the magnetoelastic contributions to the Young modulus of an isotropic polycrystal from various elastic modes have been averaged. For the Yb vanadate, considerable magnetoelastic anomalies in the thermal expansion along the tetragonal a and c axes have been discovered. The magnetoelastic contributions are used for determining completely symmetric magnetoelastic coefficients; the role of the completely symmetric quadrupole constant for magnetoelastic effects is analyzed.     

Phonon transport in superconducting EuBa2Cu3O7−x

We have measured the thermal conductivity, Young modulus sound velocity and internal friction of a polycrystalline sample of the ceramic superconductor EuBa₂Cu₃O_7-x. The low temperature data can be quantitavely understood assuming the interaction of phonons with tunneling systems.     

Synthesis and physical properties of the ferroelectric magnet SrBi3Nb2FeO12

The dielectric, elastic, and inelastic properties of a ceramic ferroelectric SrBi₃Nb₂FeO₁₂ are studied over the temperature range 300–900 K. The observed anomalies in the temperature dependences of the permitivity, dielectric loss, shear modulus, and internal friction indicate the occurrence of a structural phase transition in the compound at ～700 K. It is suggested that the transition is a proper ferroelectric and improper ferroelastic second-order phase transition.     

Elasticity,anelasticity, and microplasticity of directionally crystallized aluminum-germanium alloys

The structure, Young’s modulus defect, and internal friction in aluminum-germanium alloys have been studied under conditions of longitudinal elastic vibrations with a strain amplitude in the range of 10^?6?3 × 10^?4 at frequencies about 100 kHz. The ribbon-shaped samples of the alloys with the germanium content from 35 to 64 wt % have been produced by drawing from the melt by the Stepanov method at a rate of 0.1 mm/s. It has been shown that the dependences of the Young’s modulus defect, logarithmic decrement, and vibration stress amplitude on the germanium content in the alloy at a constant strain amplitude have an extremum at 53 wt % Ge. This composition corresponds to the eutectic composition. The dependences of the Young’s modulus defect, the decrement, and vibration stress amplitude at a constant microstrain amplitude have been explained by the vibrational displacements of dislocations, which depend on the alloy structure.     

Nonequilibrium states and anomalies of Young’s modulus in rare-earth cobaltites RBaCo4O7 (R = Dy-Er,Y, Lu) caused by short-range magnetic order

The elastic properties of rare-earth cobaltites RBaCo₄O₇ (R = Dy, Ho, Er, Y, Lu) have been investigated experimentally. It has been found that the temperature dependences of the Young’s modulus exhibit significant hysteresis and irreversible effects over a wide range (80–280 K) between the structural and magnetic phase transition temperatures. These effects indicate that the short-range magnetic order in the Co sub-system of the studied rare-earth cobaltites gradually develops below the structural phase transition, when the distortion of the structure relieves the frustration of exchange interactions both in the Kagome lattice and in the triangular lattice of the cobalt subsystem. At the magnetic phase transition temperature, there are weak and smoothed anomalies of the Young’s modulus, which correlate with the low dimensionality and frustration of the exchange interactions in the Co subsystem of the studied rare-earth cobaltites.     

Process of magnetic field penetration into the high-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O7−δ

The processes of magnetic field penetration into the ceramic samples of the HTSC YB₂Cu₃O_～6.95 at T<T _c are studied by the methods of internal friction and magnetization measurements. A clearly manifested correlation is observed between the field dependences of the internal friction spectrum parameters (the logarithmic damping decrement Q ^?1 and the resonance frequency f) and the trapped magnetic flux ΔM. The magneto-mechanical approach we used reveals a significant difference in the field dependences of the densities of pinned (N _p) and free (N _f) Abrikosov vortices for H>H _c1.     

Microstructure,elastic, and inelastic properties of biomorphic carbons carbonized using a Fe-containing catalyst

The microstructure and amplitude dependences of the Young’s modulus E and internal friction (logarithmic decrement δ), and microplastic properties of biocarbon matrices BE-C(Fe) obtained by beech tree carbonization at temperatures T _carb = 850–1600°C in the presence of an iron-containing catalyst are studied. By X-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electron microscopy, it is shown that the use of Fe-catalyst during carbonization with T _carb ≥ 1000°C leads to the appearance of a bulk graphite phase in the form of nanoscale bulk graphite inclusions in a quasi-amorphous matrix, whose volume fraction and size increase with T _carb. The correlation of the obtained dependences E(Т _carb) and δ(T _carb) with microstructure evolution with increasing Т _carb is revealed. It is found that E is mainly defined by a crystalline phase fraction in the amorphous matrix, i.e., a nanocrystalline phase at Т _carb < 1150°C and a bulk graphite phase at T _carb > 1300°C. Maximum values E = 10–12 GPa are achieved for samples with Т _carb ≈ 1150 and 1600°C. It is shown that the microplasticity manifest itself only in biocarbons with T _carb ≥ 1300°C (upon reaching a significant volume of the graphite phase); in this case, the conditional microyield stress decreases with increasing total volume of introduced mesoporosity (free surface area).     

Magnetoelastic contribution in domain wall dynamics of amorphous microwires

We studied the domain wall (DW) propagation of magnetically-bistable Fe–Co-rich microwires paying attention to the effect of applied and internal stresses. Magnetic field, H, dependences of DW velocity, v, were measured in Co_41.7Fe_36.4Si_10.1B_11.8 microwires with metallic nucleus diameters (from 13 μm to 18 μm) and with different ρ-ratio between the metallic nucleus diameter, d, and total microwire diameter, D. DW velocity decreased under the application of stresses. From measured dependences we evaluated DW mobility, S, dependence on the applied stresses. The results obtained for Co_41.7Fe_36.4Si_10.1B_11.8 sample show that S decreases with the increasing of applied stresses, σ_a. The observed dependences manifest that increasing of magnetoelastic anisotropy results in the decreasing of DW mobility and DW velocity     

Chemical control of physical properties in silicon nitride films

Amorphous hydrogenated silicon nitride (a-SiN _x H _y ) films were prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The physical properties and chemical structures of the resulting materials were systematically investigated. Results reveal that the a-SiN _x H _y films similarly consist of four kinds of Si–N groups, including Si₃N₄, H–Si–N₃, H₂–Si–N₂, and Si₃–Si–N. Deposition at 13.56 MHz and 300 ^°C with flow ratio of SiH₄/NH₃=30/30 sccm leads to the yield of Si_0.39N_0.38H_0.23 films that exhibit excellent properties of high uniformity, high elastic modulus, moderate refractive index and optical band gap, low UV absorption, and ultralow residual stress (?0.17 MPa). Such Si_0.39N_0.38H_0.23 films hold considerable promise for applications in solar cells and infrared sensors. In contrast, an increase of Si or N content in a-SiN _x H _y films will cause the degradation of the properties, so that the films are unsuitable for solar cells. Moreover, a new conception of network degree was proposed to evaluate and explain the properties of a-SiN _x H _y films. Particularly, this work discloses the relationships between the chemical structures and physical properties, and suggests a basic approach to the yield of a-SiN _x H _y films with controlled physical properties.     

Electron-stimulated processes in boron nitride-based ceramics

The low-energy electron radiation resistance of boron nitride-based BN + Si₃N₄ and BN + SiO₂ ceramics proposed as a construction material for ion space engines was studied. It was shown that a reduced silicon phase is formed on the BN + Si₃N₄ ceramics surface in the high-temperature region (～900 K), which results from material thermal destruction. The BN + SiO₂ ceramics exhibits high thermal stability and is not prone to destruction due to electron-stimulated oxygen desorption (the cross section of this process does not exceed 10^?20 cm²). It is preferable to use such ceramics as a construction material. Based on the results obtained, some models were proposed that explain variations in the erosion rate of ceramic units of ion engines under electron and ion irradiation.