Tatyana S. Pirozhkova

The influence of water vapor on structural stability and mechanical properties of ceramics based on baddeleite (natural zirconia mineral) and chemically deposited ZrO₂ reinforced with carbon nanotubes is studied in this work. These composites are shown to possess high physical and mechanical properties and elevated hydrothermal aging resistance. Composites based on baddeleite and stabilized СаО are characterized via ageing rate of an order of magnitude lower than in the case of commercial ceramics stabilized with Y₂О₃. The embedding of carbon nanotubes in the composites and the use of spark plasma sintering inhibits the grain growth and amplifies the scale effect in hardness. With that, crack resistance K_C under hydrothermal conditions decreases to a lesser extent than in nanotube-free composites.

Introduction. The effect of the organic component nature in the systematic series of monocarboxylic acids on the tribological characteristics of the brass-steel friction pair in aqueous solutions is described. Dependence of the mechanical-and-physical properties of the antifriction films formed during friction on the nature of the lubricating composition is investigated. The work objectives are to study the applicability of carboxylic acids as an antifriction lubricant component; to assess their effect on the mechanical properties of the servovite film formed under the brass – steel friction.Materials and Methods. Tribological studies of the brass-steel friction pair on the AE-5 end-type friction machine are carried out. Roughness parameters of the servovite film were determined through the optical profilometry. The microgeometry and the object structure at the nanoscale were considered using atomic force microscopy. The mechanical characteristics of the antifriction film were investigated using the instrument nanoindentation.Research Results. Tribological characteristics of the brass-steel tribocoupling and mechanical-and-physical properties of the servovite film formed during friction in the “brass – aqueous solution of carboxylic acid – steel” system were studied. It is established that the friction factor reduces when increasing the hydrocarbon radical length. The dimensional effects are found in the mechanical and tribological properties of the servovite film formed on the surface of the friction interaction in the carboxylic acids.Discussion and Conclusions. The study results show that the friction interaction on the wearing surface in the aqueous solutions of carboxylic acids forms a nanostructured servovite film which drops the friction factor. Its mechanical, physical and tribological parameters depend on the composition of the model lubricating medium. It is determined that the local mechanical-and-physical properties depend on the method of producing the servovite layer, the load and the size of the deformation zone. The results obtained can be used in the development of lubricants.

The size hardness effects are studied via the micro- and nanoindentation methods over the wide range of the depth of print h (from dozens of nanometers to several dozen micrometers) for several classes of materials, such as ionic and covalent single crystals (sapphire, silicon, lithium fluoride); metals (single-crystal Al, polycrystalline Cu, Ni, and Nb); ceramics (high-strength nanostructured TZP-ceramic based on the natural zirconium dioxide–baddeleyite mineral); amorphous materials (fused quartz); and polymers (polycarbonate and polytetrafluoroethylene). As is shown, some of them possess severe size hardness effects, whereas the others reveal the weak ones or even a lack of these effects. The thermoactivation analysis is implemented, as well, and the activating and energy characteristics of local deformation processes induced by an indenter are compared with the dominant plasticity micromechanisms of the studied materials at different stages of the print formation and with the size peculiarities. The materials with low hardness coefficients and meeting the requirements of ISО 14577 and GOST R 8.748-2011 standards in the nanohardness measurements are highlighted, as well. In the established load ranges, these materials are the promising candidates for their use as reference samples, which are designed to ensure the uniformity of the hardness measurements at the nano- and microscales, as well as for calibrating and testing the nanoindentometers.

Size effects in the local mechanical properties of multiphase materials are studied by means of micro- and nanoindentation. The numerical values of the elasticity modulus, hardness, and crack resistance of single phases and interphase boundaries in several rock samples (polycrystalline banded iron formations, granite, anthracite, sandstone, marble, and serpentine marble) are determined. The strongest and weakest intergrowth boundaries in the investigated materials are established. Thermal activation analysis is performed, and the activation and energy characteristics of local deformation in a material under an indenter are identified. The predominant micromechanisms of plasticity in single phases and inclusions in rocks under the action of high local stresses are identified.

A method for the preparation of novel nanostructured zirconia ceramics from natural zirconia mineral—baddeleyite—using CaO as the stabilizer is described in the present work. Optimal synthesis conditions, including calcia content, planetary mill treatment regime, sintering time and temperature, corresponding to the highest values of hardness H, Young modulus E, and fracture toughness K_C are found. The values of the mechanical properties H = 10.8 GPa, E = 200 GPa, and K_C = 13.3 MPa m^1/2 are comparable with or exceed the corresponding properties of commercial yttria-stabilized ceramics prepared from chemically precipitated zirconia.

Processes of local deformation and fracture of the surface of a number of rocks (ferruginous quartzite, granite, marble, serpentine, anthracite, sandstone) are studied by means of micro- and nanoindentation under high local loadings. Numerical values of elastic, plastic and strength (hardness, Young’s modulus, fracture toughness, etc.) properties of rock specimens are defined in a wide range of loads and indentation depth h (from 10 nm to 50 µm). The influence of size effects on hardness is studied, including in other physical and mechanical properties of individual phases and interphase boundaries of a wide range of rocks. Moreover, nonmonotonic dependences of hardness of certain mineral components of studied rock specimens are identified on the micro- and nanoscale. It is found that the hardness of individual mineral phases naturally increases with decreasing indentation depth up to 60–120 nm depending on the type of a rock specimen and the phase type, and then begins falling. Values of the coefficient of fracture toughness, separate mineral phases and interphase fusion boundaries of different types are identified. It is revealed that hematite in ferruginous quartzite has the greatest value of the fracture toughness factor while anthracite has the lowest one. The strongest ones are boundaries of fusion of mineral components of ferruginous quartzite and the lowest ones are boundaries of individual phase fusion in anthracite.