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1. Frictional Ignition of Metals in High Pressure Oxygen: A Critical Reassessment of NASA Test Data

   https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2023-1489  

   Garcia Jimenez, Andres; Cordero, Zachary C. (January 2023, AIAA Scitech 2023)

   In this paper we develop a material index for selecting alloys resistant to frictional ignition in high pressure oxygen environments. A previous ignition-resistance metric proposed by NASA WSTF varies strongly and unpredictably with test conditions, thus limiting its usefulness. The material index developed here incorporates key material properties that strongly influence ignition behaviors, including friction coefficient, ignition temperature, and thermal effusivity. Finite element simulations were used to compute ignition temperatures for 15 alloys based on published frictional ignition data from NASA White Sands Testing Facility (WSTF). These values were used with the material index to construct property diagrams for ranking the materials based on their intrinsic frictional ignition resistance. The results demonstrate that nickel-based superalloys with low iron content are less likely to ignite under frictional heating than ferrous alloys and nickel-based superalloys with high content iron. The material index is then used to predict material performance outside of the test conditions, highlighting the effect of ambient temperature on nominal ignition resistance. We conclude by developing an empirical relation between ignition temperature and enthalpy of oxidation which can guide design of new ignition-resistant alloys. 

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2. Electrophoretic deposition of iron oxide nanoparticles to achieve thick nickel/iron oxide magnetic nanocomposite films

   https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5129797  

   Mills, Sara_C; Smith, Connor_S; Arnold, David_P; Andrew, Jennifer_S (January 2020, AIP Advances)

   For modern switching power supplies, current bulk magnetic materials, such as ferrites or magnetic metal alloys, cannot provide both low loss and high magnetic saturation to function with both high power density and high efficiency at high frequencies (10-100 MHz). Magnetic nanocomposites comprised of a ferrite and magnetic metal alloy provide the opportunity to achieve these desired magnetic properties, but previously investigated thin-film fabrication techniques have difficulty achieving multi-micrometer film thicknesses which are necessary to provide practical magnetic energy storage and power handling. Here, we present a versatile technique to fabricate thick magnetic nanocomposites via a two-step process, consisting of the electrophoretic deposition of an iron oxide nanoparticle phase into a mold on a substrate, followed by electro-infiltration of a nickel matrix. The deposited films are imaged via scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to identify the presence of iron and nickel, confirming the infiltration of the nickel between the iron oxide nanoparticles. A film thickness of ∼7 μm was measured via stylus profilometry. Further confirmation of successful composite formation is obtained with vibrating sample magnetometry, showing the saturation magnetization value of the composite (473 kA/m) falls between that of the iron oxide nanoparticles (280 kA/m) and the nickel matrix (555 kA/m). These results demonstrate the potential of electrophoretic deposition coupled with electro-infiltration to fabricate magnetic nanocomposite films. 

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3. Structure and Properties of Liquid Fe‐C Alloys at High Pressures by Experiments and First‐Principles Calculations

   https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119508229.ch4  

   Chen, B.; Wang, J. (January 2020, Geophysical monograph)

   It is believed that the core formation processes sequestered a large majority of Earth’s carbon into its metallic core. Incorporation of carbon to liquid iron may significantly influence its properties under physicochemical conditions pertinent to the deep magma ocean and thus the chemical evolution of terrestrial planets and moons. Compared to available experimental data on the physical properties of crystalline iron alloys under pressure, there is a remarkable lack of data on the properties of liquid iron‐rich alloys, due to experimental challenges. Here we review experimental and computational results on the structure and properties of iron or iron‐nickel liquids alloyed with carbon upon compression. These laboratory data provide an important foundation on which the interpretation of ultrahigh pressure laboratory data and the verification of theoretical data will have to be based. The low‐pressure data can be used to validate results from theoretical calculations at the same conditions, and high‐pressure calculations can be used to estimate and predict liquid properties under core conditions. Availability of the liquid properties of Fe‐C liquids will provide essential data for stringent tests of carbon‐rich core composition models for the outer core. 

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4. Iron Bonding with Light Elements: Implications for Planetary Cores Beyond the Binary System

   https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst14121016  

   Yang, Hong; Wang, Wenzhong; Mao, Wendy L (December 2024, Crystals)

   Light element alloying in iron is required to explain density deficit and seismic wave velocities in Earth’s core. However, the light element composition of the Earth’s core seems hard to constrain as nearly all light element alloying would reduce the density and sound velocity (elastic moduli). The alloying light elements include oxidizing elements like oxygen and sulfur and reducing elements like hydrogen and carbon, yet their chemical effects in the alloy system are less discussed. Moreover, Fe-X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (Fe-XANES) fingerprints have been studied for silicate materials with ferrous and ferric ions, while not many X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) studies have focused on iron alloys, especially at high pressures. To investigate the bonding nature of iron alloys in planetary interiors, we presented X-ray absorption spectroscopy of iron–nitrogen and iron–carbon alloys at high pressures up to 50 GPa. Together with existing literature on iron–carbon, –hydrogen alloys, we analyzed their edge positions and found no significant difference in the degree of oxidation among these alloys. Pressure effects on edge positions were also found negligible. Our theoretical simulation of the valence state of iron, alloyed with S, C, O, N, and P also showed nearly unchanged behavior under pressures up to 300 GPa. This finding indicates that the high pressure bonding of iron alloyed with light elements closely resembles bonding at the ambient conditions. We suggest that the chemical properties of light elements constrain which ones can coexist within iron alloys. 

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5. Numerical calculation of interstitial dumbbell-mediated transport coefficients in dilute crystalline systems with non-truncated correlations

   https://doi.org/10.1080/14786435.2022.2120646  

   Chattopadhyay, Soham; Trinkle, Dallas R (December 2022, Philosophical Magazine)

   Interstitial dumbbell-mediated diffusion can affect segregation and precipitation properties of solutes in alloys under irradiated conditions. Accurate computation of transport coefficients for dumbbell-mediated diffusion thus becomes essential for modelling solute segregation under irradiation. In this work, we extend the Green’s function approach, a general numerical approach, to compute accurate transport coefficients for interstitial dumbbell-mediated mechanisms in the dilute limit for arbitrary crystalline systems with non-truncated correlations in atomic diffusion. We also present results of tracer correlation factors, solute drag ratios and partial diffusion coefficient ratios in iron and nickel-based alloys computed with our approach, compare our results with existing results in the literature, and discuss some aspects of correlated solute-dumbbell motion. 

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