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Cultural heritage materials, ranging from archaeological objects and sites to fine arts collections, are often characterized through their life cycle. In this review, the fundamentals and tools of materials science are used to explore such life cycles—first, via the origins of the materials and methods used to produce objects of function and artistry, and in some cases, examples of exceptional durability. The findings provide a window on our cultural heritage. Further, they inspire the design of sustainable materials for future generations. Also explored in this review are alteration phenomena over intervals as long as millennia or as brief as decades. Understanding the chemical processes that give rise to corrosion, passivation, or other degradation in chemical and physical properties can provide the foundation for conservation treatments. Finally, examples of characterization techniques that have been invented or enhanced to afford studies of cultural heritage materials, often nondestructively, are highlighted. 

The effect of gravity on directional solidification was investigated in solution‐based freeze casting. A preceramic siloxane‐based polymer was freeze‐cast with a cyclohexene solvent from two different directions: that against the direction of the gravitational force and that in concert with the gravitational force. Because the density of preceramic polymer is higher than the solvent, the segregated polymer creates a denser solution ahead of the freezing front than the underlying solution when the freezing direction is the same as the gravity direction. This results in convective flow in the liquid phase. This convective flow influences constitutional supercooling, which changes not only the pore size of freeze‐cast structure but also the pore morphology from dendritic to cellular pores.

 

Shape‐memory ceramics offer promise for applications like actuation and energy damping, due to their unique properties of high specific strength, high ductility, and inertness in harsh environments. To date, shape‐memory behavior in ceramics is limited to micro‐/submicro‐scale pillars and particles to circumvent the longstanding problem of transformation‐induced fracture which occurs readily in bulk polycrystalline specimens. The challenge, therefore, lies in the realization of shape‐memory properties in bulk ceramics, which requires careful design of 3D structures that locally mimic pillar structures. Herein, it is demonstrated that with a gradient‐controlled freeze‐casting approach, honeycomb‐like cellular structures can be fabricated with thin and directionally aligned walls to facilitate martensitic transformation under compression without fracture. With this approach, robust bulk shape‐memory ceramics are demonstrated in a highly porous structure under compressive stresses of 25 MPa and strains up to 7.5%.

 

This study characterizes the flexural and compressive behavior of two porous ceramic honeycombs commonly used in diesel particulate filtration, acicular mullite and aluminum titanate. Compression along the axis normal to the honeycomb cross‐section, referred to as out‐of‐plane compression, is compared to in‐plane flexure. The relationship between these loading modes is assessed using the failure strength and elastic modulus of the honeycomb structure and the constituent wall material. Weibull analyzes showed that flexure and out‐of‐plane compression exhibit similar behavior in cases where failure is governed by a single flaw, such as in acicular mullite. However, in heavily microcracked systems like aluminum titanate, compressive failure occurs by damage accumulation rather than growth of a single flaw, so compressive failure strengths are higher than flexural ones. Buckling was also shown to occur in both systems, but the geometries required are unlikely to be encountered in practical application. In the context of filter life assessment, failure in flexure occurs at much lower stresses for systems that rely on microcracking to accommodate thermal strains, so flexure is better suited as an estimate of filter strength.