Until recently, Pb was the preferred heat exchanger matrix material used in low temperature cryocoolers; however, the heat capacity of Pb drops drastically below {approximately}15K and new matrix materials based on the lanthanide elements have been developed. These materials magnetically order at low temperatures and the entropy change associated with ordering contributes to the materials` heat capacities. The drawback to widespread use of lanthanide intermetallic compounds in cryocoolers has been the difficulty in manufacturing high-quality particulates. The purpose of this project was to develop a technique for producing high-quality powders of lanthanide metals and lanthanide intermetallic compounds for use in cryocooler heat exchangers. A series of atomization experiments was performed using Er{sub 3}Ni, Nd, Nd{sub 3}Ni, and (Er{sub 0.5}Nd{sub 0.5}){sub 3}Ni. Atomization of these materials resulted in particles ranging from mostly spherical to extremely flattened. Analyses of size distributions for the experiments indicate that increased atomization disk speed and superheat result in smaller mean particle diameters and narrower size distributions. Chemical analyses of the atomized powders indicate that the CA/RQB technique produces particulate with much lower interstitial contamination than other techniques. The Er{sub 3}Ni and Nd{sub 3}Ni powders were predominantly of the desired phase and the (Er{sub 0.5}Nd{sub 0.5}){sub 3}Ni …

Investigations of ternary mixed early transition metal-rich sulfide and phosphide systems resulted in the discovery of new structures and new phases. A new series of Zr and Hf - group V transition metal - sulfur K-phases was synthesized and crystallographically characterized. When the group V transition metal was Nb or Ta, the unit cell volume was larger than any previously reported K-phase. The presence of adventitious oxygen was determined in two K-phases through a combination of neutron scattering and X-ray diffraction experiments. A compound Hf{sub 10}Ta{sub 3}S{sub 3} was found to crystallize in a new-structure type similar to the known gamma brasses. This structure is unique in that it is the only reported {open_quotes}stuffed{close_quotes} gamma-brass type structure. The metal components, Hf and Ta, are larger in size and more electropositive than the metals found in normal gamma brasses (e.g. Cu and Zn) and because of the larger metallic radii, sulfur can be incorporated into the structure where it plays an integral role in stabilizing this phase relative to others. X-ray single-crystal, X-ray powder and neutron powder refinements were performed on this structure. A new structure was found in the ternary Nb-Zr-P system which has characteristics in common with many known …

A methodology for the production of deformation processed metal metal matrix composites from hyper-eutectic copper-chromium alloys was developed. This methodology was derived from a basic study of the precipitation phenomena in these alloys encompassing evaluation of microstructural, electrical, and mechanical properties. The methodology developed produces material with a superior combination of electrical and mechanical properties compared to those presently available in commercial alloys. New and novel alloying procedures were investigated to extend the range of production methods available for these material. These studies focused on the use of High Pressure Gas Atomization and the development of new containment technologies for the liquid alloy. This allowed the production of alloys with a much more refined starting microstructure and lower contamination than available by other methods. The knowledge gained in the previous studies was used to develop two completely new families of deformation processed metal metal matrix composites. These composites are based on immissible alloys with yttrium and magnesium matrices and refractory metal reinforcement. This work extends the physical property range available in deformation processed metal metal matrix composites. Additionally, it also represents new ways to apply these metals in engineering applications.

This thesis is a collection of research efforts in ultrasonics, conducted at the Center for Aviation Systems Reliability located at Iowa State University, as part of the Federal Aviation Administration`s ``Aging Aircraft Program.`` The research was directed toward the development of an ultrasonic prototype to inspect the aluminum/adhesive fuselage lap splices found on 1970`s vintage Boeing passenger aircraft. The ultrasonic prototype consists of a normal incidence, low frequency inspection technique, and a scanning adapter that allows focused immersion transducers to be operated in a direct contact manner in any inspection orientation, including upside-down. The inspection technique uses a computer-controlled data acquisition system to produce a C-scan image of a radio frequency (RF) waveform created by a low frequency, broadband, focused beam transducer, driven with a spike voltage pulser. C-scans produced by this technique are color representations of the received signal`s peak-to-peak amplitude (voltage) taken over an (x, y) grid. Low frequency, in this context, refers to a wavelength that is greater than the lap splice`s layer thicknesses. With the low frequency technique, interface echoes of the lap splice are not resolved and gating of the signal is unnecessary; this in itself makes the technique simple to implement and saves considerable …