On the relations between atomic interface parameters and the wettability and stability in metal-ceramic systems

Abstract

For the development of advanced materials the metal-ceramic systems are very important. Such materials are used as combinations or as composites both of which are used in many industrial applications with high demands, such as high temperature, extreme wear, high specific stiffness and strength, special electrical properties. Here the interface is frequently the source of failure. The control of the interface properties is connected with many experimental and theoretical problems. We have investigated the interfaces in the systems SiCAl, TiCAl and TiNAl by means of XPS, SEM and EPMA. It was shown that the structure of the interface and the stability are functions of: (1) the technology of the preparation of the metal-ceramic system, (2) the bulk composition of the ceramics and of the metal, (3) the composition of the environmental atmosphere and the contamination during preparation, and (4) the intensity and the time of thermal treatment. The formation of the interface is especially influenced by processes of diffusion and of solubility and resolubility caused by chemical reactions between bulk phases themselves but also with the contaminants and the trace elements.