Simulations of fine ceramics cascade synthesized by the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis method

Abstract

Due to the convective and radiant heat losses, there exists a maximal converted length of a dense pellet synthesized by the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) method. In this paper, we numerically investigate the possibility to increase that maximal converted length by cascading two reactant pellets in series, where an interface is naturally and artificially introduced. First, the impacts of both the bulk and interfacial parameters on the SHS process are estimated. The maximal converted length for a single pellet is computed. Next, by varying the interfacial parameters, it is found that more than 10% of extra converted length is obtained by the proposed cascade arrangement. Effects of the bulk parameters on the same purpose are also addressed.