Thermo Physical Property Measurement of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy and Ti-6Al-4V/Nano SiCp Composites

Abstract

The intention of a thermal-control structure is to sustain all of a spacecraft's components within the permissible temperature limits for all working modes of the vehicle in all of the thermal environments it may be exposed. Metal-matrix composites can endure the tremendous conditions often stumble upon in space environment. The metal-matrix composites have been developed indigenously and tested in Thermo Mechanical Analyzer (TMA). The measurement and characterization of thermo physical properties of MMC such as density, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), specific heat (Cp) and thermal conductivity plays an important role. It is important to evaluate the new material for thermal stability and to evaluate CTE before actual use. Experimentally the CTE can be measured by TMA under the absolute methods. These experimentations have been carried out in the temperature range of -100°C to 400°C. The measurements of the thermal properties of materials facilitate better understanding of the thermal design. Powder metallurgy technique was used to fabricate the Ti-6Al-4V Titanium alloy and Ti-6Al-4V alloy with different volume fractions of nano SiCp composites. The composites exhibited lower coefficient of expansion values than the alloy.