Manufacturing ZrB2-SiC-TaC Composite: Potential Application for Aircraft Wing Assessed by Frequency Analysis through Finite Element Model

Behzad Mohammadzadeh; Sunghoon Jung; Tae Hyung Lee; Quyet Van Le; Joo Hwan Cha; Ho Won Jang; Sea-Hoon Lee; Junsuk Kang; Mohammadreza Shokouhimehr

doi:10.3390/ma13102213

Manufacturing ZrB₂-SiC-TaC Composite: Potential Application for Aircraft Wing Assessed by Frequency Analysis through Finite Element Model

Materials (Basel). 2020 May 12;13(10):2213. doi: 10.3390/ma13102213.

Authors

Behzad Mohammadzadeh^{1

2}, Sunghoon Jung^{3

4}, Tae Hyung Lee³, Quyet Van Le⁵, Joo Hwan Cha⁶, Ho Won Jang³, Sea-Hoon Lee⁷, Junsuk Kang^{1

2}, Mohammadreza Shokouhimehr³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Landscape Architecture and Rural Systems Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
² Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
³ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Research Institute of Advanced Materials, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
⁴ Advanced Nano Surface Department, Surface Technology Division, Korea Institute of Materials Science, Changwon 51508, Korea.
⁵ Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Vietnam.
⁶ Innovative Enterprise Cooperation Center, Korea Institute of Science & Technology, Hwarangro 14-gil, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, Korea.
⁷ Division of Powder/Ceramics Research, Korea Institute of Materials Science, Changwon 51508, Korea.

Abstract

This study presents a new ultra-high temperature composite fabricated by using zirconium diboride (ZrB₂), silicon carbide (SiC), and tantalum carbide (TaC) with the volume ratios of 70%, 20%, and 10%, respectively. To attain this novel composite, an advanced processing technique of spark plasma sintering (SPS) was applied to produce ZrB₂-SiC-TaC. The SPS manufacturing process was achieved under pressure of 30 MPa, at 2000 °C for 5 min. The micro/nanostructure and mechanical characteristics of the composite were clarified using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and nano-indentation. For further investigations of the product and its characteristics, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were undertaken, and the main constituting components were provided. The composite was densified to obtain a fully-dense ternary; the oxide pollutions were wiped out. The mean values of 23,356; 403.5 GPa; and 3100 °C were obtained for the rigidity, elastic modulus, and thermal resistance of the ZrB₂-SiC-TaC interface, respectively. To explore the practical application of the composite, the natural frequency of an aircraft wing considering three cases of materials: i) with a leading edge made of ZrB₂-SiC-TaC; ii) the whole wing made of ZrB₂-SiC-TaC; and iii) the whole wing made of aluminum 2024-T3 were investigated employing a numerical finite element model (FEM) tool ABAQUS and compared with that of a wing of traditional materials. The precision of the method was verified by performing static analysis to obtain the responses of the wing including total deformation, equivalent stress, and strain. A comparison study of the results of this study and published literature clarified the validity of the FEM analysis of the current research. The composite produced in this study significantly can improve the vibrational responses and structural behavior of the aircraft's wings.

Keywords: FEM analysis; Ultra-high temperature ceramic; composite; nano-indentation; spark plasma sintering; vibration analysis.