Post by darksat on Jan 18, 2018 20:36:34 GMT
So, I was looking at super-materials for spacecraft construction (Hypothetical future hard-science).
For current levels of tech I was initially thinking Boron Carbide because its strong, lightweight & has fairly high temperature resistance (melts at 2,763 °C (5,005 °F; 3,036 K)) & good neutron absorption.
However there are actually a load of other options:
Silicon Carbide is also quite good but a bit heavier. Its also a semiconductor. Its also used in mirrors.
www.makeitfrom.com/compare/Boron-Carbide-B4C/Silicon-Carbide-SiC
Interestingly when Silicon carbide is heavily doped in Boron it also becomes a superconductor.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1088/1468-6996/9/4/044205
Silicon-infiltrated carbon-carbon composite is used for high performance "ceramic" brake discs, as it is able to withstand extreme temperatures.
The silicon reacts with the graphite in the carbon-carbon composite to become carbon-fiber-reinforced silicon carbide (C/SiC)
Magnesium infused with dense silicon carbide nanoparticles is very strong and light, not sure about temperature resistance though.
( newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-researchers-create-exceptionally-strong-and-lightweight-new-metal )
86% magnesium, 14% of silicon carbide particles, it is light like aluminum, but as strong as titanium alloys.
This material has the highest strength-to-weight ratio known to mankind.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-magnesium-alloy-worlds-strongest-lightest-metal-sahit-muja/ )
Boron Nitride is also quite interesting. Graphitic Boron Nitride has a quite similar layered structure to graphite.
Pure Cubic Boron Nitride is actually transparent and has a crystal structure analogous to that of diamond.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron_nitride
It also has a higher melting point than Boron carbide - 2,973 °C (5,383 °F; 3,246 K) as well as phenomenal thermal conductivity. (740 (W/(m·K)) for Cubic boron nitride)
You can also have Boron Nitride Nanotubes as well as BCN nanotubes which are Boron Nitrogen & Carbon
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron_nitride_nanotube
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BCN_nanotube
Also Boron Nitride Nanotubes can actually self heal plus can be modified to have various electrical properties via doping with other materials.
Titanium Diboride & Titanium Carbide are also quite interesting, very strong & fantasticly high melting points.
3,230 °C (5,850 °F; 3,500 K) for Titanium Diboride and 3,160 °C (5,720 °F; 3,430 K) for Titanium Carbide.
only a few degrees behind Zirconium Diboride and Hafnium Diboride but with a much lower weight.
Titanium Carbide is used as a heat shield coating for atmospheric reentry of spacecraft.
It should be able to resist mach 11 speeds at 100,000 feet (30KM) and mach 6 at sea level.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_carbide
Titanium Diboride is fractionally better in terms of weight & temperature plus has a High electrical conductivity (~105 S/cm) (don't know about cost though)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_diboride
Interestingly a composite of Aluminium Magnesium Boride (BAM) and Titanium Diboride (TiB2) (70% of TiB2 by volume) has a record low values of friction coefficients meaning less friction. (although it may have a lower melt temperature than regular Titanium Diboride)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_magnesium_boride
This may prove to be a fantastic coating for railgun projectiles & gun barrels.
From looking at the full range of materials I think Boron Nitride Nanotubes would be an ideal hull material with perhaps a titanium carbide or Titanium Diboride on areas subjected to super high levels of heat.
Cubic Boron Nitride could also be used for windows while maintaining phenomenal strength.
I had a look through most of the super-materials out there and I think these are the best ones, let me know if I have missed any.
I think the ideal qualities of any super material is, strength, temperature resistance, impact resistance, ideally the ability to self heal, resistance to radiation, plus some other factors like thermal/electric/magnetic qualities could be quite good.
For current levels of tech I was initially thinking Boron Carbide because its strong, lightweight & has fairly high temperature resistance (melts at 2,763 °C (5,005 °F; 3,036 K)) & good neutron absorption.
However there are actually a load of other options:
Silicon Carbide is also quite good but a bit heavier. Its also a semiconductor. Its also used in mirrors.
www.makeitfrom.com/compare/Boron-Carbide-B4C/Silicon-Carbide-SiC
Interestingly when Silicon carbide is heavily doped in Boron it also becomes a superconductor.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1088/1468-6996/9/4/044205
Silicon-infiltrated carbon-carbon composite is used for high performance "ceramic" brake discs, as it is able to withstand extreme temperatures.
The silicon reacts with the graphite in the carbon-carbon composite to become carbon-fiber-reinforced silicon carbide (C/SiC)
Magnesium infused with dense silicon carbide nanoparticles is very strong and light, not sure about temperature resistance though.
( newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-researchers-create-exceptionally-strong-and-lightweight-new-metal )
86% magnesium, 14% of silicon carbide particles, it is light like aluminum, but as strong as titanium alloys.
This material has the highest strength-to-weight ratio known to mankind.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-magnesium-alloy-worlds-strongest-lightest-metal-sahit-muja/ )
Boron Nitride is also quite interesting. Graphitic Boron Nitride has a quite similar layered structure to graphite.
Pure Cubic Boron Nitride is actually transparent and has a crystal structure analogous to that of diamond.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron_nitride
It also has a higher melting point than Boron carbide - 2,973 °C (5,383 °F; 3,246 K) as well as phenomenal thermal conductivity. (740 (W/(m·K)) for Cubic boron nitride)
You can also have Boron Nitride Nanotubes as well as BCN nanotubes which are Boron Nitrogen & Carbon
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron_nitride_nanotube
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BCN_nanotube
Like BN fibers, boron nitride nanotubes show promise for aerospace applications where integration of boron and in particular the light isotope of boron (10B) into structural materials improves both their strength and their radiation-shielding properties. The improvement is due to strong neutron absorption by 10B. Such 10BN materials are of particular theoretical value as composite structural materials in future manned interplanetary spacecraft, where absorption-shielding from cosmic ray spallation neutrons is expected to be a particular asset in light construction materials)
Titanium Diboride & Titanium Carbide are also quite interesting, very strong & fantasticly high melting points.
3,230 °C (5,850 °F; 3,500 K) for Titanium Diboride and 3,160 °C (5,720 °F; 3,430 K) for Titanium Carbide.
only a few degrees behind Zirconium Diboride and Hafnium Diboride but with a much lower weight.
Titanium Carbide is used as a heat shield coating for atmospheric reentry of spacecraft.
It should be able to resist mach 11 speeds at 100,000 feet (30KM) and mach 6 at sea level.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_carbide
Titanium Diboride is fractionally better in terms of weight & temperature plus has a High electrical conductivity (~105 S/cm) (don't know about cost though)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_diboride
Interestingly a composite of Aluminium Magnesium Boride (BAM) and Titanium Diboride (TiB2) (70% of TiB2 by volume) has a record low values of friction coefficients meaning less friction. (although it may have a lower melt temperature than regular Titanium Diboride)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_magnesium_boride
This may prove to be a fantastic coating for railgun projectiles & gun barrels.
From looking at the full range of materials I think Boron Nitride Nanotubes would be an ideal hull material with perhaps a titanium carbide or Titanium Diboride on areas subjected to super high levels of heat.
Cubic Boron Nitride could also be used for windows while maintaining phenomenal strength.
I had a look through most of the super-materials out there and I think these are the best ones, let me know if I have missed any.
I think the ideal qualities of any super material is, strength, temperature resistance, impact resistance, ideally the ability to self heal, resistance to radiation, plus some other factors like thermal/electric/magnetic qualities could be quite good.