In-situ investigation of the oxidation kinetics of Fe-12Cr-2Si using time-resolved transient grating spectroscopy

The design and validation of new alloys for engineering applications is limited by the speed at which materials may be tested. In particular, there exist few methods by which the thermal, mechanical, and structural properties of materials may be monitored in conditions that are dynamically changing their microstructure. These conditions, such as heat treatments, radiation exposure, or corrosive environments, are common when material performance needs to be validated. To offset this lack of capability, new non-destructive experimental tools must be developed to facilitate on-line, realtime testing of materials undergoing some type of evolution. In this thesis, a flexible, all-optical methodology known as dual heterodyne phase collection transient grating spectroscopy is developed for this purpose. This method adapts a traditional spectroscopic technique sensitive to thermal and mechanical properties for real-time use. A formalism is also developed to quantify both elastic and thermal transport properties of materials with second-scale resolution. These new tools are then used to study the short-timescale oxidation kinetics of Fe-12Cr-2Si, a model alloy with oxide layer formation properties similar to large classes of Fr-Cr alloys. By monitoring the effect of thin oxide layers on surface thermal transport, there exists a pathway to continuously determine the thickness of a tens of nanometers thick growing oxide layer in real-time. Despite the lack of clarity in the particular set of experimental results presented here, the potential for the methods developed in this thesis is large. In-situ materials testing of this type may allow for a drastic increase in the pace of materials development by reducing the need for post-evolution, destructive materials testing between each design iteration.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Dennett, Cody Andrew

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Michael P. Short.

• Materials Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/111227

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/111227