DURIP Thermal conduction, radiation and melting temperature measurements of materials in extreme environments using fast laser heating and spectropyrometery

Abstract

Publicly releasablePI-Hopkins requests support for the purchase of FMP2/2X and FMPI Spectropyrometer Systems from FAR Associates and a YLS-5000-CT 5 kW Ytterbium Fiber Laser System from IPG photonics for the development of a high temperature, high thermal gradient, melting, thermal shock, thermal conductivity and emissivity measurement system for the evaluation of properties of materials for the extreme environments typical in propulsion and hypersonic applications of interest to the Navy. The proposed equipment will form the basis of a new facility being constructed at the University of Virginia that will serve the needs of the United States Department of Defense in offering a novel method to measure high temperature thermophysical properties of coatings. This facility will be the only facility in the world with the capability to measure these thermophysical properties of materials at these relevant temperatures and thermal loads, making this a transformative capability of great national interest. The facility will operate by using thehigh-power laser source to heat samples and coatings of interest from both front and back sides. The proposed YLS-5000-CT 5 kW Laser offers enough power to control both temperatures and temperature gradients through the melting temperature of a wide range of materials, including oxides of interest to thermal, environmental and radiative barrier coatings, and higher temperature refractory ceramics and carbon composites of interest for hypersonic applications. The SpectroPyrometer systems will provide a unique measurementof radiative intensity across a broad band of visible and IR wavelengths of the laser heat affected zone in the materials up to 4,800 K, thus ensuring a more accurate measurement of temperature and emissivity of materials as compared to single- or dual-wavelengthpyrometers offer alone. The fast acquisition time of this spectropyrometer is also ideal for capturing the resolidification dynamics of materials, a necessary requisite for accurately measuring melting temperature. This proposed laser heating facility, which will be anchored in the laser system and spectropyrometer proposed in this DURIP, will enhance current ONR programs that are focused on the development of novel radiation barrier coatings that can absorb and re-direct energy from hot impinging gaseous blackbody sources, and the evaluation of materials for extreme propulsion and hypersonic technologies and applications, such as thermal/environmental/radiative barrier coatings and ultrahigh temperature ceramics. In addition to significant and numerous impacts on DoD programsand technologies, the proposed instrumentation will play an important role in the education and training of graduate and undergraduate students in thermophysical property measurements, instrumentation science, and material transport. The proposed instruments, which have an estimated lifetime of ~25 years, will complement existing infrastructure, providing capabilities that will substantiallyimpact DoD programs and technologies of interest to the United States.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Mar 15, 2024
Source ID
N000142412230

Entities

People

  • Patrick Hopkins

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • United States Navy
  • University of Virginia

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Distributed Systems and Data Platform Development
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.
  • Thermal Physics or Thermal Science.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Hypersonics
  • Hypersonics - Hypersonic Flow