Investigating the highest melting temperature materials: A laser melting
study of the TaC-HfC system
study of the TaC-HfC system
File(s)srep37962.pdf (1.41 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
TaC, HfC and their solid solutions are promis
ing candidate materials for thermal protection
structures in hypersonic vehicles because of th
eir very high melting temperatures (> 4000 K)
among other properties. The melting temperatures of slightly hypostoichiometric TaC, HfC and
three solid solution compositions (Ta
1-x
Hf
x
C, with x=0.8, 0.5 and 0.2) have long been identified
as the highest known. In the curr
ent research, they were reassessed, for the first time in the last
fifty years, using a laser heating technique. They were found to melt in the range of 4041-
4232 K, with HfC having the highest and TaC the lowest. Spectral radiance of the hot samples
was measured in situ, showing that the optical emissivity of these compounds plays a
fundamental role in their heat
balance. Independently, the results show that the melting point
for HfC
0.98
, (4232 ± 84) K, is the highest recorded for any compound studied until now.
ing candidate materials for thermal protection
structures in hypersonic vehicles because of th
eir very high melting temperatures (> 4000 K)
among other properties. The melting temperatures of slightly hypostoichiometric TaC, HfC and
three solid solution compositions (Ta
1-x
Hf
x
C, with x=0.8, 0.5 and 0.2) have long been identified
as the highest known. In the curr
ent research, they were reassessed, for the first time in the last
fifty years, using a laser heating technique. They were found to melt in the range of 4041-
4232 K, with HfC having the highest and TaC the lowest. Spectral radiance of the hot samples
was measured in situ, showing that the optical emissivity of these compounds plays a
fundamental role in their heat
balance. Independently, the results show that the melting point
for HfC
0.98
, (4232 ± 84) K, is the highest recorded for any compound studied until now.
Date Issued
2016-12-01
Date Acceptance
2016-10-16
Citation
Scientific Reports, 2016, 6
ISSN
2045-2322
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Journal / Book Title
Scientific Reports
Volume
6
Copyright Statement
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images
or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license,
unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license,
users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this
license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
© The Author(s) 2016
or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license,
unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license,
users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this
license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
© The Author(s) 2016
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Grant Number
EP/F033605/1
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
37962