Characterization of Rocket Engine Alloy, C-103

Characterization of Rocket Engine Alloy, C-103

PROJECT NUMBER: 70 | AUTHOR: Nazim Kargar​, Mechanical Engineering

MENTOR: Amy Clarke, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

ABSTRACT

The niobium, 10wt% hafnium and 1wt% titanium alloy, C-103, is a refractory metal alloy mainly used within the aerospace industry due to its superior strength when subjected to elevated temperatures and high strain rates. For this project, six epoxy resin cold mounted samples which were previously mechanically tested at high strain-rates at differing elevated temperatures are manually and vibro-polished. Furthermore, these samples were observed under a field-emission scanning electron microscope to analyze the microstructure of these samples. These microstructural images are then used to characterize the material to determine the impact of the deformation behavior at elevated temperatures and high strain-rates to the mechanical properties of the alloy itself. The resulting images from the field-emission scanning electron were inconclusive since a poor signal could only be detected when utilizing electron backscatter diffraction analysis. This result is due to the lack of vibro-polishing conducted on the samples. Therefore further polishing techniques must be conducted to receive proper signal to analyze the microstructure properly.

PRESENTATION

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Nazim is a junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering at Colorado School of Mines. His research involves characterizing the microstructure of the alloy, C-103 and plans to further investigate utilizing new techniques like Electron Backscatter Diffraction. This research is conducted primarily within the Metallurgical and Materials Engineering department.