STUDY OF THE WEAR RESISTANCE DEGRADATION KINETICS OF ALN CERAMIC UNDER HEAVY ION IRRADIATION

Abstract

This work is devoted to the study of changes in the strength properties of AlN ceramics, in particular, the dry friction coefficient and parameters of wear resistance and surface defectiveness, depending on the dose of irradiation with heavy Xe22+ ions with an energy of 200 MeV. Interest in these ceramics is due to their high thermal conductivity, hardness and wear resistance, as well as excellent insulating properties, which makes them promising candidate materials in nuclear power, rocket engineering and microelectronics. At the same time, the operation of these ceramics under conditions of external influences, such as mechanical friction, pressure on the surface, as well as the effect of ionizing radiation, requires additional research and obtaining new data on the stability and retention of properties during the entire service life. During the studies carried out, it was found that at low irradiation doses of 1010 -1011 ions/cm2 , which are characterized by the formation of single point defects and a low probability of surface degradation as a result of the initialization of gas swelling processes, the dry friction coefficient practically does not change, which indicates ceramics high mechanical friction resistance. However, an increase in the irradiation fluence up to 1012 ion/cm2 , which is characterized by the processes of overlapping radiation-induced damaged areas, a deterioration in the dry friction coefficient is observed after 15000 test cycles, which indicates fatigue wear of the ceramic surface and degradation as a result of external influences.