Improvement in deformation degree of Zr surface-layered Bi-2223 ceramics by diffusion annealing temperature

This study investigated the effects of different annealing temperatures (650 degrees C <= T <= 840 degrees C) on the surface morphological and mechanical performance properties of Zr surface-layered Bi-2223 materials with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images, Vickers microhardness (Hv) measurements, and semi-empirical mechanical approaches. It was observed that the ceramic compound exposed to 650 degrees C annealing temperature exhibited the superior performance features due to the enhancement in the deformation degree. This is because the Zr ions behaved as the nucleation centers to prevent the propagations of cracks and dislocations throughout the main matrix depending on the decrease in the degree of granularity and distributions of crystal structure problems over a wider area. Similarly, the SEM pictures indicated that the diffusion mechanism increased the random distributions of the thinner plate-like granular structures (serving as nucleation centers), leading the decrease in the coupling problems between the grains. Among the materials, the highest surface densification was observed for the compound exposed to 650 degrees C. Namely, surface morphological analysis showed a strong correlation be-tween microstructure and mechanical performances. Further, the zirconium ions were found to decrease in the non-recoverable stress concentration sites, crack-initiating defects, and dislocations in the ceramic system. Accordingly, the sensitivity to the applied test load was noted to decrease dramatically. Shortly, crack growth size and velocity were observed to be more easily under control. Correspondingly, the Zr ions delayed consid-erably the beginning points of saturation limit (load-independent) regions for the bulk Bi-2223 superconducting materials. Additionally, the Zr ions led to the change in the mechanical characteristic behavior from typical indentation size effect to reverse indentation size effect. Lastly, the microindentation hardness measurements were semi-empirically analyzed by the different models. According to the comparison, Hays-Kendall mechanical model was noted to provide the closest parameters to the load-independent microhardness results.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effects of different annealing temperatures on the surface morphological and mechanical performance properties of Zr surface-layered Bi-2223 materials. It was observed that annealing at 650°C resulted in superior performance due to enhanced deformation and the presence of Zr ions acting as nucleation centers to prevent crack propagation. Diffusion mechanisms also contributed to improved performance by increasing the random distribution of granular structures and reducing coupling problems between grains.