MATERIALS FOR ENGINEERING

APPLICATIONS

OPTICAL FIBRES
NANOMATERIALS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
POWER PLANT MATERIALS
Optical Fiber
 Introduction:
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made by
drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker
than that of a human hair.
Optical fibers are used most often as a means to transmit light
between the two ends of the fiber and find wide usage in fiber-
optic communications, where they permit transmission over
longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data rates) than
electrical cables.
Why is it preferred over metal?
Fibers are used instead of metal wires because signals travel
along them with less loss; in addition, fibers are immune to
electromagnetic interference, a problem from which metal
wires suffer excessively.
Principle of Operation:
An optical fiber is a cylindrical dielectric waveguide (non-
conducting waveguide)that transmits light along its axis, by
the process of total internal reflection.
The fiber consists of a core surrounded by a cladding layer,
both of which are made of dielectric materials.
To confine the optical signal in the core,the refractive index of
the core must be greater than that of the cladding.
 Light is kept in the core by the phenomenon of total
internal reflection which causes the fiber to act as a
waveguide.
Types of fibre optic cables:
Fibers that support many propagation paths or transverse
modes are called multi-mode fibers, while those that support
a single mode are called single-mode fibers (SMF).
Multi-mode fibers generally have a wider core diameter and
are used for short-distance communication links and for
applications where high power must be transmitted.
Single-mode fibers are used for most communication links
longer than 1,000 meters
Propagation of light through single and multimode fibres.
Manufacturing process:
There are two main steps in the process of converting raw
materials into optical fiber ready to be shipped.
● Manufacturing of the pure glass preform
● Drawing of the preform
The first step in manufacturing glass optical fibers is to make a solid
glass rod, known as a preform. Ultra-pure chemicals -- primarily
silicon tetrachloride (SiCl4) and germanium tetrachloride (GeCl4) -
- are converted into glass during preform manufacturing. These
chemicals are used in varying proportions to fabricate the core
regions for the different types of preforms.The basic chemical
reaction of manufacturing optical glass is:
● SiCl4 (gas) + O2 > SiO2 (solid) + 2Cl2 (in the presence of heat)
● GeCl4 (gas) + O2 > GeO2 (solid) + 2Cl2 (in the presence of heat)
One of the methods are used to manufacturing preform is :
Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition
First, a cylindrical preform is made by depositing layers of specially
formulated silicon dioxide on the inside surface of a hollow substrate rod.
The layers are deposited by applying a gaseous stream of pure oxygen to the
substrate rod. Various chemical vapors, such as silicon tetrachloride (SiCl 4
), germanium tetrachloride (GeCl 4 ), and phosphorous oxychloride (POCl 3
), are added to the stream of oxygen.
As the oxygen contacts the hot surface of the rod-a flame underneath the
rod keeps the walls of the rod very hot-silicon dioxide of high purity is
formed.
The result is a glassy soot, several layers thick, deposited inside the rod. This
soot will become the core. The properties of these layers of soot can be
altered depending on the types of chemical vapors used.
After sufficient layers are built up, the tube is

collapsed into a solid glass rod referred to as

a preform.

It is now a scale model of the desired fiber,

but much shorter and thicker.

The preform is then taken to the drawing tower,

where it is pulled into a length of fiber up to

10 kilometers long.
Drawing the fiber :
The next process in manufacturing the fiber optics is to convert
into hair-thin fiber.
Fiber draw is the phenomenon for the manufacturing those
hair-thin fiber.
A preform is fed into the furnace at a specified speed. The
preform is heated at 1900 celsius within the furnace and
becomes soft allowing it to be pulled into a fiber.
The fiber exits the furnace at a given draw speed with a time
averaged fiber diameter that is governed by the conservation of
mass. Downstream of the furnace a laser diameter gauge
measures the fiber diameter.
After diameter case two layer coating is applied to the fiber with
soft inner coating and hard outer coating.
Coating the Fiber for
Protection:
The coating is vital for optical fiber to provide
mechanical protection against surface cracks
and to provide integrity.
Protection coating consist of two parts: a soft
inner + hard outer coating. “The overall
thickness of the coating varies between 62.5
and 187.5 μm, depending on fiber
applications”.
After the fiber is taken from the preform, a
coating is applied fast after the formation of
the thin fiber as shown below on the scheme.
Advantages:
● Greater Bandwidth. Copper cables were originally designed
for voice transmission and have a limited bandwidth
● Faster Speeds
● Longer Distances
● Better Reliability
● Thinner and Sturdier
● More Flexibility for the Future
● Lower Total Cost of Ownership
 Nanomaterials
Nanoscience- deals with the science of very small objects
A nanostructured material (or nanomaterial) is defined as a solid material
characterized by at least one dimension in the nanometer range
 Classification of Nanomaterials

Bulk (3D) Material Lx , Ly , Lz ~ mm or cm

Lz
Ly
Lx

Low-Dimensional Systems
2D Systems:
Systems confined in 1 dimensions Lz<<100nm

1D Systems: Lz and Ly <<100nm

Systems confined in 2 dimensions

0D Systems: Lz , Ly and Lx <<100nm

Systems confined in 3 dimensions
 Size dependent Properties of nanoscale materials
Two principle factors causes the properties of nm differ significantly from bulk materials

1. Large Surface effect - Increase in surface area to volume ratio

If a bulk material is divided in smaller particles, the total volume of material
remains the same, whereas the collective surface area is greatly increased.
In other words, the so called surface-to-volume ratio is significantly increased.

As the particle/ grain size reduces the proportion of atoms exposed on its surface increases
5% for 30 nm particles
20% for 10 nm particles
50% for 3 nm particles This leads to high chemical reactivity of the nanomaterials
2. Small size effect: quantum effects
the electronic properties of nanomaterials are very
different from the corresponding bulk material
properties
Interesting behaviour:
 When silver is turned into
nanomaterials it takes anti
microbial properties
 Gold particles can attain
different colors
Synthesis of nanomaterials
Nanotechnology in automobiles
 The basic trends that nanotechnology enables for automobiles are
lighter but stronger materials for better fuel consumption and safety
and improved engine efficiency and lower environmental pollution,
longer service life,etc
 Tires are one of the earliest applications of nanomaterials.
Carbonblack in the for of nanomaterial is used as a pigment and
reinforcement agent
 There was continuous replacement of new metal to achieve weight
reduction in automobiles' but there were still changes which can be
addressed by nanomaterials
 Nanocoatings on car windows give quite an extensive service life.
Driving in bad weather is now safer than ever because of these
nanocaotings. It not only improves the night vision but also wet
weather visibility much better than conventional products and also
adds to durability
 nanotechnology finds space and aircraft applications as it can attain
weight recuction and also for elctronic components
 Other Applications of Nonmaterial's

Since Nanomaterials possess unique chemical , physical and mechanical

properties, they can be used in wide variety of applications

Nanomaterials are finding application in

 Cosmetics
 Textiles
 Tissue engineering
 Catalysis
 Functional coatings
 Medical diagnosis and drug delivery
 Biomedicines
 Sensors
 Water and air pollution treatment
 Electronic devices
 Opto-electronic devices
 Energy storage
Newer Materials for Supercritical
Power Plant Components
 The current trend in the energy sector is the development
of advanced super critical power plants for operation at
higher efficiency.
 The supercritical power plants operate at a very high
temperature and a lot of materials are being developed in
order to suffice the high temperature requirements of the
power plants. A thermal power plant converts heat energy
into electrical energy and thermal power plants are the
most common source of power generation. Almost 40% of
the electricity need in the world is provided by coal (Source
– IEA) and hence coal is the first source of energy
generation.
 Type Sub SC USC AUSC Material Advantages Disadvantages
Critic Good Reduced creep
al weldability strength
High strength,
Low alloy
Temperatur 565- 595- good steam side
ferritic steels
e (oC) 580 620 oxidation upto 420 oC only
565 >705 resistance

Pressure 22 - 25 - Enhanced Creep Steam side

strength ferritic oxidation Increased
(MPa) 24 34 production times
16 - 17 >34 steels resistance
upto 620 oC Weaker
weldment
Plant
High thermal
Efficiency( upto 680 oC
expansion
%) 35 38 42 >45
High creep Prone to
Advanced strength Sensitization
CO2Emissio Austenitic High resistance
Stainless steel to fireside Prone to stress
ns
corrosion and corrosion
(full load), cracking in
1.12 1.09 1.05 <1.05 steam side
tonnes/M wetted section
oxidation
Wh
Nickel based Temperature High fabrication
alloys above 680 oC costs
Table 1 Power Plant Classification
Table 2 Material Types
Overview of materials used in
powerplants
 Ferritic steels are used for thick section pipes and headers
but above 500oC they have very poor creep resistance.
 At higher temperatures austenitic steels or Nickel base
alloys have to be used.
 Nickel improves the toughness but the amount has to be
optimized for good weldability.
 . Some of the recently developed materials which can be
used for AUSC plants are CCA 617, Inconel 740, Inconel
625, Nimonic 105, Nimonic 115, Nimonic 263, U700, U701,
U702, Waspaloy and Haynes 230. But these materials are
also application specific in that they can be used for only
certain specific components of the power plant.
Material Selection
Component Upto700 oC Upto760 oC
Casings (shells,
valves, nozzles) CCA617
CCA 617
Inconel 625
Inconel 740
Nimonic 263

Nimonic 105
Nimonic 105 Nimonic 115
Bolting U700 U710 U720
Nimonic 115 Waspaloy

Inconel 625
Inconel 740 Haynes CCA 617
Rotors/Discs
230 Inconel 740

Nozzles / Wrought Nibased Wrought Nibased

Blades
Piping CCA 617 Inconel 740
Boilers
 Some of the requirements for material selection of boiler
are
 sufficient creep rupture strength,
 low cycle fatigue strength,
 high resistance to fire side corrosion, steam side
oxidation/exfoliation and easy machinability.
 For AUSC boilers water enters at 320oC and steam leaves at
around 480oC with metal temperatures around 540oC.
 T22 has sufficient strength but the fireside corrosion
resistance and steam side oxidation resistance is very low for
AUSC conditions.
 In general higher chromium content materials are more
effective but the effect minimizes beyond 30%. Some
suggestions have been made to construct the water wall
from T91 or T92 which have the strength and corrosion
resistance, but require careful heat treatment.
 Inconel 617 satisfies all the requirements but its cost is a
serious drawback.
CASINGS
 The casings are large structures that contain steam at the
temperature and pressure corresponding to the exit of the
hot gas path - and if there is an inner cylinder it must
handle steam at the maximum temperature and pressure.
 Always both the outer casing (shell) and the inner cylinder
are made of the same material to avoid a thermal
mismatch. As I said earlier, the material depends on the
design of the turbine. Needless to mention, the best
material is most expensive so the material is always
selected according to the need.
 For instance, the temperature limit of 2Cr-Mo steels is
566°C whereas 9CrMoVNb alloy can go up to 600°C
and 12Cr steels is limited to 620°C. For higher
temperatures, nickel based alloys are required.
BOLTING MATERIALS
 The main requirements for bolting materials are
 (a) high resistance to stress relaxation at temperatures that
ranges to the maximum steam temperature;
 (b) better thermal expansion characteristics considering
the structure and
 (c) Low notch sensitivity (A measure of the reduction in
strength of a metal caused by the presence of stress
concentration.)
 Here too, the material selection depends on the
temperature. Ferritic steels are used up to about 566°C and
Nickel based alloys are used for higher temperatures.
 The rotors or discs (consisting of the shafts) are
required to handle the highest steam conditions
therefore the alloy most commonly used
is CrMoVWNbNsteel. A Nickel based alloy will be
required for temperatures above 620°C .
 Another major problem involved in turbine design is
reducing the creep experienced by the blades (the
tendency of a material to deform under the influence of
stresses.)
 Because of the high temperatures and high stresses of
operation, steam turbine materials become damaged in
course of time. To limit creep, thermal coatings and
superalloys with grain boundary strengtheningare
used in blade designs.
• The current supercritical steam plants in the U.S. typically use vanes and
blades made from
12 Cr ferritic steels such as type 422, or proprietary alloys of similar composition.
• For higher temperatures there is available a wide choice of wrought Ni-based
alloys,
for which a substantial design database exists from their application in gas
turbines.
• For operation with steam at 760°C, it is considered likely that materials new
to steam use will be necessary for at least four stages in the HP turbine, and
probably
also in the IPturbine47.
The choice of blading material will depend on
• (i)the temperature of the rotor, hence on the
• thermal expansion characteristics
of the material from which it is made, and
• (ii) the size and shape of the blade,
which will be designed using computational fluid
dynamics modelling.
Figure 5 Types of Turbine blade
 Protective coatings are used to reduce the thermal damage and
to limit oxidation.
 These coatings are often stabilized zirconium dioxide-based
ceramics. Using a thermal protective coating limits the
temperature exposure of the nickel superalloy. This reduces the
creep on the blades. Oxidation coatings limit efficiency losses
caused by a build-up on the outside of the blades, which is
especially important in the high-temperature environment.
 The nickel-based blades are alloyed with aluminium and
titanium to improve strength and creep resistance. The
microstructure of these alloys is composed of different regions of
composition. An uniform dispersion of the gamma-prime
phase – a combination of nickel, aluminium, and titanium –
promotes the strength and creep resistance of the blade due to
the microstructure.
 Refractory elements such as rhenium and ruthenium can be
added to the alloy to improve creep strength. The addition of
these elements reduces the diffusion of the gamma prime phase,
thus preserving the fatigue resistance, strength, and creep
resistance.
THANK YOU