| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2020 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Mechanical Response of Materials Investigated through Novel In-situ Experiments and Modeling
|
| Presentation Title |
A Novel Approach to Join Large Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) Mismatched Thermoelectric (TE) Materials for High Temperature Applications |
| Author(s) |
Michell Aranda, Ike Chi, Ravi Vilupanur, Obed Villapando, Brooke Singleton, Fivos Drymiotis, Billy Li, Jean-Pierre Fleurial |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Michell Aranda |
| Abstract Scope |
Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) have been used to enable deep space exploration where solar power is insufficient. Heritage RTGs have reliably provided power throughout the lifetime of various missions but thus far have been relatively inefficient and convert less than 10% of heat to electricity. A method to achieve higher conversion efficiencies is via the segmentation of advanced thermoelectric (TE) materials. Though advantageous to achieve high performance, segmentation can be challenging. Thermal stresses induced by large coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch can cause cracking at the bonded interface, these stresses need to be minimized in order to reduce the probability of cracking at the joint interface. In this study, two TE materials with dissimilar CTE were joined by using a graded-CTE bonding approach. Preliminary results of a stress model showed a reduction of stress at the bonded interface and is in agreement with experimental results. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: Supplemental Proceedings volume |