Stress Analysis in the Preparation of Bi-layer Membranes by Co-sintering Process

Based on the theory of °constrained sintering ±, stress of the membrane exerted by a rigid substrate was calculated. Results show that the tensile stress from supports can decrease driving force and consequently increase the sintering temperature of supported membranes. The optimal sintering temperatures, 1350 nd 1180 or | a2Al2O3 and ZrO2 supported membranes respectively, are determined by combining membrane strength and sintering driving force. Meanwhile, a method is proposed to calculate the stress developed in the co-sintering process of the supported multilayer membrane. For ZrO2/| Al2O3 bi-layer membrane, the calculated results show that due to the contribution of the compressive stress, the sintering driving force increases and the | Al2O3 membranes can be sintered effectively after co-sintering at 1200 Moreover, the top-layer ZrO2 membrane should be thicker than 10| so as to exert sufficient compressive stress on the sub-layer | Al2O3 membrane with thickness of 15| .