Characterization of thermal performance, flux transmission performance and optical properties of MAX phase materials under concentrated solar irradiation
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2018 Elsevier B.V. In this study, thermal performance and optical properties of MAX phase materials subjected to high concentrated flux are characterized. A new indoor facility is developed that allows for investigation of the independent effect of irradiance and temperature on the thermal performance of the material. Two MAX namely, Titanium Aluminum Carbide (Ti2AlC) and Chromium Aluminum Carbide (Cr2AlC) are examined in this study. Both materials are exposed to high concentrated homogenized flux in the range of 527.2 kWm2 917 kWm2 for 1000 s and 3000 s using a high flux solar simulator while their temperatures are maintained at 60 C 5 C via water-cooled heat flux gage. Materials surface characterization before and after irradiation is carried out using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray fluorescence analysis. It is found that both materials have excellent resistance to high concentrated flux, but that Ti2AlC shows higher light scattering due to the oxidation of its surface. It is also found that the variations in the optical properties over time do not depend on the selected incident flux level. The thermal performance of Ti2AlC and Cr2AlC was found to varies in the 0.56 0.68 and 0.60 0.67 range, respectively, for selected flux levels. Flux transmission performance of both materials is not affected by exposure to high concentrated flux.
