Articles you may be interested in FP-LAPW investigation of electronic, magnetic, elastic and thermal properties of Fe-doped zirconium nitride AIP Advances 4, 057121 (2014); 10.1063/1.4879798Theoretical calculations for structural, elastic, and thermodynamic properties of c-W3N4 under high pressure This article presents the results of combined experimental and theoretical studies of elastic and thermal properties of Zr 2 Al 3 C 4 carbide. The full set of second order elastic constants, bulk modulus, shear modulus, and Young's modulus of Zr 2 Al 3 C 4 were calculated and compared with those of Zr 3 Al 3 C 5 and ZrC. The experimentally measured Young's modulus and shear modulus are in good agreement with theoretical ones. The calculated Debye temperature from elastic constants of Zr 2 Al 3 C 4 is 830 K, which is slightly higher than that of Zr 3 Al 3 C 5 , and exhibits pronounced enhancement in comparison with that of ZrC. The highest Debye temperature of Zr 2 Al 3 C 4 is related with its highest specific stiffness, i.e., the stiffness-to-weight ratio. The heat capacity and thermal conductivity of Zr 2 Al 3 C 4 were measured by means of the flash method. The thermal conductivity of Zr 2 Al 3 C 4 decreases with increasing temperature, for instance the values at room temperature and 1600 K are 15.5 and 10.1 W/m K, respectively. The investigations provide information on elastic and thermal properties of Zr 2 Al 3 C 4 with promising high temperature applications.