Influence of hydrogen content on the behavior of grain reflnement in hypereutectic aluminum-silicon alloy

Dissolved hydrogen is harmful to mechanical properties of refined hypereutectic aluminum-silicon alloys. In the present work, by using a stepped-form mold and the hydrogen-detecting instrument HYSCAN Ⅱ, the relationship between the initial hydrogen content in the melt and the refinement effect on the casting of hypereutectic aluminum-silicon alloy was investigated. The experimental results show that the cooling rate, the hydrogen content and the grain refinement effect are three interactive factors. When the hydrogen content is above 0.20 mL/100 g and the cooling rate is lower than that in 50 mm-thick step, hydrogen dissolved in the alloy melt influences the grain refinement effect. With increasing the cooling rate, the critical hydrogen content increases too. It is expected that much hydrogen in the melt make the net interfacial energy larger than or equal to zero, resulting in the shielding of the particles AlP during solidification and that the critical gas content is closely related to the critical radius of embryo bubbles.     

Microstructure Evolution of Semi-solid Processed Hyper-eutectic Al-30%Si Alloy

An investigation was made on the influences of mechanical stirring on microstructure of hyper-eutectic Al-30%Si alloy (in mass fraction) during solidification. The primary Si crystals formed in the alloy melt were gradually changed from elongated platelets to near-spherical shapes by mechanical stirring. The spheroidization of primary St crystals occurs by the mechanism of bending and fracture of Si platelets, wear and collision between Si crystals, and coalescence of small Si particles. The influence of under-cooling and cooling rate of the alloy melt on primary Si crystals of semi-solid processed alloys is investigated as well. The increase of under-cooling and cooling rate decreases the size of primary Si crystals.     

Microstructural characteristics and electrical resistivity of rapidly solidified Co-Sn alloys

The rapid solidification behavior of Co-Sn alloys was investigated by melt spinning method.The growth morphology of αCo phase in Co-20% Sn hypoeutectic alloy changes senistively with cooling rate.A layer of columnar αCo dendrite forms near the roller side at low colling rates.This region becomes small and disappears as the cooling rate increases and a kind of very fine homogeneous microstructure characterized by the distribution of equiaxed αCo dendrites in γCo3Sn matrix is subsequently produced.For Co-34.2% Sn eutectic alloy,anomalous eutectic forms within the whole range of cooling rates.The increase of cooling rate has two obvious effects on both alloys:one is the microstructure refinement,and the other is that it produces more crystal defects to intensify the seattering of free electrons,leading to a remarkable increase of electrical resistivity,Under the condition that the grain boundary reflection coefficient γ approaches 1,the resistivity of rapidly solidified Co-Sn alloys can be predicted theoretically.     

Dynamic process of trace boron non-equilibrium grain boundary segregation and the effect of cooling rate

The dynamic process of non-equilibrium grain boundary segregation of trace boron in Fe-40%Ni alloy during cooling and the effect of cooling rate were investigated by boron tracking autoradiography technique. The results indicate that during cooling process, the amount of segregated boron on grain boundary firstly increases fast, then enters a comparatively even increasing stage and increases rapidly again at the third stage. The details of each stage varied with cooling rate are explained. When thc segregation develops to a certain degree, the segregated boron atoms transform fiom solute status to precipitate status.     

Effect of acicular ferrite on banded structures in low-carbon microalloyed steel

The effect of acicular ferrite (AF) on banded structures in low-carbon microalloyed steel with Mn segregation during both isothermal transformation and continuous cooling processes was studied by dilatometry and microscopic observation. With respect to the isothermal transformation process, the specimen isothermed at 550°C consisted of AF in Mn-poor bands and martensite in Mn-rich bands, whereas the specimen isothermed at 450°C exhibited two different morphologies of AF that appeared as bands. At a continuous cooling rate in the range of 4 to 50°C/s, a mixture of AF and martensite formed in both segregated bands, and the volume fraction of martensite in Mn-rich bands was always higher than that in Mn-poor bands. An increased cooling rate resulted in a decrease in the difference of martensite volume fraction between Mn-rich and Mn-poor bands and thereby leaded to less distinct microstructural banding. The results show that Mn segregation and cooling rate strongly affect the formation of AF-containing banded structures. The formation mechanism of microstructural banding was also discussed.     

Cooling rate effects on the structure and transformation behavior of Cu-Zn-Al shape memory alloys

Different fragments of a hot-rolled and homogenized Cu-Zn-Al shape memory alloy (SMA) were subjected to thermal cycling by means of a differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) device. During thermal cycling, heating was performed at the same constant rate of increasing temperature while cooling was carried out at different rates of decreasing temperature. For each cooling rate, the temperature decreased in the same thermal interval. During each cooling stage, an exothermic peak (maximum) was observed on the DSC thermogram. This peak was associated with forward martensitic transformation. The DSC thermograms were analyzed with PROTEUS software: the critical martensitic transformation start (Ms) and finish (Mf) temperatures were determined by means of integral and tangent methods, and the dissipated heat was evaluated by the area between the corresponding maximum plot and a sigmoid baseline. The effects of the increase in cooling rate, assessed from a calorimetric viewpoint, consisted in the augmentation of the exothermic peak and the delay of direct martensitic transformation. The latter had the tendency to move to lower critical transformation temperatures. The martensite plates changed in morphology by becoming more oriented and by an augmenting in surface relief, which corresponded with the increase in cooling rate as observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM).     

Effects of solidifi cation cooling rate on the corrosion resistance of Mg – Zn–Ca alloy

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of solidification cooling rate on the corrosion resistance of an Mg–Zn–Ca alloy developed for biomedical applications. A wedge shaped copper mould was used to obtain different solidification cooling rates. Electrochemical and immersion tests were employed to measure the corrosion resistance of Mg–Zn–Ca alloy. It was found that increasing cooling rate resulted in a significant improvement in the corrosion resistance of the Mg–Zn–Ca alloy. The findings were explained in terms of solidification behaviour in association with the change in solubility of the alloying elements, microstructural homogeneity and refinement and chemical homogeneity as well as the increased cooling rates.     

Rheological behaviour of semi-solid succinonitrile-camphor alloy

Rheology experiments were carried out on succinonitrile-4% (mass fraction) camphor alloy, using a Haake VT550 viscometer. The results showed that the steady state viscosity of succinonitrile-4% camphor alloy in semi-solid process can be described well by the classical power law of viscosity versus shear rate, η= kγm, and the test method can be used to simulate the semi-solid processing for metals. The viscosity of the organic alloy decreases with increasing shear rate at a given temperature within liquid-solid range, and the viscosity of the organic alloy slurries increases with decreasing temperature, decreases with decreasing cooling rate. The structure and viscosity of organic alloy during solidification are strongly influenced by shear rate.     

Effect of Processing Parameters on Thermal Phenomena in Direct Laser Metallic Powder Deposition

Direct laser metallic powder deposition technique is widely used in manufacturing, part repairing, and metallic rapid prototyping. The ability to predict geometrical accuracy and residual stress requires an understanding of temperature distribution during the deposition process. This study presents a numerical model of three-dimensional transient heat transfer in a finite model heated by a moving laser beam. Thermal phenomena in the process were investigated. The complex solid-liquid problem and latent heat of fusion were treated by means of equivalent thermal conductivity and modified specific heat, respectively. Using method of birth and death of elements, the growth of additive layers and the shape of melt pool were obtained. The effect of processing parameters such as absorbed power, travel speed, and preheated temperature on melt pool sizes and cross-section of deposited layer profile was studied. The results show that the melt pool sizes increase with absorbed power and decrease with travel velocity. In addition, the preheated temperature contributes less to the melt pool size. The results are generally in a good agreement with experiments in published literature.     

通过原位双次扫描法降低激光增材制造的多孔Ti6Al4V合金内应力

Selective laser melting (SLM) technology plays an important role in the preparation of porous titanium (Ti) implants with complex structures and precise sizes. Unfortunately, the processing characteristics of this technology, which include rapid melting and solidification, lead to products with high residual stress. Herein, an in situ method was developed to restrain the residual stress and improve the mechanical strength of porous Ti alloys during laser additive manufacturing. In brief, porous Ti6Al4V was prepared by an SLM three-dimensional (3D) printer equipped with a double laser system that could rescan each layer immediately after solidification of the molten powder, thus reducing the temperature gradient and avoiding rapid melting and cooling. Results indicated that double scanning can provide stronger bonding conditions for the honeycomb structure and improve the yield strength and elastic modulus of the alloy. Rescanning with an energy density of 75% resulted in 33.5%–38.0% reductions in residual stress. The porosities of double-scanned specimens were 2%–4% lower than those of single-scanned specimens, and the differences noted increased with increasing sheet thickness. The rescanning laser power should be reduced during the preparation of porous Ti with thick cell walls to ensure dimensional accuracy.     

Complementation in the composition of steel slag and red mud for preparation of novel ceramics

A method for preparing novel ceramics was developed in this study. Different ratios red muds were added to steel slags to optimize the preparation of novel ceramics by a traditional ceramic preparation process. The sintering mechanism, microstructure, and performance were studied by X-ray diffraction techniques, scanning electron microscopy, and combined experiments of linear shrinkage, water absorption, and flexural strength. The results confirmed that red mud can reduce the volumetric instabilities through the complementarity of red mud and ferroalloy slag. The crystal phases in the ceramics are all pyroxene group minerals, including diopside ferrian, augite, and diopside. The flexural strength of the ceramic that contains 40wt% red mud and was prepared at the optimal sintering temperature (1140℃) is greater than 93 MPa; its corresponding water absorption is less than 0.05%.     

Reduction of residual stress in porous Ti6Al4V by in situ double scanning during laser additive manufacturing

Selective laser melting(SLM) technology plays an important role in the preparation of porous titanium(Ti) implants with complex structures and precise sizes. Unfortunately, the processing characteristics of this technology, which include rapid melting and solidification,lead to products with high residual stress. Herein, an in situ method was developed to restrain the residual stress and improve the mechanical strength of porous Ti alloys during laser additive manufacturing. In brief, porous Ti6 Al4 V was prepared by an SLM three-dimensional(3 D)printer equipped with a double laser system that could rescan each layer immediately after solidification of the molten powder, thus reducing the temperature gradient and avoiding rapid melting and cooling. Results indicated that double scanning can provide stronger bonding conditions for the honeycomb structure and improve the yield strength and elastic modulus of the alloy. Rescanning with an energy density of 75%resulted in 33.5%–38.0% reductions in residual stress. The porosities of double-scanned specimens were 2%–4% lower than those of singlescanned specimens, and the differences noted increased with increasing sheet thickness. The rescanning laser power should be reduced during the preparation of porous Ti with thick cell walls to ensure dimensional accuracy.     

Effect of cooling rate on the crystallization behavior of perovskite in high titanium-bearing blast furnace slag

The effect of cooling rate on the crystallization of perovskite in high Ti-bearing blast furnace (BF) slag was studied using confocal scanning laser microscopy (CSLM). Results showed that perovskite was the primary phase formed during the cooling of slag. On the slag surface, the growth of perovskite proceeded via the successive production of quasi-particles along straight lines, which further extended in certain directions. The morphology and structure of perovskite was found to vary as a function of cooling rate. At cooling rates of 10 and 30 K/min, the dendritic arms of perovskite crossed obliquely, while they were orthogonal at a cooling rate of 20 K/min and hexagonal at cooling rates of 40 and 50 K/min. These three crystal morphologies thus obtained at different cooling rates respectively corresponded to the orthorhombic, cubic and hexagonal crystal structures of perovskite. The observed change in the structure of perovskite could probably be attributed to the deficiency of O2?, when Ti₂O₃ was involved in the formation of perovskite.     

Effect of cooling rate during quenching on the microstructure and creep property of nickel-based superalloy FGH96

The effect of cooling rate during quenching on the microstructure and creep property of nickel-based superalloy FGH96 was investigated. Three groups of samples were quenched continuously with three fixed cooling rates, respectively, then subjected to a creep test under a constant load of 690 MPa at 700℃. Clear differences in size of secondary γ′ precipitates, creep properties and substructure of creep-tested samples were observed. The quantitative relationship among cooling rate, the size of secondary γ′ precipitates, and steady creep rate was constructed. It was found that with increasing cooling rate, the size of secondary γ′ precipitates decreases gradually, showing that the relationship between the size of secondary γ′ precipitates and the cooling rate obeys a power law, with an exponent of about –0.6, and the creep rate of steady state follows a good parabola relationship with cooling γ′ precipitate size. For 235℃/min, FGH96 alloy exhibited very small steady creep rate. The density of dislocation was low, and the isolated stacking fault was the dominant deformation mechanism. With decreasing cooling rates, the density of dislocation increased remarkably, and deformation microtwinning was the dominant deformation process. Detailed mechanisms for different cooling rate were discussed.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of spark plasma sintered Ti-Mo alloys for dental applications

Ti-Mo alloys with various Mo contents from 6wt% to 14wt% were processed by spark plasma sintering based on elemental powders. The influence of sintering temperature and Mo content on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the resulting alloys were investigated. For each Mo concentration, the optimum sintering temperature was determined, resulting in a fully dense and uniform microstructure of the alloy. The optimized sintering temperature gradually increases in the range of 1100–1300℃ with the increase in Mo content. The microstructure of the Ti-(6–12)Mo alloy consists of acicular α phase surrounded by equiaxed grains of β phase, while the Ti-14Mo alloy only contains single β phase. A small amount of fine α lath precipitated from β phase contributes to the improvement in strength and hardness of the alloys. Under the sintering condition at 1250℃, the Ti-12Mo alloy is found to possess superior mechanical properties with the Vickers hardness of Hv 472, the compressive yield strength of 2182 MPa, the compression rate of 32.7%, and the elastic modulus of 72.1 GPa. These results demonstrate that Ti-Mo alloys fabricated via spark plasma sintering are indeed a perspective candidate alloy for dental applications.     

A comparison study on the melt crystallization kinetics of long chain branched and linear isotactic polypropylenes

The isothermal and non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of LCBPP and linear-iPP was investigated by optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry （DSC）. The optical microscopy results in the isothermal crystallization process show that the crystals of LCBPP grow slower than the crystals of the linear-iPP. This originates from the low chain mobility, or in other words, the lower chain diffusion rate of LCBPP due to the existence of long side chains. The DSC results in the isothermal crystallization process show that the LCBPP exhibits, however, a higher overall crystallization rate with respect to the linear-iPP. This is related to the higher nucleation ability of LCBPP since the isothermal crystallization process of both LCBPP and linear-iPP are nucleation-dominated. Avrami analysis indicates that the nucleation nature and crystal growth manner of LCBPP and linear-iPP are about the same. The analyses of the non-isothermal crystallization processes indicate an increment in crystallization rate with increasing cooling rate. But at any cooling rate, the linear-iPP crystallizes more quickly than the LCBPP. This implies that the non-isothermal crystallization processes of LCBPP and linear-iPP are diffusion-dominated, in which the lower chain diffusion rate of LCBPP results in the slower crystallization of it.     

Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of a hot-rolled Ti alloy

The microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of a hot-rolled Ti-5.1 Al-2.5 Cr-0.5 Fe-4.5 Mo-1.1 Sn-1.8 Zr-2.9 Zn titanium alloy sheet along the thickness direction were investigated.The results indicated that the hotrolled titanium alloy sheet presented different microstructures along the thickness direction owing to the uneven distribution of stress and temperature during the hot rolling.The grains in central region underwent a larger deformation,leading to relative complete grain fragmentation and the formation of fine grains.During the air cooling process followed by hot rolling,the fraction of a phase precipitated in the central region was lower than that in the regions near the surface of the sheet.During hot rolling process,more deformation energy transformed to thermal energy and lower cooling rate in the central region promoted the α→β phase transformation,resulting in the increasing of the dynamic recrystallization in the β phase.By contrast,the dynamic recrystallization for a phase decreased.Distinct {0001}_α and {001}_β textures were observed,and these textures were markedly strengthened with the increasing distance from the central region.Due to the softening induced by dynamic recrystallization and the strengthening by concentrated dislocations,the surface of the sheet exhibits highest yield strength and lowest elongation.     

Microstructure and electrolysis behavior of self-healing Cu-Ni-Fe composite inert anodes for aluminum electrowinning

The microstructure evolution and electrolysis behavior of(Cu_(52)Ni_(30)Fe_(18))–x Ni Fe_2O_4(x=40wt%,50wt%,60wt%,and 70wt%)composite inert anodes for aluminum electrowinning were studied.Ni Fe_2O_4 was synthesized by solid-state reaction at 950°C.The dense anode blocks were prepared by ball-milling followed by sintering under a N_2 atmosphere.The phase evolution of the anodes after sintering was determined by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.The results indicate that a substitution reaction between Fe in the alloy phase and Ni in the oxide phase occurs during the sintering process.The samples were also examined as inert anodes for aluminum electrowinning in the low-temperature KF–NaF–AlF_3 molten electrolyte for 24 h.The cell voltage during electrolysis and the corrosion scale on the anodes were analyzed.The results confirm that the scale has a self-repairing function because of the synergistic reaction between the alloy phase with Fe added and the oxide phase.The estimated wear rate of the(Cu_(52)Ni_(30)Fe_(18))–50Ni Fe_2O_4 composite anode is 2.02 cm·a~(-1).     

Laser cladding of Ni-based alloy on copper substrate

The laser cladding of Ni1015 alloy on Cu substrate was prepared by a high power continuous wave CO₂ laser. Its microstructure was analyzed by optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-Ray diffraction (XRD). The average microhardness of the cladding coating was Hv 280, which was almost three times of that of the Cu substrate (Hv 85). OM and SEM observations showed that the obtained coating had a smooth and uniform surface, as well as a metallurgical combination with the Cu substrate without cracks and pores at the interface. With the addition of copper into the nickel-based alloy, the differences of thermal expansion coefficient and melting point between the interlayer and cladding were reduced, which resulted in low stresses during rapid cooling. Moreover, large amount of (Cu, Ni) solid solution formed a metallurgical bonding between the cladding coating and the substrate, which also relaxed the stresses, leading to the reduction of interfacial cracks and pores after laser cladding.     

Microstructural formation of semi-solid AZ91D alloy stirred by electromagnetic field

With the help of an electromagnetic stirring device, alloy melt quenching and EBSD (electron back scatter diffraction)analysis technology, the microstructure of the semi-solid AZ91D magnesium alloy slurry stirred by rotational electromagnetic field under different stirring power conditions has been studied. The results show that the size of primary α-Mg phase is reduced obviously when the solidifying alloy melt is stirred by rotational electromagnetic field, moreover, the primary α-Mg grains are changed to fine rosette grains or spherical grains which are proved to belong to the different grains in three-dimension by the EBSD analysis technology. The results also show that the stirring power is an important processing parameter in the preparation of the semi-solid AZ91D magnesium alloy slurry. The larger the stirring power, the finer the primary α-Mg grains, the less the rosette primary α-Mg grains, and the more the spherical primary α-Mg grains. Theoretical analysis indicates that a stronger flow motion leads to a more even temperature field and solute field and a stronger man-made temperature fluctuation in the alloy melt so that the specially fine rosette and/or spherical primary α-Mg grains are formed in the semi-solid AZ91D magnesium alloy slurry.