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.     

Effect of ECAP temperature on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy

The effect of equal channel angular pressing(ECAP) at different temperatures(room temperature, 120,150 and 180 °C) on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-7075 solid solution alloy was investigated. Microstructure of the specimens was examined using orientation imaging microscopy,transmission electron microscopy as well as X-ray diffractometer, and mechanical properties were measured by Vickers microhardness and tensile tests. Microstructural investigations showed that after3 or 4 passes of ECAP, fi ne grains with average grain sizes in range of 300–1000 nm could be obtained at different ECAP temperatures. Increasing ECAP temperature from 120 to 180 °C caused a decrease in mechanical properties as a result of increasing grains and precipitates sizes, decreasing fraction of high angle boundaries and also transformation of η′ into η phase, while increasing ECAP temperature from RT to 120 °C leads to an increase in mechanical properties due to the formation of small η′ precipitates. So it can be concluded that ECAP process at 120 °C is the optimum process for attaining maximum mechanical properties. Quantitative estimates of various strengthening mechanisms revealed that the improvement of mechanical properties was mainly attributed to grain re fi nement strengthening, precipitation strengthening and dislocation strengthening.     

In situ measured growth rates of bainite plates in an Fe-C-Mn-Si superbainitic steel

The growth rates of bainite plates in an Fe-C-Mn-Si superbainitie steel were investigated by in situ observation. The lengthening rates of ferrite bainite during both cooling and isothermal holding processes were observed and the growth rates of bainite plates nucleating at grain boundaries, within grains and on preformed bainite were measured. It is indicated that the lengthening rates of bainite plates during the cooling and isothermal processes were different, and that the growth rates of bainite plates nucleating at different types of sites also demon- strated diversity. The bainite plates initiating at [vain boundaries during cooling grew the fastest, while the plates nucleating on preformed bainite did the slowest. However, the growth rate of the bainite plates nucleating at grain boundaries during isothermal transformation de- creased the most, whereas the bainite plates initiating within grains grew the fastest. In addition, the growth rate of ferrite bainite in the study supported the diffusion transformation mechanism of bainite from the viewooint of ~rowth rate.     

Roles of titanium-rich precipitates as inoculants during solidification in low carbon steel

The effect of titanium on the as-cast structure and the growth form of titanium precipitates, and the effect of cooling rate on the size and distribution of titanium precipitates were studied. It is shown that Ti-rich precipitates acting as heterogeneous nucleation sites play an important role in refining the grain size and increasing the equiaxed grain ratio. Cooling rate has a great effect on the size and distribution of precipitates. The number of precipitates increases and the size decreases with the increase of cooling rate. Ti-rich particles acting as heterogeneous nucleation sites at the onset of solidification are observed in the experiment. This result suggests that TiN nucleated on Ti₂O₃ is an effective inoculant for δ-ferrite during solidification in low carbon steel.     

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.     

Response of structural and magnetic properties of ultra-thin FeCo–V foils to high-energy beam welding processes

Microstructural evolutions and grain-boundary-character distribution during high-energy-beam welding of ultra-thin Fe Co?V foils were studied. Detailed data about the boundaries, coincidence site lattice(CSL) relationships, grain sizes, and microstructural features were acquired from electron-backscatter diffraction(EBSD) maps. Moreover, the evolution of the magnetic properties during high-energy-beam welding was studied using vibrating sample magnetometry(VSM). The fraction of low-angle boundaries was observed to increase in the fusion zones of both electron- and laser-beam-welded foils. The results showed that the fractions of low-Σ CSL boundaries(particularly twin boundaries, Σ3) in the fusion zones of the welded foils are higher than those in the base metal. Because the strain rates produced during high-energy-beam welding are very high(because of the extremely high cooling rate), grain deformation by a slip mechanism is limited; therefore, deformation by grain twinning is dominant. VSM analysis showed that the magnetic properties of the welded foils, i.e., their remanence, coercive force, and energy product, changed significantly. The formation of large grains with preferred orientation parallel to the easy axis of magnetization was the main reason for the diminished magnetic properties.     

Microstructure and texture evolution of TRC A8006 alloy by homogenization

The microstructure and texture evolution of twin-roll cast A8006 alloy by homogenization were characterized using scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and the microhardness was tested as well. According to the relationship between dendritic arm spacing and cooling rate the cooling rate of the as-cast twin-roll cast A8006 sheet of 6 mm in thickness was estimated as 1.48×103 K·s?1. It is found that the grains and the nanostructural precipitates of the twin-roll cast sheet become coarser after homogenization at 580℃ for 4 h in comparison with those after homogenization at 500℃ for 8 h. The textures formed after cold rolling and became weaker during homogenization. The increase in hardness of the as-cast twin-roll cast sheets is related to the supersaturated α-Al solid solution and fine microstructure, but the decrease in hardness after homogenization can be attributed to the coarsening of grains and Al₆Fe(Mn) precipitates.     

Impacts of different designed microstructures on creep performance of a Ni-based wrought superalloy

The creep behavior of a novel Ni-based wrought superalloy with varying aging states, classified as large underaged(UA), little UA, and little over-aged(OA) states, was investigated at a temperature higher than the intragrain/grain-boundary iso-strength temperature(750°C/250 MPa). In the samples before creep test, there are spherical γ’precipitates homogeneously dispersed within the γ matrix and carbides precipitated at grain boundaries(GBs). After creep tests, precipitate-free zones(PFZs) appear...     

Characterization of microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of the spray-deposited AZ31 magnesium alloy

The cylindrical billets of a Mg-3Al-1Zn (AZ31) alloy were synthesized by spray deposition processing. The microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of the alloy were investigated. The results reveal that the microstructure of the AZ31 alloy is refined significantly by spray deposition processing. A homogeneous and equiaxial-grain structure with an average grain size of 17 μm is obtained. Further grain refinement with an average grain size of 5 μm is attributed to dynamic recrystallization during extrusion processing. The great increase in the density of grain boundary nucleation sites by the finer initial grain sizes makes the dislocation pile-ups near subgrain boundaries being absorbed easily by the boundaries, resulting in an accelerated recrystallization process. The average tensile ultimate and yield strengths of the extruded rods are 321 MPa and 237 MPa, respectively, with an elongation of 15.2% at room temperature, which are remarkably higher than those of the conventional as-cast AZ31 alloy.     

Influence of MnS particles on the behaviors of grain boundary migration in Fe-3%Si alloys

The precipitation behaviors of MnS particles at 900℃ in a hot deformed Fe-3%Si alloy were observed statistically. The ratio of MnS particles on dislocations and in grain boundaries was calculated based on a model concerning the second phase precipitation in supersaturated solid solution. It was indicated that the precipitation of MnS particles on dislocations prevailed. The coarsening process of MnS particles in grain boundaries determined the boundary mobility during the secondary recrystallization. However, the density difference of precipitated MnS particles inside the grains on both sides of a boundary will determine the migration direction of the boundary as well, besides the grain size effect. It was observed that the densities of MnS particles in two neighboring grains were commonly different, and the boundary tended to move towards the area with lower particle density. The factors, e.g. dislocation densities in differently oriented grains will affect the density of precipitated particles, in which the Goss grains with higher particle density could grow more easily.     

Influence of γ' precipitate on deformation and fracture during creep in PM nickel-based superalloy

FGH96 is a powder metallurgy nickel based superally used for turbine disk of aero-engines. In the present study FGH96 alloy with four different γ' precipitate microstructures were produced via solution heat-treatment with different cooling rates, and the maximum cooling rate reached 400°C/min which was a super cooling rate for Nickel-based superalloy. The creep tests were conducted for PM FGH96 alloy under the testing condition of 704°C and 690 MPa. The relationship between the creep properties and the distribution of γ' precipitate was established. The creep mechanism was analyzed by using TEM and ACTEM, and the dislocation movement was studied at the atomic scale. The creep strain rate was calculated through a physically based crystal slip model established based on crystal plasticity. The calculated results were consistent with the test ones, illustrating the validity of the model. The fracture mechanism was also investigated, and the results showed that the creep cracks generated on the surface due to the oxidation. It was observed that the cracks propagated in different ways depending on the different average diameters of γ' precipitate. With the decrease of the average γ' precipitate size,the critical shearing stress increased and the resistance of the dislocation slipping increased. The fracture mechanism for the primary stage transformed from intragranular to intergranular due to the change of dislocation slipping.     

Carbides/nitrides precipitates in a C-Mn strip by CSP technology

The carbides/nitrides precipitates in ferrite grains, on grain boundaries and dislocations were investigated on a hot-rolled C-Mn strip (0.16wt%C-1.22wt%Mn-0.022wt%Ti) produced by the CSP (compact strip production) technology using TEM and X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy. The Pickering’s equation for the contribution of precipitates to the yield stress was also discussed. It is shown that there are numerous fine and dispersive precipitates TiC in the ferrite grains, on the grain boundaries and dislocations. Also there are a small amount of coarser Ti(C, N) particles and TiC particles associated with MnS. Precipitation strengthening on steels produced by the CSP technology is significant.     

Investigation of secondary phases and tensile strength of nitrogen-containing Alloy 718 weldment

The influence of nitrogen content on the precipitation of secondary phases and the tensile strength of Alloy 718 during gas tungsten arc welding was investigated. Various types of precipitates were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that in the fusion zone, the volume fraction of Nb-rich phases such as Laves,(Nb,Ti)C, and δ phases, as well as Ti-rich phases such as(Ti,Nb)CN and(Ti,Nb)N, increased with increase in the nitrogen content due to the microsegregation of Nb and Ti within interdendritic areas. Nitrogen was also found to decrease the size of γ′′ particles within γ dendrites. For precipitates in the partially melted zone, constitutional liquation was observed for both(Nb,Ti)C and(Ti,Nb)N particles. Based on the results of tensile tests, the weld containing 0.015 wt% nitrogen exhibited the highest ultimate tensile strength(UTS), whereas more addition of nitrogen led to a decrease in both the UTS and yield strength due to the increased content of brittle Laves phases and decreased size of γ′′.     

Ultra-fine ferrite grains obtained in the TSDR process

By careful design of rolling schedule,ultra-fine (~2μm) ferrite grains in a low carbon high niobium (0.09wt%Nb) microalloying steel with average austenite grain sizes above 800 μm can be achieved in the simulated thin slab direct rolling process. The 5-pass deformation was divided into two stages: the refinement of austenite through complete recrystallization and the refinement of ferrite through dynamic strain-induced transformation. The effects of Nb in solution and strain-induced NbCN precipitates on the ferrite transformation were also extensively discussed.     

Effects of trace elements on grain boundaries in some superalloys

The effects of trace elements on grain boundaries were investigated by analyzing the feature and composition of the boundary precipitates. The effect of trace elements segregated towards boundaries and the mechanism of interaction were interpreted by an idea of atom misfit. The mechanisms with regard to spheroidizing and degenerating of the precipitates were expounded. For the superalloys studied, the atoms with larger misfit may hinder the atoms with smaller misfit from segregating towards the boundaries and may drive the latter into the lattice(or interstice) inside grains and the boundary precipitates. The reaction of the latter on the former was also studied.     

Effect of dislocation structure evolution on low-angle grain boundary formation in 7050 aluminum alloy during aging

The effect of dislocation structure evolution on low-angle grain boundary formation in 7050 aluminum alloy during aging was studied by using optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and electron backscatter diffraction analysis of misorientation angle distribution, cumulative misorientation and geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density. Experimental results indicate that coarse spindle-shaped grains with the dimension of 200 μm×80 μm separate into fine equiaxed grains of 20 μm in size as a result of newborn low-angle grain boundaries formed during the aging process. More specifically, the dislocation arrays, which are rearranged and formed due to scattered dislocations during earlier quenching, transform into low-angle grain boundaries with aging time. The relative frequency of 3°-5° low-angle grain boundaries increases to over 30%. The GND density, which describes low-angle grain boundaries with the misorientation angle under 3°, tends to decrease during initial aging. The inhomogeneous distribution of GNDs is affected by grain orientation. A decrease in GND density mainly occurs from 1.83×1013 to 4.40×1011 m-2 in grains with 〈111〉 fiber texture. This is consistent with a decrease of unit cumulative misorientation. Precipitation on grain boundaries and the formation of a precipitation free zone (PFZ) are facilitated due to the eroding activity of the Graff etchant. Consequently, low-angle grain boundaries could be readily viewed by optical microscopy due to an increase in their electric potential difference.     

Effect of nano-sized precipitates on the crystallography of ferrite in high-strength strip steel

For strip steel with the thickness of 1.6 mm, the yield and tensile strengths as high as 760 and 850 MPa, respectively, were achieved using the compact strip production technology. Precipitates in the steel were characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy to elucidate the strengthening mechanism. In addition, intragranular misorientation, Kernel average misorientation, and stored energy were measured using electron backscatter diffraction for crystallographic analysis of ferrite grains containing precipitates and their neighbors without precipitates. It is found that precipitates in specimens primarily consist of TiC and Ti₄C₂S₂. Ferrite grains containing precipitates exhibit the high Taylor factor as well as the crystallographic orientations with {012}, {011}, {112}, or {221} plane parallel to the rolling plane. Compared with the intragranular orientation of adjoining grains, the intragranular misorientation of grains containing precipitates fluctuates more frequently and more mildly as a function of distance. Moreover, the precipitates can induce ferrite grains to store a relatively large amount of energy. These results suggest that a correlation exists between precipitation in ferrite grains and grain crystallographic properties.     

Effects of the width and thickness of slabs on broadening in continuous casting

A 3D viscoelastic-plastic thermal-mechanical coupled finite element model was built on the basis of the secondary development of the commercial software MSC.Marc. Numerical simulations were performed to study slab broadening in the secondary cooling zone. The effects of slab width and thickness on slab broadening were considered. The obtained results reveal that the width broadening is noticeable, and the ratio of ultimate broadening slightly increases with the increase of slab width. This agrees well with the measured data in practice. There is no obvious increase in ultimate broadening when the thickness of slabs increases.     

Microstructure and strengthening parameters of ultra-thin hot strip of low carbon steel

The microstructure and precipitation mechanism of ultra-thinhot strip produced by CSP technology were analyzed by electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD), H-800 transmission electron microscope (TEM) and thermodynamics theory. The EBSD results show that the finishing hot rolling microstructures are mixture of recrystallized and deformed austenite. After phase transformation, ferrite grains embody substructures and dislocations that led ultra-thin hot strip high strength and relatively low elongation rate. TEM observations show that there are a lot of fine and dispersive precipitates in microstructures. Most of aluminium nitrides are in grains, while coexisted precipitates of MnS along grain boundaries. Coexisted precipitates compose cation-vacancy type oxides such as Al₂O₃ in the core, while MnS at the fringe of surface. At the same time, reasons for microstructure refinement and strengthening effect were investigated.     

In situ observation of austenite grain growth behavior in the simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone of Ti-microalloyed steels

The austenite grain growth behavior in a simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone during thermal cycling was investigated via in situ observation. Austenite grains nucleated at ferrite grain boundaries and then grew in different directions through movement of grain boundaries into the ferrite phase. Subsequently, the adjacent austenite grains impinged against each other during the α→γ transformation. After the α→γ transformation, austenite grains coarsened via the coalescence of small grains and via boundary migration between grains. The growth process of austenite grains was a continuous process during heating, isothermal holding, and cooling in simulated thermal cycling. Abundant finely dispersed nanoscale TiN particles in a steel specimen containing 0.012wt% Ti effectively retarded the grain boundary migration, which resulted in refined austenite grains. When the Ti concentration in the steel was increased, the number of TiN particles decreased and their size coarsened. The big particles were not effective in pinning the austenite grain boundary movement and resulted in coarse austenite grains.