Thermodynamic modeling of Cr–Nb and Zr–Cr with extension to the ternary Zr–Nb–Cr system

The total energies of Laves phases in the Cr–Nb and Zr–Cr systems have been calculated by the pseudo-potential VASP code with a full relaxation of all structural parameters. The special quasirandom structures (SQSs) have been constructed and their total energies have been calculated by the VASP code to predict the enthalpies of mixing for bcc and hcp solid solution phases. The phonon calculations for the C14 and C15 Laves phases have been performed to analyze the phase stability at elevated temperatures. The experimental study on the Zr–Cr system has been carried out at different temperatures to determine the phase boundaries. Based on these results, thermodynamic models of Cr–Nb and Zr–Cr with extension to the ternary Zr–Nb–Cr systems have been developed in this work by using the CALPHAD approach.     

Effect of grinding-induced cyclic heating on the hardened layer generation in the plunge grinding of a cylindrical component

This paper discusses the effects of the grinding-induced cyclic heating on the properties of the hardened layer in a plunge cylindrical grinding process on the high strength steel EN26. It was found that a multi-pass grinding brings about a uniform and continuous hardened layer along the circumference of the cylindrical workpiece. An increase of the number of grinding passes, leads to a thicker layer of hardening, a larger compressive residual stress and a deeper plastic deformation zone. Within the plastic deformation zone, the martensitic grains are refined by the thermo-mechanical loading, giving rise to a hardness of 12.5% higher than that from a conventional martensitic transformation. The coupled effects of heat accumulation and wheel wear in the multi-pass grinding are the main causes for the thickening of the hardened layer. A too small infeed per workpiece revolution would result in insufficient grinding heat, and in turn, bring about an undesirable tempered hardened layer and a reduction of its hardness.     

Morphology, structure and formation mechanism of silicide coating by pack cementation process

The MoSi2 coating on C 103 niobium based alloy was prepared by pack cementation method. The formative mechanism, morphology and structure of coating were investigated. The silicide coating was formed by reactive diffusion obeying parabolic rule during pack cementation process. It is found that the composite structural coating is composed of three inferior layers as follows. The main layer is composed of MoSi2, the two phases＇ transitional layer consists of NbSi2 and a few NbsSi3 and the diffuse layer is composed of NbsSi3. The dense amorphous glass layer formed on the surface at high temperature oxidation circumstance can effectively prevent the diffusion of oxygen into coating.     

g-C3N4/BiOCl复合光催化剂作为2D/2D异质结用于光催化降解染料性能研究

为扩大BiOCl的太阳光吸收范围,获得更高效的光催化剂,本文通过水热法制备了石墨相氮化碳(g-C₃N₄)/BiOCl (2D/2D)复合光催化剂并对其进行详细表征。结构与形貌表征结果显示BiOCl纳米片沉积在层状g-C₃N₄表面,形成了2D/2D面-面复合结构;光电化学性质分析表明形成的异质结构能有效扩展光吸收频率范围,促进光生载流子分离和迁移,从而有利于光催化性能的提高。以500 W氙灯模拟太阳光源,光催化降解罗丹明B(RhB)的结果表明g-C₃N₄/BiOCl异质结的光催化降解活性远高于单纯的g-C₃N₄和BiOCl。其中9wt%g-C₃N₄/BiOCl表现出了最优越的光催化活性,在180 min内对RhB的降解率为94%,其表观速率常数K_app值为g-C₃N₄和BiOCl的5.7和3.6倍。同时对g-C₃N₄/BiOCl异质结的光催化机制展开研究,结合复合催化剂电子结构和自由基捕获实验提出了在染料敏化作用下RhB的光催化降解机制。      

Mixed-mode fatigue crack growth behaviour in aluminium alloy

Fatigue crack propagation tests in compact mixed-mode specimens were carried out for several stress intensity ratios of mode I and mode II, K_I/K_II, in AlMgSi1-T6 aluminium alloy with 3 mm thickness. The tests were performed in a standard servo-hydraulic machine. A linkage system was developed in order to permit the variation of the K_I/K_II ratio by changing the loading angle. Crack closure loads were obtained through the compliance technique. A finite element analysis was also done in order to obtain the K_I and K_II values for the different loading angles. Crack closure increases under mixed-mode loading conditions in comparison to mode-I loading due the friction between the crack tip surfaces. Moreover, the crack closure level increases with the K_I/K_II ratio decrease. Correlations of the equivalent values of the effective stress intensity factor with the crack growth rates are also performed. Finally, an elastic–plastic finite element analysis was performed to obtain the plastic zones sizes and shapes and model the effect of mixed-mode loading on crack closure.     

Estimation and comparative study of JIC using different methods for 20MnMoNi55 steel

Fracture toughness is one of the key input variables to compute critical load of the structural components. The resistance against ductile fracture can be quantified either by the initiation value or by the entire resistance curve. Different standard methods like J_SZW, JSME and ASTM: E1820 etc. are mainly used to estimate the critical crack initiation value from the resistance curve developed by the J-integral test. However, the results vary from method to method and are even inconsistent for the same method. Pehrson and Landes suggested a simple method for estimation of the critical fracture toughness by identifying the critical point corresponding to the maximum load on load–displacement curve. In the present study, different standard methods along with the one suggested by Pehrson and Landes are used to find out the critical fracture toughness using 1T–CT and ½T–CT specimens of the material 20MnMoNi55 steel for varying temperatures and crack size. The results are analyzed to compare the merits of the different methods of estimation of fracture toughness.     

Experimental and thermodynamic investigations regarding the effect of chromium on the carbides population in cast {Ni(bal.)-0.4C-6Ta-xCr} alloys with x varying from 0 to 50 wt%

Involving a particularly strong carbide-former metallic element, the tantalum carbides are potentially very stable at elevated temperatures in term of volume fraction and morphology. The TaC phase represents a major strengthening way to allow cast chromium-rich superalloys resisting mechanical stresses at elevated temperatures. They are exploited in recent high performance cobalt-based superalloys but seemingly not in nickel-chromium refractory alloys. Earlier studies showed that the stability of TaC in Ni-Cr alloys is not so good as in the Co-Cr ones, and they evidenced that chromium carbides may compete with TaC in the formation of the carbides population. A possible way to optimize the presence of TaC in Ni-Cr alloy may consist in rating the chromium content to an ideal value but preliminary knowledge about the TaC dependence on the Cr content is compulsory. The aim of this work is precisely the investigation of the effect of the content in chromium on the appearance and stability of the TaC phase in Ni-Cr alloys, by the means of thermodynamic calculations and real experiments in parallel. A global system Ni(bal.)-xCr-0.4C-6Ta compositions (with x varying from 0 to 50 wt%) was chosen. Thermodynamic calculations were performed to know the theoretic metallurgical states inside the considered x range. These theoretic results being dependent on the suitability of the used database, real experiments of verifications were also carried out for a selection of six alloys (x = 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 wt%). The alloys prepared by respecting these compositions were cast and isothermally exposed at high temperature (1400 and 1510 K), then subjected to metallographic characterization. For the used database the calculated results showed that no TaC should never appear whatever their Cr content, while TaC were really observed in the as-cast and aged versions of the alloys containing 20 wt%Cr and more, but never alone since chromium carbides were systematically also present. When the Cr content in the alloy is too low, the TaC are rare or even no present. This allowed concluding first that the database used for the calculations needs serious improvements, followed by tests with, as first criteria of quality, a good correspondence with the present experimental results. Second, the presence of Cr in quantity high enough is surprisingly compulsory to obtain TaC carbides in quantity high enough, but it is no possible to avoid the appearance of chromium carbides. Obviously, other ways than Cr adjustments must be found to obtain TaC in nickel-based alloys as the single carbide phase and in quantity high enough to achieve high mechanical properties at high temperature.     

Microstructural study on the grain growth inhibition of VC-doped WC-Co cemented carbides

Recent works investigating the grain growth inhibition mechanism by rapidly quenched VC-doped cemented carbides are reviewed. The rapid quenching enables to observe microscopic features at the sintering state of cemented carbide. The formation of (W,V)C_x layers at WC/Co interfaces has already occurred during liquid phase sintering which control the grain growth rate. The structure and thickness of (W,V)C_x layers are related to the lattice coherency between (W,V)C_x and WC grains. The difference in the interface structure with different carbon content results in the difference of grain growth rate.     

Synthesis and characterization of branched yttrium hydroxide fluoride microcrystals with hierarchical tubular structure

Hexagonal yttrium hydroxide fluoride microcrystals were prepared by a two-step hydrothermal route using yttrium nitrate, sodium hydroxide and sodium fluoride as raw materials to react in propanetriol solvent. The samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrum (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier trans-form infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetre and differential-thermogravimetric analysis (TG-DTA), which revealed that Y(OH)2.14F0.86 microcrystals were multi-branched and that the branches of Y(OH)2.14F0.86 microcrystals were composed of hierarchical tubes. This novel multi-branched and intriguing hierarchical tubular structure of yttrium hydroxide fluoride maybe has a potential application in photoelectric crystals. The formation of branched Y(OH)2.14F0.86 microcrystals with hierarchical tubular structure were due to the substitution reaction and Oswald ripening.     

Thermodynamic investigation of phase equilibria on the (W,Mo)C-(Co,Ni) cemented carbides

The C-Co-Mo-W and C-Mo-Ni-W quaternary systems have been critically evaluated by means of the CALPHAD approach, in which the Co-Mo-W system was readjusted to ensure the model consistency. The thermodynamic models of Gibbs energies for individual phases in the ternary and quaternary systems are described, including substitutional solution model, sublattice model and linear compound model. The modeling covers the whole temperature and composition ranges, and a set of self-consistent thermodynamic parameters for the C-Co-Mo-W and C-Mo-Ni-W quaternary systems is obtained. According to the comprehensive comparisons between the reported and calculated phase diagram data, the reliable equilibria information is satisfactorily accounted for by the modeling. Based on the present work together with the previously reported assessments of binary, ternary and quaternary sub-systems, a thermodynamic database for the C-Co-Mo-Ni-W quinary system is constructed and applied to calculate the sintering region phase equilibria of the (W,Mo)C-(Co,Ni) cemented carbides.