Effect of Thorium Additions on Metallurgical and Mechanical Properties of Ir-0.3 pct W Alloys

Metallurgical and mechanical properties of Ir-0.3 pct W alloys have been studied as a function of thorium concentration in the range 0 to 1000 ppm by weight. The solubility limit of thorium in Ir-0.3 pct W is below 30 ppm. Above this limit, the excess thorium reacts with iridium to form second-phase particles. Thorium additions raise the recrystallization temperature and effectively retard grain growth at high temperatures. Tensile tests at 650 °C show that the alloy without thorium additions (undoped alloy) fractured by grain-boundary (GB) separation, while the alloys doped with less than 500 ppm thorium failed mainly by transgranular fracture at 650 °C. Intergranular fracture in the doped alloys is supressed by GB segregation of thorium, which improves the mechanical properties of the boundary. The impact properties of the alloys were correlated with test temperature, grain size, and heat treatment. The impact ductility increases with test temperature and decreases with grain size. For a given grain size, particularly in the fine-grain size range, the thorium-doped alloys are much more ductile and resistant to GB fracture. All of these results can be correlated on the basis of stress concentration on GBs by using a dislocation pileup model.     

Mechanical Properties and Microstructural Characterization of Aged Nickel-based Alloy 625 Weld Metal

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - The aim of this work was to evaluate the different phases formed during solidification and after thermal aging of the as-welded 625 nickel-based alloy,...     

Effect of Mechanical Arc Oscillation on the Grain Structure of Mild Steel Weld Metal

The effect of mechanical arc oscillation on the weld metal grain structure in mild steel gas tungsten arc welds has been studied. For welds made without arc oscillation, columnar grains were observed in the weld metal; however, for the same welding parameters, the weld made with arc oscillation had smaller sized relatively equiaxed grains in the weld metal. The strengths for weld made with arc oscillation was higher than that for weld made without arc oscillation, with appreciable increase in ductility; this could be attributed to the reduction in grain size diameter due to arc oscillation. Lower weld metal hardness and increase in heat affected zone hardness was observed in weld made with arc oscillation; this could be attributed to increase in pro-eutectoid ferrite formation with absence of Widmanstatten ferrite structures in the weld metal and less coarsening of grains in the heat affected zone due to increased cooling rate.     

Effect of Trace Levels of Si on Microstructure and Grain Boundary Segregation in DOP-26 Iridium Alloy

The thermodynamics and kinetics of Silicon (Si) segregation to grain boundaries in Iridium alloy DOP-26 with added trace levels of Si of 6, 11, 29, and 36 wppm was studied by Auger Electron Spectroscopy. The four alloys were annealed at 1500 or 1535 °C for 19 or 76 hours followed by cooling at three different rates. Si enrichment at the grain boundaries (GB) increased with increasing bulk Si content, with the grain boundary Si enrichment factors ranging from 62 to 344, depending on the bulk Si content and the cooling rate. Grain boundary Si contents increased with decreasing cooling rate in all alloys, indicating that Si GB segregation is influenced by both thermodynamic and kinetic factors in the alloys and temperature ranges of the study. A Langmuir-McLean isotherm-based model was successfully used to predict the temperature dependence of GB Si segregation in DOP-26 alloys with Si additions and estimate the temperature independent free energy of Si segregation to grain boundaries in DOP-26.     

Wear mechanisms in hybrid composites of Graphite-20 Pct SiC in A356 Aluminum Alloy (Al-7 Pct Si-0.3 Pct Mg)

The wear behavior of A356 aluminum alloy (Al-7 Pct Si-0.3 Pct Mg) matrix composites reinforced with 20 vol Pct SiC particles and 3 or 10 vol Pct graphite was investigated. These hybrid composites represent the merging of two philosophies in tribological material design: soft-particle lubrication by graphite and hard-particle reinforcement by carbide particles. The wear tests were performed using a block-on-ring (SAE 52100 steel) wear machine under dry sliding conditions within a load range of 1 to 441 N. The microstructural and compositional changes that took place during wear were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXA), and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The wear resistance of 3 Pct graphite-20 Pct SiC-A356 hybrid composite was comparable to 20 Pct SiC-A356 without graphite at low and medium loads. At loads below 20N, both hybrid and 20 Pct SiC-A356 composites without graphite demonstrated wear rates up to 10 times lower than the unreinforced A356 alloy due to the load-carrying capacity of SiC particles. The wear resistance of 3 Pct graphite 20 Pct SiC-A356 was 1 to 2 times higher than 10 Pct graphite-containing hybrid composites at high loads. However, graphite addition reduced the counterface wear. The unreinforced A356 and 20 Pct SiC-A356 showed a transition from mild to severe wear at 95 N and 225 N, respectively. Hybrid composites with 3 Pct and 10 Pct graphite did not show such a transition over the entire load range, indicating that graphite improved the seizure resistance of the composites. Tribolayers, mainly consisting of a compacted mixture of graphite, iron oxides, and aluminum, were generated on the surfaces of the hybrid composites. In the hybrid composites, the elimination of the severe wear (and hence the improvement in seizure resistance) was attributed to the reduction in friction-induced surface heating due to the presence of graphite- and iron-oxide-containing tribolayers.     

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Oxide-Dispersion Strengthened Al6063 Alloy with Ultra-Fine Grain Structure

The microstructure and mechanical properties of the ultra-fine grained (UFG) Al6063 alloy reinforced with nanometric aluminum oxide nanoparticles (25 nm) were investigated and compared with the coarse-grained (CG) Al6063 alloy (~2 μm). The UFG materials were prepared by mechanical alloying (MA) under high-purity Ar and Ar-5 vol pct O₂ atmospheres followed by hot powder extrusion (HPE). The CG alloy was produced by HPE of the gas-atomized Al6063 powder without applying MA. Electron backscatter diffraction under scanning electron microscopy together with transmission electron microscopy studies revealed that the microstructure of the milled powders after HPE consisted of ultra-fine grains (>100 nm) surrounded by nanostructured grains (<100 nm), revealing the formation of a bimodal grain structure. The grain size distribution was in the range of 20 to 850 nm with an average of 360 and 300 nm for Ar and Ar-5 pct O₂ atmospheres, respectively. The amount of oxide particles formed by reactive mechanical alloying under the Ar/O₂ atmosphere was ~0.8 vol pct, whereas the particles were almost uniformly distributed throughout the aluminum matrix. The UFG materials exhibited significant improvement in the hardness and yield strength with an absence of strain hardening behavior compared with CG material. The fracture surfaces showed a ductile fracture mode for both CG and UFG Al6063, in which the dimple size was related to the grain structure. A mixture of ductile–brittle fracture mode was observed for the UFG alloy containing 0.8 vol pct Al₂O₃ particles. The tensile behavior was described based on the formation of nonequilibrium grain boundaries with high internal stress and dislocation-based models.     

Effect of Solidification Segregation on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of a Ni-Cr-Mo-V Steel Weld Metal

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - The effects of solute elements segregation during solidification on microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of a Ni-Cr-Mo-V rotor weld metal...     

Mechanical Properties of Gradient Structure Mg Alloy

In this work, a surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) process was applied to AZ31B magnesium alloy at room temperature. This method produced a gradient structure on the treated AZ31B, in which the grains of the topmost layer are refined to nanoscale sizes. A combination of nanocrystallites at the surface and coarse-grains in the center are the main features of this structure. This structure results in an excellent combination of both strength and ductility. The highest yield strength for the 30 minutes SMAT AZ31B samples increased to 249 ± 5 MPa and the uniform elongation decreased to 9.3 ± 0.8 pct, whereas the original yield strength was only 147 ± 4 MPa and the uniform elongation was 15.4 ± 1.1 pct. Microstructural observations, stress relaxation tests, and hardness tests were used to verify the results. Additionally, there is a specific volume fraction of gradient structure to achieve the best mechanical performance, which is shown to be in the range of 9.3 to 14 pct for the AZ31B alloy.     

Structure,Mechanical Properties,and Corrosion Resistance of the CrCuFeNiMo0.3 High-Entropy Alloy Prepared by Powder Metallurgy

Powder Metallurgy and Metal Ceramics - Powder metallurgy methods were used in this study to prepare the CrCuFeNiMo0.3 high-entropy alloy. The alloy’s microstructure, hardness, compression,...     

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of GMAW Weld Metal of 890MPa Class Steel

The relationship between microstructure and mechanical properties of gas metal arc weld metal with strength over 890 MPa is discussed. The microstructure of the weld metals is characterized with OM, SEM, TEM and EBSD. The microstructure of the weld metals is mainly composed of martensite and bainite. Experimental results show that the microstructure with predominant fine lath bainite possesses good toughness of 77 .l, while its yield strength is less than 800 MPa. The microstructure of coarse lath martensite and bainite has the lowest toughness of 43 J and its yield strength is 820 MPa. The mixed microstructure with fine martensite, bainite and retained austenite films bears good combination of toughness and yield strength （62 J and 880 MPa, respectively）. It is concluded that fine effective grain size and ductile phase of austenite films are two main factors to achieve good mechanical properties.     

Effect of GTAW Parameters on Structure and Mechanical Properties of C86300 Weld Joint

In this study, the effects of heat input variation in gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), on structure and mechanical properties of commercially C86300 (containing addition of 0.6 wt% silicon) weld joint were investigated. Following microstructural characterization of Base metal, GTAW has been performed at welding currents 50 and 60 A and flow rates of argon shielding gas (10, 14 and 18 l/min) using the same filler metal composition. Therefore six GTAW samples were performed with various welding specifications. By structural investigations and hardness profiles, effects of increasing heat input on increasing average grain size in weld zone, heat affected zone width, penetration depth and alloying element losses were indicated. However increasing heat input increases penetration depth and has a positive effect on hardness and strength of the joint. In considering wear application of this alloy castings and probable GTAW for them, pin-on-disc wear test was performed and revealed better wear resistance of weld metal in comparison with base metal. Hence the optimum values of welding current and argon flow rates (in GTAW with the same composition filler) was determined for this alloy.     

Role of Mg on Structure and Mechanical Properties in Alloy 718

The role of Mg in alloy/718 has been systematically investigated. Mg raises not only high temperature tensile and stress-rupture ductilities but also increases considerably smooth and notch stress-rupture life. Mg containing alloy 718M is free of stress-rupture notch sensitivity. Mg improves creep and fatigue interaction properties （LCF or cyclic stress rupture） at any grain size. The basic role of Mg is equilibrium segregation at grain boundaries which helps to change continuous grain beundary (5-Ni3Nb morphology to discrete globular form which has a retardation effect on intergranular fracture. Mg promotes the change from intergranular to transgranular fracture mode.     

Influence of Martensitic Structure and Carbide Precipitation Behavior on Mechanical Properties of 25CrMoNbB Alloy Steels with Mo Contents of 0.25 and 0.5 Pct

In this article, the effects of Mo contents of 0.25 and 0.50 pct on the martensitic structure and carbide precipitation behavior of the experimental steels were investigated and their effects on strength, toughness, and fatigue strength were studied. The results showed that the martensitic blocks and laths were refined and the dislocation density increased with the addition of Mo contents of 0.25 and 0.50 pct. Meanwhile, the amount of carbides increased and the size of carbides decreased in tempered steels. The refinement of carbides is due to the increment of nucleation sites resulting from martensitic structure refinement and the dislocation density increment. Besides, the improvement of thermal stability of M₂₃C₆ carbides enriched with Mo also contributes to carbide refinement. With the addition of 0.50 pct Mo, the strength was improved and the toughness did not deteriorate compared with the steel 0.25 pct Mo. Meanwhile, the fatigue strength was also significantly improved with the addition of 0.50 pct Mo.

     

变形量、热处理制度对消除GH536合金焊管焊缝区铸态组织、晶粒度及力学性能的影响

通过冷加工变形量和热处理制度对GH536合金焊管焊缝区铸态组织、晶粒度及力学性能影响的研究得出,当冷加工总变形量达到77%,并进行1100～1150℃×15min固溶再结晶处理时,可以完全消除GH536合金焊管焊缝区的铸态组织,使基体和焊缝都具有均匀一致的10级左右的细晶组织,并使其力学性能达到并超过技术条件所规定的要求.     

热处理对GH901合金的力学性能和晶粒度组织的影响

通过对GH901合金热处理制度的研究,总结出民用GH901合金采用1 070 ℃×3 h,WC 775 ℃×4 h,AC 705 ℃×24 h,AC,热处理方式更为合理.     

Effect of Aging on Microstructure and Shape Memory Properties of a Ni-48Ti-25Pd (At. Pct) Alloy

The microstructure and properties of a precipitation-hardenable Ni-48Ti-25Pd (at. pct) shape memory alloy have been investigated as a function of various aging conditions. Both the hardness and martensitic transformation temperatures increased with increasing aging time up to 100 hours at 673 K (400 °C), while no discernable differences were observed after heat treatment at 823 K (550 °C), except for a slight decrease in hardness. For aging at 673 K (400 °C), these effects were attributed to the formation of nano-scale precipitates, while precipitation was absent in the 823 K (550 °C) heat-treated specimens. The precipitation-strengthened alloy exhibited stable pseudoelastic behavior and load-biased-shape memory response with little or no residual strains. The precipitates had a monoclinic base-centered structure, which is the same structure as the P-phase recently reported in Ni(Pt)-rich NiTiPt alloys. 3D atom probe analysis revealed that the precipitates were slightly enriched in Ni and deficient in Pd and Ti as compared with the bulk alloy. The increase in martensitic transformation temperatures and the superior dimensional stability during shape memory and pseudoelastic testing are attributed to the fine precipitate phase and its effect on matrix chemistry, local stress state because of the coherent interface, and the ability to effectively strengthen the alloy against slip.