Effect of pre‐processing annealing and ram speed on mechanical properties for low carbon steel processed by constrained groove pressing

Constrained groove pressing (CGP) has emerged for producing ultra‐fine‐grained materials with distinguished properties. Low carbon steel sheets were subjected to severe plastic deformation by constrained groove pressing process. The effect of pre‐processing annealing temperature, ram speed and number of passes on microstructure, mechanical properties and wear behaviour of the sheets were investigated. The 3 mm thick sheets were deformed by a constrained groove pressing die at ram speeds: 5 mm/min, 10 mm min^?1 and 20 mm min^?1. Furthermore, the as received sheets were annealed at 600 °C and 900 °C, then deformed at ram speed 20 mm min^?1. The annealing temperature 900 °C led to slightly coarser grains, lower strength and larger ductility compared to those obtained after annealing at 600 °C. With lowering the ram speed to 5 mm min^?1, the number of passes could be increased to 10 passes while increasing ram speed from 5 mm min^?1 to 20 mm min^?1 improved the mechanical properties; after 3 constrained groove pressing passes, the ultimate tensile strength increased from 420 MPa to 490 MPa, the hardness from 174 HV 1 to 190 HV 1 and the elongation from 7.6 % to 9.5 %. Finer grains were also obtained by increasing ram speed. Wear resistance was greatly enhanced by constrained groove pressing and by the increase in ram speed.     

Preparation and high-temperature tribological properties of CrAlVYN-Ag nanocomposite coatings

CrAlVYN-Ag coatings were successfully deposited by introducing the elements of V and Ag into CrAlYN hard coatings. Their microstructure and mechanical property as a function of the annealing temperature were investigated from room temperature (RT) (～25°C) to 800°C. Besides, the worn surfaces were analyzed after combined effects of temperature and friction to figure out the wear mechanisms at different temperatures. The coatings exhibited special surface morphologies and Ag diffusion after annealing at different temperatures. In addition, the x-ray diffraction results showed that the coatings suffered obvious oxidation once the temperature exceeded 600°C; as a result of this, the coating hardness decreased sharply. The friction coefficients were relatively high during the tribological tests from RT to 400°C because the abrasive wear mechanisms played a dominant role. The lower friction coefficients obtained at 600 and 700°C were mainly due to the self-lubricating mechanisms. However, the coating exhibited higher friction coefficient at 800°C, which was mainly ascribed to the severe oxidation wear of the coating.     

Effects of the TiC and sintering process on the TiC-steel composite

In this paper, the composite of low alloy steel reinforced with TiC particles was prepared by conventional powder metallurgy process. The effects of the combined carbon content of TiC powder, sintering temperature and heating rate on the composite were studied. The results showed that the selected TiC powder has a combined carbon content of 17.91?wt-% and the optimal sintering process is heating from 600 to 1440°C at a rate of 1°C?min^?1 and holding for 1?h at 1440°C. The composite after heat treatment has excellent mechanical properties with density of 6.45?g?cm^?3, hardness of 68–69 HRC and TRS of 1763?MPa, respectively, and will be used as wear-resistant parts, assembly fixtures, moulds, etc.     

Surface Nanocrystalline of Martensite Steel Induced by Sandblasting at High Temperature

The mechanical and tribological properties were conducted to investigate surface nanocrystalline of martensite steel with hardness of 5 GPa by using sandblasting technique at 500 °C. The average grain size of surface is 30 nm. In contrast, the average grain size of the martensite steel surface, which processed by sandblasting at room temperature and post‐annealing at 500 °C, is 112 nm. Fine grains and Fe₃C phase in situ form during sandblasting at 500 °C that is favor for producing nanoscale structure of the martensite steel. The nanostructure surface of the martensite steel has higher hardness and better wear resistance.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of an ultrafine grained Ti5Si3-TiC composite fabricated by spark plasma sintering

The purpose of this study was to investigate mechanical properties, microstructure and sintering behavior of ultrafine grained Ti₅Si₃-TiC composite synthesized by mechanically activated self-propagating high-temperature synthesis method. For this purpose, the composite was sintered at 1450?°C at constant pressure of 50?MPa and reached to 97% of theoretical density by spark plasma sintering technique. The XRD pattern of the sintered sample is composed of the same peaks as the synthesized sample which means that the composite is stable at high temperature. The microstructure analyses illustrate that the composite retained its fine microstructure during the sintering process. The results also show that the amount of C atoms in the structure of titanium silicide slightly increased during the sintering process. The Young’s modulus and nanohardness of the composite reached 281?±?15.5?GPa and 16.6?±?0.8?GPa, respectively. In addition, Vickers indentation test results show that the composite possesses hardness and fracture toughness of 13.2?±?0.6?GPa and 4.7?±?0.1?MPa.m^1/2, respectively. Formation of microstructure with low microcracks and homogenous distribution of TiC through the matrix are responsible for relative high mechanical properties of the composite. The crack deflection is observed as the main toughening mechanism.     

Effect of tempering temperatures on microstructures and properties of 0.28C–0.22Ti wear-resistant steel

The microstructures and properties of a 0.28C–0.22Ti low-alloy wear-resistant steel at different temperatures from 200 to 600°C was experimentally studied. It is shown that the wear resistance of the steel is not monotone changing with its hardness and strength. With the increase of the tempering temperature, the tensile strength and the hardness of the steels were gradually declined; however, the wear resistance was first decreased and then increased. The TiC particles can be divided into two classes: the small TiC particles (about 0.3–0.4?µm in diameter) and the coarse TiC particles (1–5?µm in diameter). The small TiC particles can improve the yield strength of the steels, and the coarse TiC particles can improve the wear resistance of the tested steels.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of the T23 steel after long-term ageing at elevated temperature

The paper presents the results of research on the microstructure and mechanical properties of T23 steel after long-term ageing up to 70 000 h at the temperature of 550 and 600 °C. It has been shown that the main mechanisms of degradation of the T23 steel microstructure were: recovery of the matrix, disintegration of the bainitic microstructure, growth of carbide diameter and precipitation of M6C carbides. These processes were more advanced in the steel aged at higher temperature. The changes in the microstructure resulted in a 10–15% decrease in mechanical properties (YS, TS) and hardness HV10, and a 30–40% decrease in the impact energy kV. A greater fall of impact strength occurred in the steel aged at the lower temperature. This was ascribed to the segregation of phosphorus to grain boundaries, which has a well-known adverse effect on ductility of low-alloy steels.     

Austempered ductile iron: an alternative material for earth moving components

Traditionally steels have enjoyed some kind of monopoly in earth movement applications like ripper tips and grader blades. Earth movement demands that the material possesses both wear resistance and toughness. Ironically, the limitation of steels is that it is difficult to get a good combination of these properties. Recent research efforts in earth movement have focused on austempered ductile iron (ADI) as an alternative material, which exhibits both these properties. ADI is obtained when ductile cast iron is accorded a special heat treatment known as austempering. Before the usage of ADI can flourish, there is a need to thoroughly understand its mechanical and tribological behaviour. This paper details the heat treatment of ductile iron to yield ADI and also examines its mechanical and abrasive wear properties. These properties are compared with those of a proprietary quenched and tempered (Q&T) steel used in applications requiring wear resistance. Typically, when a load of 0.25 N mm⁻² is used, the relative abrasion resistance (RAR) of ADI austempered at 375 °C with an initial hardness of 315 Hv is 2.01, while that of a Q&T steel, of hardness 635 Hv is 2.02. The good wear resistance exhibited by ADI despite the low initial hardness can be attributed to the surface transformation of retained austenite to martensite during abrasion. This phenomenon has been positively confirmed by XRD.     

Properties of Graphite‐Strengthened Magnesium

Mg was dispersion‐strengthened with graphite by powder metallurgy. The material was produced by ball milling Mg micropowder (median particle diameter 40 μm) with 3 vol.‐% graphite powder (median particle diameter 1–2 μm). After 8 h ball milling the product was consolidated by hot extrusion. Structural analysis revealed that a submicrocrystalline structure developed during ball milling. Tensile tests showed that the material was brittle even up to 300 °C and, therefore, most mechanical tests were carried out under compression. Under those conditions the reinforced material showed yield stresses of 270 MPa at ambient temperature, 170 MPa at 150 °C, and 125 MPa at 300 °C. Mg processed under the same conditions, but without graphite addition, had significantly lower yield stresses. The dispersion‐strengthened Mg showed a marked increase in creep resistance: at 200 °C and a stress, σ_c, of 100 MPa, the secondary creep rate, ?_s, was in the lower 10^–9 s^–1 range and at 300 °C and σ_c of 80 MPa, ?_s values of up to 1 × 10^–8 s^–1 were measured. The results are discussed.     

Ni-Al基自润滑复合材料的制备及其摩擦学性能

本文采用粉末冶金的方法制备了Ni-Al基自润滑复合材料并研究了烧结温度对复合材料的机械及摩擦性能的影响,同时讨论了复合材料在不同试验条件下的摩擦磨损性能。结果表明,烧结温度越高,复合材料的致密性和显微硬度越高,摩擦性能也越稳定。在摩擦磨损试验过程中,试验载荷和频率对复合材料的摩擦性能也有一定影响,在其它参数不变的情况下,载荷越大,自润滑材料的摩擦系数越小;频率越大,材料的摩擦系数越大。加入5wt.%鳞片状石墨后,Ni-Al复合材料的硬度明显降低,摩擦系数在室温和600℃有不同程度的降低。     

Mechanical and tribological properties of self-lubricating metal matrix nanocomposites reinforced by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene – A review

Rapid innovation in nanotechnology in recent years enabled development of advanced metal matrix nanocomposites for structural engineering and functional devices. Carbonous materials, such as graphite, carbon nanotubes (CNT's), and graphene possess unique electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties. Owe to their lubricious nature, these carbonous materials have attracted researchers to synthesize lightweight self-lubricating metal matrix nanocomposites with superior mechanical and tribological properties for several applications in automotive and aerospace industries. This review focuses on the recent development in mechanical and tribological behavior of self-lubricating metallic nanocomposites reinforced by carbonous nanomaterials such as CNT and graphene. The review includes development of self-lubricating nanocomposites, related issues in their processing, their characterization, and investigation of their tribological behavior. The results reveal that adding CNT and graphene to metals decreases both coefficient of friction and wear rate as well as increases the tensile strength. The mechanisms involved for the improved mechanical and tribological behavior is discussed.     

High resistance boron treated steels for railway applications

Abstract

The present study analyses different boron contents (between 10 and 160 ppm) on the structure of a 0·2C–2Mn–1Si (wt-%) steel deformed at a starting temperature of 1050°C in a T. J. Pigott laboratory rolling mill. The steel was made in a laboratory open induction furnace using high purity raw materials and cast into metallic moulds. This experimental steel has proved to have tribological properties, under dry rolling/sliding contact, as good as those for the 0·8% pearlitic steels used in railway applications. Before thermomechanical processing, the steel ingots (70 × 70 × 70 mm) were homogenised at 1100°C for 1·5 h. The thermomechanical treatment was carried out by a reversed multipass process to reach a level of deformation of 60%. Plastic deformation was finished at ～920°C for all the rolled steels and the plates (70 × 150 × 20 mm) were then water quenched and/or air cooled to room temperature. Results show more bainitic structures as boron content increases in the air cooled steel after hot rolling. For the quenched steels, the structure becomes more martensitic as boron content increases. The best combination of mechanical properties was obtained for the air cooled 76 ppm boron containing steel, which had a lower bainitic structure. This steel had the yield strength of 750 MPa, 15% elongation and the hardness of 40 HRC. Materials characterisation was carried out by optical and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results are discussed in terms of the boron segregation towards grain boundaries, the effect of boron on the steel hardenability, as well as on the boron carbonitrides (CNB) precipitation.     

Mechanical and tribological behaviours of aluminium matrix composites reinforced by graphene nanoplatelets

In the present study, the effects of graphene content (0.1, 0.3, 0.5?wt-%) on the mechanical and tribological properties of aluminium matrix composites were reported. The experimental results reveal that the best apparent density (2.58?±?0.02?g?cm^?3), highest Vickers hardness (57?±?2.5?HV), lowest mass loss (1.6 and 9.7?mg for 10?N and 40?N), and lowest wear rate (12?×?10^?5 and 18?×?10^?5?mm³/Nm for 10?N and 40?N) were obtained at aluminium–0.1% graphene composite when compared with pure aluminium. The ultimate compressive strength of composites increases from 106?±?4 to 138?±?4?MPa with increasing graphene nanoplatelet contents. All results showed that graphene has been a very effective reinforcement and solid-lubricant material for Al matrix composites.     

Wide temperature spectrum self-lubricating coatings prepared by plasma spraying

Self-lubricating, multicomponent coatings, which lubricate over a wide range of operating conditions, are described. The coatings have been successfully applied by plasma spraying mixed powders onto superalloy substrates. They have been evaluated in friction and wear experiments and in sliding contact bearing tests. These coatings are wear resistant by virtue of their self-lubricating characteristics rather than because of extreme hardness; a further benefit is low friction. Experiments with simple pin-on-disk sliding specimens and oscillating plain cylindrical bearing tests were performed to evaluate the tribological properties of the coatings. It was shown that coatings of Nichrome, glass and calcium fluoride are self-lubricating from about 500 to 900°C, but give high friction at the lower temperatures. The addition of silver to the coating composition improved the low temperature bearing properties and resulted in coatings which are self-lubricating from cryogenic temperatures to at least 870°C; they are therefore “wide temperature spectrum” self-lubricating compositions.     

Design and preparation of gradient graphite/cermets self-lubricating composites

Based on the functionally graded materials (FGMs) design concept, the laminated-graded graphite/cermets self-lubricating composite was prepared to achieve the integration of mechanical properties and lubrication performance of the cermet. The effects of the layer number and thickness of graded structure on residual stresses in the gradient composites were investigated by finite element method (FEM). From the FEM analyses, the optimal gradient structure design was obtained corresponding to the following parameters: the number of graded layers n = 2 and the thickness of graded structure t = 1 mm. According to the optimum design, a graded graphite/cermets self-lubricating material with two layers was fabricated by a typical powder metallurgy technique. Compared with the homogenous graphite/cermets composite, the surface hardness and indentation fracture toughness of graded composite were increased by approximately 15.9% and 6.3%, respectively. The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) stress measurement identified the existence of residual compressive stress on the surface of graded composite. Additionally, the friction and wear tests revealed that the wear resistance of the graphite/cermets self-lubricating composite was improved significantly via the graded structural design, whereas the coefficient of friction changed slightly.     

Improved properties of friction stir-welded AZ31 magnesium alloy by post-weld heat treatment

Mechanical properties and microstructure of friction stir-welded AZ31 based on variety post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) temperatures were evaluated, and an optimal PWHT condition was identified. At rotational speed of 1200?rev?min^?1 and welding speed of 300?mm?min^?1, the average yield tensile, tensile strength and elongation of friction stir-welded joints was 92.5?MPa, 199.1?MPa and 7.3%, respectively. It was found that (300°C – 1?h) heat treatment after welding was more beneficial than other heat treatments in enhancing the mechanical properties and homogenising grain size. The maximum yield and tensile strength was 139.9 and 238.4?MPa, respectively, tensile longitudinal and compressive transverse residual stress could be effectively eliminated, and the fatigue strength increased 34.2% comparing with as-welded joints.     

Strength,toughness, and stiffness of wrought and directly sintered T6 high-speed steel at 20–600°C

Abstract

The mechanical properties of directly sintered T6 high-speed steel in the temperature range 20–600°C were generally comparable to those of concurrently heat-treated wrought material of similar composition. For the hardness range 860–940 HV30 macroscopic ductility was detected at 200°C and 450°C in the wrought and sintered materials, respectively; failure strains, however, did not exceed 2%. The value of Young's modulus dropped from ~240 to ~120 GNm^?2 as the temperature was raised to 600°C, yield strength dropped from 2·2 to 1·0 GNm^?2, but the fracture strengths showed a maximum, ~2·1 GNm^?2 at ~400°C for the wrought steel and ~1·4 GNm^?2 at ~450°C for the sintered steel. Microcracking preceded yielding and/or failure and was mainly through carbides, which were generally below the critical size to cause catastrophic fracture. The second stage of the failure process involved the linking through the matrix of such microcracks until conditions for fast fracture were satisfied (stage three). A quantitative model for carbide cracking in high-speed steels is absent as is the correlation of fracture strength with fracture toughness via the critical defect size, since, for example, the failure originating zones in wrought samples identified by scanning electron microscopy were generally larger than those predicted by linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM). It is suggested that there may be some analogies between failure in monotonic loading of high-speed steels and of ceramics with small defects; the behaviour in fatigue of short cracks in alloys and microscopic crack growth in delayed fracture of ceramics where LEFM analyses developed as a result of studying artificial long cracks appear not to hold.

MST/606     

Effects of the high temperature plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) of nitrogen in AISI H13 steel

In this paper we report the effect of high temperature PIII of nitrogen on the chemical and physical properties of AISI H13 steel. The implantation of H13 steels was carried out at different temperatures ranging between 300 °C and 720 °C. After the treatment, the surface morphology was drastically changed as observed by SEM analysis. Nitrogen penetration depth reaching up to 12 μm was achieved at 620 °C and 720 °C. The maximum hardness of about 592 HV was obtained for the sample treated at 470 °C that is 17% higher than for untreated specimen. There was a decrease of the hardness values for temperatures above 470 °C. The same hardness behavior with the temperature was confirmed by nanoindentation testing. Although an enriched nitrogen layer was obtained, no evidence of nitride compounds was detected by XRD analyses. On the other hand, improvements of the H13 steel tribological properties and corrosion resistance were obtained. The wear tests were conducted by pin-on-disk tribometer (rotating mode). The wear volume decreased by factor of 4.5 compared to the standard tempered and annealed H13 steel and 2.6 times reduction of the coefficient of friction was achieved. The electrochemical measurements were performed in 3.5% NaCl solution, pH = 6. Open circuit potential curves showed that the potentials are nobler for the PIII treated samples than for untreated specimen. In addition, the corrosion current density of the samples treated at 620 °C and 720 °C diminished to 3 × 10⁻⁸ A/cm².     

Precipitation,microstructure and mechanical properties of low nickel maraging steel

Abstract

A maraging steel with a composition of Fe–12·94Ni–1·61Al–1·01Mo–0·23Nb (wt-%) was investigated. Optical, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis were employed to study the microstructure of the steel after different aging periods at temperatures of 450–600°C. Hardness and Charpy impact toughness of the steel were measured. The study of microstructure and mechanical properties showed that nanosized precipitates were formed homogeneously during the aging process, which resulted in high hardness. As the aging time is prolonged, precipitates grow and hardness increases. Fractography of the as forged steel has shown mixed ductile and brittle fracture and has indicated that the steel has good toughness. Relationships among heat treatment, microstructure and mechanical properties are discussed. Further experiments using tensile testing and impact testing for aged steel were carried out.     

Influence of silicon on strength and toughness of 5 wt-%Cr secondary hardening steel

Abstract

The effects of manganese and silicon on the mechanical properties of the 5 wt-%Cr secondary hardening steel H-11 have been investigated. This steel normally contains about 0·5 wt-%Mn and 1wt-%Si. Two other steels were also considered, both identical to H-11, except that one contained no manganese and the other neither manganese nor silicon. The room temperature hardness and impact toughness were determined for the three steels for tempering temperatures ranging from 200 to 600°C. The results indicate that manganese has no influence on the tempering response or toughness of H-11, but that silicon significantly influences both.

MST/506