Ceramic reinforced high modulus steel composites: processing,microstructure and properties

Ceramic reinforced steel matrix composites are materials for automotive, aerospace, wear and cutting applications. Such metal matrix composites (MMCs) combine attractive physical, mechanical and wear properties with ease of fabrication and low cost. The review focuses on the current state of the art of producing these metal matrix composites, ceramics reinforcements, composition of steel matrix, microstructure evolution and parameters influencing the mechanical and wear properties. Processing methods to fabricate ceramic reinforced steel matrix composites are discussed to produce these composites with low number of defects, homogeneous microstructure and high mechanical and wear performance. The influence of chemical nature of ceramic reinforcements and composition of steel matrix on the microstructure, mechanical and wear properties is presented. The strengthening mechanisms and parameters controlling wear performance of steel MMCs are described as a function of the content of ceramic reinforcements, microstructural design and structure of the steel matrix. Keeping in view the stability of ceramics in steels, suitable ceramic reinforcements and steel matrix materials are discussed. Moreover, the importance of microstructure and interface between ceramic reinforcement and steel matrix in controlling the mechanical properties of steel MMCs is highlighted. The review identifies area of research for development to fully appreciate and tailor the properties of these industrially important composites.

Les matériaux composites à matrice d’acier, renforcés de céramique, sont des matériaux pour application dans l’industrie automobile, aérospatiale, de l’usure et du découpage. Les matériaux composites à matrice métallique (MMCs) en acier et céramique combinent des propriétés attrayantes physiques, mécaniques et d’usure, à la facilité de fabrication et au coût faible. Cette revue se concentre sur l’état de la technique courante de production des matériaux composites à matrice d’acier, renforcés de céramique, sur les renforcements en céramique, sur la composition de la matrice d’acier, sur l’évolution de la microstructure, sur les propriétés mécaniques et sur les paramètres importants qui contrôlent les propriétés mécaniques et d’usure. On discute des méthodes de traitement pour la fabrication des matériaux composites à matrice d’acier, renforcés de céramique afin de produire des MMCs avec peu de défauts, une microstructure homogène et un rendement élevé des propriétés mécaniques et d’usure. On décrit l’influence de la nature chimique des renforcements et de la composition de la matrice en acier sur le développement de la microstructure et sur les propriétés mécaniques et d’usure. On décrit les mécanismes de renforcement et les paramètres contrôlant le rendement à l’usure des MMCs en acier en fonction de la teneur en renforcement de céramique, de la conception de la microstructure et de la structure de la matrice en acier. Gardant en vue la stabilité des céramiques dans les aciers, on discute des matériaux appropriés de renforcements céramiques et de matrice d’acier. De plus, on souligne l’importance de la conception de la microstructure et de l’interface dans le contrôle des propriétés mécaniques des MMCs en acier. Cette revue identifie des sujets de recherche à développer afin de comprendre complètement et de créer sur mesure les propriétés de ces matériaux composites d’importance industrielle.     

Examination of Bulge Test for Determining Residual Stress, Young’s Modulus, and Poisson’s Ratio of 3C-SiC Thin Films

Despite great advancements in thin-film growth and deposition techniques, determination of the residual stress and Young’s modulus for thin films has continued to be a challenge. The bulge test is a potentially powerful tool for characterizing these mechanical properties but is underutilized because of its sensitivity to experimental error. The bulge test is highly sensitive to sample and test preparation, accuracy of the deflection measurement, accuracy in the measurement of film dimensions, and selection of the correct equation to be used for extraction of the Young’s modulus and residual stress. In this study, effort has been made to consolidate the findings from various reports in the literature, and a thorough error analysis has been conducted. A discussion on the experimental technique used to extract Poisson’s ratio from the bulge test is also presented. Finally, the technique is used to determine the residual stress and Young’s modulus of 3C-SiC thin films grown on silicon.     

Comparison of Pulse Velocity and Impact-Echo Findings to Properties of Thin Disks from a Fire Damaged Slab

The engineering assessment of fire damage to a concrete slab provided the opportunity to compare the results of in situ, nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques and laboratory testing of specimens taken from cores extracted from the fire damaged slab. This paper discusses and compares results of in situ pulse velocity and impact-echo testing with dynamic elastic modulus and air permeability index test results of 25?mm (1?in.) thick disks sawed from concrete cores removed from selected areas of the damaged slab. Both the NDE techniques and the laboratory testing of thin disks identified the presence of damage as a result of the fire. Analysis of the relatively thin concrete specimens permitted assessment of the presence and degree of damage in thin layers, and provided important and useful data on concrete properties for engineering assessment which was not available from NDE alone. Compressive strength results were consistent with the results of other tests but largely inconclusive by themselves. Impact-echo testing was able to identify the presence of a severely deteriorated concrete layer but could not identify the extent or depth of damage or clearly identify less damaged areas. A distressed layer of concrete was found by subsequent laboratory testing to be limited to a near-surface zone in some areas as suggested by the pulse velocity evaluation, but pulse velocity based analysis resulted in an overestimate of the depth of the damage. The findings highlighted a shortcoming of using conventional strength testing alone on investigations involving relatively thin layers of damage and pointed out several key limitations in the use and interpretation of nondestructive evaluation and associated analysis in a field assessment project.     

ISO13528与NATA能力验证尧敦图的统计模型比较

对ISO13528和澳大利亚国家检测机构协会(NATA)所用的能力验证尧敦图的统计模型进行了讨论,分别利用霍特林T²检验和二维正态分布推导出尧敦椭圆方程的公式,使用Excel软件绘制出尧敦椭圆,参与能力验证的各个实验室的分析数据也在同一个图中显示出来。利用坐标变换,还得到了其他不同坐标下的尧敦图。在一个尧敦图中同时绘制出置信水平分别为95%和99%的尧敦椭圆,直观显示出合格数据、存疑数据和不合格数据。ISO 13528中,Z_A,B是系统误差和随机误差的组合,利用主成分分析,可以将他们区分和表示出来。由于原始数据不总是正态分析,且采用了不同的数学模型,NATA方法得到的尧敦椭圆和ISO 13528得到的尧敦椭圆有时是不同的。