Effect of Bi modification treatment on microstructure,tensile properties,and fracture behavior of cast Al-Mg2Si metal matrix composite

Bi has a good modification effect on the hypoeutectic Al-Si alloy,and the morphology of eutectic Si changes from coarse acicular to fine fibrous.Based on the similarity between Mg2Si and Si phases in crystalline structure and crystallization process,the present study investigated the effects of different concentrations of Bi on the microstructure,tensile properties,and fracture behavior of cast Al-15wt.%Mg2Si in-situ metal matrix composite.The results show that the addition of the proper amount of Bi has a significant modification effect on both primary and eutectic Mg2Si in the Al-15wt.%Mg2Si composite.With an increase in Bi content from 0 to 1wt.%,the morphology of the primary Mg2Si is changed from irregular or dendritic to polyhedral shape;and its average particle size is significantly decreased from 70 to 6 μm.Moreover,the morphology of the eutectic Mg2Si phase is altered from flake-like to very short fibrous or dot-like.When the Bi addition exceeds 4.0wt.%,the primary Mg2Si becomes coarse again.However,the eutectic Mg2Si still exhibits the modified morphology.Tensile tests reveal that the Bi addition can improve the tensile strength and ductility of the material.Compared with those of the unmodified composite,the ultimate tensile strength and percentage elongation after fracture with 1.0wt.% Bi increase 51.2% and 100%,respectively.At the same time,the Bi addition changes the fracture behavior from brittle to ductile.     

Effect of alumina short fiber and air-cooling processing on solidification microstructure and tensile properties of Al2O3/Al-15Si composites

The effect of microstructure variation by addition of alumina short fiber and optimization of tensile properties by air-cooling processing in Al2O3/Al-15Si composites were studied.The results show that in Al-015Si alloy matrix composites with 14% and 30%(volume fraction)fiber,the primary silicon is hardly refined,but the eutectic silicon is effectively refined and granulated.Granulation of some eutectic silicon mainly happens in fiber segregation areas.Refining and granulation of the eutectic silicon are related to the physical constraint arising from the fiber,After the 30%Al2O3/Al-15Si composite was remelted and air-cooled,the number of the eutectic silicon on the surface of the fiber increases,which results in the improvement of fiber/matrix interface and tensile properties for the as-cast composite,Air-cooling processing may be reliable for the optmization of the microstructure and properties of fiber reinforced hypereutectic Al-15Si alloy composites.     

Microstructural characteristics of in situ Mg2Si/ Al-Si composite by low superheat pouring

To control the morphology and size of the primary and eutectic Mg2Si phases in in situ Mg2Si/Al-Si composite and achieve a feasible and reliable technique to produce appropriate feedstock for the thixo-casting and rheo-casting of this type of material, three AI-Si matrix composites reinforced by 5wt.%, 9wt.% and 17wt.% Mg2Si with hypoeutectic, eutectic and hypereutectic compositions were prepared by the low superheat pouring （LSP） process. The effects of the pouring temperature （superheat） on the morphology and size distribution of primary phases （primary e-AI and Mg2Si）, binary （a-AI ＋ Mg2Si） eutectic cell and eutectic Mg2Si were investigated. The experimental results show that low pouring temperature （superheat） not only refines the grain structure of the primary e-AI and binary （e-AI ＋ Mg2Si） eutectic cell in three composites and promotes the formation of more non- dendritic structural semi-solid metal （SSM） slurry of these phases; but also refines the primary and eutectic Mg2Si phases, which seems to be attributed to the creation of an ideal condition for the nucleation and the acquisition of a high survival of nuclei caused by the LSP process.     

Effect of strontium on crystallization of Mg2Si phase in Al—Si—Mg casting alloys

Otical microscope and SEM were used to observe the changes of the microstructure of Al-11.6%Si-0.4% Mg alloys with varying strontium additions and the effect of strontium on the crystallization of Mg2Si phase was discussed.It is found that Mg2Si phase nucleastes on the the surfaces of the eutectic silicon flakes in the unfully modified alloys,growing as meshwork or bamboo-shoot shape,however,very few and fine Mg2Si particles phase are isolated at the boundaries of the eurectic cells in the fully modified alloys.Strontium has an important influence on the crystallization of Mg2Si phase in the Al-Si-Mg casting alloys and it is thought to be related to the increase of the amunt of dendritic αphase and the modifying degree of eutectic silicon phase.     

Effect of phosphor addition on eutectic solidification and microstructure of an Al-13％Si alloy

As the refiner or modifier, the master alloys containing high concentration phosphor are widely used in preparing eutectic or hypereutectic Al-Si alloys. To study the effect of phosphor addition on the eutectic solidification and microstructure of the Al-13%Si alloy, an investigation has been undertaken by means of thermal analysis and micro/macro-structure observation. Results indicate that addition of phosphor in near eutectic Al-Si alloy promotes the nucleation of eutectic but has little refinement impact on primary Si particles as expected. Conversely, both primary Si particles and eutectic Si flakes become slightly coarser in P-rich alloys. The coarsening of eutectic Si flakes ties closely to the increased eutectic growth temperature with phosphor addition. The eutectic solidification of the alloy proceeds from the near mold zone towards the center, and it is also found that a few independent nucleation regions emerge in liquid at the solidification front due to the addition of phosphor.     

Eutectic nucleation in Al-7 wt pct Si-Mg casting alloys

The nucleation of eutectic crystals of hypoeutectic Al-7 wt pct Si-Mg casting alloys modified by Ce and Sr was studied by using differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). DSC results were applied to calculate the values of activity energy and nucleation work of eutectic nucleation for the alloys. These values were decreased and the eutectic nucleation frequency was increased with the addition of Ce and Sr to the alloys. Moreover, the morphology of eutectic silicon in the modified alloys was partially or fully modified as fine, fibrous or coral, and DSC plots show that the eutectic undercooling of Al-7 wt pct Si-Mg alloys were increased with additions of modified agents. The mechanism of eutectic modification is combined actions of the accelerated nucleation and the restricted growth.     

An Al-12Si/ZnS powder inoculant for eutectic silicon in Al-12Si alloy

To obtain high-performance Al-Si-based cast alloys,refinement and modification of Si phases are required.An Al-12Si/ZnS powder inoculant was designed and fabricated using a chemical bath deposition method.The efficiency of the inoculant for modifying the eutectic Si phase in as-cast Al-12Si alloy was studied.Results show that Al-12Si/ZnS powder can significantly refine the eutectic Si in Al-Si cast alloys.The best refinement effect for eutectic Si is achieved with 17.5wt.%Al-12Si/ZnS powder.Coarse long needle-shaped eutectic Si with a length of 18μm was modified into approximately spherical shape with a diameter of 6.53μm,which is evenly distributed throughout the alloy.The E2EM model calculation indicates that the inter-plane misfit(F_p)and inter-atomic spacing misfit(F_r)between ZnS and Si are all less than 0.5%,which confirms that ZnS is a potential nucleation site for Si phase.The hardness,tensile strength,and elongation of Al-12Si alloys modified with 17.5%Al-12Si/ZnS powder increase 6.30%,16.18%and 55.45%,respectively,compared to the unmodified Al-12Si alloy.The fracture behavior of the alloy with 17.5wt.%Al-12Si/ZnS powder is dominated by transgranular fracture supplemented by intergranular fracture.     

Effect of Y2O3 on microstructure and mechanical properties of hypereutectic Al-20%Si alloy

The effect of Y203 on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the hypereutectic Al-20%Si（mass fraction） alloy was investigated. The results show that, with the addition of Y203 into the Al-P-Ti-TiC modifier, the average size of primary silicon in the Al-20%Si alloy modified by Al-P-Ti-TiC-Y203 modifier （approximately 15μm or less） is significantly reduced, and the morphology of eutectic silicon changes from coarse acicular and plate like to refined fibrous. The Brinell hardness （HB189） and tensile strength （301 MPa） of Al-20%Si alloy modified by the Al-P-Ti-TiC-Y2O3 increase by 11.6% and 10.7%, respectively, for the alloys aider heat treatment.     

Enhanced mechanical properties in Al/diamond composites by Si addition

Diamond particles reinforced aluminum–silicon matrix composites,abbreviated as Al(Si)/diamond composites,were fabricated by squeeze casting.The effect of Si content on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the composites were investigated.The mechanical properties are found to increase monotonically with Si content increasing up to 7.0 wt%.The Al-7.0 wt% Si/diamond composite exhibits tensile strength of 78 MPa,bending strength of 230 MPa,and compressive strength of426 MPa.Al–Si eutectic phases are shown to connect with Al matrix and diamond particles tightly,which is responsible for the enhancement of mechanical properties in the Al(Si)/diamond composites.     

Effects of Post-weld Heat Treatment on Microstructure,Mechanical Properties and the Role of Weld Reinforcement in 2219 Aluminum Alloy TIG-Welded Joints

In as-welded state, each region of 2219 aluminum alloy TIG-welded joint shows diff erent microstructure and microhardness due to the diff erent welding heat cycles and the resulting evolution of second phases. After the post-weld heat treatment, both the amount and the size of the eutectic structure or θ phases decreased. Correspondingly, both the Cu content in α-Al matrix and the microhardness increased to a similar level in each region of the joint, and the tensile strength of the entire joint was greatly improved. Post-weld heat treatment played the role of solid solution strengthening and aging strengthening. After the post-weld heat treatment, the weld performance became similar to other regions, but weld reinforcements lost their reinforcing eff ect on the weld and their existence was more of an adverse eff ect. The joint without weld reinforcements after the post-weld heat treatment had the optimal tensile properties, and the specimens randomly crack in the weld zone.     

The First Phase of the SRIF Industrialized Base in ＂West Area＂ Has Been Put into Operation

After nearly two years＇ tense construction, the first phase of industrialized base of Shenyang Research Institute of Foundry （SRIF）, located at the Tiexi Casting and Forging Industrial Park in the west of Tiexi District, has now been completed and formally put into operation.     

Thermodynamics Study on the Decomposition of Chromite with KOH

Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, has proposed a method for oxidative leaching of chromite with potassium hydroxide. Understanding the mechanism of chromite decomposition, especially in the potassium hydroxide fusion, is important for the optimization of the operating parameters of the oxidative leaching process. A traditional thermodynamic method is proposed and the thermal decomposition and the reaction decomposition during the oxidative leaching of chromite with KOH and oxygen is discussed, which suggests that chromite is mainly destroyed by reactions with KOH and oxygen. Meanwhile, equilibrium of the main reactions of the above process was calculated at different temperatures and oxygen partial pressures. The stable zones of productions, namely, K2CrO4 and Fe2O3, increase with the decrease of temperature, which indicates that higher temperature is not beneficial to thermodynamic reactions. In addition, a comparison of the general alkali methods is carried out, and it is concluded that the KOH leaching process is thermodynamically superior to the conventional chromate production process.     

Influence of Heat Treatment on Damping Behaviour of the Magnesium Wrought Alloy AZ61

The effect of isochronal heat treatments for 1h on variation of damping, hardness and microstructural change of the magnesium wrought alloy AZ61 was investigated. Damping and hardness behaviour could be attributed to the evolution of precipitation process. The influence of precipitation on damping behaviour was explained in the framework of the dislocation string model of Granato and Lücke.     

Effect of Rare Earth Doping on Impedance,Modulus and Conductivity Properties of Multiferroic Composites:0.5(BiLa_xFe_(1-x)O_3)–0.5(PbTiO_3)

The Lanthanum-doped bismuth ferrite–lead titanate compositions of 0.5(Bi LaxFe1-xO3)–0.5(Pb Ti O3)(x = 0.05,0.10,0.15,0.20)(BLxF1-x-PT) were prepared by mixed oxide method.Structural characterization was performed by X-ray diffraction and shows a tetragonal structure at room temperature.The lattice parameter c/a ratio decreases with increasing of La(x = 0.05–0.20) concentration of the composites.The effect of charge carrier/ion hopping mechanism,conductivity,relaxation process and impedance parameters was studied using an impedance analyzer in a wide frequency range(102–106Hz) at different temperatures.The nature of Nyquist plot confirms the presence of bulk effects only,and non-Debye type of relaxation processes occurs in the composites.The electrical modulus exhibits an important role of the hopping mechanism in the electrical transport process of the materials.The ac conductivity and dc conductivity of the materials were studied,and the activation energy found to be 0.81,0.77,0.76 and 0.74 e V for all compositions of x = 0.05–0.20 at different temperatures(200–300 °C).     

Quantitative Analysis of the Crystallographic Orientation Relationship Between the Martensite and Austenite in Quenching–Partitioning–Tempering Steels

The orientation relationships(ORs)between the martensite and the retained austenite in low-and medium-carbon steels after quenching–partitioning–tempering process were studied in this work.The ORs in the studied steels are identified by selected-area electron diffraction(SAED)as either K–S or N–W ORs.Meanwhile,the ORs were also studied based on numerical fitting of electron backscatter diffraction data method suggested by Miyamoto.The simulated K–S and N–W ORs in the low-index directions generally do not well coincide with the experimental pole figure,which may be attributed to both the orientation spread from the ideal variant orientations and high symmetry of the low-index directions.However,the simulated results coincide well with experimental pole figures in the high-index directions{123}_(bcc).A modified method with simplicity based on Miyamoto’s work was proposed.The results indicate that the ORs determined by modified method are similar to those determined by Miyamoto’method,that is,the OR is near K–S OR for the low-carbon Q–P–T steel,and with the increase of carbon content,the OR is closer to N–W OR in medium-carbon Q–P–T steel.     

Using Finite Element and Contour Method to Evaluate Residual Stress in Thick Ti-6Al-4V Alloy Welded by Electron Beam Welding

This work was to reveal the residual stress profile in electron beam welded Ti-6Al-4V alloy plates(50 mm thick) by using finite element and contour measurement methods.A three-dimensional finite element model of 50-mmthick titanium component was proposed,in which a column–cone combined heat source model was used to simulate the temperature field and a thermo-elastic–plastic model to analyze residual stress in a weld joint based on ABAQUS software.Considering the uncertainty of welding simulation,the computation was calibrated by experimental data of contour measurement method.Both test and simulated results show that residual stresses on the surface and inside the weld zone are significantly different and present a narrow and large gradient feature in the weld joint.The peak tensile stress exceeds the yield strength of base materials inside weld,which are distinctly different from residual stress of the thin Ti-6Al-4V alloy plates presented in references before.     

Microstructures and Tensile Properties of Ultrafine-Grained Ni–(1–3.5) wt% SiC_(NP) Composites Prepared by a Powder Metallurgy Route

Silicon carbide nanoparticle-reinforced nickel-based composites(Ni–Si CNP),with a Si CNPcontent ranged from1 to 3.5 wt%,were prepared using mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering.In addition,unreinforced pure nickel samples were also prepared for comparative purposes.To characterize the microstructural properties of both the unreinforced pure nickel and the Ni–Si CNPcomposites transmission electron microscopy(TEM) was used,while their mechanical behavior was investigated using the Vickers pyramid method for hardness measurements and a universal tensile testing machine for tensile tests.TEM results showed an array of dislocation lines decorated in the sintered pure nickel sample,whereas,for the Ni–Si CNPcomposites,the presence of nano-dispersed Si CNPand twinning crystals was observed.These homogeneously distributed Si CNPwere found located either within the matrix,between twins or on grain boundaries.For the Ni–Si CNPcomposites,coerced coarsening of the Si CNPassembly occurred with increasing Si CNPcontent.Furthermore,the grain sizes of the Ni–Si CNPcomposites were much finer than that of the unreinforced pure nickel,which was considered to be due to the composite ball milling process.In all cases,the Ni–Si CNPcomposites showed higher strengths and hardness values than the unreinforced pure nickel,likely due to a combination of dispersion strengthening(Orowan effects) and particle strengthening(Hall–Petch effects).For the Ni–Si CNPcomposites,the strength increased initially and then decreased as a function of Si CNPcontent,whereas their elongation percentages decreased linearly.Compared to all materials tested,the Ni–Si CNPcomposite containing 1.5% Si C was found more superior considering both their strength and plastic properties.     

Directional Growth of Tin Crystals Controlled by Combined Solute Concentration Gradient Field and Static Magnetic Field

A new method was introduced to achieve directional growth of Sn crystals. Microstructures in liquid(Pb)/liquid(Sn) diffusion couples were investigated under various static magnetic fields. Results show that the β-Sn crystals mainly reveal an irregular dendritic morphology without or with a relatively low static magnetic field(B0.3 T). When the magnetic field is increased to 0.5 T, the β-Sn dendrites close to the final stage of growth begin to show some directional character. With a further increase in the magnetic field to a higher level(0.8–5 T), the β-Sn dendrites have an enhanced directional growth character, but the dendrites show a certain deflection. As the magnetic field is increased to 12 T, the directional growth of the β-Sn dendrites in the center of the couple is severely destroyed. The mechanism of the directional growth of the β-Sn crystals and the deflection of the β-Sn crystals with the application of static magnetic field was tentatively discussed.     

Growth Kinetics of Single Inclusion Particle in Molten Melts

On the basis of the single-particle framework, a new theory on inclusion growth in metallurgical melts is developed to study the kinetics of inclusion growth on account of reaction and collision. The studies show that the early growth of inclusion depends on reaction growth and Brawnian motion collision, and where the former is decisive, the late growth depends on turbulence collision and Stokes＇ collision, and where the former is dominant; collision growth is very quick during the smelting process, lessened in the refining process, but nearly negligible in the continuous casting process.