Manufacture of a new kind diamond grinding wheel with Al-based bonding agent

A new kind diamond grinding wheel with Al-based bonding agent was prepared in this paper. The influence of sintering temperature to the relative density (R.D.), hardness and service life of diamond grinding wheels with AlSnTi, AlSnTiNiCo, AlSnTiNi and AlSnNiCo bonding agent was studied. The microstructure of different bonding agent sintered at different temperature was observed. The service life of the Al-based grinding wheels was compared with Cu-based or resin-based ones. The results showed that the AlSnTiNiCo is the best composition system in this research. The best sintering temperature is 300 °C. The sample has a high relative density after sintered at 300 °C. The retention of Al-based bonding agent to diamond grit is strong. The service life of this Al-based diamond grinding wheel is about three times as long as that of resin-bonded grinding wheel.     

Nitridation of Ti6Al4V alloy under ultrasonic impact treatment in liquid nitrogen

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis were employed to study the effect of mechanical treatment on the surface chemical state, composition and morphology of commercial Ti6Al4V alloy. It has been demonstrated that ultrasonic impact treatment of Ti6Al4V in a liquid nitrogen (LN2) environment results in substantial grain refinement and formation of nitrides and oxynitrides of all the alloy components. The mechanochemical synthesis of the nitrides and oxynitrides from LN2 was found to efficiently occur not only within the impacted area but outside it as well. The layer with a high content of incorporated nitrogen and average atomic ratio N/Ti = 0.94 was estimated to be at least ～2 μm thick. As a result of the combined effect of cryogenic deformation, nanoscale grain refinement and nitriding, a 3-fold increase in the microhardness of Ti6Al4V alloy is obtained. The impact treatment in LN2 was observed to be accompanied by material transfer from the hardened steel pin to the alloy followed by incorporation of the pin components into Ti6Al4V and formation of the FeN, FeC and TiC bonds.     

Influence of alloy composition and thermal history on carbide precipitation in γ-based TiAl alloys

Carbide precipitation in TiAl alloys with different alloying element additions and thermal history was investigated by transmission electron microscopy and high energy X-ray diffraction. The results reveal that Nb addition in TiAl alloys does not increase the carbon solubility in the γ matrix significantly. With increasing carbon concentration in the alloys, a splitting of the P-type carbides takes place earlier in the course of ageing at 800 °C and the formation of H-type carbides is promoted. For a nearly single γ phase alloy Ti51Al5Nb0.5C, H-type carbides are the thermodynamically stable phase. However, with decreasing Al concentration, P-type carbides become thermodynamically stable at low carbon concentration (below 1%) in Ti45Al and Ti45Al5Nb alloys. It is feasible to achieve high thermodynamical stability of the P-type carbides in TiAl alloys through controlling alloying elements.     

Thermophysical properties of TiB2SiC ceramics from 300 °C to 1700 °C

In the present work, high-frequency induction heating is used to fabricate TiB₂SiC ceramics and the relative density was more than 97%, and then the thermophysical properties of TiB₂SiC ceramics were investigated in detail. The specific heat showed the weak dependence on the test temperature due to the presence of the interface gap because the relative density was not 100%. As the sintering temperature increased, the thermal diffusivity of TiB₂SiC ceramics increased, which was due to the increase of relative density and grain growth. The thermal conductivity of TiB₂SiC ceramics showed a marked increase with increasing grain size and relative density. This could be attributed to a reduction in the number of grain boundaries that interrupt the heat flow path, resulting in an increase in the mean free path of the phonons. Larger grains led to an increase of mean free path of the phonons and thus contributed to a further increase in thermal conductivity.     

Thermomechanical modeling and simulation of aluminum alloy behavior during extrusion and cooling

The purpose of this work is the modeling and simulation of aluminum alloys during extrusion processes. In particular, attention is focused here on aluminum alloys of the 6000 series (AlMg Si) and 7000 series (Al Zn Mg). In the current paper, a number of aspects of the structural simulation as well as that of extrusion as a thermomechanical process are considered. These aspects include contact and adaptive mesh refinement, heat transfer inside the billet, heat transfer between the workpiece and the container, frictional dissipation, mechanical energy and surface radiation. The friction is considered to model the so called “dead material zone”. The radiation constant has been estimated so that the results are close to the experimental results.     

Effect of boron on the thermodynamic stability of amorphous polymer-derived Si(B)CN ceramics

The reason for the higher thermal persistence of amorphous polymer-derived SiBCN ceramics (T ～ 1700–2000 °C) compared to SiCN ones (T ～ 1500 °C) has been a matter of debate for more than a decade. Despite recent experimental results which indicate a major kinetic effect of boron on the thermal persistence of the ceramics, no experimental investigation of the thermodynamic stability of the materials has been reported. In this work, we present measured energetics of a series of the amorphous ceramics with various boron contents (0–8.3 at.%) using high-temperature oxidative drop-solution calorimetry. Through measurement of the drop-solution enthalpies in molten sodium molybdate at 811 °C, the formation enthalpies of the amorphous ceramics from crystalline components (SiC, BN, Si₃N₄, C) at 25 °C were obtained and found to be between ?1.4 and ?26.6 kJ g-atom^?1. The determined enthalpy data plus the estimated positive entropy of formation values point to the thermodynamic stability of the amorphous ceramics relative to the crystalline phases, but such stabilization diminishes with increasing boron content. In contrast, the higher boron content increases the temperature of Si₃N₄ crystallization despite less favorable energetics for the amorphous phase, implying more favorable energetics for crystallization. Thus the so-called “stability” of SiBCN ceramics in terms of persistence against Si₃N₄ crystallization appears to be controlled by kinetics rather than by thermodynamic stability.     

Study on the formation of core–rim structure in Ti(CN)-based cermets

Ti(CN)-based cermets were synthesized from Ti(CN)WCMo₂CTaCNiCo composite powders by vacuum-low pressure sintering. The phase evolution and the formation of core–rim structure in Ti(CN)-based cermets were systemically investigated during difference reaction stages at 950–1450 °C. The results show that the secondary carbides such as Mo₂C and TaC are begun to dissolve at 950 °C, finished at 1150 °C, and the solution temperature of WC phase is range from 1150 to 1300 °C, which are result in increase of the cermets lattice constant. At the same time, the inner rim is also formed, and Ti(CN)-based cermets are composed of (Ti, W, Mo, Ta)(CN) and Ni/Co solid solution phase. While at 1350 °C, it was found that the outer rim began to precipitate from the liquid phase with the metal binder. With increase of sintering temperature, mechanical properties of cermets improved obviously were related intimately to the increase of outer rim thickness.     

Effects of deep cryogenic treatment on the microstructure and properties of WCFeNi cemented carbides

The effects of deep cryogenic treatment on microstructure and properties of WCFeNi cemented carbides were investigated in this paper. The WCFeNi cemented carbides were deep cryogenically treated at about − 196 °C for 2, 12 and 24 h. In order to study the phase composition and quantitative analysis of the deep cryogenically treated specimens, a selective electrolytic corrosion was used. The internal friction, mechanical properties, wear properties and corrosion behavior of the deep cryogenically treated WCFeNi cemented carbides were measured. The results show that with an increase in deep cryogenic treatment time, martensitic phase transformation of binder phase from γ → α has taken place, the α-(Fe,Ni) phase content in the binder phase gradually increases from 12.7% to 86.8% (wt.%) and W particles precipitate from the binder phase. Compared with the as-sintered specimens, the maximum hardness and transverse rupture strength of the specimens treated by cryogenic environment increase by almost 20% and 7.7%, respectively. The fracture toughness decreases from 25.7 MPam^½ for as-sintered specimens to 19.6 MPam^½ for the alloy after deep cryogenic treatment. The wear rate and friction coefficient decrease by almost 56% and 17.2%, while the corrosion resistance slightly decreases compared with the alloys without deep cryogenic treatment. The change of the properties can be primarily attributed to the fact that the martensite phase transformation from γ-(Fe,Ni) to α-(Fe,Ni) and precipitation of W particles in the binder phase improve the hardness and strengthen the binder phase during the deep cryogenic treatment.     

The annealing and re-oxidation of oxidized CuNi alloys

A study has been made of the effects of an intermediate, isothermal annealing treatment in argon on the oxidation kinetics in dry oxygen of Cu10%Ni and Cu24%Ni at 800°C and Cu80%Ni at 1000°C using a semi-automatic microbalance. Changes in scale morphology and composition have been investigated using various techniques.Oxidation of Cu10%Ni and Cu24%Ni produces external scales consisting of a thick, inner Cu₂O layer and a thin, outer CuO layer, together with nickel-rich internal oxide in the adjacent alloy. Oxidation of Cu80%Ni yields an external scale consisting of a thick, inner NiO layer and a thin, outer CuO layer, together with a few nickel-rich internal oxide particles in the adjacent alloy. During annealing, the outer CuO layers on the three alloys dissociate to give Cu₂O and oxygen. With Cu80%Ni only, further dissociation to give copper metal takes place after long annealing times. In all cases, the annealing treatment leads to a reduction in the cation vacancy gradient across the scale and a reduction in the total vacancy level in the scale due to the reduction in oxygen activity at the oxide-gas interface.In Cu10%Ni and Cu24%Ni, internal oxide formation during annealing stimulates dissociation of the Cu₂O scale near the oxide-alloy interface to give copper metal and oxygen. Similarly, internal oxide formation stimulates dissociation of the NiO layer on Cu-80%Ni, although to a lesser extent than for the copper-rich alloys.During re-oxidation, the kinetics are partly determined by the extent of scale thinning during the prior annealing treatment, giving more rapid weight gains than expected from those recorded during the initial oxidation period. Nevertheless, particularly for Cu-80%Ni, where the scale thinning is relatively small, the reduction in the cation vacancy gradient across the scale and the reduction in the total vacancy level in the scale do result in a reduced oxidation rate compared with the rate recorded during the initial oxidation period.     

Structural,mechanical and electrical-contact properties of nanocrystalline-NbC/amorphous-C coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering

Niobium-carbide nanocomposite coatings with a carbon content varying from 43 to 64 at.% were deposited by dual DC magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron microscopy showed that all coatings consisted of nanometer sized NbC grains embedded in a matrix of amorphous carbon. Mechanical properties and electrical resistivity showed a strong dependency on the amount of amorphous carbon (a-C) and NbC grain size in the coating. The highest hardness (23 GPa), elastic modulus (295 GPa) and the lowest resistivity (260 μΩ cm) were measured for the coating with about 15% of a-C phase. Contact resistance measurements using a crossed cylinder set-up showed lowest contact resistance for the coating containing 33% a-C (140 μΩ at a contact force of 100 N), which is comparable to a Ag reference (45 μΩ at a contact force of 100 N). Comparison with TiC-based nanocomposites studied under similar conditions showed that the NbC system has less tendency to form a-C and that lowest contact resistance is obtained at comparable amounts of a-C phase in both material systems (33% for NbC compared to 35% for TiC). With these good electrical contact properties, the NbC nanocomposites can be considered as a potential material for electrical contact applications.     

Photoluminescence and electroluminescence of oligoacetylenic silanes and germanes

A series of light-emitting oligoacetylenic silanes and germanes containing fluorene units was investigated. It was found that the higher oligomers display lower band gaps and that the CSi(Ge)C bond permits π-electron delocalization. The π-d_Si or π-d_Ge interactions aid the π-electrons in passing through the Si (Ge) atoms. The observed differences in fluorescence spectra may also result from a substituent effect of the silyl groups. The SiSi σ bond also permits π-electron delocalization and thus there is a through-bond interaction between π orbitals and the SiSi bond. The conjugation-interrupting Ge sp³ link aids π-electron delocalization along the oligomer backbone less efficiently than does a Si link, thus leading to relatively shorter effective conjugation lengths and higher band gaps. In the higher oligomers, multiple π-d_Si or π-d_Ge interactions permit the vibrational levels of the excited state to split to form sublevels observable as new transitions in the respective absorption spectra. FWHM values of the PL spectra increase with increase of the oligomer backbone length which relates to the increase of the intermolecular interaction between the chromophore units. With increasing oligomer backbone length, the EL efficiency decreases, which can be attributed to the enhanced probability of interchain exciton annihilation in LEDs using higher oligomers.     

Effect of consolidation and oxide dispersoid addition on phase formation and mechanical properties of WTi ODS alloy

WTi alloys are presently considered promising candidates for plasma facing components in advanced nuclear energy systems. The mechanically alloyed WTi model alloys consolidated by different techniques were investigated. The effect of different amounts of the dispersed oxide particles on characteristics and properties of the WTi materials was also discussed. The results show that a homogeneous fine grain structure without formation of Ti-rich oxides is obtained in the model alloy sintered by spark plasma sintering. The (W,Ti)C solid solution and α″-Ti martensite phase are also found in the alloy confirmed by TEM investigation, which can be contributed to the effect of the carbon contamination and cooling rate during the process. In this work, it is clear to demonstrate that the presence of different carbides and Ti phases plays an important role in determining hardness and elastic modulus of the materials. The microstructure homogeneity and mechanical properties of the alloys can be further improved by increasing numbers of oxide dispersoids.     

Atom site preference and γ′/γ mismatch strain in NiAlCoTi superalloys

The structure and chemistry of NiCoAlTi quaternary superalloys are investigated at the microstructural and atomic scale. Atom probe tomograghy (APT) is used to quantify phase compositions and elemental partitioning behavior. Using aberration corrected electron microscopy, the site occupancy of the atoms within the A₃ B structure (L1₂–type) γ′ phase is determined via atomic resolution energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Ni is observed to preferentially occupy the A sub-lattice positions for all alloys, while Al and Ti occupy the B sub-lattice. In contrast, Co's site preference changes from a random distribution to the A sub-lattice as the alloy composition changes, in agreement with theoretical predictions from literature. Finally, the lattice strain across the γ′/γ interfaces is measured as a function of alloy composition.     

Designed fabrication of hard CrCr2O3Cr7C3 nanocomposite coatings for anti-wear application

Nanocrystalline CrCr₂O₃Cr₇C₃ composite coatings were fabricated by electrodeposition followed by thermal treatment. The structures of coatings were investigated using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. The composition, elemental chemical state, mechanical properties and wear resistance of coatings were determined using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, nanoindentation and oscillating friction-wear testing, respectively. Wear tracks were observed by scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the as-deposited coating exhibits amorphous structure. The subsequent thermal treatment at 600 °C induces the crystallization and the generation of nanoscale Cr₂O₃ and Cr₇C₃ particles in the Cr-matrix, which results in the hardness of the coating increasing to 21 GPa with slight increase in elastic modulus. Owing to the compromise between high hardness and low elastic modulus, the obtained CrCr₂O₃Cr₇C₃ composite coating exhibits excellent wear resistance.     

First-principles investigation of magnetic properties and metamagnetic transition of NiCoMnZ(Z = In,Sn, Sb) Heusler alloys

We employed the density functional theory to investigate the structural, magnetic properties and metamagnetic transition on Mn and Co doped-Ni₂MnZ (Z = In, Sn, Sb) Heusler alloys. The calculated formation energy indicates that excess Mn and Co prefer to occupy Z and Ni sites, respectively. The energy difference between austenite and martensite phases exhibits a monotonic increase with Mn doping, and a decrease with Co doping, which are consistent with the trend of experimental martensitic transformation temperature. The evaluated magnetic exchange parameters show a strong dependence on Z element, which can be explained by the super-exchange interaction mediated by Z sp states near the Fermi level. Bond analysis of martensite phase reveals that the strength of MnSb bond is stronger than that of MnIn and MnSn bond and it explains the larger driving magnetic field in NiMnSb than NiMnZ(Z = In, Sn) is need for metamagnetic phase transformation. In addition, we predict NiCoMnZ (Z = Sn, Sb) alloys require a smaller compressive epitaxial strain for metamagnetic transition than NiCoMnIn alloys.     

Structure and electronic properties of the Watson–Crick base pairs: Role of hydrogen bonding

The hydrogen bonding patterns in the adenine–thymine (A–T) and guanine–cytosine (G–C) base pairs for B-DNA has been studied using the density functional theory. The H-bond for the crystal geometry is found to differ considerably from the geometry optimized structures for the free base pairs with larger deviation for the G–C pair compared to the A–T pair. Furthermore, the H-bonding patterns are found to be highly non-local and co-operative. For the N···HN bond in the G–C pair, the proton hops in between two symmetric double-well potentials localized on the donor and the acceptor, due to cancellation of the local polarizations of the top and down NH···O and O···HN bonds, respectively. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) gap (HOMO–LUMO gap) for the free bases decreases with increase in the strength of the H-bonds in between the base pairs with larger decrease for the G–C pair. The adiabatic electron affinity (AEA) for the free bases which are found to be all negative become positive on the formation of the H-bonds and more so for the G–C pair.     

Synthesis and characterization of IIa-type S-doped diamond in FeNi catalyst under high pressure and high temperature conditions

In this work, service through nitrogen getter we have successfully synthesized sulfur(S) doped IIa-type diamond single crystals at 1400 °C and 5.5 GPa in FeNi-C system. We found that the synthetic diamond are mainly composited of the {111} faces because of the addition of S in the synthesis system. In addition, the color of our produced diamond changed from white to light brown and the shape of diamond changed from Cub-Octahedron to Octahedron with increase of S addition in the FeNi-C system. Furthermore, we notice that many kinds of defects, such as stratiform defects, craters and inverted pyramid defects appeared on the surfaces of diamonds induced by the additive of S. The FTIR results show that the obtained diamond crystals are IIa-type diamonds, containing less than 1 ppm nitrogen. XPS measurement indicates that S was successfully incorporated into our produced diamond lattice in the SC and CSO forms. Raman spectra reveal that the as-growth S-doped IIa-type diamond single crystals possess a high-quality sp³ structure. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra demonstrate that nitrogen-vacancy is formed during diamond growth. Our work also helpful for understanding the formation of nature diamond.     

The influence of Cr and B additions on the mechanical properties and oxidation behaviour of L21-ordered Fe–Al–Ti-based alloys at high temperatures

Several Fe25AlTiX (X = Cr, B) L2₁-ordered (Heusler phase) alloys with 15 or 20 at.% Ti and varying Cr and B contents have been investigated with respect to their mechanical properties and their oxidation behaviour at elevated temperatures. The mechanical properties have been characterized by means of high-temperature compression tests, four-point-bending tests and creep tests at 750, 800 and 850 °C. The oxidation behaviour has been examined using thermogravimetric analysis at 800 °C in synthetic air. The results show that when Cr and B are added, the latter results in the formation of TiB₂, is beneficial for the creep resistance and has no influence on the still-excellent oxidation resistance. However, the alloys show rather high brittle-to-ductile transition temperatures, which can be lowered by the addition of TiB₂ as a result of grain refinement.     

Flotation separation of marmatite from pyrrhotite using DMPS as depressant

1 Introduction Pyrrhotite and marmatite are found in most sulfide ore bodies together. Their separation becomes an important issue. In the flotation of complex sulfide ores, high pH value is generally used to separate valuable sulfide minerals from pyrrh…     

Preparation of hybrid films of aluminosilicate nanofiber and conjugated polymer

We have demonstrated the preparation of hybrid films of aluminosilicate nanofiber (imogolite) and water-soluble poly(p-phenylene) (WS-PPP), which has sulfonate groups. The imogolite/WS-PPP hybrid gel could be prepared by mixing a solution of these two materials and subsequent centrifugation. The aluminol (AlOH) groups on the surface of imogolite would be protonated under acidic conditions to afford AlOH₂⁺ groups that can interact with sulfonate groups (SO₃^?) of WS-PPP. Based on this ionic interaction, a layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly was applied to fabricate the hybrid films of imogolite nanofibers and WS-PPP. The deposited amounts of WS-PPP and imogolite were measured by quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) measurements and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) observation revealed that imogolite nanofibers were well networked in the LBL hybrid film.