Development of process for thermomechanical treatment of ultrahigh strength steel prepared by electroslag refining

Abstract

Thermomechanical treatment (TMT) is the simultaneous use of work hardening, and grain refinement along with solid solution and precipitation strengthening. In this investigation, four alloys, with a base composition of 0·28%C, 1·0%Mn, 4·2%Cr, 1·0%Mo, 0·34%V, were prepared by electroslag refining (ESR) and by addition of small amounts of Ti and Nb and by increasing Cr and V to 4·8 and 0·48% respectively. In two of the alloys a yield strength in excess of 1550 MPa was obtained in the as cast quenched and tempered condition. Attempts were made to further increase the yield strength by thermomechanical treatment. The process parameters for thermomechanical treatment were optimised by adopting procedures such as calculation of stability of precipitates, hot compression test, determination of cooling rates in different coolants, and modelling of TTT and CCT diagrams. The process involved prerolling of the ESR ingot to a bar at 1200°C, followed by hot rolling in two passes starting from 950°C and finishing at 850°C with equal deformation of 25% in each pass to convert the bar into plates. These were immediately cooled in one of the cooling media: air, polymer–water solution (1 : 1·5) and oil. Yield strength in excess of 1750 MPa was obtained in oil cooled specimens of the alloy with titanium addition and that where Cr and V were increased. The niobium added specimen gave strengths, similar to that obtained for the base alloy, in spite of the fact that the as cast alloy had shown very high strengths, presumably because of the high soaking temperatures and grain growth. Air cooling gave the lowest strengths and oil cooling the highest.     

屋面防护落石冲击缓冲材料评述

屋面的防护缓冲材料对落石冲击下建筑物的安全有着至关重要的影响。对不同的缓冲材料从两个方面进行了评述,一是提高混凝土屋面板本身的抗冲击性能,主要介绍了橡胶混凝土、橡胶改性沥青混凝土、纤维混凝土、层布式混杂纤维混凝土和蜂窝状钢管约束混凝土5种具有较好抗冲击性能的改良混凝土。二是在混凝土屋面板上加缓冲垫层,就垫层碎石土体的选择、热压聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料垫层和废旧轮胎垫层进行了评述。有助于了解屋面板抗冲击缓冲材料的发展趋势,为相关的研究和工程应用提供参考。     

保护渣固态渣膜传导及辐射耦合传热特性研究

保护渣固态渣膜传热特性包括传导传热和辐射传热两种,固态渣膜传热特性会对铸坯表面质量产生重要影响。提出了一种能够描述多层介质中多次反射的数学模型并计算了通过渣膜的辐射传热量。基于能量守恒方程建立了一维稳态下的传导与辐射的耦合传热模型。根据计算所得的温度分布及辐射传热量讨论了影响保护渣综合传热的因素。计算结果表明：（1）通过固态渣膜的辐射传热量随着[T2/(1-R)]的增加而逐渐增加;（2）固态渣膜反射率一定时,固态渣膜的吸收率越大,渣膜温度随距离的变化偏离线性关系越明显,靠近结晶器侧渣膜的温度随着固态渣膜反射率的增加而降低;（3）通过渣膜的辐射传热量在综合传热中所占的比例在10%～50%之间。由于辐射传热量降低的同时传导传热量在综合传热中所占的比例可能会升高,因此改变固态渣膜的光学性质并不一定能降低通过渣膜的综合传热量。     

Selection of parameters for μE-beam welding

Abstract

Electron beam welding is a well known process used where high precision, high reliability welds are needed, often in exotic materials. Recently, it has been proposed to apply the electron beam produced in a standard scanning electron microscope (SEM), with reversible modifications to increase beam current, for microscale welding. In addition to providing the clean environment associated with the column vacuum, the SEM in imaging mode provides exceptional capabilities in visualising extremely small parts. Furthermore, the standard stage and beam motion controls offer the possibility of flexible programming of beam path with relatively minor software additions. In order to better evaluate the requirements for and effects of μE-beam welding (μEBW) on typical microtechnologically important materials, a clear understanding of the characteristics of the SEM's beam and its interaction with possible target materials is needed. The penetration ability of electrons depends strongly upon their accelerating voltage and the target they are being directed at. Hence, in some circumstances the beam may interact as a surface heat source, while in others it may act as a volume heat source, with important consequences on weld schedule development for the parts and geometry being welded. In this work, the authors explore some of the factors involved and propose simple models for the electron beam heat source which depend on the parameters being used.     

Effects of welding parameters on melting energy of CO2 laser–GMA hybrid welding

Abstract

A series of CO₂ laser–gas metal arc (GMA) hybrid welding experiments were carried out on the mild steel workpiece to investigate the effects of the welding parameters, such as laser power, arc current and the distance between laser and arc D _LA, on the melting energy. A dimensionless parameter psi was introduced to indicate the change in the melting energy of hybrid welding. The results showed that with different welding parameters, the melting energy of hybrid welding was changed by the two heat sources (laser and arc) interaction. With an optimal combination welding parameters, psi can be increased up to 23%. Finally, the role of the two different mechanisms in the heat sources interaction was quantitatively discussed in terms of psi. It can be concluded that when D _LA<4 mm, the interaction between the laser induced plasma and the arc plasma dominates the heat sources interaction, therefore the changes of melting energy, whereas the heat sources interaction is only dominated by the preheating mechanism when D _LA≥4 mm.     

Analysis of the influence of atmospheric plasma spray (APS) parameters on adhesion properties of alumina-titania coatings

Alumina-13 wt% titania wear resistant coatings were deposited using the Atmospheric Plasma Spray (APS) process under several processing conditions. Coating adhesion was then measured locally on cross sections by the indentation test and results were correlated with process variables. In order to identify the most influential factors on adhesion, artificial intelligence was used. The analysis was based on an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) taking into account training and test procedures to predict the dependences of measured property on experimental conditions. This study pointed out primarily that adhesion was largely sensitive to parameters that modified the in-flight particle characteristics (i.e. velocity and temperature). These effects were quantitatively demonstrated and predicted with an optimized neural network structure.     

Kinetic model of desulphurisation by powder injection and blowing in RH refining of molten steel

Abstract

The desulphurisation by powder injection and blowing in the RH refining of molten steel and its mechanism have been considered and analysed. Based on the two-resistance mass transfer theory and the mass balance of sulphur in the system, a kinetic model for the process has been developed. The related parameters of the model, including the mass transfer coefficients and the effective amount of powder in the molten steel being treated for desulphurisation, have been reasonably determined. Modelling and predictions of the process of injecting and blowing the lime based powder flux under assumed operating modes with the different initial contents of sulphur and amounts of powder injected and blown in a RH degasser of 300 t capacity have been carried out using the model. The relevant circulation rate of the liquid steel and the powder injection and blowing rate were taken to be 100 t min^-1 and 150 kg min^-1, respectively. The initial contents of sulphur in the liquid steel to be treated and the amounts of powder injection and blowing were respectively assumed to be 0·007, 0·006, 0·005, 0·004, 0·003, 0·002 wt-%and 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3 kg/t steel. The total treatment time for desulphurisation under each mode was set at 24 min, equivalent to eight circulation cycles of the liquid steel to be treated. The results indicated that the predictions made by this model are in good agreement with data from industrial experiments and practice. By injecting and blowing the lime based powder flux with the composition of 85 wt-% lime (CaO) + 15 wt-%fluorspar (CaF₂ ) of 3–5 kg/t steel, it is possible to decrease the sulphur content in the molten steel to an ultralow level below (5–10) × 10^-4 wt-%from (60–80) × 10^-4 wt-%. The total treatment time needed will be 12–20 min. Intensifying the powder injection and blowing operation and increasing the circulation rate of the liquid steel may effectively increase the rate of the process in RH refining. The model may be expected to offer some useful information and a reliable basis for determining the reasonable process parameters and help in optimising the technology of desulphurisation by powder injection and blowing in the RH refining of molten steel.     

Audio acoustic plant condition monitoring of spiral bevel gearbox

Abstract

Plant condition monitoring (PCM) is widely used by a variety of industries as part of a condition based maintenance programme. This replaces the previous ‘schedule’ based maintenance programme, in which individual components of a machine are replaced at specified intervals. With PCM the condition of the individual components is monitored, and they are only replaced when their performance is deemed unsatisfactory. PCM techniques are often capital and/or labour intensive, and their use limited to critical machines only. The objective of the present research is to develop a system comprised of microphones and accelerometers which is able to screen industrial environments, such as the hot rolling mill at Corus's Port Talbot plant, for machine faults. The system would use the minimum number of transducers to remotely screen the maximum number of machines, but is not required to provide detailed diagnostic information. To date, an omnidirectional microphone has been used successfully to detect badly damaged gear teeth. The method does not require the use of a soundproof enclosure to filter out background noise. A finite element analysis model of the test rig has been created to determine the eigenfrequencies and eigenmodes of the test rig and to improve the understanding of the vibration behaviour of the faults.     

Determining Feasibility and Parameter Values for Compound Orders Based on Transfer Amounts, Liquid Handler Capabilities, and Container Volume Capacities

An algorithm is described for determining feasibility and calculating parameter values for one or more compound processing orders. Feasibility is determined primarily by applying a series of inequality constraints that result in a valid target concentration range within which orders can be processed. These inequality constraints are obtained from initial compound amounts, source and destination container volume capacities, the liquid handler transfer volume range, and the amount of compound to be processed. If feasible, calculated parameter values include the dilution, transfer and top-off volumes necessary to fulfill the order. Sample code implementing the algorithm is given in Microsoft Visual Basic®.     

Engineering An Experimental Platform For High Throughput Reactivity Screening

The genomics revolution coupled to advances in computational power, informatics and robotics is driving drug discovery programs to produce drug candidates faster. This need has resulted in advances in high throughput methods for performing organic chemistry such as combinatorial and parallel synthesis. Yet there has not been a corollary advance in the ability to collect quantitative information on reactions that can be used to produce these drug candidates. This lack of an efficient and robust analytical method has resulted in a significant chemistry bottleneck. This work outlines a set of methods that helps address this chemistry bottleneck by using analytical constructs to detect and quantify reaction outcomes. To accomplish this, an integrated experimentalcheminformatics platform has been developed which couples an experimental design system, automated high throughput parallel and combinatorial synthesis methodology, sample processing, quantitative mass spectroscopy and automated data analysis. This platform is being used to optimize single reactions and the syntheses of whole libraries of compounds, and to generate large databases on specific reaction classes.