Microstructure and thermal properties of copper matrix composites reinforced with titanium-coated graphite fibers

Milled form of mesophase pitch-based graphite fibers were coated with a titanium layer using chemical vapor deposition technique and Ti-coated graphite fiber/Cu composites were fabricated by hot-pressing sintering. The composites were characterized with X-ray diffraction, scanning/transmission electron microscopies, and by mea- suring thermal properties, including thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion （CTE）. The results show that the milled fibers are preferentially oriented in a plane perpendicular to the pressing direction, leading to anisotropic thermal properties of the composites. The Ti coating reacted with graphite fiber and formed a continuous and uniform TiC layer. This carbide layer establishes a good metallurgical interracial bonding in the composites, which can improve the thermal properties effectively. When the fiber content ranges from 35 vol% to 50 vol%, the in-plane thermal conductivities of the composites increase from 383 to 407 W.（m.K）-~, and the in-plane CTEs decrease from 9.5 x 10-6 to 6.3 10-6 K-1.

Machine-learning-assisted prediction of the mechanical properties of Cu–Al alloy

The machine-learning approach was investigated to predict the mechanical properties of Cu–Al alloys manufactured using the powder metallurgy technique to increase the rate of fabrication and characterization of new materials and provide physical insights into their properties.Six algorithms were used to construct the prediction models, with chemical composition and porosity of the compacts chosen as the descriptors.The results show that the sequential minimal optimization algorithm for support vector regression with a puk kernel(SMOreg/puk) model demonstrated the best prediction ability. Specifically, its predictions exhibited the highest correlation coefficient and lowest error among the predictions of the six models. The SMOreg/puk model was subsequently applied to predict the tensile strength and hardness of Cu–Al alloys and provide guidance for composition design to achieve the expected values. With the guidance of the SMOreg/puk model, Cu–12Al–6Ni alloy with a tensile strength(390 MPa) and hardness(HB 139) that reached the expected values was developed.

Effect of interaction of refractories with Ni-based superalloy on inclusions during vacuum induction melting

This study documents laboratory-scale observation of the interactions between the Ni-based superalloy FGH4096 and refractories.Three different crucibles were tested—MgO,Al2O3,and MgO–spinel.We studied the variations in the compositions of the inclusions and the alloy–crucible interface with the reaction time using scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Xray diffraction.The results showed that the MgO and MgO–spinel crucibles form MgO-containing inclusions(Al–Mg oxides and Al–Mg–Ti oxides),whereas the inclusions formed when using the Al2O3 crucible are Al2O3 and Al–Ti oxides.We observed a new MgAl2O4 phase at the inner wall of the MgO crucible,with the alloy melted in the MgO crucible exhibiting fewer inclusions.No new phase occurred at the inner wall of the Al2O3 crucible.We discuss the mechanism of interaction between the refractories and the Ni-based superalloy.Physical erosion was found to predominate in the Al2O3 crucible,whereas dissolution and chemical reactions dominated in the MgO crucible.No reaction was observed between three crucibles and the Ti of the melt although the Ti content(3.8wt%)was higher than that of Al(2.1wt%).

Fabrication and sintering behavior of high-nitrogen nickel-free stainless steels by metal injection molding

High-nitrogen nickel-free stainless steels were fabricated by the metal injection molding technique using high nitrogen alloying powders and a mixture of three polymers as binders.Mixtures of metal powders and binders with various proportions were also investigated, and an optimum powder loading capacity was determined as 64vol%.Intact injection molded compacts were successfully obtained by regulating the processing parameters.The debinding process for molded compacts was optimized with a combination of thermo-gravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry analysis.An optimum relative density and nitrogen content of the specimens are obtained at 1360℃,which are 97.8%and 0.79wt%,respectively.

Effects of doping route on microstructure and mechanical properties of W−1.0wt.%La2O3 alloys

A comparative study was conducted by using solution combustion synthesis with three different doping routes(liquid-liquid(WL10), liquid-solid(WLNO) and solid-solid(WLO)) to produce nanoscale powders and further fabricate the ultrafine-grained W-1.0 wt.%La2O3 alloys by pressureless sintering. Compared with pure tungsten, W-1.0 wt.%La2O3 alloys exhibit ultrafine grains and excellent mechanical properties. After sintering, the average grain size of the WLO sample is larger than that of WL10 and WLNO samples;the microhardness values of WL10 and WLNO samples are similar but larger than the value of WLO sample. The optimized La2O3 particles are obtained in the WL10 sample after sintering at 1500 ℃ with the minimum mean size by comparing with WLNO and WLO samples, which are uniformly distributed either at grain boundaries or in the grain interior with the sizes of(57±29.7) and(27±13.1) nm, respectively. This study exhibits ultrafine microstructure and outperforming mechanical properties of the W-1.0 wt.%La2O3 alloy via the liquid-liquid doping route, as compared with conventionally-manufactured tungsten materials.

High-temperature mechanical properties and deformation behavior of high Nb containing TiAl alloys fabricated by spark plasma sintering

A high Nb containing TiA1 alloy was prepared from the pre-alloyed powder of Ti-45Al-8.5Nb-0.2B-0.2W-0.02Y （at%） by spark plasma sintering （SPS）. Its high-temperature mechanical properties and compressive deformation behavior were investigated in a temperature range of 700 to 1050℃ and a strain rate range of 0.002 to 0.2 s 1. The results show that the high-temperature mechanical properties of the high Nb containing TiA1 alloy are sensitive to deformation temperature and strain rate, and the sensitivity to strain rate tends to rise with the deformation temperature increasing. The hot workability of the alloy is good at temperatures higher than 900℃, while fracture occurs at lower temperatures. The flow curves of the samples compressed at or above 900℃ exhibit obvious flow softening after the peak stress. Un- der the deformation condition of 900-1050℃ and 0.002-0.2 s 1, the interrelations of peak flow stress, strain rate, and deformation tempera- ture follow the Arrhenius＇ equation modified by a hyperbolic sine function with a stress exponent of 5.99 and an apparent activation energy of 441.2 kJ.mol-1.

Effect of Al2O3sf addition on the friction and wear properties of (SiCp+Al2O3sf)/Al2024 composites fabricated by pressure infiltration

Aluminum(Al) 2024 matrix composites reinforced with alumina short fibers(Al_2O_(3sf)) and silicon carbide particles(SiC_p) as wear-resistant materials were prepared by pressure infiltration in this study. Further, the effect of Al_2O_(3sf) on the friction and wear properties of the as-synthesized composites was systematically investigated, and the relationship between volume fraction and wear mechanism was discussed. The results showed that the addition of Al_2O_(3sf), characterized by the ratio of Al_2O_(3sf) to SiC_p, significantly affected the properties of the composites and resulted in changes in wear mechanisms. When the volume ratio of Al_2O_(3sf) to SiC_p was increased from 0 to 1, the rate of wear mass loss(K_m) and coefficients of friction(COFs) of the composites decreased, and the wear mechanisms were abrasive wear and furrow wear. When the volume ratio was increased from 1 to 3, the COF decreased continuously; however, the K_m increased rapidly and the wear mechanism became adhesive wear.

Fabrication and thermal stability of Ni-P coated diamond powder using electroless plating

Ni-P coated diamond powder was fabricated successfully by using electroless plating.Effects of active solutions,plating time,reaction temperature,and the components of the plating bath on the Ni-P coating were investigated systematically.Moreover,a study on the thermal stability of Ni-P coated diamond under various atmospheres was performed.The results indicate that Pd atoms absorbed on the diamond surface as active sites can consequently enhance the deposition rate of Ni effectively.The optimized plating bath and reaction conditions improve both the plating speed and the coverage rate of Ni-P electroless plating on the diamond surface.Compared to the diamond substrate,the diamond coated with Ni-P films exhibits very high thermal stability and can be processed up to 900°C in air and 1300°C in protective atmosphere such as H2.

A novel approach to predict green density by high-velocity compaction based on the materials informatics method

High-velocity compaction is an advanced compaction technique to obtain high-density compacts at a compaction velocity of ≤10 m/s. It was applied to various metallic powders and was verified to achieve a density greater than 7.5 g/cm^3 for the Fe-based powders. The ability to rapidly and accurately predict the green density of compacts is important, especially as an alternative to costly and time-consuming materials design by trial and error. In this paper, we propose a machine-learning approach based on materials informatics to predict the green density of compacts using relevant material descriptors, including chemical composition, powder properties, and compaction energy. We investigated four models using an experimental dataset for appropriate model selection and found the multilayer perceptron model worked well, providing distinguished prediction performance, with a high correlation coefficient and low error values. Applying this model, we predicted the green density of nine materials on the basis of specific processing parameters. The predicted green density agreed very well with the experimental results for each material, with an inaccuracy less than 2%. The prediction accuracy of the developed method was thus confirmed by comparison with experimental results.

Effect of graphite powder as a forming filler on the mechanical properties of SiCp/Al composites by pressure infiltration

（38vo1% SiCp ＋ 2vo1% A1203f）/2024 A1 composites were fabricated by pressure infiltration. Graphite powder was introduced as a forming filler in preform preparation, and the effects of the powder size on the microstructures and mechanical properties of the final com- posites were investigated. The results showed that the composite with 15 μm graphite powder as a forming filler had the maximum tensile strength of 506 MPa, maximum yield strength of 489 MPa, and maximum elongation of 1.2%, which decreased to 490 MPa, 430 MPa, and 0.4%, respectively, on increasing the graphite powder size from 15 to 60 μm. The composite with 60 μm graphite powder showed the highest elastic modulus, and the value decreased from 129 to 113 GPa on decreasing the graphite powder size from 60 to 15 μm. The differences between these properties are related to the different microstructures of the corresponding composites, which determine their failure modes.

Simulation of jet-flow solid fraction during spray forming

A numerical model was developed to simulate the jet-flow solid fraction of W18Cr4 V high-speed steel during spray forming. The whole model comprises two submodels: one is an individual droplet model, which describes the motion and thermal behaviors of individual droplets on the basis of Newton's laws of motion and the convection heat transfer mechanism; the other is a droplet distribution model, which is used to calculate the droplet size distribution. After being verified, the model was used to analyze the effects of parameters, including the initial gas velocity, deposition distance, superheat degree, and the ratio of gas-to-metal mass flow rates, on the jet-flow solid fraction. Finally, an equation to predict the jet-flow solid fraction directly and conveniently according to the parameters was presented. The values predicted by the equation show good agreement with those calculated by the numerical model.

Precipitation behavior of γ′ phase in superalloy FGH96 under interrupted cooling test

The precipitation behavior of γ′ phase,under various interrupt cooling tests after 1170℃,solution treatment was examined.The results indicate that the size of secondary γ′ precipitates increases with the decrease of interrupt temperature,and the shape changes from spherical to butterfly like.The fine tertiary γ′ can form either during the post cool air quenching at high interrupt-temperatures,or during the specified 5℃ min-1cooling.Air quenching at high temperatures cannot suppress further nucleation of tertiary γ′ phase.

The materials data ecosystem： Materials data science and its role in data-driven materials discovery

Since its launch in 2011, the Materials Genome Initiative（MGI） has drawn the attention of researchers from academia,government, and industry worldwide. As one of the three tools of the MGI, the use of materials data, for the first time, has emerged as an extremely significant approach in materials discovery. Data science has been applied in different disciplines as an interdisciplinary field to extract knowledge from data. The concept of materials data science has been utilized to demonstrate its application in materials science. To explore its potential as an active research branch in the big data era, a three-tier system has been put forward to define the infrastructure for the classification, curation and knowledge extraction of materials data.

Effect of oxygen content and heat treatment on carbide precipitation behavior in PM Ni-base superalloys

The influence of oxygen content and heat treatment on the evolution of carbides in a powder metallurgy （PM） Ni-base superalloy was characterized. The results reveal that oxygen content has little influence on the precipitation of carbides inside the particles. However, under the consolidated state, stable Ti oxides on the particle surface act as nuclei for the precipitation of prior particle boundaries （PPB）. Also, oxygen can diffuse internally along grain boundaries under compressive stress, which favors the precipitation of carbides inside the particles. Therefore, a higher amount of carbides will appear with more oxygen content in the case of consolidated alloys. It is also observed that PPB can be disrupted into discontinuous particles at 1200℃, but this carbide network is hard to be eliminated completely. The combined MC-M23C6 morphology approves the nucleation and growth mechanism of carbide evolution.

Effects of size reduction on deformation,microstructure,and surface roughness of micro components for micro metal injection molding

The fabrication of 17-4PH micro spool mandrils by micro metal injection molding was described here. The effects of size reduction on deformation, microstructure and surface roughness were studied by comparing a I center dot 500 mu m micro post and a I center dot 1.7 mm cylinder after debinding and sintering. Experimental results show that slumping of the micro posts occurred due to a dramatic increase in outlet vapor pressure initiated at the thermal degradation onset temperature and the moment of gravity. Asymmetrical stress distribution within the micro component formed during the cooling stage may cause warping. Prior solvent debinding and adjustment in a thermal debinding scheme were useful for preventing the deformation of the micro components. Smaller grain size and higher micro hardness due to impeded grain growth were observed for the micro posts compared with the I center dot 1.7 mm cylinder. Surface roughness increased with distance from the gate of the micro spool mandril due to melt front advancement during mold filling and the ensuing pressure distribution. At each position, surface roughness was dictated by injection molding and increased slightly after sintering.

Sintering behavior and thermal conductivity of nickel-coated graphite flake/copper composites fabricated by spark plasma sintering

Nickel-coated graphite flakes/copper（GN/Cu） composites were fabricated by spark plasma sintering with the surface of graphite flakes（GFs） being modified by Ni–P electroless plating. The effects of the phase transition of the amorphous Ni–P plating and of Ni diffusion into the Cu matrix on the densification behavior, interfacial microstructure, and thermal conductivity（TC） of the GN/Cu composites were systematically investigated. The introduction of Ni–P electroless plating efficiently reduced the densification temperature of uncoated GF/Cu composites from 850 to 650℃ and slightly increased the TC of the X–Y basal plane of the GF/Cu composites with 20 vol%–30 vol% graphite flakes. However, when the graphite flake content was greater than 30 vol%, the TC of the GF/Cu composites decreased with the introduction of Ni–P plating as a result of the combined effect of the improved heat-transfer interface with the transition layer, P generated at the interface, and the diffusion of Ni into the matrix. Given the effect of the Ni content on the TC of the Cu matrix and on the interface thermal resistance, a modified effective medium approximation model was used to predict the TC of the prepared GF/Cu composites.

Carbothermal synthesis of Si_3N_4 powders using a combustion synthesis precursor

Si3N4 powders were synthesized by a carbothermal reduction method using a SiO2 ＋ C combustion synthesis precur- sor derived from a mixed solution consisting of silicic acid （Si source）, polyacrylamide （additive）, nitric acid （oxidizer）, urea （fuel）, and glucose （C source）. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） micrographs showed that the obtained precursor exhibited a uniform mixture of SiO2 ＋ C composed of porous blocky particles up to -20 μm. The precursor was subsequently calcined under nitrogen at 1200-1550℃ for 2 h. X-ray diffraction （XRD） analysis revealed that the initial reduction reaction started at about 1300℃, and the complete transition of SiQ into Si3N4 was found at 1550℃. The Si3N4 powders, synthesized at 1550℃, exhibit a mixture phase of α- and -Si3N4 and consist of mainly agglomerates of fine particles of 100-300 nm, needle-like crystals and whiskers with a diameter of about 100 nm and a length up to several micrometers, and a minor amount of irregular-shaped growths.

Effect of sintering on the relative density of Cr-coated diamond/Cu composites prepared by spark plasma sintering

Cr-coated diamond/Cu composites were prepared by spark plasma sintering. The effects of sintering pressure, sintering temperature, sintering duration, and Cu powder particle size on the relative density and thermal conductivity of the composites were investigated in this paper. The influence of these parameters on the properties and microstructures of the composites was also discussed. The results show that the relative density of Cr-coated diamond/Cu reaches ~100% when the composite is gradually compressed to 30 MPa during the heating process. The densification temperature increases from 880 to 915℃ when the diamond content is increased from 45vol% to 60vol%. The densification temperature does not increase further when the content reaches 65vol%. Cu powder particles in larger size are beneficial for increasing the relative density of the composite.

Microstructure and properties of nano-TiN modified Ti(C,N)-based cermets fabricated by powder injection molding and die pressing

Powder injection molding （PIM） and die pressing were employed to fabricate nano-TiN modified Ti（C,N）- based cermets. The shrinkage behavior, microstructure, porosity, and mechanical properties of the samples with and without nano-TiN addition fabricated by PIM and die pressing were analyzed. It is demonstrated that for either PIM or die pressing, the porosities are obviously reduced, the mechanical properties are significantly improved after adding nano-TiN, and the hard particles are refined; the rim phase thickness obviously becomes thinner, and the number of dimples in fracture also increases. Compared the samples fabricated by die pressing, it is difficult for PIM to obtain dense Ti（C,N）-based cermets. Due to the too much existence of pores and isolated carbon, the mechanical properties of the sintered samples by PIM are inferior to those of the sintered ones by die pressing.

Study on the impact force and green properties of high-velocity compacted aluminum alloy powder

High-velocity compaction （HVC） provides an effective means in the field of powder metallurgy （P/M） to reduce the porosity as well as to ameliorate the mechanical properties of products. In this study, the green density of an aluminum alloy is found to be 2.783 g cm 3. The ejection force for the aluminum alloy is in the range of 23 to 80 kN and the spring back is found to be less than 0.40%. The hardness of the green body is in the range of HRB 30 to 70. The bending strength of the green body is in the range of 6 to 26 MPa, which are higher than that of other aluminum alloys prepared by the traditional compaction method.