Influence of TiB_2 nanoparticles on elevated-temperature properties of Al-Mn-Mg 3004 alloy

Two contents(1.5%and3%)of TiB2nanoparticles were introduced in Al?Mn?Mg3004alloy to study their effects on theelevated-temperature properties.Results show that TiB2nanoparticles were mainly distributed at the interdendritic grain boundarieswith a size range of20?80nm,which is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy(TEM)and X-ray diffraction(XRD).Therefore,the volume fraction of the dispersoid free zones is greatly reduced and the motion of grain boundaries and dislocations isinhibited more effectively at elevated temperature.After peak precipitation heat treatment,the yield strengths in the alloy with3%TiB2addition at room temperature and300°C were increased by20%and13%respectively,while the minimum creep rate at300°Cwas reduced to only1/5of the base alloy free of TiB2,exhibiting a considerable improvement of elevated-temperature properties inAl?Mn?Mg alloys.

Effect of Yttrium on Microstructures and Properties at Elevated Temperature of Mg-0.8Zr-0.35Zn Alloys

The effects of Y addition on microstructures and properties of as-cast and solid solutioning and aging treated Mg-0.8Zr-0.35Zn alloys at elevated temperature (250 ℃) were investigated by the use of XJG-04 optical microscopy, JCXA-733 electron probe, D/max-rB X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and WDW-200 electronic universal material testing machine. The results show that the microstructures of as-cast and heat treated Mg-0.8Zr-0.35Zn alloys with Y addition are refined and a new phase, Mg_(24)Y_5, is formed. At 250 ℃, the strength at elevated temperature of the alloys increases with increasing amount of Y addition, but relative elongation and area reduction decreases. The tendency of brittle fracture of fractured surface at elevated temperature is enlarged and fracture is changed from ductile into cleavage.

Microstructure and elevated-temperature tensile properties of differential pressure sand cast Mg-4Y-3Nd-0.5Zr alloy

The microstructures of an Mg-4Y-3Nd-0.5Zr alloy by differential pressure casting were investigated using scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, and its tensile deformation behavior was measured using a Gleeble1500D themo-simulation machine in the temperature range of 200 to 400 ℃ at initial strain rates of 5×10^-4 to 10^-1 s^-1. Results show that the as-cast microstructure consists of primary α-Mg phase and bone-shaped Mg5RE eutectic phase distributed along the grain boundary. The eutectic phase is dissolved into the matrix after solution treatment and subsequently precipitates during peak aging. Tensile deformation tests show that the strain rate has little effect on stress under 300 ℃. Tensile stress decreases with an increase in temperature and the higher strain rate leads to an increase in stress above 300 ℃. The fracture mechanism exhibits a mixed quasi-cleavage fracture at 200 ℃, while the fracture above 300 ℃ is a ductile fracture. The dimples are melted at 400 ℃ with the lowest strain rate of 10^-4 s^-1.

STUDY ON ELEVATED TEMPERA-TURE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF AM50HP WITH ND

Effects of Nd on the mechanical properties of die casting magnesium alloysAM50 are investigated. It is found that the ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and elongationof the AM50 alloy at elevated temperatures up to 200 deg C increase with an addition of Nd.Generally, the most significant improvement in the tensile properties is attained at 100 deg C. Thepresence of Mg12Nd is proved by X-ray diffraction. Microstructural observations reveal that theaddition of Nd can lead to the dispersion-strengthening. Due to the presence of Mg12Nd, the slidingof grain boundaries is restrained and the strength of the alloy is enhanced. It can be seen from thetensile fractographs that the fracture surfaces exhibit the mixed fracture characteristics, andless brittle fracture is observed with increasing the temperature. Quasi-cleavage fracture isthought as the main fracture mode. TEM observations expose the formation of dislocation network,slip lines and dislocation pile-ups.

RECIPROCATING EXTRUSION OF IN SITU Mg_2Si REINFORCED Mg-Al BASED COMPOSITE

M92Si reinforced Mg-Al based composite with high amount o/silicon was prepared by permanent mould casting, and then extruded by reciprocating extrusion （RE） after the composite was processed by homogenization heat treatment. The effect of RE processing on the morphology and size of M92Si and the mechanical properties of the com- posite were investigated, to develop new ways to refine the M928i phase and improve its shape. The result showed that RE was very useful in refining the M92Si phase. The more the RE processing passes, the better the refining effect would be. Moreover, the uniform distribution of M928i phases would be more in the composite. After the composite was processed by RE for 12 passes, most M92Si phases were equiaxed, with granular diameter below 20 μm, and distributed uniformly in the matrix of the composite. The mechanical properties of the composite could be increased prominently by RE processing, and were much higher than that in the as-cast state. As the temperature rises, the tensile strength is reduced. For the composite RE processed for 12 passes, the tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation are 325.9 MPa, 211.4 MPa, and 3.3% at room temperature, whereas, 288.2 MPa, ,207.7 MPa, and 7.8%, respectively, at 150℃. In comparison with the properties at room temperature, the tensile strength and yield strength are high and only decrease by 11.6% and 1.8% at 150℃. The M928i reinforced Mg-Al based composite possesses good heat resistance at 150℃. The excellent resistance to effect of heat is attributed to the high melting tempera- ture and good thermal stability of fine Mg2Si phases, which are distributed uniformly in the composite, and effectively hinder the grain boundary gliding and dislocation movement.

Mechanical Properties and Phase Stability of WTaMoNbTi Refractory High-Entropy Alloy at Elevated Temperatures

High-temperature structural metals remain in high demand for aerospace aircraft,gas turbine engines,and nuclear power plants.Refractory high-entropy alloys(RHEAs)with superior mechanical properties at elevated temperatures are promising candidates for high-temperature structural materials.In this work,a WTaMoNbTi RHEA with adequate room temperature plasticity and considerable strength at 1600℃was fabricated by vacuum arc-melting.The room temperature fracture strain of the as-cast WTaMoNbTi RHEA was 7.8%,which was about 5.2 times that of the NbMoTaW alloy.The alloy exhibited a strong resistance to high-temperature softening,with a high yield strength of 173 MPa and compressive strength of 218 MPa at 1600℃.The WTaMoNbTi RHEA possessed excellent phase stability in the range of room temperature to 2000℃.The dendritic grains grew into equiaxed grains after compression test at 1600℃due to the dynamic recrystallization process at high temperature.This work presents a promising high-temperature structural material that can be applied at 1600℃.

Effect of heat treatment on mechanical properties and microstructure evolution of Mg-9.5Gd-4Y-2.2Zn-0.5Zr alloy

Regarding the as-cast Mg-9.5Gd-4Y-2.2Zn-0.5Zr alloy,the effect of heat treatment on its properties at room temperature(RT),as well as the mechanical properties and microstructure evolution of various peak-aging samples at different tensile temperatures were discussed in this article.The results indicated that the optimal heat treatment process of the alloy was:520℃×24 h+200℃×112 h.Under this condition,the yield strength(YS),ultimate tensile strength(UTS)and elongation(EL)at RT were:238 MPa,327 MPa and 2.5%,respectively.As the tensile temperature increases,the strength increases firstly and then decreases,but the ductility increases monotonously.The microstructures evolution of 200℃ peak-aging(200PA)and 250℃ peak-aging(250PA)samples were different with the increasing tensile tenperature.When tensile test processed at 150℃,the denseβ’phase and rod-shaped basalγ’phase will be formed in the 200PA sample.However,at 300℃,theβ’phases disappeared.Theβ’and LPSO phases in the 250PA sample coarsened gradually as the tensile temperature increased,and 14H-LPSO phases were formed during tensile at 300℃.The 200PA sample reached the highest strength when tensile at 150℃,which was attributed to the hindrance of the basal dislocation and non-basal dislocation slip by the prismaticβ’phases and the newly formed basalγ’precipitates.

Application of Design of Experiments for AlloyDevelopment of an Aluminum Copper Casting Alloy

Design of experiments (DoE) based on a linear regression model was used to develop an Aluminum Copper-based casting alloy. The main objectives of the development were the achievement of (1) a high strength at elevated temperatures with (2) a low hot tearing tendency. Within the DoE, 17 different chemical compositions of the newly developed alloy AlCuMnCo(Ni) were cast, tested regarding hot tearing tendency and characterized in tensile tests up to 300 °C. Test results showed that the AlCuMnCo(Ni)-alloys from the DoE have high mechanical properties from ambient temperature up to 300 °C and thus feature a high thermal stability. It was found that the alloying elements Cu and Co increase the yield strength whereas Mn and Ni tend to increase the attainable elongation. Furthermore, some of the alloys showed no or a very low tendency to hot tearing a remarkable feature for Al-Cu alloys which are otherwise highly susceptible to hot tearing. The regression model that was developed from the test results fulfils a set of quality criteria and is therefore expected to provide reliable predictions. The predictive ability of the model was validated by casting and testing a sweet spot alloy. Results show that the model is sufficient for predicting the mechanical properties from ambient temperature to 250 °C. Furthermore, the sweet spot alloy surpasses the reference alloy AlCuNiCoSbZr (RR30) in its mechanical properties up to 250 °C. It was shown that by applying design of experiments, time and effort for an alloy development can effectively be reduced and simultaneously a high degree of information density about the alloying system considered is generated.

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Precipitation Strengthened Fire Resistant Steel Containing High Nb and Low Mo

Through the thermo-mechanical control process （TMCP）, a high Nb low Mo fire resistant steel with the yield strength （YS） of 521 MPa at room temperature （RT） and 360 MPa at elevated temperature （ET） of 600 ℃ was developed based on MX （M=Nb, V, Mo; X=C,N） precipitation strengthening. A series of tensile and con- stant load tests were conducted to study the mechanical properties at ET. The dynamic continuous cooling transfor- mation （CCT） as well as precipitation behavior of microalloy carbonitride was investigated by means of thermal sim- ulator and electron microscopy approaches. Results showed that the failure temperature of tested steel was deter- mined as 653 ℃, and the granular bainite was obtained when the cooling rate was higher than 10 ℃/s. In the rolled state, a certain amount of M/A islands was observed. During heating from RT to ET, M/A islands disappeared, and cementites and high dense compound precipitates （Nb, Mo, V）C with size of less than 10 nm precipitated in ferrite at ET （600 ℃）, which resulted in precipitation strengthening at ET.

Progress in application of rare metals in superalloys

Rare metals play an important role in development of superalloys. Over the last two decades, the application of the rare metals in superalloys has achieved progress significantly. They present multi-beneficial effects for strengthening the matrix and the cophase, increasing the lattice misfit, cleaning the grain boundary, improving the carbides and eutectics, refining the grain, stabilizing the oxidation film, etc., so that the elevated temperature rupture life and elevated temperature oxidation resistance are improved significantly, leading to a broad application in the superalloys. In order to meet the higher demand for better superalloys in the future, more intensive research is necessary on the effects of the rare metals on the superalloy, and especially on the combination effect of various rare metals and mutual influence among them. Utilization of the computational materials science and combinatorial high throughput experiment will be of importance in application of rare metals in superalloys.