Corrosion Behavior of the S136 Mold Steel Fabricated by Selective Laser Melting

The selective laser melting(SLM) method has a great potential for fabricating injection mold with complex structure. However, the microstructure and performance of the SLM molds show significantly di erent from those manufac?tured by traditional technologies. In this study, the microstructure, hardness and especially corrosion behavior of the samples fabricated by SLM and casting were investigated. The XRD results exhibit that the γ?Fe phase is only obtained in the SLM parts, and the α?Fe peak slightly moves to low di raction angle compared with casting counterparts. Due to the rapid cooling rate, the SLM samples have fine cellular microstructures while the casting ones have coarse grains with obvious elements segregation. Besides, the SLM samples show anisotropy, hardness of side view and top view are 48.73 and 50.31 HRC respectively, which are 20% higher than that of casting ones. Corrosion results show that the SLM samples have the better anti?corrosion resistance(in a 6% FeCl3 solution for 48 h) but the deeper corrosion pits than casting ones. Finally, the performance of the SLM molds could meet the requirement of injecting production. Moreover, the molds especially present a significant decrease(20%) of cooling time and increases of cooling uniform?ity due to the customized conformal cooling channels.

Preparation of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy semisolid slurry through a water-cooled serpentine pouring channel

The semisolid slurry of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy was prepared through a self-designed water-cooled copper serpentine pouring channel(WSPC) machine. Influences of pouring temperature, the number of turns and the cooling water flow rate on the microstructure of the semisolid Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy slurry were investigated. The results show that the semisolid Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy slurry with satisfactory quality can be generated by the WSPC when the pouring temperature is in the range between 680 ℃ and 700 ℃. At a given pouring temperature, the average grain size of primary α-Al decreases and the shape factor increases with the increase of the number of turns. When the cooling water flow rate is 450 L·h^(-1), the obtained semisolid slurry is optimal. During the preparation of the semisolid Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy slurry with low superheat pouring, the alloy melt has mixed inhibition and convection flow characteristics by "self-stirring". When the alloy melt flows through the serpentine channel, the chilling effect of the inner wall of the channel, the convection and mixed inhibition of the alloy melt greatly promote the heterogeneous nucleation and grain segregation. This effect destroys the dendrite growth mode under traditional solidification conditions, and the primary nuclei gradually evolve into spherical or nearspherical grains.

Additive manufacturing and foundry innovation

Additive manufacturing is expected to transform and upgrade the traditional foundry industry to realize the integrated manufacturing and rapid and low-cost development of high-performance components with complex shapes.The additive manufacturing technology commonly applied in casting mold preparation(fusible molds,sand molds/cores and ceramic cores)mainly includes selective laser sintering(SLS)and binder injection three-dimensional printing(3DP).In this work,the research status of SLS/3DP-casting processes on material preparation,equipment development,process optimization,simulation and application cases in aerospace,automotive and other fields were elaborated.Finally,the developing trends of the additive manufacturing technology in the future of foundry field are introduced,including multi-material sand molds(metal core included),ceramic core-shell integration and die-casting dies with conformal cooling runners.

High Speed Sintering:Assessing the Influence of Energy Input on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Polyether Block Amide(PEBA)Parts

High speed sintering,a new powder-bed fusion additive manufacturing technology,utilizes infrared lights(IR)to intensely heat and melt polymer powders.The presence of defects such as porosity,which is associated with particle coalescence,is highly dependdent on the level of energy input.This study investigate the influcence of energy input on porosity and its subsequent effects on the mechanical properties and microstructures of PEBA parts.The parts were manufactured with a variety of lamp powers,resulting in a range of energy input levels spanning from low to high.Subsequebtly,they underwent testing using Archimedes’method,followed by tensile testing.The porosity,mechanical characteristics,and energy input exhibit a strong correlation;inadequate energy input was the primary cause of pore formation.Using the reduced IR light power resulted in the following outcomes:porosity,ultimate tensile strength,and elongation of 1.37%,7.6 MPa,and 194.2%,respectively.When the energy input was further increased,the porosity was reduced to as low as 0.05%and the ultimate tensile strength and elongation were increased to their peak values of 233.8%and 9.1 MPa,respectively.