Optimization of chemistry and process parameters for control of intermetallic formation in Mg sludges

Intermetallic formation in sludge during magnesium(Mg)melting,holding and high pressure die casting practices is a very important issue.But,very often it is overlooked by academia,original equipment manufacturers(OEM),metal ingot producers and even die casters.The aim of this study was to minimize the intermetallic formation in Mg sludge via the optimization of the chemistry and process parameters.The Al8Mn5 intermetallic particles were identified by the microstructure analysis based on the Al and Mn ratio.The design of experiment(DOE)technique,Taguchi method,was employed to minimize the intermetallic formation in the sludge of Mg alloys with various chemical compositions of Al,Mn,Fe,and different process parameters,holding temperature and holding time.The sludge yield(SY)and intermetallic size(IS)was selected as two responses.The optimum combination of the levels in terms of minimizing the intermetallic formation were 9 wt.%Al,0.15 wt.%Mn,0.001 wt.%(10 ppm)Fe,690℃ for the holding temperature and holding at 30 mins for the holding time,respectively.The best combination for smallest intermetallic size were 9 wt.%Al,0.15 wt.%Mn,0.001 wt.%(10 ppm)Fe,630℃ for the holding temperature and holding at 60 mins for the holding time,respectively.Three groups of sludge factors,Chemical Sludge(CSF),Physical Sludge(PSF)and Comprehensive Sludge Factors(and CPSF)were established for prediction of sludge yields and intermetallic sizes in Al-containing Mg alloys.The CPSF with five independent variables including both chemical elements and process parameters gave high accuracy in prediction,as the prediction of the PSF with only the two processing parameters of the melt holding temperature and time showed a relatively large deviation from the experimental data.The Chemical Sludge Factor was primarily designed for small ingot producers and die casters with a limited melting and holding capacity,of which process parameters could be fixed easily.The Physical Sludge Factor could be used for mass production with a single type of Mg alloy,in which the chemistry fluctuation might be negligible.In large Mg casting suppliers with multiple melting and holding furnaces and a number of Mg alloys in production,the Comprehensive Sludge Factor should be implemented to diminish the sludge formation.

Multi-objective optimization of process parameters for ultra-narrow gap welding based on Universal Kriging and NSGA Ⅱ

The successful confinement of the arc by the flux band depends on the welding process parameters for achieving single-pass,multi-layer, and ultra-narrow gap welding. The sidewall fusion depth, the width of the heat-affected zone, and the line energy are utilized as comprehensive indications of the quality of the welded joint. In order to achieve well fusion and reduce the heat input to the base metal.Three welding process characteristics were chosen as the primary determinants, including welding voltage, welding speed, and wire feeding speed. The metamodel of the welding quality index was built by the orthogonal experiments. The metamodel and NSGA-Ⅱ(Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm Ⅱ) were combined to develop a multi-objective optimization model of ultra-narrow gap welding process parameters. The results showed that the optimized welding process parameters can increase the sidewall fusion depth, reduce the width of the heataffected zone and the line energy, and to some extent improve the overall quality of the ultra-narrow gap welding process.

Simulation Research on the Effect of Spreading Process Parameters on the Quality of Lunar Regolith Powder Bed in Additive Manufacturing

Lunar surface additive manufacturing with lunar regolith is a key step in in-situ resource utilization.The powder spreading process is the key process,which has a major impact on the quality of the powder bed and the precision of molded parts.In this study,the discrete element method(DEM)was adopted to simulate the powder spreading process with a roller.The three powder bed quality indicators,including the molding layer offset,voidage fraction,and surface roughness,were established.Besides,the influence of the three process parameters,which are roller’s translational speed,rotational speed,and powder spreading layer thickness on the powder bed quality indicators was also analyzed.The results show that with the reduction of the powder spreading layer thickness and the increase of the rotational speed,the offset increased significantly;when the translational speed increased,the offset first increased and then decreased,which resulted in an extreme value;with the increase of the layer thickness and the decrease of the translational speed,the values for voidage fraction and surface roughness significantly reduced.The powder bed quality indicators were adopted as the optimization objective,and the multi-objective parameter optimization was carried out.The predicted optimal powder spreading parameters and powder bed quality indicators were then obtained.Moreover,the optimal values were then verified.This study can provide informative guidance for in-situ manufacturing at the moon in future deep space exploration missions.

Inherent relationship between process parameters,crystallization and mechanical properties of continuous carbon fiber reinforced PEEK composites

High-performance thermoplastic composites have been developed as significant structural materials for cutting-edge equipment in the aerospace and defence fields.However,the internal mechanism of processing parameters on mechanical properties in the manufacturing process of thermoplastic composite structures is still a serious challenge.The purpose of this study is to investigate the process/crystallization/property relationships for continuous carbon fiber(CF)reinforced polyether-ether-ketone(PEEK)composites.The composite laminates are fabricated according to orthogonal experiments via the thermoforming method.The mechanical performance is investigated in terms of crystallization properties and fracture morphology characterizations.Experimental results show that the mechanical performance and crystallization properties of thermoplastic composites are significantly affected by the coupling of processing parameters.The increased molding temperature,pressure,and holding time improve the degree of fiber/matrix infiltration and affect the crystallinity and crystalline morphology of the matrix,which further influences the mechanical properties of the composites.This is reflected in the test results that crystallinity has an approximately linear effect on mode-I interlaminar fracture toughness and transverse flexural modulus.As well as the higher molding temperature can destroy the pre-existent crystals to improve the toughness of the matrix,and the well-defined crystalline structures can be observed when fabricated at higher temperatures and longer periods of holding time.

Review of Design of Process Parameters for Squeeze Casting

Squeeze casting(SC)is an advanced net manufacturing process with many advantages for which the quality and properties of the manufactured parts depend strongly on the process parameters.Unfortunately,a universal efficient method for the determination of optimal process parameters is still unavailable.In view of the shortcomings and development needs of the current research methods for the setting of SC process parameters,by consulting and analyzing the recent research literature on SC process parameters and using the CiteSpace literature analysis software,manual reading and statistical analysis,the current state and characteristics of the research methods used for the determination of SC process parameters are summarized.The literature data show that the number of pub-lications in the literature related to the design of SC process parameters generally trends upward albeit with signifi-cant fluctuations.Analysis of the research focus shows that both“mechanical properties”and“microstructure”are the two main subjects in the studies of SC process parameters.With regard to materials,aluminum alloys have been extensively studied.Five methods have been used to obtain SC process parameters:Physical experiments,numeri-cal simulation,modeling optimization,formula calculation,and the use of empirical values.Physical experiments are the main research methods.The main methods for designing SC process parameters are divided into three categories:Fully experimental methods,optimization methods that involve modeling based on experimental data,and theoreti-cal calculation methods that involve establishing an analytical formula.The research characteristics and shortcomings of each method were analyzed.Numerical simulations and model-based optimization have become the new required methods.Considering the development needs and data-driven trends of the SC process,suggestions for the develop-ment of SC process parameter research have been proposed.

Effect of Process Parameters on Morphology and Grain Refinement Efficiency of TiAl_3 and TiB_2 in Alumimum Casting

This paper presents the effects of different process parameters in producing Al-STi-1B grain refiner,i.e.various sequences and reaction time,on grain refinement efficiency of aluminum castings.It was found that different process parameters resulted in different morphology and size distribution of TiAl-3 and TiB-2 in grain refiner. The experiment was carried out by adding KBF-4 and K-2TiF-6 to molten aluminum.The melting temperature was controlled at 800℃in an electric resistance furnace.Three different sequences of KBF-4 and K-2TiF-6 additions were applied,i.e.,adding KBF-4 before K-2TiF-6,adding K-2TiF-4 before KBF-4 and mixing both KBF-4 and K-2TiF-6 before adding to molten aluminum.Three different holding time at 1 min,30 min and 60 min were applied.The results showed that no significant difference of morphology and size distribution was found by varying three different sequences.Whereas,the different holding time provided major differences in both morphology and size distribution,which are technically expectable from diffusion and agglomeration between particles resulting in larger particle size and wider range of size distribution of TiAI3 and TiB2.If the reaction time was longer than 30 rain,morphology of both TiAl-3 and TiB-2 became too large.If the reaction time was too short,less reaction between TiAl-3 and TiB2 to form would be obtained.For grain refinement efficiency, it was found that mixing KBF-4 and K-2TiF-6 before adding to molten aluminum with a holding time of 30 min resulted in best grain refinement efficiency.

Influence of process parameters and aging treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al Si8Mg3 alloy fabricated by selective laser melting

Many studies have investigated the selective laser melting(SLM)of AlSi10Mg and AlSi7Mg alloys,but there are still lack of researches focused on Al-Si-Mg alloys specifically tailored for SLM.In this work,a novel high Mg-content AlSi8Mg3 alloy was specifically designed for SLM.The results showed that this new alloy exhibited excellent SLM processability with a lowest porosity of 0.07%.Massive lattice distortion led to a high Vickers hardness in samples fabricated at a high laser power due to the precipitation of Mg_(2)Si nanoparticles from theα-Al matrix induced by high-intensity intrinsic heat treatment during SLM.The maximum microhardness and compressive yield strength of the alloy reached HV(211±4)and(526±12)MPa,respectively.After aging treatment at 150℃,the maximum microhardness and compressive yield strength of the samples were further improved to HV(221±4)and(577±5)MPa,respectively.These values are higher than those of most known aluminum alloys fabricated by SLM.This paper provides a new idea for optimizing the mechanical properties of Al-Si-Mg alloys fabricated using SLM.

Optimization of investment casting process parameters to reduce warpage of turbine blade platform in DD6 alloy

The large warping deformation at platform of turbine blade directly affects the forming precision. In the present research, equivalent warping deformation was firstly presented to describe the extent of deformation at platform. To optimize the process parameters during investment casting to minimize the warping deformation of the platform, based on simulation with Pro CAST, the single factor method, orthogonal test, neural network and genetic algorithm were subsequently used to analyze the influence of pouring temperature, shell mold preheating temperature, furnace temperature and withdrawal velocity on dimensional accuracy of the platform of superalloyDD6 turbine blade. The accuracy of investment casting simulation was verified by measurement of platform at blade casting. The simulation results with the optimal process parameters illustrate that the equivalent warping deformation was dramatically reduced by 21.8% from 0.232295 mm to 0.181698 mm.

Influence of process parameters on microstructure of reactive plasma cladding TiC-Fe-Cr coating

A certain amount of Ti was added to the plasma cladding Fe-Cr-C coating in the early stage in order to improve the quality and properties of the coating.Ti-Fe-Cr-C composite powder was prepared by precursor carbonization-composition process.In situ synthesized TiC-Fe-Cr coatings were fabricated on substrate of Q235 steel by plasma cladding process with the composite powder.Microstructures of the coatings with different process parameters,including cladding current,cladding speed,number of overlapping cladding layers,were analyzed by scanning electron microscope.The results show that the structure of the TiC-Fe-Cr coating is greatly affected by the cladding current,the cladding speed and the overlapping cladding process.In this test,when the cladding current of 300 A and the cladding process parameter of the cladding speed of 50 mm/min are clad with three layers,a well-formed and well-structured TiC-Fe-Cr coating can be obtained in this test.TiC-Fe-Cr coating has good wear resistance and good load characteristics under dry sliding wear test conditions.

Effect of pulsed laser process parameters on welding quality of automobile fuel injector

In this research, pulverization plate and base of a fuel injector in an automobile electronic-controlled engine was joined by pulsed laser welding. The different welding parameters were evaluated and effect of process parameters on joint characteristics was analyzed. The optimal process parameters were obtained as follows： welding current 120 A, welding speed 600 ram/rain, pulse duration 1.80 ms and pulse frequency 60 Hz. The microstructure of weld metal was investigated. Results show that the fusion zone is austenitic dendrite, the weld center is equiaxed grain, while the transition zone between fusion zone and weld center is mixed crystal with austenitic dendrite and equiaxed grain. The weld layered phenomenon was observed, and eddy caused by keyhole effect is the main reason for the formation of layered structure in molten pool.

Effects of adding chicken manure to cattle manure on aerobic compost process parameters at low temperature

The research was aimed at studying the effect of adding certain proportion chicken manure to cattle manure on compost below 0℃ with aerobic compost method, which was suitable for northern cold climate. The results indicated that the mixed compost completed 3 days earlier than the single compost, the temperature of the mixed compost rose to 50.7℃ at the 1st day,and achieved its highest temperature 74.4℃ at the 3rd day. The temperature of the single compost rose to 40.0℃ at the 1st day,rose to 55.6℃ at the 3rd day,and achieved its highest temperature 70.1℃ at the 5th day. Adding chicken manure had no impact on the variety trend of the process parameters such as moisture content, pH and C/N ratio, hut increased the variety range of these parameters.

Effect of process parameters on interfacial microstructure and mechanical properties of Al/Cu friction stir lap welding joints

In this study,friction stir lap welding(FSLW)was performed for the welding test of 6061 aluminium alloy and T2 pure copper.The effect of process parameters containing rotation rate and travel speed on interfacial microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of Al/Cu dissimilar joints were explored.The experiments were carried out under the rotation rates of 600,900 and 1200 r/min and with the travel speeds of 30,70 and 100 mm/min.The characteristic of interface transition zones(ITZs)and the species of intermetallic compounds(IMCs)were investigated.The Al/Cu interface showed a layered structure composed of Al-Cu IMCs,which will affect the mechanical property.The layer consisting of Al2Cu was formed at lower heat input,and as heat input increased the Al4Cu9 phase started to form.Excessive heat input will increase the thickness of the interface and raise the brittleness of the joints.The thickness of the IMCs layers changed from0.89μm to 3.96μm as the heat input increased.The maximum value of tensile shear loading of 4.65 kN was obtained at the rotation rate of900 r/min and travel speed of 100 mm/min with the interface thickness of 2.89μm.The fracture mode of the joints was a mix of ductile and brittle fracture.

Intelligent Setting and Optimization of Process Parameters for Plastic Injection Molding

An intelligent model employing case-based reasoning（CBR） and fuzzy inference was constructed in terms to the system characteristics of plastic injection molding and considering the molding personnel＇s thought during the molding trial-runs. The model describes the complex process of injection molding with a view to the characters and advantages of CBR and fuzzy theory. And it can be used to determine the initial process parameters and optimize the process parameters on-line. The key implementation technologies of the model are described in detail, including determining the initial process parameters based on CBR, correcting defects, optimizing process parameters based on fuzzy inference, etc. A corresponding intelligent system was developed which is integrated with injection machine by communicating with the controller.

Effects of process parameters on nonaqueous gelcasting for copper powder

An approach to fabricate sintered copper with high green strength and high sintered density using nonaqueous gelcasting technol- ogy is presented in this study. The effects of various gelcasting processing parameters such as monomer content, monomer/crosslinker ratio, initiator content, dispersant dosage, and temperature on the flexural strength of dried green bodies and the relative density of sintered bodies were studied to obtain better microstructures and properties. The appropriate process parameters obtained for copper gelcasting are as follows monomer content, 20vol%-30vol% （based on the total volume of reagents）; monomer/crosslinker ratio, 10：1 to 20：1; initiator content, 3vol%-4vol% （based on the volume of the monomer）; dispersant dosage, 1.5wt%-2.5wt% （based on the mass of the copper powder）; and reaction temperature, 65-75℃.

Effect of process parameters on weld quality by friction stir welding of 2219 aluminum alloy

In the friction stir welding （FSW） process, welding speed and tool rotation speed are two important parameters, which have great effect on the weld quality. Because neither of each parameter can ensure the welding process effectively, an energy factor n, which is the ratio of rotation speed（to） to welding speed （v）, was selected to represent the heat generation intensity. According to this energy input factor n, the effect of heat input on the weld quality was estimated qualitatively. The results show that the optimized scope for the factor n should be within 2. 5 and 6. 0, outside of which groove defects and burr defects will appear.

Experimental Research on Effects of Process Parameters on Servo Scanning 3D Micro Electrical Discharge Machining

Servo scanning 3D micro electrical discharge machining (3D SSMEDM) is a novel and effective method in fabricating complex 3D micro structures with high aspect ratio on conducting materials. In 3D SSMEDM process, the axial wear of tool electrode can be compensated automatically by servo-keeping discharge gap, instead of the traditional methods that depend on experiential models or intermittent compensation. However, the effects of process parameters on 3D SSMEDM have not been reported up until now. In this study, the emphasis is laid on the effects of pulse duration, peak current, machining polarity, track style, track overlap, and scanning velocity on the 3D SSMEDM performances of machining efficiency, processing status, and surface accuracy. A series of experiments were carried out by machining a micro-rectangle cavity (900 μm×600 μm) on doped silicon. The experimental results were obtained as follows. Peak current plays a main role in machining efficiency and surface accuracy. Pulse duration affects obviously the stability of discharge state. The material removal rate of cathode processing is about 3/5 of that of anode processing. Compared with direction-parallel path, contour-parallel path is better in counteracting the lateral wear of tool electrode end. Scanning velocity should be selected moderately to avoid electric arc and short. Track overlap should be slightly less than the radius of tool electrode. In addition, a typical 3D micro structure of eye shape was machined based on the optimized process parameters. These results are beneficial to improve machining stability, accuracy, and efficiency in 3D SSMEDM.

Effects of Process Parameters on the Temperature Field in Ti-6Al-4V Alloy Blade Precision Forging Process

Blade precision forging is a high temperature and large plastic deformation process. Process parameters have a great effect on temperature distribution in billet, so in this paper, by taking a Ti-6Al-4V alloy blade with a tenon as an object, the influence of process parameters on the temperature distribution in precision forging process was investigated using 3D coupled thermo-mechanical FEM （finite element method） code developed by the authors. The results obtained illustrate that： （1） the gradient of temperature distribution increases with increasing the deformation degree; （2） with increasing the initial temperature of the billet, the zones of high temperature become larger, and the gradient of temperature distribution hardly has any increase; （3） friction factors have little effect on the distribution of temperature field; （4） with increasing upper die velocity, temperature of the billet increases while the temperature gradient in billet decreases. The results are helpful to the design and optimization of the process parameters in precision forging process of Ti-alloy blade.

Mesoscopic-Scale Numerical Investigation Including the Influence of Process Parameters on LPBF Multi-Layer Multi-Path Formation

As a typical laser additive manufacturing technology,laser powder bed fusion(LPBF)has achieved demonstration applications in aerospace,biomedical and other fields.However,how to select process parameters quickly and reasonably is still themain concern of LPBF production.In order to quantitatively analyze the influence of different process parameters(laser power,scanning speed,hatch space and layer thickness)on the LPBF process,the multilayer and multi-path forming process of LPBF was predicted based on the open-source discrete element method framework Yade and the open-source finite volume method framework OpenFOAM.Based on the design of experiments method,a four-factor three-level orthogonal test scheme was designed,and the porosity and surface roughness data of each calculation scheme were extracted.By analyzing the orthogonal test data,it was found that as the laser power increased,the porosity decreased,and as the scanning speed,hatch space,and layer thickness increased,the porosity increased.In addition,the influence of laser power and scanning speed on surface roughness showed a trend of decreasing first and then increasing,while the influence of scanning distance and layer thickness on surface roughness showed amonotonous increasing trend.The order of the influence of each process parameter on porosity was:scanning speed>laying thickness>laser power>hatch space,and the order of the influence of each process parameter on surface roughness was:hatch space>layer thickness>laser power>scanning speed.So the porosity of the part is most sensitive to scanning speed,and the surface roughness is the most sensitive to hatch space.The above conclusions are expected to provide process control basis for actual LPBF production of the 316L stainless steel alloy.

Relationships between the surface quality of a single crystal copper ingot and the process parameters of a heated mould continuous casting method

The relationships between the surface quality of a single crystal copper ingot and the process parameters of heated mould continuous casting method were studied experimentally using our own design of horizontal heated mould continuous casting apparatus, and the mechanism by which process parameters affect the surface quality of a single crystal copper ingot is analyzed in the present paper. The results show that the process parameters affect the surface quality of a pure copper ingot by affecting the position of the liquid-solid interface in the mould. The position of the liquid-solid interface in the mould must be controlled carefully within an appropriate range, which is determined through a series of experiments, in order to gain a single crystal copper ingot with good surface quality.

Head Curvature of Pure Titanium Sheet Influenced by Process Parameters and Controlling in Hot Rolling Process

We investigated the influences of process parameters on the head curvature of pure titanium sheet in hot rolling process and proposed the controlling means. First, the thermal simulation experiments for pure titanium TA1 were carried out to investigate the hot deformation behaviors of pure titanium in the temperature range of 700-800 ℃ with strain rate range of 1-20 S-1, and the processing map was established to determine optimized deformation parameters. Then, the finite element model has been constructed and used to analyze the effect of process parameters on the direction and severity of head curvature of pure titanium sheet. The process parameters considered in the present study include workpiece temperature, work roll diameter, pass reduction, oxide scale thickness of workpiece surface, and interface friction coefficient. The simulation results show that the workpiece temperature and the interface friction coefficient are the two main factors. The proposed controlling means was carried out on a hot rolling production line and solved the head curvature problem effectively. The rolling practices indicate that the rolling yield is improved greatly.