Effect of cyclic heat treatment on microstructures and mechanical properties of directionally solidified Ti-46Al-6Nb alloy

The Ti-46A1-6Nb （mole fraction, %） ingots that were directionally solidified by cold crucible were cyclic heat treated at 1330 ℃ in the a phase region. The microstructures and mechanical properties of the ingots before and after heat treatment were investigated. The results show that the large columnar grains are changed into equiaxed grains after heat treatment. The grain size decreases with increasing the cyclic times, which is caused by the recrystallization and the transition from the large grain of small lamellae to the small grain of large lamellae. Four times of cyclic heat treatment refines the grain size from 1.33 mm to 0.59 turn, nevertheless the lamellar spacing increases from 0.71 ~tm to 1.38 lim. Extending the holding time and increasing the cyclic times of heat treatment eliminate the fl-segregation at the grain boundary and the interlamellar. The compression testing shows that the compressive strength of the directionally solidified ingot in the parallel and perpendicular directions are 1385.09 MPa and 1267.79 MPa, respectively, which are improved to 1449.75 MPa and 1527.76 MPa after two and four times of cyclic heat treatment, respectively, while that is 1180.64 MPa for the as-cast sample. The fracture mode of the sample after cyclic heat treatment is quasi-cleavage fracture.

Formation of fine fully-lamellar microstructure of TiAl-based alloy in rapid heating cyclic heat treatment process

The optical observation results of neocrystallization nucleation and growth of fine fully lamellar (FFL) α 2/ γ microstructure of a TiAl based alloy in rapid heating cyclic heat treatment process were reported. The characteristics of α+γ→α transformation under rapid heating conditions were analysed. A model for explaining the nucleation and growth mechanism of FFL α 2/ γ microstructure was proposed.

Effect of cyclic heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of 50CrV4 steel

An annealed 50 Cr V4 steel was subjected to cyclic heat treatment process that consists of repeated short-duration(200 s)held at 840 °C(above Ac3 temperature of 790 °C) and short-duration(100 s) held at 700 °C(below Ac1 temperature of 710 °C). The spheroidization ratio of cementite and the average size of particles increase with increasing the cyclic number of heat treatment. After5-cycle heat treatment, the spheroidization ratio of cementite is 100%, and the average size of the cementite particles is about0.53 μm. After cyclic heat treatment, the hardness, ultimate tensile strength and yield strength of the experimental steel gradually decrease with increasing cyclic number of heat treatment. The elongation of the as-received specimens is about 7.4%, the elongation of the 1-cycle specimen is 14.3%, and the elongation of 5-cycle specimen reaches a peak value of 22.5%, thereafter marginally decreases to 18.3% after 6-cycle heat treatment. Accordingly, the fractured surface initially exhibits the regions of wavy lamellar fracture. By increasing the cyclic number of heat treatment cycles, the regions of dimples consume the entire fractured surface gradually. Some large dimples can be found in the fracture surface of the specimen subjected to six heat treatment cycles.

Effect of cyclic heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of laser aided additive manufacturing Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo alloy

Globularαphases can significantly improve the ductility of titanium alloys.Cyclic heat treatment(CHT)has been proved to be an effective way to induce the formation of globularαphases inα+βtitanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V fabricated by laser aided additive manufacturing(LAAM).However,there is no prior research reporting methods for obtaining globularαphases in LAAM-built near-αtitanium alloys.This work investigated the cyclic heat treatment(CHT)procedures suitable for the LAAM-built near-αtitanium alloy Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo(Ti6242)to attain the globularαphases.The results show that 980℃ is the most suitable upper temperature limit for CHT.However,it is difficult to achieve a high volume fraction of the globularαphases in the LAAM-built Ti6242 alloys through CHT,which is ascribed to the low composition gradient caused by moreα-stabilizing elements and fewerβ-stabilizing elements.The as-built sample demonstrated elongation of 6.3%,which is lower than the AMS 4919J standard(elongation≥10%).After 980℃ CHT and 980℃ CHT with solution heat-treatment,the formation of the globularαphases significantly increased the elongation to 13.5%and 12.9%,respectively.Although the mechanical strength is reduced after heat-treatment,the room-temperature tensile properties still exceed the AMS 4919J standard.Fractography examination showed that the as-built sample exhibited a mixed brittle and ductile fracture behavior,while the 980℃ CHT and 980℃ CHT with solution heat-treated samples displayed ductile fracture.

Strength-toughness improvement of 13Cr4NiMo martensitic stainless steel with thermal cyclic heat treatment

To improve the strength-toughness of 13Cr4NiMo martensitic stainless steel(13-4MSS),a thermal cyclic heat treatment(TCHT)combined with the advantage of tempering was proposed.The microstructures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy,X-ray diffraction and electron backscattered diffraction,and the mechanical behaviors in terms of tensile properties and impact toughness were analyzed in correlation with microstructural evolution.It was found that grains and the martensitic matrix were refined by TCHT through the cyclic quenching transformation and austenite recrystallization,which was conducive to more nucleation quantity of reversed austenite during tempering.Two-sphericalcap nucleation model was used to explain the effect of refined grains of TCHT on the nucleation of reversed austenite.Grain refinement by TCHT improved the brittle fracture stress to reduce the ductile-brittle transition temperature and thus improved the cryogenic impact toughness of 13-4MSS.Reversed austenite distributed at the martensitic lath boundary enhances the crack arrest performance and increases the britle fracture stress.It is concluded that reasonable TCHT plus tempering process significantly improves the strength-toughness of 13-4MSS,reflecting the comprehensive effect of grain refinement and reversed austenite.

Effect of cyclic heat treatment on abnormal grain growth in Fe-Mn-Al-based shape memory alloys with different Ni contents

Cyclic heat treatment that can continuously promote abnormal grain growth is widely used for the prepa-ration of single-crystal Fe-Mn-Al-based shape memory alloys.However,it takes a long time to prepare large-size Fe-Mn-Al-based alloy single crystals via the reported cyclic heat treatments.Meanwhile,the long-time cyclic heat treatment at high temperatures leads to the development of defects including oxidation and a decrease in Mn,which would deteriorate superelasticity in the Fe-Mn-Al-based shape memory alloys.To shorten the fabrication time of single crystals,the effect of the cyclic heat treatment process on the abnormal grain growth in the Fe-Mn-Al-based alloys with different Ni contents was systematically investigated.It is found that the abnormal grain growth of Fe-Mn-Al-based alloys was not significantly affected by the Ni contents(within 2.1 at.%-6.2 at.%).In addition,the abnormal grain growth could be promoted by 1-2℃ min^(-1) cooling rate,high solution temperature,and multiple cycles,while it was insensitive to other processes including heating rate,dual-phase time as well as long-time solution treat-ment.These findings can guide optimizing the fabrication process of single crystals by cyclic heat treat-ment.Finally,the Fe_(41.9)Mn_(37.8)Al_(14.1) Ni_(6.2) single crystal prepared by the optimized cyclic heat treatment showed a recoverable strain of about 4%.