A Study of Grain Growth Kinetics in Sintered NdFeB Magnets

The Nd2Fe14 B grain growth kinetics in sintered NdFeB magnets with nominal compositions of Nd30+xDy1.5Fe67.08-xAl0.4B1.02 (%, x = 0, 3) was studied. The grain size parameters were determined by means of the linear intercept method on SEM secondary electron images. It is observed that the grain growth process is more sensitive to sintering temperature than to sintering time although the grain size rises with both sintering temperature and time. It is also found that magnets prepared from the pre-alloy powder with a higher oxygen content exhibit a lower grain growth rate and magnets made from the pre-alloy powder with a broader particle size distribution demonstrate a higher grain growth rate. It is believed that the presence of appropriate amounts of Nd oxides effectively impedes the grain growth process and a larger difference in sizes between pre-alloy powder particles significantly accelerates the grain growth process. On the basis of experimental results, the grain growth exponent and the corresponding activation energy were obtained. A possible grain growth mechanism in NdFeB magnets during sintering was briefly discussed.

Grain Growth Kinetics of BaTiO3 Nanocrystals During Calcining Process

BaTiO3 nanocrystals were synthesized by sol-gel method using barium acetate （Ba（CH3COO2） and tetrabutyl titanate （Ti（OC4H9）4） as raw materials. Xerogel precursors and products were characterized by means of thermogravimetric/differential scanning calorimetry （TG/DSC）, X-ray diffraction （XRD） and transmission electron microscope （TEM）. The influence of the calcination temperature and duration on the lattice constant, the lattice distortion, and the grain size of BaTiO3 nanocrystals was discussed based on the XRD results. The grain growth kinetics of BaTiO3 nanocrystals during the calcination process were simulated with a conventional grain growth model which only takes into account diffusion, and an isothermal model proposed by Qu and Song, which takes into account both diffusion and surface reactions. Using these models, the pre-exponential factor and the activation energy of the rate constant were estimated. The simulation results indicate that the isothermal model is superior to the conventional one in describing the grain growth process, implying that both diffusion and surface reactions play important roles in the grain growth process.

Microstructure,Properties,and Grain Growth Kinetics of Mo-5Ta Refractory Sputtering Targets Prepared by SPS

Mo-5Ta targets were prepared by the spark plasma sintering(SPS)technology under the sintering temperatures of 1400-1600℃,the holding times of 0-20 min,and the axial pressure of 30 MPa.The microstructure,performance,and grain growth kinetics of Mo-5Ta sputtering targets were studied.With the increase of sintering temperatures and times,Ta can more dissolve in Mo and form a Mo(Ta)solid solution.The grain sizes of Mo-5Ta targets remain unchanged at low temperatures(1400-1500℃)while increasing significantly at high temperature(1600℃)with the extension of the holding time.In addition,the densities and Vickers hardness(HV_(0.5))first ascend and then decrease with sintering proceeding.The thermal conductivity is positively correlated with the grain size and density,as a result of their joint action.Based on the comprehensive analysis,the grain growth is dominated by the combination of boundary diffusion and volume diffusion.When n=2,the activation energies of grain growth under holding times of 5,10,20 min are calculated as 762.70,617.86,and 616.52 kJ/mol,respectively.

Grain Growth Kinetics of SnO_2 Nanocrystals Synthesized by Precipitation Method

Monodispersed spheroidal SnO2 nanocrystals with the grain size of 8-30 nm were synthesized by the precipitation method using SnCl4·5H2O （stannic chloride hydrate） as raw materials.Differential scanning calorimetry/thermogravimetry （DSC/TG）,X-ray diffraction （XRD） and transmission electron microscope （TEM） were used to characterize the structure of SnO2 nanocrystals.The influences of the calcination temperature and time on the lattice constant,the lattice distortion and the grain size of SnO2 nanocrystals were discussed based on the XRD results.The grain growth kinetics of SnO2 nanocrystals during calcination process was simulated with a conventional grain growth model which only took into account of diffusion and with a new isothermal model proposed by our group,which took into account of both diffusion and surface reactions.Using conventional model,the grain growth rate constant of SnO2 crystals is 1.55×104nm5/min with a pre-exponential factor of 5 and an activation energy of 108.62 kJ/mol.Compared with the convention model,the new isothermal model is more realistic in reflecting the grain growth behavior of SnO2 nanocrystals during the calcination process.This indicates that the grain growth of SnO2 nanocrystals is controlled by both diffusion and reaction factors,and the effect of surface reactivity on the grain growth of SnO2 nanocrystals could not be ignored.A combined activation energy estimated with the new isothermal model is 53.46 kJ/mol.

Isothermal Growth Kinetics of Ultra-fine Austenite Grains in a Nb-V-Ti Microalloyed Steel

Ultra-fine austenite grains with size of i-3 μm were prepared in a Nb-V-Ti steel through repetitive treatment of rapid heating and quenching. A model for the growth kinetics of these ultra-fine austenite grains was successfully created through successive 2 processes, and the activation energy Q for growth was estimated to be about 693.2 kJ/mol, which directly shows the inhibition effect of microalloy elements on the growth of ultra-fine austenite grains.

Grain growth kinetics and densification mechanism of(TiZrHfVNbTa)C high-entropy ceramic under pressureless sintering

The grain growth kinetics and densification mechanism of(TiZrHfVNbTa)C high-entropy carbide ceramic are investigated in this work.A single phase carbide with a rock-salt structure is formed until 2300°C,below which an apparent aggregation of V,Zr and Hf exists.It is associated with the slow diffusion rate of V element as well as the relatively poor solubility of VC in HfC(as well as ZrC).The grain growth mechanism gradually changes from surface diffusion to volume diffusion and then grain boundary diffusion with increasing sintering temperature.This is attributed to the variation of activation energy of grain growth.The densification mechanism is principally dominated by the mass transport through lattice diffusion with the activation energy of 839±53 k J/mol.Through the design of two-step sintering,it is verified that the solid solution formation can effectively promote the densification process.

Drag Effects of Solute and Second Phase Distributions on the Grain Growth Kinetics of Pre-Extruded Mg-6Zn Alloy

In order to control the grain size during hot forming,grain growth behavior of a pre-extruded Mg-6Zn magnesium alloy and its correlation with solute and second phase distribution were investigated.Isothermal annealing was conducted on a Gleeble-1500 thermo-mechanical simulator.The mean grain size Dg of each annealed specimen was measured by the quantitative metallography technique.The grain growth kinetics of the Mg-6Zn alloy annealed at 473-623 K was obtained as Dg^4- Dg0^4=2.25 ×10^11 exp（-95450）by the least square linear regression method.The deviation of grain growth exponent n = 4 from the theoretical value of 2 may be attributed to the presence of solute zinc and second phases which will retard the boundary migration.Microscopic observations show that the non-uniform distribution of grain size for samples pre-extruded or annealed at low temperatures is closely related to the non-uniform distribution of fine and dispersed second phases but not to the non-uniform distribution of solute zinc.This indicates that second phase pinning effect plays an important role in microstructure refinement.

ON THE MONTE CARLO SIMULATION OF NORMAL GRAIN GROWTH

The microstructures and their kinetics of normal grain growth are simulated using different Monte Carlo （MC） algorithms. Compared with the relative figures and the theoretical normal grain growth exponents of n =0.5, the effects of some factors of MC algorithm, i.e. the lattice types, the methods of selecting lattice sites, and the neighbors selection for energy calculations, on the simulation results of grain growth are studied. Two methods of regression were compared, and the three-parameter nonlinear regression is much more suitable for fitting the grain growth kinetics. A better model with appropriate factors included triangular lattice, the attempted site randomly selected, and the first and second nearest neighbors for energy calculations is obtained.

Tailoring grain growth and solid solution strengthening of single-phase CrCoNi medium-entropy alloys by solute selection

In the present study,we selected solutes to be added to the Cr Co Ni medium-entropy alloy(MEA)based on the mismatch of self-diffusion activation energy(SDQ)between the alloying elements and constituent elements of the matrix,and then investigated their grain growth behavior and mechanical properties.Mo and Al were selected as the solutes for investigation primarily because they have higher and lower SDQ,respectively,than those of the matrix elements;a secondary factor was their higher and lower shear modulus.Their concentrations were fixed at 3 at.%each because previous work had shown these compositions to be single-phase solid solutions with the face-centered cubic structure.Three alloys were produced by arc melting,casting,homogenizing,cold rolling and annealing at various temperatures and times to produce samples with different grain sizes.They were(a)the base alloy Cr Co Ni,(b)the base alloy plus 3 at.%Mo,and(c)the base alloy plus 3 at.%Al.The activation energies for grain growth of the Cr Co Ni,Cr Co Ni-3Mo and CrCo Ni-3Al MEAs were found to be^251,~368 and^219 k J/mol,respectively,consistent with the notion that elements with higher SDQ(in this study Mo)retard grain growth(likely by a solute-drag effect),whereas those with lower values(Al)accelerate grain growth.The roomtemperature tensile properties show that Mo increases the yield strength by^40%but Al addition has a smaller strengthening effect consistent with their relative shear moduli.The yield strength as a function of grain size for the three single-phase MEAs follows the classical Hall-Petch relationship with much higher slopes(>600 MPaμm-0.5)than traditional solid solutions.This work shows that the grain growth kinetics and solid solution strengthening of the Cr Co Ni MEA can be tuned by selecting solute elements that have appropriate diffusion and physical properties.

Effects of tantalum on austenitic transformation kinetics of RAFM steel

The RAFM（reduced activation ferritic/martensitic）steels containing different tantalum contents（0wt.%,0.027wt.%,0.073wt.%）were designed and cast.Differential scanning calorimetry and optical microscopy were employed to explore the influence of tantalum content on the austenitic transformation of RAFM steels.The austenitic transformation kinetics was described by aphase-transformation model.The model,involving site saturation nucleation,diffusion-controlled growth and impingement correction,was established based on the classical Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov model.The phase-transformation kinetics parameters,including D_0（pre-exponential factor for diffusion）and Q_d（activation energy for diffusion）,were calculated by fitting the experimental data and the kinetic model.The results indicated that the average grain size is decreased with the increase of tantalum.The values of A_（c1） and A_（c3） （onset and finish temperature of austenitic transformation,respectively）are increased by increasing the tantalum content.The increase of tantalum caused the decrease of D_0.However,Q_d is increased with the increase of tantalum.In addition,as a carbides forming element,tantalum would reduce the carbon diffusion coefficient and slow down the austenitic transformation rate.