GRAIN COARSENING BEHAVIOR OF V-Ti-N MICROALLOYED STEELS

The effects of chemical composition and cooling rate after solidication on the grain coarsening temperature,T_(GC),of the V-Ti-N microalloyed steels have been investigated.It is shown that the T_(GC) may be obviously raised by adding even a little Ti to the base steel so as to pre- cipitate a great deal of fine Ti-bearing particles of about 10 nm.The T_(GC) does not increase with the cooling rate,as it is over a certain critical value.The T_(GC) is insensitive to any varia- tion of N content at simulated cooling condition of 150 mm continuous cast slab.The T_(GC) may be dropped down about 100℃ by adding 0.33 wt-%Mo to the steels.The sensitivi- ty of T_(GC) to cooling condition relates to the Ti and V contents.

TEMPERATURE SENSITIVITY AND PREDICTION OF THE MECHANICAL BEHAVIORS OF ULTRAFINE GRAINED ALUMINUM UNDER UNIAXIAL COMPRESSION

In the present work, we explore the strain hardening behaviors as well as the effect of temperature on the plastic deformation of ultrafine grained aluminum. The temperature sensitivity is determined and compared with that of coarse grained material. The results indicate that the flow stress of ultrafine grained aluminum displays enhanced sensitivity to temperature. The reduction in activation volume is suggested to be the major reason for the enhanced temperature sensitivity as grain size is refined into the sub-micrometer regime. Finally, a phenomenological constitutive model is proposed to describe the post-yield response of ultrafine grained aluminum.

Temperature coefficients of grain boundary resistance variations in a ZnO/p-Si heterojunction

Heteroepitaxial undoped ZnO films were grown on Si （100） substrates by radio-frequency reactive sputtering, and then some of the samples were annealed at N2-800℃ （Sample 1, S1） and 02-800℃ （Sample 2, S2） for 1 h, respectively. The electrical transport characteristics of a ZnO/p-Si heterojunction were investigated. We found two interesting phenomena. First, the temperature coefficients of grain boundary resistances of S 1 were positive （positive temperature coefficients, PTC） while that of both the as-grown sample and S2 were negative （negative temperature coefficients, NTC）. Second, the I-V properties of S2 were similar to those common p-n junctions while that of both the as-grown sample and S 1 had double Schottky barrier behaviors, which were in contradiction with the ideal p-n heterojunction model. Combined with the deep level transient spectra results, this revealed that the concentrations of intrinsic defects in ZnO grains and the densities of interfacial states in ZnO/p-Si heterojunction varied with the different annealing ambiences, which caused the grain boundary barriers in ZnO/p-Si heterojunction to vary. This resulted in adjustment electrical properties ofZnO/p-Si heterojunction that may be suitable in various applications.

Influence of microstructure on the corrosion resistance of Fe–44Ni thin films

An Fe–44Ni nanocrystalline（NC） alloy thin film was prepared through electrodeposition. The relation between the microstructure and corrosion behavior of the NC film was investigated using electrochemical methods and chemical analysis approaches. The results show that the NC film is composed of a face-centered cubic phase（γ-（Fe,Ni）） and a body-centered cubic phase（α-（Fe,Ni）） when it is annealed at temperatures less than 400℃. The corrosion resistance increases with the increase in grain size, and the corresponding corrosion process is controlled by oxygen reduction. The NC films annealed at 500℃ and 600℃ do not exhibit the same pattern, although their grain sizes are considerably large. This result is attributed to the existence of an anodic phase, Fe0.947Ni0.054, in these films. Under this condition, the related corrosion process is synthetically controlled by anodic dissolution and depolarization.

Effects of Strain Rate,Temperature and Grain Size on the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure Evolutions of Polycrystalline Nickel Nanowires:A Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Through molecular dynamics（MD） simulation, the dependencies of temperature, grain size and strain rate on the mechanical properties were studied. The simulation results demonstrated that the strain rate from 0.05 to 2 ns–1 affected the Young＇s modulus of nickel nanowires slightly, whereas the yield stress increased. The Young＇s modulus decreased approximately linearly; however, the yield stress firstly increased and subsequently dropped as the temperature increased. The Young＇s modulus and yield stress increased as the mean grain size increased from 2.66 to 6.72 nm. Moreover, certain efforts have been made in the microstructure evolution with mechanical properties association under uniaxial tension. Certain phenomena such as the formation of twin structures, which were found in nanowires with larger grain size at higher strain rate and lower temperature, as well as the movement of grain boundaries and dislocation, were detected and discussed in detail. The results demonstrated that the plastic deformation was mainly accommodated by the motion of grain boundaries for smaller grain size. However, for larger grain size, the formations of stacking faults and twins were the main mechanisms of plastic deformation in the polycrystalline nickel nanowire.

Effect of Nitrogen Doping on the Electrical Properties of 3C-SiC Thin Films for High-Temperature Sensors Applications

3C-SiC is a promising structural material for piezoresistive sensors used in high-temperature applications. For sensor development, the preparation of sensor materials and study of its electrical properties, such as resistivity, barrier height of grain boundaries, and temperature coefficient of resistivity, are important in addition to structural properties and these have to be optimized. In the present work, 3C-SiC thin film with in situ doping of nitrogen is prepared through low- pressure chemical vapor deposition by using methyl trichloro silane, ammonia, and hydrogen as precursors. Electrical properties of deposited 3C-SiC thin films with varying nitrogen doping concentration through four probe technique are studied. Atomic force microscopy investigations are carried out to study the grain size on and average root-mean-squared roughness 3C-SiC thin films. A decrease in the degree of crystallinity is observed in nitrogen-doped 3C-SiC thin films. The sheet resistivity of nitrogen-doped 3C-SiC thin film is found to decrease with increase in temperature in the range from 303 to 823 K. The sheet resistivity, average temperature coefficient of resistance, and barrier height of the grain boundaries of film doped with 17 at.% of nitrogen are 0.14 cm, -1.0 x 10-n/K, and 0.01 eV, respectively. Comparing all the nitrogen-doped 3C-SiC thin films, the film doped with 17 at.% of nitrogen exhibits an improved structural and electrical properties and it can be used as sensing material for high-temperature applications.

Experimental and numerical research on squat silo and large size horizontal warehouse during quasi-steady-state storage

Traditional method to prevent stored grain from deterioration is to control grain temperature.A three dimensional(3-D)numerical model was established to study the temperature variation in outdoor squat silo and large size horizontal warehouse at quasi-steady-state.In this research,porous media model and solar radiation model were adopted.Numerical and experimental results showed that grain temperature was influenced by temperature of wall,height of grain and the distance between grain and the wall.Temperature changes dramatically at the top layer of grain heap due to solar radiation and heat convection at air layer.Temperature of grain close to wall increased with the increasing of ambient temperature.The model established in this research is suitable for predicting grain temperature in outdoor squat silo and large size horizontal warehouse.

Comparison of microstructure and property of high chromium bearing steel with and without nitrogen addition

Microstructure and property of bearing steel with and without nitrogen addition were investigated by microstructural observation and hardness measurement after different heat treatment processing. Based on the microstructural observation of both 9Cr18 steel and X90N steel, it was found that nitrogen addition could effectively reduce the amount and size of coarse carbides and also refine the original austenite grain size. Due to addition of nitrogen, more austenite phase was found in X90N steel than in 9Cr18 steel. The retained austenite of X90N steel after quenching at 1050℃ could be reduced from about 60% to about 7 9% by cold treatment at -73℃ and subsequent tempering, and thus finally increased the hardness up to 60 HRC after low temperature tempering and to 63 HRC after high temperature tempering. Furthermore, both the wear and corrosion resistance of X90N steel were found much more superior than those of 9Cr18 steel, which was attributed to the addition of nitrogen. It was proposed at last that nitrogen alloying into the high chromium bearing steel was a promising way not only to refine the size of both carbides and austenite, but also to achieve high hardness, high wear property and improved corrosion resistance of the stainless bearing steel.