Mechanical properties and fracture toughness of rail steels and thermite welds at low temperature

Brittle fracture occurs frequently in rails and thermite welded joints, which intimidates the security and reliability of railway ser- vice. Railways in cold regions, such as Qinghai-Tibet Railway, make the problem of brittle fi＇acture in rails even worse. A series of tests such as uniaxial tensile tests, Charpy impact tests, and three-point bending tests were carried out at low temperature to investigate the mechanical properties and fracture toughness of U71Mn and U75V rail steels and their thermite welds. Fracture micromechanisms were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） on the fracture surfaces of the tested specimens. The ductility indices （percentage elongation aider frac- ture and percentage reduction of area） and the toughness indices （Charpy impact energy Ak and plane-strain fracture toughness Kic） of the two kinds of rail steels and the corresponding thermite welds all decrease as the temperature decreases. The thermite welds are more critical to fracture than the rail steel base metals, as indicated by a higher yield-to-ultimate ratio and a much lower Charpy impact energy. U71Mn rail steel is relatively higher in toughness than U75V, as demonstrated by larger Ak and Klc values. Therefore, U71Mn rail steel and the corresponding thermite weld are recommended in railway construction and maintenance in cold regions.

IMPROVEMENT OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF MARTENSITIC STAINLESS STEEL BY PLASMA NITRIDING AT LOW TEMPERATURE

A series of experiments were carried out to study the influence of low temperature plasma nitriding on the mechanical properties of AISI 420 martensitic stainless steel. Plasma nitriding experiments were carried out for 15 h at 350℃ by means of DC- pulsed plasma in 25%N2＋ 75%H2 atmosphere. The microstructure, phase composition, and residual stresses profiles of the nitrided layers were determined by optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The microhardness profiles of the nitridied surfaces were also studied. The fatigue life, sliding wear, and erosion wear loss of the untreated specimens and plasma nitriding specimens were determined on the basis of a rotating bending fatigue tester, a ball-on-disc wear tester, and a solid particle erosion tester. The results show that the 350℃ nitrided surface is dominated by c-Fe3N and ON, which is supersaturated nitrogen solid solution. They have high hardness and chemical stabilities. So the low temperature plasma nitriding not only increases the surface hardness values but also improves the wear and erosion resistance. In addition, the fatigue limit of AISI 420 steel can also be improved by plasma nitriding at 350℃ because plasma nitriding produces residual compressive stress inside the modified layer.

Research on deepwater synthetic drilling fluid and its low temperature rheological properties

With the rapid development of deepwater drilling operations,more and more complex technical challenges have to be faced due to the rigorous conditions encountered.One of these challenges is that the drilling fluid used must had good rheological properties at low temperatures and high ability to inhibit hydrate formation.Synthetic drilling fluid has been widely applied to deepwater drilling operations due to its high penetration rate,excellent rheological properties,good ability to prevent hydrate formation,and high biodegradability.A synthetic drilling fluid formulation was developed in our laboratory.The rheological properties of this drilling fluid at low temperatures （0-20 °C） were tested with a 6-speed viscometer and its ability to inhibit hydrate formation was evaluated at 20 MPa CH 4 gas and 0 °C by differential scanning calorimetry （DSC）.Several factors influencing the low temperature rheological properties of this synthetic drilling fluid were studied in this paper.These included the viscosity of the base fluid,the amount of CEMU and organic clay,and the water volume fraction.

A STUDY ON THE STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF POLYBUTYLALDEHYDE FORMED IN LOW TEMPERATURE PLASMA

The polybutylaldehyde obtained by plasma polymerization was investigated by means of IR, X-ray diffraction, GC-MS, elementary analysis, TEM, electron diffraction and contact angle measurements etc. The results showed that the polymer formed in plasma is amorphous crosslinked polymer, and its backbone is made of carbon atoms. The surface energy of the polymer film is independent of the polymerization conditions. No addition reaction has taken place in the carbonyl group of butylaldehyde in the plasma condition. The result of the wettability measurements showed that the polymer film is generally hydrophobic and the surface energy of the film is about 41 dyn/cm, in which the dispersion force contribution is the majority. The electron diffraction proved that some crystal substance, even the single crystals were present in the polymer. X-ray diffraction also proved the presence of crystal and showed about 15% crystaUinity fraction.

Influence of Deposition Temperature and Pressure on Microstructure and Tribological Properties of Arc Ion Plated Ag Films

The films deposited at low temperature（LT-films） have increasingly attracted theoretical and technical interests since such films exhibit obvious difference in structure and performances compared to those deposited at room temperature.Studies on the tribological properties of LT-films are rarely reported in available literatures.In this paper,the structure,morphology and tribological properties of Ag films,deposited at LT（166 K） under various Ar pressures on AISI 440C steel substrates by arc ion plating（AIP）,are studied by X-ray diffraction（XRD）,atomic force microscopy（AFM） and a vacuum ball-on-disk tribometer,and compared with the Ag films deposited at RT（300 K）.XRD results show that（200） preferred orientation of the films is promoted at LT and low Ar pressure.The Crystallite sizes are 70 nm-80 nm for LT-Ag films deposited at 0.2 Pa and 0.8 Pa and larger than 100 nm for LT-Ag films deposited at 0.4 Pa and 0.6 Pa,while they are 55 nm-60 nm for RT-Ag films deposited at 0.2 Pa-0.6 Pa and 37 nm for RT-Ag films deposited at 0.8 Pa.The surfaces of LT-Ag films are fibre-like at 0.6 Pa and 0.8 Pa,terrace-like at 0.4 Pa,and sphere-like at 0.2 Pa,while the surfaces of RT-Ag films are composed of sphere-like grains separated by voids.Wear tests reveal that,due to the compact microstructure LT-Ag films have better wear resistances than RT-Ag film.These results indicate that the microstructure and wear resistance of Ag films deposited by AIP can be improved by low temperature deposition.

SIGMAPLUG—A NEW TEMPERATURE INDICATOR FOR REMAINING LIFE ASSESSMENT OF HIGH TEMPERATURE COMPONENTS

Improved life assessment techniques will enable engineering components to be replaced before failure, thereby reducing the risk of industrial accidents as well as minimizing financial loss due to unscheduled outages. For components operating at high temperatures, temperature measurement is very important. In many situations, the environmental conditions are too hostile for conventional techniques to be used. Researchers over the world have been looking for new techniques for temperature measurement and one such device, called Feroplug, has been developed previously by the and coworkers. The Feroplug has been patented in USA, UK and Europe by the British Technology Group. The underlying principle of the Feroplug is based on the transformation of ferrite in some specially designed duplex stainless steels. This paper describes a new invention called Sigmaplug which is a new development of the Feroplug but using an entirely different physical principle. It was discovered that the sigma phase in Fe

Synthesis of γ-Ce_2S_3 colorant under low temperature and its coloring properties for PE and PVC

A series of cerium sulfides were successfully prepared using commercially available nanoscale CeO_2 as precursor, anhydrous Na_2CO_3 as dopants, CS_2 as sulfur source, under 600–800 oC, respectively. Properties of samples were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction（XRD）, scanning electron microscopy（SEM） and spectrophotometry. The results showed that corresponding γ-Ce_2S_3 with small size was obtained by using nanoscale CeO_2 as precursor; pure phase γ-Ce_2S_3 could be obtained under low temperature of 700 oC. Coloring properties of γ-Ce_2S_3 obtained under 800 oC were studied by researching γ-Ce_2S_3/PE and γ-Ce_2S_3/PVC composites, respectively. The results showed that satisfied coloring effects to PE and PVC were obtained by using 0.5 phr and 0.2 phr γ-Ce_2S_3, respectively.

Evaluation of Zero and Sub-zero Temperature Tensile and Impact Properties of Quenched and Tempered Steel Weldments

Combat vehicles using armour grade quenched and tempered （Q＆T） steel are needed to be operated under different climatic conditions. However, the properties meeting the room temperature test conditions may not neces-sarily be required to meet the low temperature operating conditions. The influences of shielded metal arc welding （SMAW） process, flux cored arc welding （FCAW） processes and test temperatures below room temperature up to 60℃ on tensile and impact toughness properties of armour grade Q＆T steel welds were reported. The tensile and impact properties of the joints showed incremental trend with respect to the decrement in test temperature up to -40℃ irrespective of the welding processes used. The increment in tensile and impact properties of SMAW and FCAW joints subjected to the low temperature environment is due to plastic strain-induced phase transformation of retained austenite into martensite phase. Among the two processes, SMAW process welded joint showed better tensile and impact properties than its FCAW counterpart joints.

Applications of low temperature calorimetry in material research

Low temperature calorimetry is an experimental method of heat capacity measurements, and heatcapacity is one of the most important and fundamental thermodynamic properties of substances. Theheat capacity can provide an average evaluation of the thermal property of a sample since it is a bull（property of substances. In the other hand, the condensed states of substances could be mainly controlledby the molecular motions, intermolecular interactions, and interplay among molecular structures. Thephysical property reflected in a material may be closely related to the energy changes in these threefactors, which can be directly observed in a heat capacity curve. Therefore, low temperature calorimetryhas been used not only to obtain heat capacity, entropy, enthalpy and Gibbs free energy, but also toinvestigate and understand lattice vibrations, metals, superconductivity, electronic and nuclearmagnetism, dilute magnetic systems and structural transitions. In this review, we have presented theconcept of low temperature calorimetry and its applications in the related field of material researches,such as nano-materials, magnetic materials, ferroelectric materials, phase change materials and othermaterials.

Crystal structure and electrochemical performance of La_(0.75)Ce_(0.25)Ni_(3.46^-)Al_(0.17)Mn_(0.04)Co_(1.33) alloy for high-power-type 29 Ah Ni-MH battery

An AB5 type alloy, La0.75Ce0.25Ni3.46A10.17Mn0.04COl.33, was successfully prepared via partial substitution of Ce for La and A1, Mn, Co for Ni, respectively. The structure, morphology, and chemical composition of the as-obtained alloy powders were care- fully examined by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Electro- chemical properties of the hydrogen storage alloy were systematically investigated in standard 29 Ah Ni-MH batteries. The 29 Ah Ni-MH battery exhibited a theoretical discharge capacity of 29 Ah at 1 C. The capacity retention was 99% after 2000 cycles. Fur- thermore, excellent low temperature performance of this hydrogen storage alloy was obtained at -25 ~C. And the results showed that it exhibited not only high discharge capacity （21 Ah at -25 ~C and 1 C）, excellent high current densities instantaneous discharge performance （discharge 0.9 Ah in 10 s at 12.5 C rate and the voltage could be maintained around 0.73 V）, but also remarkable high-rate discharge capacity （discharge 17.7 Ah at 50% SOC and 6.25 C, and the voltage could be maintained around 0.95 V）.