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.

Effect of process parameters on the morphology of aluminum/copper alloy lap joints by red and blue hybrid laser welding

In order to overcome the problems of many pores,large deformation and unstable weld quality of traditional laser welded aluminumcopper alloy joints,a red-blue dual-beam laser source and a swinging laser were introduced for welding.T2 copper and 6063 aluminum thin plates were lap welded by coaxial dual-beam laser welding.The morphology of weld cross section was compared to explore the influence of process parameters on the formation of lap joints.The microstructure characteristics of the weld zone were observed and compared by optical microscope.The results show that the addition of laser beam swing can eliminate the internal pores of the weld.With the increase of the swing width,the weld depth decreases,and the weld width increases first and then decreases.The influence of welding speed on the weld cross section morphology is similar to that of swing width.With the increase of welding speed,the weld width increases first and then decreases,while the weld depth decreases all the time.This is because that the red laser is used as the main heat source to melt the base metals,with the increase of red laser power,the weld depth increases.As an auxiliary laser source,blue laser reduces the total energy consumption,consequently,the effective heat input increases and the spatter is restrained effectively.As a result,the increase of red laser power has an enhancement effect on the weld width and weld depth.When the swing width is 1.2 mm,the red laser power is 550 W,the blue laser power is 500 W,and the welding speed is 35 mm/s,the weld forming is the best.The lap joint of T2 copper and 6063 aluminum alloy thin plate can be connected stably with the hybrid of blue laser.The effect rules of laser beam swing on the weld formation were obtained,which improved the quality of the joints.

System Identification and Parameter Self-Tuning Controller on Deep-Sea Mining Vehicle

System identification is a quintessential measure for real-time analysis on kinematic characteristics for deep-sea mining vehicle, and thus to enhance the control performance and testing efficiency. In this study, the system identification algorithm, recursive least square method with instrumental variables(IV-RLS), is tailored to model ‘Pioneer I’, a deep-sea mining vehicle which recently completed a 1305-meter-deep sea trial in the Xisha area of the South China Sea in August, 2021. The algorithm operates on the sensor data collected from the trial to obtain the vehicle’s kinematic model and accordingly design the parameter self-tuning controller. The performances demonstrate the accuracy of the model, and prove its generalization capability. With this model, the optimal controller has been designed, the control parameters have been self-tuned, and the response time and robustness of the system have been optimized,which validates the high efficiency on digital modelling for precision control of deep-sea mining vehicles.

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.

Super-resolution parameter estimation of monopulse radar by wide-narrowband joint processing

The angular resolution of radar is of crucial signifi-cance to its tracking performance.In this paper,a super-resolu-tion parameter estimation algorithm based on wide-narrowband joint processing is proposed to improve the angular resolution of wideband monopulse radar.The range cells containing resolv-able scattering points are detected in the wideband mode,and these range cells are adopted to estimate part of the target parameters by algorithms of low computational requirement.Then,the likelihood function of the echo is constructed in the narrow-band mode to estimate the rest of the parameters,and the parameters estimated in the wideband mode are employed to reduce computation and enhance estimation accuracy.Simu-lation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has higher estimation accuracy and lower computational complexity than the current algorithm and can avoid the risk of model mis-match.

Effect of hot isostatic pressing processing parameters on microstructure and properties of Ti60 high temperature titanium alloy

Hot isostatic pressing parameters are critical to Ti60 high temperature titanium alloy castings which have wide application perspective in aerospace.In order to obtain optimal processing parameters,the effects of hot isostatic pressing parameters on defects,composition uniformity,microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti60 cast high temperature titanium alloy were investigated in detail.Results show that increasing temperature and pressure of hot isostatic pressing can reduce defects,especially,the internal defects are substantially eliminated when the temperature exceeds 920℃or the pressure exceeds 125 MPa.The higher temperature and pressure can improve the microstructure uniformity.Besides,the higher pressure can promote the composition uniformity.With the temperature increases from 880℃to 960℃,α-laths are coarsened.But with increasing pressure,the grain size of prior-βphase,the widths ofα-laths andα-colony are reduced.The tensile strength of Ti60 alloy is 949 MPa,yield strength is 827 MPa,and the elongation is 11%when the hot isostatic pressing parameters are 960℃/125 MPa/2 h,which exhibits the best match between the strength and plasticity.

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.

Influence of processing parameters on the phase composition of ZrN-Si_3N_4 synthesized from zircon

The optimum parameters were determined for synthesizing ZrN-Si3N4 composite powder from zircon by carbothermal reduction-nitridation （CTRN） process. The samples were prepared by mixing the carbon black of an average particle size less than 30 μm and the zircon of 40 μm with C/ZrSiO4 mass ratios of 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5. The prepared samples were subjected to the CTRN process at temperatures of 1673, 1723, 1753, and 1773 K for 6, 9, and 12 h. The CTRN process was conducted in an atmosphere-controlled tubular furnace in a nitrogen gas flow of 1.0 L/rain. All the products were examined by X-ray powder diffraction to determine the transformation. The results showed that the proper transformation of ZrN-Si3N4 occurred at 1773 K for 12 h with a C/ZrSiO4 mass ratio of 0.4.

Impact of Modal Parameters on Milling Process Chatter Stability Lobes

Modals of the machine/tool and machine/part system are the principal factors affecting the stability of a milling process. Based on the modeling of chatter stability of milling process,the influence of modal parameters on chatter stability lobes independently or jointly has been analyzed by simulation. Peak-to-valley specific value,lobe coefficient and the corresponding calculation formula have been put forward. General laws and steps of modal simplification for multimodality system have been summarized.

Multi-objective optimization of process parametersduring low-pressure die casting of AZ91Dmagnesium alloy wheel castings

Multi-objective optimization has been increasingly applied in engineering where optimal decisions need to be made in the presence of trade-offs between two or more objectives. Minimizing the volume of shrinkage porosity, while reducing the secondary dendritic arm spacing of a wheel casting during low-pressure die casting(LPDC) process, was taken as an example of such problem. A commercial simulation software Pro CASTTM was applied to simulate the filling and solidification processes. Additionally, a program for integrating the optimization algorithm with numerical simulation was developed based on SiPESC. By setting pouring temperature and filling pressure as design variables, shrinkage porosity and secondary dendritic arm spacing as objective variables, the multi-objective optimization of minimum volume of shrinkage porosity and secondary dendritic arm spacing was achieved. The optimal combination of AZ91 D wheel casting was: pouring temperature 689 °C and filling pressure 6.5 kPa. The predicted values decreased from 4.1% to 2.1% for shrinkage porosity, and 88.5 μm to 81.2 μm for the secondary dendritic arm spacing. The optimal results proved the feasibility of the developed program in multi-objective optimization.

Effects of processing parameters on figuration during the GMAW rapid prototyping process

As a deposition technology, gas metal arc welding （GMAW） has shown new promise for rapid prototyping of metallic parts. During the process of metal forming using the arc of GMA W, low heat input and stable droplet transition are critical to high quality figuration. The effects of various processing parameters on figuration quality were studied in the experiment of GMA W rapid prototyping using the wire of ERSO-6 , including welding voltage, wire feeding rate, welding speed and so on. The optimal parameters for ERSO-6 are obtained. Simultaneously, it is verified that the rapid prototyping parts with favorable structures and quality can be achieved under the conditions of low heat input and stable droplet transition.

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.

Effect of alloying elements and processing parameters on the Portevin–Le Chatelier effect of Al–Mg alloys

The effects of alloying elements and processing parameters on the mechanical properties and Portevin-Le Chatelier effect of A1-Mg alloys developed for inner auto body sheets were investigated in detail. Tensile testing was performed in various Zn and Mg contents under different annealing and cold-rolling conditions. In the results, the stress drop and reloading time of serrations increase with increasing plastic strain and exhibit a common linear relationship. The increase rates of stress drop and reloading time increase with increasing Mg or Zn content. The alloys with a greater intensity of serrated yielding generally exhibit a greater elongation. The stress drop and reloading time of serrations decrease with increasing grain size in the case of the annealed samples. The cold-rolled sample exhibits the most severe serra- tion because it initially contains a large number of grain boundaries and dislocations.

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.

Optimization of Processing Parameters of Power Spinning for Bushing Based on Neural Network and Genetic Algorithms

A neural network model of key process parameters and forming quality is developed based on training samples which are obtained from the orthogonal experiment and the finite element numerical simulation. Optimization of the process parameters is conducted using the genetic algorithm (GA). The experimental results have shown that a surface model of the neural network can describe the nonlinear implicit relationship between the parameters of the power spinning process:the wall margin and amount of expansion. It has been found that the process of determining spinning technological parameters can be accelerated using the optimization method developed based on the BP neural network and the genetic algorithm used for the process parameters of power spinning formation. It is undoubtedly beneficial towards engineering applications.

Synthetically quantitative evaluation function of characteristic parameters on CO_2 arc welding process

The statistical probability and their variation regularity of the measurable characteristic parameters in the CO 2 arc welding droplet short circuiting transfer process have been studied. The statistical analysis shows that the sensitivity of each characteristic parameter with regard to the variation of the short circuiting transfer process is different. The sensitivity of 4 kinds among these characteristic parameters is more intense than that of the short circuiting transfer frequency. In order to take account of the synthetic influence of these characteristic parameters, by means of the characteristic parameters synthetic value, a quantitative evaluation function is built up to describe and evaluate the short circuiting transfer process of CO 2 arc welding in real time. The testing shows that the evaluation function can give a suitable synthetic valuation for the short circuiting transfer process with a variety of welding variables.

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.