Tribological behavior of ZK60Gd alloy reinforced by SiC particles after precipitation hardening

In this research, the effect of precipitation hardening on the tribological behavior of the ZK60Gd/SiC composite was studied. For this purpose, ZK60Gd alloy containing with 5 and 10 wt% SiC were produced with stir casting method. The microstructure characterization of the samples showed the wide distributions of Mg_(7)Zn_(3) and Gd(Mg_(0.5)Zn_(0.5)) precipitates were formed during casting. The results of hardness measurement after precipitation hardening at different temperatures showed that the hardness peck was obtained at 175 ℃. The wear tests with different loads(10, 40, 60, 90, and 120 N) and velocities(0.1, 0.3, 0.6, and 0.9 m/s) were performed on the as-cast and heat treated sample at 125, 175, and 225 for 12 h. Between the different precipitation hardening conditions, the precipitation hardened samples at 175 ℃ had the highest hardness values and least wear rate. The sample containing 10% reinforcement had the least wear rate between the unreinforced alloy and the composites. The results showed that abrasive, adhesive, delamination, MML, and fatigue wear mechanisms were the dominant wear mechanisms for the composite samples. In contrast, the dominant wear mechanism for the unreinforced samples was abrasive, adhesive,delamination, MML, and plastic deformation.

PRECIPITATION HARDENING OF ELINVAR ALLOY

The microstructural evolution and precipitation hardening of an Elinvar alloy doped with Ti and Al during isothermal aging at 700℃ have been investigated by atom probe field ion microscopy and microhardness measurements.The γ′ precipiates are spherical and coherent with the matrix.The chemical composition of the precipitates are(Ni_(0.53)Fe_(0.47)_3 (Ti_(0.(?))Al_(0.4)). During aging,a Lifshitz-Wagner type dissolution and coarsening reaction of the precipitates has been observed,The hardness of the material varies with the aging time and reaches maxi- mum when the average diameter of the precipitates was about 11 nm.

Evaluation of precipitation hardening in TiC-reinforced Ti_2AlNb-based alloys

Ti2AlNb-based alloys with 0.0 wt%, 0.6 wt%, and 2.0 wt% carbon nanotube（CNT） addition were fabricated from spherical Ti–22 Al–25 Nb powder by sintering in the B2 single-phase region. Phase identification and microstructural examination were performed to evaluate the effect of carbon addition on the hardness of the alloys. Carbon was either in a soluble state or in carbide form depending on its concentration. The acicular carbides formed around 1050℃ were identified as TiC and facilitated the transformation of α2 ＋ B2 → O. The TiC was located within the acicular O phase. The surrounding O phase was distributed in certain orientations with angles of 65° or 90° O phase particles. The obtained alloy was composed of acicular O, Widmanstatten B2 ＋O, and acicular TiC. As a result of the precipitation of carbides as well as the O phase, the hardness of the alloy with 2.0 wt% CNT addition increased to HV 429 ± 9.

Investigation on microstructure and properties of a combined precipitation hardening ultrahigh strength steel

The microstructure and properties of a combined precipitation hardening ultrahigh strength steel with nano-sized carbides and intermetallics were studied systematically.The results show that after tempering at 300℃lots ofε-carbides are precipitated in the martensite,the strength rises and the toughness falls slightly.After tempering at 430℃,much coarser cementite lamina are precipitated in martensitic laths,which causes the impact toughness falls to the minimum value.With temperature further increasing the cementites are dissolved and M_2C carbides,β-NiAl intermetallics and reverse austenite begin to precipitate.The tensile strength and yield strength achieve the peak value at 470℃,490℃respectively.The tested steel achieve a tensile strength of 2 120 MPa,a yield strength of 1 950 MPa and impact energy of 54 J/cm^2 after optimum tempering at 510℃.When tempering temperature is above 530℃the M_2C carbides and reverse austenite is coarsening.After tempering at 560℃the reverse austenite reaches the maximum volume fraction in present work.

Hot Compression Behavior of As-Cast Precipitation-Hardening Stainless Steel

High temperature deformation characteristics of a semiaustenitic grade of precipitation-hardening stain- less steels were investigated by conducting hot compression tests at temperatures of 900--1 100 ℃ and strain rates of 0. 001--1 s^-1. Flow behavior of this alloy was investigated and it was realized that dynamic recrystallization （DRX） was responsible for flow softening. The correlation between critical strain for initiation of DRX and de- formation parameters including temperature and strain rate, and therefore, Zener-Hollomon parameter （Z） was studied. Metallographic observation was performed to determine the as-deformed microstructure. Microstructural observation shows that recrystallized grain size increases with increasing the temperature and decreasing the strain rate. The activation energy required for DRX of the investigated steel was determined using correlations of flow stress versus temperature and strain rate. The calculated value of activation energy, 460 kJ/mol, is in accordance with other studies on stainless steels. The relationship between peak strain and Z parameter is proposed.

PRECIPITATION BEHAVIOUR AND HARDENING OFB2-ORDERED Ni(Al, Ta)

Precipitation of Ni2Al in supersaturated NiAl containing Ta and corresponding hardening have been investigated by hardness measurements and by transmission electron microscope observations. Selected area electron diffraction, high resolution electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer analysis have shown that the Ni2Al with a hexagonal structure precipitates coherently in the B2-NiAl matrix. Ni2Al is an ordered phase with a. unit cell parameter, aNi2All=aNiAl and CNi2Al= aNiAl. The orientation relationship between the Ni2Al precipitate and the B2-NiAl matrix is (0001)Ni2Al (111)NiAl and [1120]Ni2Al[110]NiAl. NiAlhardens appreciably by the precipitation of Ni2Al phase.

Investigation on Precipitation Hardening High Strength IF Steel Sheet for Automotive Application

High strength IF steel sheets with sufficient formability had been extensively used in automotive industry.In this paper,a new type of high strength cold-rolled IF steel with higher carbon and niobium contents was studied.Thermal plastic and continuous annealing were performed on thermo-mechanical simulator.The transformation points were tested by thermal expansion apparatus.Optical microscopy and transmission election microscope (TEM) were used to analyze the microstructure and the secondary precipitates of the steel.The results showed,the ductibility temperature range was from 950℃ to 1250℃ and the transformation points were 887℃ and 913℃ respectively.The grain size of this steel was smaller than that of conventional high strength IF steel.At the mean time,there were many fine Nb(C,N) precipitates distributed in the intra-granular regions and the PFZ (precipitate free zone) were formed in the neighborhood of grain boundaries.Due to the unique micro-structural feature,the yield strength and the yield ratio of the steel were decreased while the tensile strength was increased.With the increasing of the annealing temperature,the strength decreased,the total elongation A50,r-value at 15% strain and n-value were all increased.In order to obtain the favorable mechanical properties,the skin-pass rolling rate should be chosen at 0.6-0.8%.

Effect of MWCNT reinforcement on the precipitation-hardening behavior of AA2219

Aluminum alloy matrix composites have found a predominant place in research, and their applications are explored in almost all industries. The aerospace industry has been using precipitation-hardenable alloys in structural applications. However, insufficient literature is available on the influence of multiwalled carbon nanotubes （MWCNTs） on precipitation-hardenable alloy composite materials; thus, this work was designed to elucidate the effect on MWCNT reinforcement on AA2219 with and without precipitation hardening. Reinforcement with MWCNTs has been reported to accelerate precipitation and to achieve greater hardness within a much shorter time. The addition of 0.75wt% MWCNTs resulted in maximal hardness at 90 min, which is approximately 27% of improvement over the maximum hardness achieved by the corresponding monolithic alloy after 10 h of aging. The sample reinforced with 0.75wt% MWCNTs showed an improve- ment of 82% in hardness by solutionizing and aging compared to that achieved by sintering.

Hardening effects of sheared precipitates on {1121} twinning in magnesium alloys

The interactions between a plate-like precipitate and two twin boundaries(TBs)({1012},{1121}) in magnesium alloys are studied using molecular dynamics(MD) simulations. The precipitate is not sheared by {1012} TB, but sheared by {1121} TB. Shearing on the(110) plane is the predominant deformation mode in the sheared precipitate. Then, the blocking effects of precipitates with different sizes are studied for {1121} twinning. All the precipitates show a blocking effect on {1121} twinning although they are sheared, while the blocking effects of precipitates with different sizes are different. The blocking effect increases significantly with the increasing precipitate length(in-plane size along TB) and thickness, whereas changes weakly as the precipitate width changes. Based on the revealed interaction mechanisms, a critical twin shear is calculated theoretically by the Eshelby solutions to determine which TB is able to shear the precipitate. In addition, an analytical hardening model of sheared precipitates is proposed by analyzing the force equilibrium during TB-precipitate interactions. This model indicates that the blocking effect depends solely on the area fraction of the precipitate cross-section, and shows good agreement with the current MD simulations. Finally, the blocking effects of plate-like precipitates on the {1012} twinning(non-sheared precipitate), {1121} twinning(sheared precipitate) and basal dislocations(non-sheared precipitate) are compared together. Results show that the blocking effect on {1121} twinning is stronger than that on {1012} twinning, while the effect on basal dislocations is weakest. The precipitate-TB interaction mechanisms and precipitation hardening models revealed in this work are of great significance for improving the mechanical property of magnesium alloys by designing microstructure.

Dynamic Recrystallization of a Cr-Ni-Mo-Cu-Ti-V Precipitation Hardenable Stainless Steel

In this research, the dynamic recrystallization （DRX） behavior of an as-cast precipitation hardenable （PH） stainless steel was investigated by conducting hot compression tests at temperatures between 950-1150℃ and under strain rates of 0.001-1 s^-1. The flow stress curves show that the DRX is responsible for flow softening during hot compression. The effects of temperature and strain rate on the strain and stress corresponding to peak point （εp and σp） of flow curve were analyzed individually. It is realized that, they increase with strain rate and decrease with temperature. The relationship between Zener-Hollomon parameter （Z） and εp was investigated and the equation of εp=4.3×10^-4^0.14 was proposed. The strain for the maximum rate of DRX （εmax） was determined under different deformation conditions. Therefore, it is realized that it increases with Z parameter and vise versa. On the basis of obtained results, the equation of εmax=9.5 × 10^-4Z0.12 was proposed.

Effect of Heat Treatment on Prior Grain Size and Mechanical Property of a Maraging Stainless Steel

Effect of the heat treatment, including solution treatment （ST） and aging treatment （AT）, on the prior austenite grain （PAG） size, microstructure and mechanical properties of a precipitation hardening maraging stainless steel was investigated. The results indicate that the relations between PAG size and yield strength （σy） under both ST and AT conditions obey the HalI-Petch relationship. Furthermore, after ST at 1050℃ for 1 h＋cryogenic treated （CT） at -70℃ for 8 h＋AT at 535℃ for 4 h, the tested steel showed its ultimate tensile strength （σb） and σy over 1900 MPa and 1750 MPa, respectively.

NEW DEVELOPMENT IN DOUBLE GLOW SURFACE ALLOYING TECHNOLOGY

Several kinds of special alloys are produced on the surfaces of iron andsteels by using double glow surface alloying technology. Surface Ni-Cr-Mo-Nb alloy, surfaceprecipitation hardening high speed steel and surface precipitation hardening stainless steel areintroduced.

Effect of applied pressure on microstructures of squeeze cast Mg-15Gd-1Zn-0.4Zr alloy

Microstructural evolution of Mg-15Gd-1Zn-0.4Zr(GZ151K,wt%)alloys,cast under 0 MPa(gravity cast)and 6 MPa(squeeze cast),were comparatively studied.It is found that the grain size of squeeze cast GZ151K alloy with applied stress 6 MPa is much smaller than that of the gravity cast counterpart.Moreover,the squeezing pressure hinders the transition fromβ’precipitates toβ1 precipitates during subsequent aging process,leading to reduced volume fraction ofβ1 precipitates in the squeeze cast alloy.Thus,the relatively lower volume fraction ofβ1 precipitates in the squeeze cast GZ151K results in higher hardness increment and stronger precipitation hardening effect.

Re-evaluation of the mechanical properties and creep resistance of commercial magnesium die-casting alloy AE44

This paper presents a re-evaluation of the room temperature mechanical properties and high temperature creep resistance of magnesium die-casting alloy AE44(Mg-4Al-4RE)in light of the influence of minor Mn addition.It is shown that the Mn-containing AE44 exhibits distinct age hardening response upon direct ageing(T5)due to the precipitation of nanoscale Al-Mn particles,as reported previously in a similar alloy.The T5 ageing leads to a significant improvement in strength with similar ductility.Consequently,the T5-aged AE44 has a remarkably better strength-ductility combination than most Mg die-casting alloys and even the Al die-casting alloy A380.Minor Mn addition is also shown to be critical for the creep resistance of AE44 whereas the influence of the RE constituent is not as significant as previously thought,which reaffirms that precipitation hardening of theα-Mg matrix is more important than grain boundary reinforcement by intermetallic phases for the creep resistance of die-cast Mg alloys.The findings in this work could provide new application perspectives for AE44,particularly in the automotive industry.

A Cu-Cr alloy with nano and microscale Cr particles produced in a water-cooled copper mold

Microstructures have profound effects on the hardness and strength of Cu-Cr alloys. The microstructures of a Cu-Cr alloy cast in a water-cooled copper mold were studied in the present work. The scanning electron microscopy （SEM） results show that there are the copper matrix saturated with chromium, spherical precipitates of chromium separated from liquid phase during cooling before the initiation of so- lidification, and a eutectic phase in grain boundary areas. To investigate the effect of age-hardening treatment on the microstructures and properties of the material, some samples were subsequently age-hardened in a salt bath and investigated by transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. The results show that coherent precipitates with the diameter of 11 nm are detectable in the samples before and after the age-hardening stage. Of course, the volume fraction of coherent precipitates is higher after the aging process.

Microstructure and mechanical propertiesof spray-deposited Al-Si-Fe-Cu-Mg alloy containing Mn

Al-20Si-5Fe-3Cu-1Mg alloy was synthesized by the spray atomization and deposition technique. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the spray deposited hypereutectic Al-Si alloy were studied using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope) and HREM (High-resolution Electron Microscope), DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetry), microhardness measurement, and tensile tests. The effects of Mn on the microstructural evolution of the high-silicon aluminum alloy after extrusion and heat treatment have been examined. The results show that two kinds of phases, i. e. S (Al2CuMg) and σ(Al5Cu6,Mg2), precipitated from matrix and improved the tensile strength of the alloy efficiently at both the ambient and elevated temperatures (300℃). The tensile test results indicate that the spray-deposited Al-20Si-5Fe-3Cu-1Mg alloy has better strength than the powder metallurgy processed Al-20Si-3Cu-1Mg alloy at elevated temperature.

A DEVELOPMENT STUDY OF CAST COPPER ALLOYWITH HIGH STRENGTH AND HEAT－RESISTANCE

By means of Precipitation hardening, a cast copper alloy with high strength and heatresistance named Cu-6Ti-Cr-Al has been developed. This alloy has good castability. After water quenching at 860℃ for 1 h and aging at 450℃ for 4 h, the tensile strength, σ_b, is greater than 890MPa and the compressive strength, σ_(bc), reaches 1300MPa, while the ratio of compression, ε_c, is maintained at 20%. When the environmental temperature is raised to 450℃, the mechanical properties do not show any appreciable loss. These copper alloy castings have been used on the roll sleeves of rubber formers and the journal bearings of sheet mills. The results have shown that the service life of these parts is much longer than that of aluminium bronze and 904alloy castings. In the present work, the microstructure, mechanical properties and strengthening mechanism were investigated.

The development of super-high collapse resistant casing

Super-high collapse resistant casings were developed by using Ti, Nb and V microalloyed CrMo steel and cross rolling techniques. A transmission electron microscope（TEM） and X-ray diffractometer were used to observe the characteristics of the microstructure. It was found that the （ 111 ） texture and the nano-scale precipitates distribute in a way that is beneficial to the collapse resistance, and the collapse strength of the prepared casing had a measurement, which was approximately 60% higher than the API standard value. A design concept to attain super-high collapse resistance is proposed based on the texture design and microstructure control.

Effects of Zr additions on structure and tensile properties of an Al-4.5Cu-0.3Mg-0.05Ti(wt.%) alloy

The effects of different Zr additions(0.05wt.%-0.5wt.%)on the structure and tensile properties of an Al-4.5Cu-0.3Mg-0.05Ti(wt.%)alloy solidified under a high cooling rate(18℃·s^(-1)),in as-cast and T6 heat-treated conditions were studied.The as-cast structure of the alloy consists of equiaxed grains ofα-Al with an average size of 64μm which is unaffected by the Zr additions,indicating the ineffectiveness of Zr in the grain refinement of the alloy.Scanning electron microscopy,along with X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the presence of elongatedθ-Al2Cu at the grain boundaries;in addition,coarse Al3Zr particles exist in the intergranular regions of the 0.5wt.%Zr-containing alloy.After the T6 heat treatment,the elongatedθparticles were fragmented;however,the coarse Al3Zr particles remained unchanged in the microstructure.Also,the formation of fineβ’-Al3Zr andθ’’-Al3Cu/θ’-Al2Cu phases during T6 heat treatment was revealed by transmission electron microscopy.The results of the tensile tests showed that the Zr additions increase the strength of the alloy in both as-cast and T6 heat-treated conditions,but reduce its elongation,especially with 0.5wt.%Zr addition.The 0.3wt.%Zr-added alloy in the T6 heat-treated condition has the highest quality index value(249 MPa).Fractography of the fracture surfaces of the alloys revealed ductile fracture mode including dimples and cracked intermetallic phases in both conditions.

Effect of composition on texture and magnetic the crystallographic properties of the Sm（Co,Fe,Cu,Zr）z ribbons prepared by simple processing

Sm（CObalFeyCuxZrw）z ribbons have been prepared by melt spinning at a low wheel velocity followed by shorttime aging and slow cooling the as-spun ribbons from 850 to 400℃. It is found that the composition can significantly influence the degree of crystallographic texture of the ribbons. The 1：7 phase of the as-spun ribbons is segregated into 1：5 and 2：17 phases by the simple processing procedure ribbons after precipitation hardening. （BH）max about by the adjustment of composition. However, the crystallographic texture is still preserved in the 86kJ/m^3 can be obtained in the Sm（Co, Fe, Cu, Zr）z ribbons