A STEEL MATRIX WEAR RESISTANT COMPOSITE REINFORCED BY IN-SITU GRANULAR EUTECTICS

A new steel matrix wear resistant composite reinforced by in situ granular eutectics can be obtained by modifying with a Si-Ce-Ti compound in the steel melt. The result indicates that the in situ granular eutectic is a pseudo-eutectic of austenite and (Fe,Mn)3C, which is formed between austenite dendrites during solidification due to the segregation of C and Mn impelled by modifying elements. The quantity of in situ granular eutectic reaches up to 8%-12% and its grain size is in the range from 10um to 20um. The austenite steel matrix wear resistant composite reinforced by in situ granular eutectic (abbreviated AGE composite) and austenite-bainite steel mains wear resistant composite reinforced by in situ granular eutectic (abbreviated ABGE composite) are obtained in the as-cast state and by air hardening, respectively. The wear resistance of the AGE and ABGE composites can be more greatly increased than that of their matrix steels under low and medium impact working condition.

Influence of Adding Ti Powder in Preform on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Al_2O_3p/Steel Composites by Squeeze Casting

To improve the mechanical properties of alumina particulates reinforced steel matrix composite, Ti powder was added into the alumina preform, a 5140 steel matrix composite was fabricated by squeeze casting, and the influences of Ti powder on the microstructure, hardness and bending strength of the composite were investigated, compared with the composite without adding Ti powder. Applied Ti powder and alumina particulates were 10-25 μm and 100-180 μm in size, respectively. Both composites were successfully fabricated, however Ti powder addition increased the infiltration thickness of the composite. In the Ti contained composite, a TiC film in micron scale is formed on the surface of alumina particles, many TiC aggregates are dispersed in the steel matrix without obvious remaining Ti powder. The hardness and the three-point bending strength of the composite reach 49.5 HRC and 1 018 MPa, respectively, which are 17.9% and 52.4% higher than those of the composite in the absence of Ti addition. Fracture morphology shows that the debonding of alumina particulates is eliminated for the composite in the presence of Ti addition. Sessile drop test shows the average wetting angle between 5140 steel and that of Ti coated Al2O3 is about 82.15°, much lower than the wetting angle 150° between steel and pure Al2O3. Therefore, the increase in the mechanical properties of the composite is attributed to the improvement of Al2O3 p/steel interface wetting and bonding by adding Ti powder in the preform.

High-performance martensitic stainless steel nanocomposite powder for direct energy deposition prepared by ball milling

Direct energy deposition(DED)has great potential for the production of stainless steel matrix nanocomposite parts.However,the propensity of nanoparticle agglomeration leads to the difficulty in realizing homogenous dispersion of nanoparticles in the matrix.In this study,a series of agglomeration-free nanoWC-Co-reinforced 420 stainless steel matrix nanocomposite powders with high flowability were prepared by ball milling under the optimal parameters.The effect of ball milling time on the properties of the composite powders was investigated.Excellent powder properties ensure the DED processing performance.Furthermore,the corresponding composites were fabricated by DED,and the effects of nano-WC-Co content on the properties of the composites were comprehensively investigated.The contact angles between the single pass cladding layer and the substrate change with increasing nano-WC-Co content(decrease from 127.38°to 113.07°).The different contact angles will significantly influence the quality of the multipass cladding layer.Furthermore,the addition of nanoWC-Co leads not only to further grain refinement but also to more pronounced isotropy of the micros tructure.With the increase in nano-WC-Co content,the corrosion resistance is significantly improved(62.28%lower corrosion current for 420-15 wt%nano-WC-Co than for 420).

Effect of Si content on impact-abrasive wear resistance of Al2O3p/steel composites prepared by squeeze casting

The 40Cr steel matrix composites were reinforced with Al203 particulates （Al2O3p） through Si adding to improve the impact-abrasive wear resistance, in which Si powder ranging up to 25% of the AlzO3p weight was added into the Al2O3p preforms; then, the composites were fabricated by squeeze casting. For all composites, alumina particles are evenly distributed, and Si powder is dissolved in the matrix. Without Si powder addition, the 40Cr steel matrix contains only pearlite; however, ferrite appears and increases with Si powder addition. In the impact-abrasive wear tests, the impact frequency is 80 min^-1 and the impacting energy is 2 J. With increasing Si powder, the wear of the composites first decreases obviously, reaches the minimum at 10% and then increases. The effect of Si addition on the wear resistance can be attributed to two reasons： one is increasing the hardness of the matrix, and the other is improving the interfacial bonding between Al2O3p and steel. The wear mechanism of the composites is abrasive wear when the Si powder is 〈 10 wt%. Otherwise, it is a mixed mode of abrasive and delamination wear.

Laser additive manufactured high-performance Fe-based composites with unique strengthening structure

Steel matrix composites(SMCs),reinforced by ceramic particles,have received a consistent attention in recent years.Using conventional methods to prepare SMCs is generally challenging,and the mechanical properties of conventionally fabricated SMCs are limited.In this study,we successfully fabricated highperformance SMCs by laser powder bed fusion(LPBF)of a composite powder consisting of Fe-based alloy powder and submicron-sized WC particles.The effect of laser energy density on the phase formation,microstructural evolution,overall density and resulting mechanical properties of LPBF-fabricated composites was investigated.The present results show that a novel Fe_(2)W_(4)C carbidic network precipitates in the solidified microstructure entailing segregations along the boundaries of cellular sub-grains.The presence of this carbidic network hampers the growth of sub-grains even at elevated temperatures,and hence,stabilizes the grain size though prepared at a broad range of different energy densities.The exact distribution of the Fe_(2)W_(4)C carbides depends on the employed laser energy densities,as for instance they are more uniformly distributed at higher energy input.The density of LPBF samples reaches the maximum value of 99.4%at 150 J/mm^(3).In this parameter set,high microhardness of~753 HV,compression strength of~3350 MPa and fracture strain of~24.4%are obtained.The enhanced mechanical properties are ascribed to less metallurgical defects,higher volume fraction of the martensitic phase and increasing pile-up dislocations resulting from the pinning effect by Fe_(2)W_(4)C carbide.