Microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-43Al-9V alloy fabricated by spark plasma sintering

A fine-grained TiAl alloy with the composition of Ti-43Al-9V was prepared by mechanical milling and spark plasma sintering（SPS）.The relationship among sintering temperature,microstructure and mechanical properties was studied.The results show that the morphology of mechanical milling powder is regular with size in a range of 5-30 μm.Main phases of γ-TiAl,α2-Ti3Al and few B2 phase are observed in the SPS bulk samples.For samples sintered at 1150 °C,equiaxed crystal grain microstructure is achieved with size in a range of 300 nm-1 μm.With increasing SPS temperature to 1250 °C,the size of equiaxed crystal grains obviously increases,the microhardness decreases from HV592 to HV535,and the bending strength decreases from 605 to 219 MPa.Meantime,the compression fracture strength also decreases from 2601 to 1905 MPa,and the strain compression decreases from 28.95% to 12.09%.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of TiAl-based alloy prepared by double mechanical milling and spark plasma sintering

A fine-grained TiAl alloy with a composition of Ti-45Al-2Cr-2Nb-1B-0.5Ta-0.225Y （mole fraction, %） was prepared by double mechanical milling（DMM） and spark plasma sintering（SPS）. The relationship among sintering temperature, microstructure and mechanical properties was studied. The results show that the morphology of double mechanical milled powder is regular with size in the range of 20-40 μm and mainly composed of TiAl and Ti3Al phases. The main phase TiAl and few phases Ti3Al, Ti2Al and TiB2 were observed in the SPSed alloys. For samples sintered at 900 ℃ the equiaxed crystal grain microstructure is achieved with size in the range of 100-200 nm. With increasing the SPS temperature from 900 ℃to 1000 ℃ the size of equiaxed crystal grain obviously increases, the microhardness decreases from HV658 to HV616, and the bending strength decreases from 781 MPa to 652 MPa. In the meantime, the compression fracture strength also decreases from 2769 MPa to 2669 MPa, and the strain to fracture in compression increases from 11.69% to 17.76%. On the base of analysis of fractographies, it shows that the compression fracture transform of the SPSed alloys is intergranular rupture.

Mechanical alloying of platinum with 5% ZrO_2 nanoparticles for glass making tools

Synthesis and characterization of mechanically alloyed Pt-5%ZrO2(volume fraction) for structural components in the glass industry were described. Zirconia(ZrO2) nanoparticles(<100 nm) were produced by the electrical explosion of zirconium(Zr) wires, and blended with platinum(Pt) powders(<44 ?m) for 2-72 h in ambient atmosphere. The Pt particle size followed the typical decreasing trend of the normal ball milling process up to 48 h, but particle agglomeration was observed at 72 h. The grain size evolution was similar to that of the particle size, dropping down to around 50 nm at 48 h. The root mean square strain of the Pt crystallites showed the opposite behavior, maximizing at 48 h with a subsequent relaxation process. For the 48 h ball milled powders, spark plasma sintering was carried out to form a bulk disk. The measured mass loss of the sintered bulk sample shows a decent thermal stability despite its relatively low density.

Analysis of the Mechanical Properties of the Sintered Composite FeCuC in Two Different Atmospheres

This study aimed to analyze the mechanical properties of the compound FeCuC when compacted at varying pressures and sintered in two different types of furnaces. Besides the different models of furnace, the working atmospheres were varied： one is being composed with argon gas and another constituted with a balancing nitrogen and hydrogen. Atmospheres vary with the amount of production and the type of equipment used. The compound generated is used in the manufacture of rings for mechanical seals and is currently manufactured by the sintering process in passing furnace. The sintering was performed in a static furnace with argon atmosphere and compared with the same compound sintered in passage furnace with hydrogen and nitrogen atmosphere. The analysis of the properties of the tested material was performed with the aid of metallography using a scanning electron microscope, which verified the particle size distribution, chemical elements and pores present. Brinell hardness and Vickers micro hardness tests were also used to analyze the properties of this material after completion of the two processes. Thus, the research carried out has shown that variations may occur in the mechanical properties when processed in different furnace types and different sintering atmospheres.

Enhanced thermoelectric performance of Cu_(12)Sb_4S_(13-δ) tetrahedrite via nickel doping

Cu12Sb4S13 tetrahedrite has received great attention as an earth-abundant and environmental-friendly thermoelectric material. This work aims to uncover the thermoelectric performance-enhancing effect and the mechanism of nickel doping on tetrahedrite. A series of Cu12-xNixSb4S13-δ（x = 0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0） compounds were synthesized by mechanical alloying combined with spark plasma sintering. It is found that the thermal conductivity sharply reduces with increasing Ni content over the entire temperature range,0.9 W m^-1K^-1, accompanied with an enhanced thermoelectric power factor. The model predicted that the reduced lattice thermal conductivity is attributed to mid-frequency phonon scattering, caused by precipitates and dislocations resulting from Ni doping. Consequently, a high ZT value up to 0.95 at 723 K was achieved for Cu11NiSb4S13-δ, corresponding to a ~46% increase over non-doped Cu12Sb4S13-δ. Furthermore,the cyclic measurement showed that the Ni-doped tetrahedrites displayed high chemical stability.

Quantum Transport through a Rigidly Connected Double Quantum-Dot Shuttle

We design a double quantum-dot （QD） shuttle （DQDS） model including two rigidly connected QDs that are softly linked to two leads via deformable organic materiaJs. Based on the full quantum mechanical approaches we explore the influences on the electron transport induced by the electrical and mechanical degrees of freedom. First of a/l the modified rate equations of the DQDS are derived theoretically and then a numerical investigation on the quantum transport through the DQDS is performed. For the classical DQDS, the time-dependent evolutions of the electron- occupation probabilities and the currents flowing through the DQDS show the periodic oscillations with their periods determined by the oscillation period of the DQDS. Both the mechanical oscillation amplitude and the interdot coupling can play crucial roles in adjusting the peak shapes of the currents and the probabilities. For the quantum DQDS, the current and electron-occupation probabilities of the DQDS evolve into a stationary state as time goes on, with no periodical oscillations observed. As a consequence, the sharp differences of the time-dependent properties between the c/assica/ and quantum DQDS systems are clearly demonstrated, which should be greatly helpful in designing new nanoelectromechanical devices. Also, this work is of great significance to understanding the kind of rigidly connected QD shuttle systems that have more than two QDs.

Stress control of silicon nitride films deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Stress controllable silicon nitride(Si Nx) films deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition(PECVD) are reported. Low stress Si Nx films were deposited in both high frequency(HF) mode and dual frequency(HF/LF) mode. By optimizing process parameters, stress free(-0.27 MPa) Si Nx films were obtained with the deposition rate of 45.5 nm/min and the refractive index of 2.06. Furthermore, at HF/LF mode, the stress is significantly influenced by LF ratio and LF power, and can be controlled to be 10 MPa with the LF ratio of 17% and LF power of 150 W. However, LF power has a little effect on the deposition rate due to the interaction between HF power and LF power. The deposited Si Nx films have good mechanical and optical properties, low deposition temperature and controllable stress, and can be widely used in integrated circuit(IC), micro-electro-mechanical systems(MEMS) and bio-MEMS.