Wear Evaluation of Copper-Nickel-Aluminum Alloys under Extreme Conditions

Cu-Ni-Al alloys at different concentrations were obtained using a high frequency induction melting unit, keeping a balance in the nominal compositions. Light alloys are important to be used in industrial applications. Aluminum additions result in a positive hardness increment of the ternary alloys in comparison with the binary Cu-Ni alloys. Generalized wear mechanisms of the alloys with low aluminum content are basically type abrasive, while samples with 5 and 10 at.% Al present an oxidative-adhesive wear mechanism. Wear results have indicated that aluminum addition affects positively the wear resistance, mainly in samples with high aluminum content product of the creation during the test of different oxides corresponding to the elements present in the alloys.

Air oxidation of Cu-50Ni and Cu-70Ni alloys at 800℃

The air oxidation of Cu Ni alloys with 50% and 70% nickel (mole fraction) at 800?℃ was studied. The kinetic curves for the oxidation of the two alloys are complex and deviate from the parabolic rate law. Typical double layered scales are produced, which consist of a CuO outer layer and an inner layer containing a mixture of Cu 2O and NiO with many pores. Cu 50Ni presents a small degree of internal oxidation of nickel, which is observed in many binary double phase systems, but is quite rare in single phase systems.

Effect of Solution Heat Treatment in α+β Phase Region on Shape Memory Characteristics of Cu-Al-Ni-Mn-Ti Alloys

The effect of aluminium content and solution heat treatment in α+β phase region on the shape memory characteristics and mechanical properties of cold wrought Cu-Al-Ni-Mn-Ti alloy are studied in this paper. Results indicate that the transformation temperature (Tt) of Cu-Al-Ni-Mn-Ti alloy reduces obviously with the increase of the amount of α-phase. During aging at 623 K, Tt increases at first up to a peak value, then decreases with prolongation of aging time. Life time of heat resistance of the alloy at high temperatures is improved with increase of the amount of α-phase, this life time becomes poor with Bainite precipitation. When the amount of α-phase is less than 5%, the ratio of shape recovery brought about by the solution heat treatment in α+β phase region is almost not effected. However, plasticity of the alloy increases obviously as aluminium content decreases. We believe that improving cold workability of Cu-Al-Ni-Mn-Ti alloy and keeping good heat resistant property and shape memory effects are possible by means of reducing the content of aluminium and solulion heat treatment in α+β phase region.

Effects of Fe content on the microstructure and properties of CuN i10FeM n1 alloy tubes fabricated by HCCM horizontal continuous casting

Heating-cooling combined mold（HCCM） horizontal continuous casting technology developed by our research group was used to produce high axial columnar-grained CuN i10 FeM n1 alloy tubes with different Fe contents. The effects of Fe content（1.08wt%–2.01wt%） on the microstructure, segregation, and flushing corrosion resistance in simulated flowing seawater as well as the mechanical properties of the alloy tubes were investigated. The results show that when the Fe content is increased from 1.08wt% to 2.01wt%, the segregation degree of Ni and Fe elements increases, and the segregation coefficient of Ni and Fe elements falls from 0.92 to 0.70 and from 0.92 to 0.63, respectively. With increasing Fe content, the corrosion rate of the alloy decreases initially and then increases. When the Fe content is 1.83wt%, the corrosion rate approaches the minimum and dense, less-defect corrosion films, which contain rich Ni and Fe elements, form on the surface of the alloy; these films effectively protect the α-matrix and reduce the corrosion rate. When the Fe content is increased from 1.08wt% to 2.01wt%, the tensile strength of the alloy tube increases from 204 MPa to 236 MPa, while the elongation to failure changes slightly about 46%, indicating the excellent workability of the CuNi10FeMn1 alloy tubes.

Effect of compression direction on the dynamic recrystallization behavior of continuous columnar-grained CuNi10Fe1Mn alloy

The dynamic recrystallization（DRX） behavior of continuous columnar-grained（CCG） Cu Ni10Fe1 Mn alloy was investigated by hot compression along the solidification direction（SD） and perpendicular to the solidification direction（PD）. Specimens were compressed to a true strain of 0.8 at temperatures ranging from 25°C to 900°C and strain rates ranging from 0.01 to 10 s-1. The results indicate that DRX nucleation at grain boundaries（GBs） and DRX nucleation at slip bands（SBs） are the two main nucleation modes. For SD specimens, C-shaped bending and zig-zagging of the GBs occurred during hot compression, which made DRX nucleation at the GBs easier than that at the SBs. When ln Z ≤ 37.4（Z is the Zener–Hollomon parameter）, DRX can occur in SD specimens with a critical temperature for the DRX onset of;50°C and a thermal activated energy（Q） of 313.5 k J·mol-1. In contrast, in PD specimens, the GBs remained straight, and DRX nucleation occurred preferentially at the SBs. For PD specimens, the critical temperature is about 700°C, Q is 351.7 k J·mol-1, and the occurrence condition of DRX is ln Z ≤ 40.1. The zig-zagging of GB morphology can significantly reduce the nucleation energy at the GBs; as a result, DRX nucleation occurs more easily in SD specimens than in PD specimens.

Kinetics of discontinuous precipitation in Cu–20Ni–20Mn alloy

The morphology and growth kinetics of discontinuous precipitation （DP） in a Cu-20Ni-20Mn alloy were investigated in the tem- perature range of523-573 K by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. A lamellar mixed structure consisting of alternating larnellae of a matrix and NiMn phase was observed in DP colonies. The volume fraction of regions formed by a DP reaction was determined by quantitative metallographic measurements. The kinetics of DP was evaluated on the basis of the John- son-MehI-Avrami Kohnogorov equation, which resulted in a time exponent of approximately 1.5. We confirmed that the nucleation of the discontinuous precipitate was confined to grain edges or boundaries at an early stage of the reaction. The activation energy of DP process was determined to be approximately （72.7 ± 7.2） kJ/mol based on the Arrhenius equation; this result suggests that DP is controlled by gn-ain boundary diffusion. The hardness values exhibited good correlation with the volume fraction of DP; this correlation was attributed to the plvsence of the ordered N iMn phase.

Superelasticity of Cu–Ni–Al shape-memory fibers prepared by melt extraction technique

In the paper, a melt extraction method was used to fabricate Cu–4Ni–14Al（wt%） fiber materials with diameters between 50 and 200 μm. The fibers exhibited superelasticity and temperature-induced martensitic transformation. The microstructures and superelasticity behavior of the fibers were studied via scanning electron microscopy（SEM） and a dynamic mechanical analyzer（DMA）, respectively. Appropriate heat treatment further improves the plasticity of Cu-based alloys. The serration behavior observed during the loading process is due to the multiple martensite phase transformation.