Effect of melting temperature on microstructural evolutions, behavior and corrosion morphology of Hadfield austenitic manganese steel in the casting process

In this study, the effect of melting temperature on the microstructural evolutions, behavior, and corrosion morphology of Hadfield steel in the casting process is investigated. The mold was prepared by the sodium silicate/CO_2 method, using a blind riser, and then the desired molten steel was obtained using a coreless induction furnace. The casting was performed at melting temperatures of 1350, 1400, 1450, and 1500°C, and the cast blocks were immediately quenched in water. Optical microscopy was used to analyze the microstructure, and scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and X-ray diffractrometry(XRD) were used to analyze the corrosion morphology and phase formation in the microstructure, respectively. The corrosion behavior of the samples was analyzed using a potentiodynamic polarization test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) in 3.5 wt% NaCl. The optical microscopy observations and XRD patterns show that the increase in melting temperature led to a decrease of carbides and an increase in the austenite grain size in the Hadfield steel microstructure. The corrosion tests results show that with increasing melting temperature in the casting process, Hadfield steel shows a higher corrosion resistance. The SEM images of the corrosion morphologies show that the reduction of melting temperature in the Hadfield steel casting process induced micro-galvanic corrosion conditions.

Wear behavior of Ti6Al4V biomedical alloys processed by selective laser melting, hot pressing and conventional casting

The aim of this work was to study the influence of the processing route on the microstructural constituents,hardness andtribological(wear and friction)behavior of Ti6Al4V biomedical alloy.In this sense,three different processing routes were studied:conventional casting,hot pressing and selective laser melting.A comprehensive metallurgical,mechanical and tribologicalcharacterization was performed by X-ray diffraction analysis,Vickers hardness tests and reciprocating ball-on-plate wear tests ofTi6Al4V/Al2O3sliding pairs.The results showed a great influence of the processing route on the microstructural constituents andconsequent differences on hardness and wear performance.The highest hardness and wear resistance were obtained for Ti6Al4Valloy produced by selective laser melting,due to a markedly different cooling rate that leads to significantly different microstructurewhen compared to hot pressing and casting.This study assesses and confirms that selective laser melting is potential to producecustomized Ti6Al4V implants with improved wear performance.

Effect of Carbon Properties on Melting Behavior of Mold Fluxes for Continuous Casting of Steels

During continuous casting of steel, the properties of mold fluxes strongly affect the casting performance, steel quality and environment of casting operation. The high temperature microscopy technique was used to investigate the melting behaviour of mold fluxes, and drip test method was used to determine their melting rate. The results showed that free carbon is a dominant factor in governing the melting behaviour of fluxes, and the melting rate is increased with increasing carbon reactivity and decreasing carbon content.

Simulation of electro-slag re-melting process of 120t large ingot for nuclear power station and its application

Further research on metallic materials for the super critical rotator and the main pipe line of a nuclear power station is very important for developing the nuclear power industry. In this study, the mathematical model for 120 t large ingot was established, and the computer program ESR3D was developed to simulate the whole electro-slag re-melting (ESR) process. This includes the electrode melting, metallic droplet falling, metal pool forming, metal pool and slag pool rising and moving, installation of top crystallizer, ingot solidifying, etc. The simulated average melting rate of the electrode was in good agreement with that in practical production. The optimized parameters were used to produce 80-120 t large ingots, and the quality of the ingots satisfied the specifications of nuclear power and the super critical generating unit.

Effects of correlative factors on the interdendritic melt flow brought by the bulge in continuous casting slabs

The effects of various factors on the flow speed of interdendritic melt were analyzed in detail in the process of continuous casting slabs. When the solid-liquid interface bends periodically, the expression of solute distribution in the columnar crystal zone was deduced, and the quantitative calculation was also made. The results show that the bulge and the interdendritic spacing are responsible for the flow speed of interdendritic melt. At the initial stage of solidification the bulge operates, and at the final stage the interdendritic spacing operates. The experimental results of macrosegregation in the slabs validated the calculated results of the flow speed of interdendritic melt, which shows that the calculated results are basically consistent with the experimental ones.

Effect of casting speed on floating grains and macrosegregation ofdirect-chill cast 2024 alloy with intensive melt shearing

The ingot was prepared by direct-chill(DC)casting technology with different casting speeds under the influence of intensive melt shearing to explore the effect of casting speed and intensive melt shearing on the floating grains and negative centerline segregation.The results indicate that the application of intensive melt shearing in DC casting process can distribute the floating grains uniformly,reduce the area fraction of the floating grains,alleviate the negative centerline segregation,and improve the uniformity of temperature field in the sump.It is also suggested that under the influence of intensive melt shearing,the casting speed plays a crucial role in the amounts and distribution of floating grains.At low casting speed,the intensive melt shearing can significantly reduce the area fraction of the floating grains and distribute them uniformly throughout the ingot.However,this effect gradually disappears with the increase of casting speed.

Effect of electromagnetic parameters on melt flow and heat transfer of AZ80 Mg alloy during differential phase electromagnetic DC casting based on numerical simulation

Based on multi-physical field coupling numerical simulation method,magnetic field distribution,melt flow,and heat transfer behavior of aΦ300 mm AZ80 alloy billet during differential phase electromagnetic DC casting(DP-EMC)with different electromagnetic parameters were studied.The results demonstrate that the increase in current intensity only changes the magnitude but does not change the Lorentz force's distribution characteristics.The maximum value of the Lorentz force increases linearly followed by an increase in current intensity.As the frequency increases,the Lorentz force's r component remains constant,and the z component decreases slightly.The change in current intensity correlates with the melt oscillation and convection intensity positively,as well as the liquid sump temperature uniformity.It does not mean that the higher the electric current,the better the metallurgical quality of the billet.A lower frequency is beneficial to generate a more significant melt flow and velocity fluctuation,which is helpful to create a more uniform temperature field.Appropriate DP-EMC parameters for aΦ300 mm AZ80 Mg alloy are 10-20 Hz frequency and 80-100 A current intensity.

Semi-continuous casting of magnesium alloy AZ91 using a filtered melt delivery system

A 3-D numerical simulation of an industrial-sized slab caster for magnesium alloy AZ91 has been carried out for the steady state operational phase of the caster.The simulated model consists of an open-top melt delivery system fitted with a porous filter near the hot-top.The melt flow through the porous filter was modeled on the basis of Brinkmann-Forchimier-Extended non-Darcy model for turbulent flow.An in-house 3-D CFD code was modified to account for the melt flow through the porous filter.Results are obtained for four casting speeds namely,40,60,80,and 100 mm/min.The metal-mold contact region as well as the convective heat transfer coefficient at the mold wall were also varied.In addition to the above,the Darcy number for the porous media was also changed.All parametric studies were performed for a fixed inlet melt superheat of 64℃.The results are presented pictorially in the form of temperature and velocity fields.The sump depth,mushy region thickness,solid shell thickness at the exit of the mold and axial temperature profiles are also presented and correlated with the casting speed through regression analysis.©2015 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.on behalf of Chongqing University.

Thermal Fatigue Behaviour of Co-Based Alloy Coating Obtained by Laser Surface Melt-Casting on High Temperature Alloy

A thermal fatigue behaviour of Co-based alloy coating obtained by laser surface meltcasting on the high temperature alloy GH33 was studied.The results show that after each time of thermal cycling,the final residual stress was formed in the melt-casting layer which is attributed to the thermal stress and structural stress.Through the first 50 times of thermal cycling,the morphology of coating still inherits the laser casting one,but the dendrites get bigger;After the second 50 times of thermal cycling,corrosion pits emerge from coating,and mostly in the places where coating and substrate meet.The fatigue damage type of coating belongs to stress corrosion.

Fused Cast Alumina Refractory Products for Glass Melting Furnace

JC/T 494-92(96) 1 ScopeThis standard specifies the technical requirements, test methods, inspection rules, marking, packing, transportation, and storage of fused cast alumina refractory products for glass melting furnace. This standard is applicable to the fused cast alumina refractory products for glass melting furnace (called products for short).2 Normative ReferencesGB 2997 Test method for apparent porosity, water absorption, bulk density and true porosity of dense shaped refractory productsGB 5072 Test method for cold crushing strength of dense shaped refractory productsGB 5989 Test method for refractoriness under load of dense shaped refractory products (Differential, with rising temperature)GB 7320 Test method for thermal expansion of refractory productsGB 10204 Test method for corrosion resistance of refractories for glass melting furnace to molten glassGB 10325 Stacking, sampling, acceptance, storage and transportation of shaped refractory productsGB 10326 Inspections of dimension, appearance and section of refractory productsGB/T 14351 Chemical analysis method of fused cast alumina refractoriesYB 4015 Sample preparation for testing of refractory products for glass melting furnaceYB 4016 Sampling and inspection of refractory products for glass melting furnaceJC 493 Fused cast zirconia corundum refractory products for glass melting furnace

Partial melting and re-solidification in partially melted zone during gas tungsten arc welding of AZ91 cast alloy

During the welding of AZ91 cast alloy,the presence of eutectic β-Mg17Al12 phase results in constitutional liquation in the original interdendritic regions and in the formation of a partially melted zone(PMZ). In this study,gas tungsten arc welding(GTAW) and partial melting(simulated using furnace,salt bath and Gleeble) experiments were conducted. The results show that practically there would not be a critical heating rate during the welding to prevent constitutional liquation. The gradual change of the re-solidification microstructure within PMZ from base metal side to weld metal side was characterized. A sharp transition from base metal to PMZ has been observed. It is found that the original partially divorced eutectic has become a more regular eutectic in most of the PMZ,although close to the fusion boundary the re-solidified eutectic is again a more divorced one. Proceeding the eutectic re-solidification,α-Mg re-solidified with a cellular growth resulting in a serrated interface. The morphological change affected by the peak temperature and cooling rate will be presented and explained.

Simulation of the continuous casting process in a mold of free-cutting steel 38MnVS based on a MiLE method

A new method called mixed Lagrangian and Eulerian （MiLE） method was used to simulate the continuous casting process in a mold of free-cutting steel 38MnVS.The simulation results are basically in agreement with experimental data in the literature,achieving the three-dimensional visualization of temperature distribution,melt flow,shell thickness,and stress distribution of blooms in a mold.It is shown that the flow velocity of steel melt becomes smaller gradually as the casting proceeds.When the flow reaches a certain depth,two types of flow patterns can be observed in the upper zone of the mold.The first flow pattern is to flow downwards,and the second one is to flow upwards to the meniscus.The corner temperature is higher,and the thickness is thinner than those in the mid-face.The effective stress in the corner area is much bigger than that in the mid-face,indicating that the corner area is the dangerous zone of cracking.

Semi-solid rheocasting of grain refined aluminum alloy 7075

Near-net shape rheocasting with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Rheo casting system(CSIR-RCS) and a high pressure die casting machine was successfully performed on Al-5Ti-1B grain refined aluminum alloy 7075.Grain refinement levels used were 0.03% Ti,0.13% Ti and 0.29% Ti(mass fraction).Tensile tests reveal that the ultimate tensile strengths,at all levels of grain refinement,are at least 97% of the specified minimum.Elongation at fracture increases with the increase of level of grain refinement although a maximum elongation is only 76% of the required minimum elongation in the case of 0.29% Ti.Incipient melting,during solution treatment,of the low melting point multinary eutectic causes porosity in the material and accounts for poor elongation results.0.03% Ti has a coarse eutectic structure forming larger pores while 0.29% Ti has a fine structure forming fine pores in the multinary eutectic.The 0.2% offset yield strengths of all the grain refinement levels are at least equal to or above the specified minimum and a decrease is observed with the increase of grain refinement level.There is a clear reduction in grain size from 0.03% Ti to 0.29% Ti in the as-cast condition.An underlying grain structure develops in the T6 condition material which has an inverse size to the as-cast structure;coarse grained as-cast material results in fine grained T6 condition material after solution heat treatment.The decrease in the offset yield strength as grain refinement increases correlates very strongly with the T6 grain sizes according to a Hall-Petch type relationship.

Effect of Melt Superheating on the Morphology of MC Carbide in a Cast Ni-base Superalloy M963

The effect of the melt superheating temperature on the as cast microstructure of a cast nickel base superalloy M963 has been investigated. The results show that the as cast microstructure of the alloy consists of γ solid solution matrix,γ′ precipitate in cubic shape, (γ+γ′) eutectic and MC carbide, and the morphology of MC carbide in the microstructure can be varied from coarse scriptlike, fine scriptlike to fine cubelike or discontinuous particles by increasing the melt superheating temperature. The mechanism of melt superheating is discussed by means of differential thermal analysis (DTA) technique.

Semi-solid near-net shape rheocasting of heat treatable wrought aluminum alloys

Flexibility of the CSIR-RCS, induction stirring with simultaneous air cooling process, in combination with high pressure die casting is successfully demonstrated by semi-solid rheocasting of plates performed on commercial 2024, 6082 and 7075 wrought aluminum alloys. Tensile properties were measured for the above mentioned rheocast wrought aluminum alloys in the T6 condition. The results showed that tensile properties were close to or even in some cases exceeded the minimum specifications. The yield strength and elongation of rheocast 2024-T6 exceeded the minimum requirements of the wrought alloy in the T6 condition but the ultimate tensile strength achieved only 90% of the specification because the Mg content of the starting alloy was below the commercial alloy specification. The strengths of rheocast 6082-T6 exceeded all of the wrought alloy T6 strength targets but the elongation only managed 36% of the required minimum due to porosity, caused by incipient melting during solution heat treatment, and the presence of fine intermetallie needles in the eutectic. The yield strength of rheocast 7075 exceeded the required one and the ultimate tensile strength also managed 97% of the specification; while the elongation only reached 46% of the minimum requirement also due to incipient melting porosity caused during the solution heat treatment process.

Solid liquid Mixed Casting of Al-Si Alloy

The paper presents a novel material preparation technology—Solid liquid mixed casting technology. In the technology, large amounts of homogeneous alloy powder or heterogenous powder with perfect wettability are added into the superheated melt. After strong agitation, the mixed melt can be cast or hot processed. Applying solid liquid mixed casting, three kinds of Al Si alloys were investigated. The results show that, when the mass of powder accession to alloy melt is about 1, the mean size of primary Si in hyper eutectic alloy can be controlled at less than 5 μm; and the mean grain size of α phase in hypo eutectic alloy is less than 10 μm. This technology has the advantage of preparing material with very fine microstructure by fairly simple casting process, and may be a new practicable and valuable metal preparation technology.

Graphite Nucleation in Cast Iron Melts Based on Solidification Experiments and Microstructure Simulation

Microstructure strongly influences the mechanical properties of cast iron. By inoculating the melt with proper inoculants, foreign substrates are brought into the melt and eventually the graphite can crystallize on them. The elements and substrates that really play a role for nucleation are yet unknown. Until now there is very little knowledge about the fundamentals of nucleation, such as composition and morphology of nuclei. In this work we utilized EN-GJL-200 as a base material and examined several produced specimens. The specimens were cast with and without inoculants and quenched at different solidification states. Specimens were also examined with a high and low oxygen concentration, but the results showed that different oxygen contents have no influence on the nucleation in cast iron melts. Our research was focused on the microscopic examination and phase-field simulations. For studying the samples we applied different analytical methods, where SEM-EDS, -WDS were proved to be most effective. The simulations were conducted by using the software MICRESS, which is based on a multiphase-field model and has been coupled directly to the TCFE3 thermodynamic database from TCAB. On the basis of the experimental investigations a nucleation mechanism is proposed, which claims MnS precipitates as the preferred site for graphite nucleation. This theory is supported by the results of the phase-field simulations.

Chemical composition analysis on industrial scale ingots and castings of TiAl alloys

The chemical composition variation of the TiAl-4722 alloys was examined in a batch of the industrial scale master ingots,and in the corresponding castings prepared by conventional vacuum arc remelting(VAR)combined with induction skull melting(ISM)and investment casting processes.The content changes of major elements and interstitial elements were evaluated based on the chemical analysis at the top and bottom of the ingots and castings.Results show that the contents of C,N,H,Fe and Si have almost no change in the ingots and castings,suggesting that the chemical analysis on these elements can be based on the batch analysis.The O content keeps almost the same in different ingots,but exhibits relatively large differences in castings,which was probably influenced by the reaction between the shell mold and the molten alloy,and the spalling of face coat of the shell mold during casting.For the major elements of Al,Nb and Cr,the composition difference between the top and the bottom of the ingots is less than that of the castings.But for the O element,the trend is different,especially for the castings,suggesting that the investment casting is a homogenization process for Cr and Nb,but a differentiation process for O.The contents of major elements in castings fluctuate mainly in the same range as that in the ingots,indicating that the contents of the major elements are controllable during investment casting.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of melt-conditioned high-pressure die-cast Mg-Al-Ca alloy

A new shape casting process,melt-conditioned high-pressure die-casting(MC-HPDC) was developed.In this process,liquid metal was conditioned under intensively forced convection provided by melt conditioning with advanced shear technology(MCAST) unit before being transferred to a conventional cold chamber high-pressure die-casting(HPDC) machine for shape casting. The effect of melt conditioning was investigated,which was carried out both above and below the liquidus of the alloy,on the microstructure and properties of a Mg-Al-Ca alloy(AZ91D+2%Ca(mass fraction) ,named as AZX912) .The results show that many coarse externally-solidified crystals(ESCs) can be observed in the centre of conventional HPDC samples,and hot tearing occurs at the inter-dendritic region because of the lack of feeding.With the melting conditioning,the MC-HPDC samples not only have considerably refined size of ESCs but also have significantly reduced cast defects,thus provide superior mechanical properties to conventional HPDC castings.The solidification behaviour of the alloy under different processing routes was also discussed.

Development of CAD software package of intellectualized casting technology

Based on the numerical simulation of solidification, a computer aid design(CAD) software package of casting technique was developed to design the rising system intelligently. The software can calculate the size and locate the situations of the isolated melts. According to the liquid shrinkage of each isolated melts and the standard parameters of risers in the database, the riser’s situation and the size can be identified intelligently as long as the riser’s shape is selected. 3-D software and simulation analysis of CAST soft/computer aid engineering(CAE) software show that the design of the riser and the running system is feasible.