Microstructure and melting properties of Ag–Cu–In intermediate-temperature brazing alloys

The microstructure and melting properties of ternary Ag-Cu-In intermediate-temperature alloys （400-600 ℃） prepared by electric arc melting were investigated in this work. The melting properties, phase compositions, microstructure and hardness were charac- terized by differential scanning calorimetry （DSC）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and micro-hardness tester, respectively. The results show that the melting properties, phase compositions, microstructure and hardness of Ag-Cu-In brazing alloys are substantially different when adding different levels of indium. Indium element could effectively reduce the melting temperatures of （Ag-Cu28）-xIn alloys, and the melting temperatures of （Ag-Cu28）-25In alloy are located at 497.86 and 617.48 ℃. When the indium content varies from 5 wt% and 10 wt%, the dominant phases in the alloys are Ag-rich and Cu-rich phases, and their granular crystals are smaller than 0.5 ktm. When the indium content is higher than 15 wt%, the phase compositions of the alloy are Ag4In and Cu11In9, and the microstructure exhibits dendritic crystals with a uniform distribution. The hardness of （Ag- Cu28）-xIn alloy decreases first and then increases with the content of indium increasing, and the highest hardness of （Ag-Cu28）-25In alloy is HV 266.0.

Properties of Liquid Nickel along Melting Lines under High Pressure

We report a molecular dynamics study of structural and transport properties of liquid nickel under high pres- sures. Pressure dependencies of pair distribution function and pair correlation entropy along the melting line indicate that the configuration change along melting lines decreases with increasing pressure. The calculated diffusion coefficients and viscosity by using entropy-scaling laws with modified parameters and ideal parameters are compared with those extracted from mean-square displacement or the Stokes-Einstein relation. The results suggest that the entropy-scaling laws hold well for coefficients and viscosity increase moderately with liquid nickel under high-pressure conditions, and the diffusion pressure along melting lines.

Influence of TiO2 on the melting property and viscosity of Cr-containing high-Ti melting slag

A study on the melting and viscosity properties of the chromium-containing high-titanium melting slag(CaO–SiO2–MgO–Al2O3–TiO2–Cr2O3) with TiO2 contents ranging from 38.63 wt% to 42.63 wt% was conducted. The melting properties were investigated with a meltingpoint apparatus, and viscosity was measured using the rotating cylinder method. The FactSage 7.1 software and X-ray diffraction, in combination with scanning electron microscopy–energy-dispersive spectroscopy(SEM–EDS), were used to characterize the phase equilibrium and microstructure of chromium-containing high-titanium melting slags. The results indicated that an increase in the TiO2 content led to a decrease in the viscosity of the chromium-containing high-titanium melting slag. In addition, the softening temperature, hemispheric temperature, and flowing temperature decreased with increasing TiO2 content. The amount of crystallized anosovite and sphene phases gradually increased with increasing TiO2 content, whereas the amount of perovskite phase decreased. SEM observations revealed that the distribution of the anosovite phase was dominantly influenced by TiO2.

Physical Properties and Solidification Structure of Al－SiEutectic Alloy Melt with Cerium Modification

Relationship between physical property change of melt and solidification structure has been investigated by measuring the density, viscosity and electrical resistivity of the Al-Si eutectic alloy melt with different Ce contents. The results show that there exists corresponding relation between the turning points of physical properties change and eutectic Si shape change.

Electrical Properties of GeTe-based Ternary Alloys

Ge_（50-x）Sb_xTe_（50） and Ge_（50-x）Bi_xTe_（50） ternary alloys were synthesized by vacuum melting at 1273 K with the starting materials of Ge, Bi, Sb, and Te. The lattice structures were analyzed based on X-ray diffraction patterns, which could all be indexed to R3m rhombic structure. Electrical properties measurements revealed that the Ge-Sb-Te ternary alloys were p-type semiconductors with high electrical conductivity of 4.5×10~5S？m^（-1） near room temperature. And the maximum electrical property was obtained at Ge_45Sb_5Te_50, with the power factor of 2.49×10^（-3）W？m^（-1）K^（-2） at 640 K. Due to the existence of secondary phases, the electrical conductivity of Ge-Bi-Te system was lower and Seebeck coefficient was higher comparing with those of Ge-Sb-Te system.

Local melting mechanism and its effects on mechanical properties of friction spot welded joint for Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy

Local melting and the eutectic film and liquation crack formation mechanisms during friction spot weld- ing （FSpW） of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy were studied by both experiment and finite element simulation. Their effects on mechanical properties of the joint were examined. When the welding heat input was high, the peak temperature in the stir zone was higher than the incipient melting temperature of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy. This resulted in local melting along the grain boundaries in this zone. In the retreating stage of the welding process, the formed liquid phase was driven by the flowing plastic material and redistributed as a ＂U-shaped＂ line in the stir zone. In the following cooling stage, this liquid phase transformed into eutectic films and liquation cracks. As a result, a new characteristic of＂U＂ line that consisted of eutectic films and liquation cracks is formed in the FSpWjoin. This ＂U＂ line was located in the high stress region when the FSpW joint was loaded, thus it was adverse to the mechanical properties of the FSpW joint. During tensile shear tests, the ＂U＂ line became a preferred crack propagation path, resulting in the occurrence of brittle fracture.

Effect of Powder Particle Shape on the Properties of In Situ Ti–TiB Composite Materials Produced by Selective Laser Melting

This work studied the preparation of starting powder mixture influenced by milling time and its effect on the particle morphology （especially the shape） and, consequently, density and compression properties of in situ Ti-TiB composite materials produced by selective laser melting （SLM） technology. Starting powder composite system was prepared by mixing 95 wt% commercially pure titanium （CP-Ti） and 5 wt% titanium diboride （TiB2） powders and subsequently milled for two different times （i.e. 2 h and 4 h）. The milled powder mixtures after 2 h and 4 h show nearly spherical and irregular shape, respectively. Subsequently, the resultant Ti-5 wt% TiB2 powder mixtures were used for SLM processing. Scanning electron microscopy image of the SLM-processed Ti-TiB composite samples show needle-shape TiB phase distributed across the Ti matrix, which is the product of an in-situ chemical reaction between Ti and TiB2 during SLM. The Ti-TiB composite samples prepared from 2 h and 4 h milled Ti-TiB2 powders show different relative densities of 99.5% and 95.1%, respectively. Also, the compression properties such as ultimate strength and compression strain for the 99.5% dense composite samples is 1421 MPa and 17.8%, respectively, which are superior to those （883 MPa and 5.5%, respectively） for the 95.1% dense sample. The results indicate that once Ti and TiB2 powders are connected firmly to each other and powder mixture of nearly spherical shape is obtained, there is no additional benefit in increasing the milling time and, instead, it has a negative effect on the density （i.e. increasing porosity level） of the Ti-TiB composite materials and their mechanical properties.

Evolution behavior and mechanism of iron carbon agglomerates under simulated blast furnace smelting conditions

Iron carbon agglomerates(ICA)are the composite burden for low-carbon blast furnace(BF)ironmaking.In order to optimize the reactivity of ICA according to the evolution characteristics of ICA in the BF smelting process,the evolution behavior and mechanism of different reactive ICA under simulated BF smelting conditions were studied.The results show that the existence of more sillimanite and aluminosilicate and less active sites of metallic iron will weaken gasification reaction and carburization ability of ICA-1(containing 10%iron ore).It weakens the promoting effect of ICA-1 on the reduction,softening,and melting of ferrous burdens and the dripping of slag-iron.The aluminosilicate with a high melting point decreases,the low melting point slag phase and Fe–Si alloy increase,and many active sites of metallic iron exist,which strengthen the gasification reaction and carburization ability of ICA-2(containing 30%iron ore).The promoting effect of ICA-2 on the reduction,softening,and melting of ferrous burdens and the dripping of slag-iron is significantly improved.The gasification reaction capacity of ICA-3(containing 35%iron ore)is reduced,and the improvement in ICA-3 on the softening–melting performance of mixed burdens is reduced.The appropriate proportion of iron ore in ICA is about 30%.

Optimization of BF Slag for High Cr_2O_3 Vanadium-titanium Magnetite

In order to clarify the slag system of high Cr2O3 vanadium-titanium magnetite smelting in BF （blast furnace）, the melting properties of slag samples prepared by analytically pure reagents were measured. By means of orthogonal test synthetic weighted score method, the optimal slag for high Cr2O3 vanadium-titanium magnetite was obtained, which contained 10% MgO, 8% TiO2 and 15% Al2O3, with the binary basicity being 1.15. In addition, the effects of basicity, MgO, TiO2 and A12 03 on slag melting properties were investigated by single factor test, and the results showed that, with increasing the basicity or TiO2 content, melting temperature （Tin） increased, whereas initial vis- cosity （r/0） and high temperature viscosity （r/h） decreased. With increasing the MgO content, Tm decreased firstly and then increased. With increasing the Al2 O3 content, Tm increased, and η0 and r/h decreased firstly and then increased.

Electron Beam Melted Beta-type Ti–24Nb–4Zr–8Sn Porous Structures With High Strength-to-Modulus Ratio

Electron beam melting （EBM） has been used to manufacture β-type Ti-24Nb-4Zr-8Sn porous compo- nents with 70% porosity, EBM-produced components have favorable structural features （i.e. smooth strut surfaces, fewer defects） and an （α ＋ β）-type microstructure, similar to that subjected to aging treat- ment. EBM-produced components exhibit more than twice the strength-to-modulus ratio of porous Ti- 6A1-4V components having the same porosity. The processing-microstructure-property relationship and deformation behavior of EBM-produced components are discussed in detail. Such porous titanium com- ponents composed of non-toxic elements and having high strength-to-modulus ratio are highly attractive for biomedical applications.

PPC-based Reactive Hot Melt Polyurethane Adhesive(RHMPA)--Efficient Glues for Multiple Types of Substrates

Tens of billion metric tons of anthropogenic CO_2 discharged from the burning of fossil fuels lead to an enormous environmental and resource burden. It is charming to transform CO_2 to desirable, economical chemicals and materials. Poly（propylene carbonate）（PPC） is an emerging CO_2-based material. Herein, we report the design, synthesis and characterization of the reactive hot melt polyurethane adhesive（RHMPA） based on PPC polyol. The resultant RHMPAs exhibit good adhesion properties to multiple substrates including plastics（PC, PMMA, ABS） and metals（aluminium, steel）, which is comparable to or even better than conventional RHMPAs prepared from petro-based polyol. Furthermore, the PPC-based RHMPAs have tunable mechanical properties, and are thermally stable in the typical working range of bonding process（up to 270 °C）. The study is expected to expand the applications of PPC and provide a new type of CO_2-based renewable and eco-friendly materials.

Big-data analysis of phase-formation rules in high-entropy alloys

Big-data analysis of phase-formation rules of high-entropy alloys（HEAs）was conducted and a phase formation rule from a dynamic view was deduced.It was indicated in literatures that cooling rate has a strong influence on the phase formation of HEAs.Higher cooling rate may promote the generation of amorphous phase,and accordingly suppress the formation of intermetallics.Meanwhile,it was also shown that cooling rate had little impact on the formation of solid-solution phase.To demonstrate this rule,a series of FeCoNi（AlSiB）xHEAs ribbons were fabricated by a melt-spinning technique,and the microstructure,mechanical,and magnetic properties were also investigated.The results show that all ribbons exhibit disordered solid-solution structure.The addition of boron changes the alloy from ductility to brittleness,but without evident change of magnetic properties.The alloy in the nominal composition of FeCoNi（AlSi）0.2has the best combination of mechanical and magnetic properties.A distinct feature of HEAs in magnetization was noticed and explained.