Weldability and Microstructure of Nickel-Silicon Based Alloys

The NiSix based alloy typically has poor weldability due to its lower ductility. A limited amount of work has been performed on the weldability of NiSix based alloys. Therefore, the effect of heat treatment and welding parameters on weldability of the alloys, and the relationship between the weldability and microstructure were studied. The results show that the as-cast Ni-Si-Nb-B alloy （Ni 76. 5%, Si 20%, Nb 3%, and B 0. 5%） could be successfully welded after preheating at 600 ℃. The welding procedure should be performed on the alloys before any heat treatment and a preheating at 600 ℃ should be used. The fusion zone is harder than the matrix due to a large amount of 7 phase and a finer microstructure. The cracks are predominantly intergranular in heat affected zone and associated with the needle-like ）, phase. The heat treatment before welding increases the tendency of cracking in the fusion zone.

Investigation on Cracking in the Surfacing Welding Layer of Ni_3Al Based Alloy

Investigation has been made into the causes of cracking in the Surfacing welding layer of Ni3Al based alloy by analysing both the liqu id-to-solid transformation in the molten pool and the distribution of thermal stress within the surfacing welding layer. The results show that cracking in the surfacing welding layer is directly related to the producing of eutectic phase β' (NiAl) in the interdendritic region and high thermal stress within the surfacing welding layer. When the process of electric arc surfacing welding is changed from along straight line to along' Z' pattern, cracking in the surfacing welding layer of Ni3Al based alloy is prevented due to being reduced of both the cooling rate of liquid in the molten pool and the moving speed of the heat source. Reducing the melting volume of the substrate material by lowering the output power of electric arc welding would make the content of iron atoms in the molten pool decrease. and this also can reduce the trend of the eutectic reaction in the interdendfitic region and is helpful to Suppress cracking in the surfacing welding layer.

Dissolution Mechanism of a Zr Rich Structure in a Ni_3Al Base Alloy

In the present research, the dissolution mechanism of a Zr rich structure during annealing of a Ni3Al base alloy containing Cr, Mo, Zr and B, was investigated. The annealing treatments were performed up to 50 h at 900, 1000 and 1100℃. The alloy used in this investigation was produced by vacuum-arc remelting technique. The results show that at the beginning of the process, a mixed interface reaction and local equilibrium （long range diffusion） mechanism controls the dissolution process. After a short time, this mechanism changes and the dissolution mechanism of the Zr rich structure changes to only long range diffusion of Zr element. According to this mechanism, the activation energy of this process is estimated to be about 143.3 kJ.mol-1. Also the phases that contribute to this structure and the transformations that occur at the final steps of solidification of this alloy were introduced. According to the results, at the final step of solidification, a peritectic type reaction occurs in the form of L＋ y→Ni7Zr2 and →-Ni7Zr2 segregates from the melt. Following this transformation, →-Ni7Zr2 eutectic separates from the remaining Zr rich liquid. The solidification process will be terminated by a ternary eutectic reaction in the form of L→y＋Ni5Zr＋Ni7Zr2.

A user-friendly yield criterion for metals exhibiting tension-compression asymmetry

The aim of this paper is to model the yielding asymmetry of pressure-insensitive metals,including but not limited to Ni3 Al alloys.The main focuses are put on the flexibility and manipulative convenience.The parameters of theory are kept to a minimum and can be determined by as few tests as possible.These requirements are fulfilled by constructing a yield function using the second and third-invariants of a linearly transformed stress tensor.The proposed yield criterion has a simple mathematical form and has only seven parameters when used in three-dimensional stresses.Compared with existing theories,the new yield criterion has much fewer parameters,which makes it very convenient for practical applications.The coefficients of the criterion are identified by an error minimization procedure.Applications to a Ni3 Al based intermetallic alloy as well as a Cu-Al-Be shape memory alloy and comparison to other criteria show that the proposed criterion has nearly the same predictive ability and flexibility with other criteria.The proposed yield criterion can estimate the coefficients by using less data,which is a big advantage compared with other similar theories,especially when there is a limited number of experimental data.