Phase-field study of the second phase particle effect on texture evolution of polycrystalline material

The second phase particle effect on texture evolution of polycrystalline material is studied through phase-field method. A unique field variable is introduced into the phase-field model to represent the second phase particles. Elastic interaction between particles and grains is also considered. Results indicate that in the presence of second phase particles the average particle diameter turns smaller than in the absence of these particles and retards texture formation by pinning effect. The second phase particles change the strain energy profile, which tremendously influences the pinning effect.

Monte Carlo study on abnormal growth of Goss grains in Fe-3%Si steel induced by second-phase particles

The selective abnormal growth of Goss grains in magnetic sheets of Fe-3%Si （grade Hi-B） induced by second-phase particles （AlN and MnS） was studied using a modified Monte Carlo Ports model. The starting microstructures for the simulations were generated from electron backscatter diffraction （EBSD） orientation imaging maps of recrystallized samples. In the simulation, second-phase particles were assumed to be randomly distributed in the initial microstructures and the Zener drag effect of particles on Goss grain boundaries was assumed to be selectively invalid because of the unique properties of Goss grain boundaries. The simulation results suggest that normal growth of the matrix grains stagnates because of the pinning effect of particles on their boundaries. During the onset of abnormal grain growth, some Goss grains with concave boundaries in the initial microstructure grow fast abnormally and other Goss grains with convex boundaries shrink and eventually disappear.

Grain growth simulation with the second phase particle pinning for heat-affected zone of microalloyed steel welds

The second phase particle dispersed in microalloyed steel has different effects on grain growth depending on their size and volume fiaction of the second phase particles which will change during welding thermal cycles. The particle coarsening and dissolution kinetics model was analyzed for continuous heating and cooling. In addition, based on experimental data, the coupled equation of grain growth was established by introducing limited size of grain growth with the consideration of the second phase particles pinning effects. Using Monte Carlo method based on experimental data model, the grain growth simulation for heat-affected zone of microalloyed steel welds was achieved. The calculating results were well in agreement with that of experiments.

Effect of initial nickel particle size on stability of nickel catalysts for aqueous phase reforming

The deactivation behavior by crystallite growth of nickel nanoparticles on various supports（carbon nanofibers, zirconia, Si C, α-Al2O3 and γ-Al2O3） was investigated in the aqueous phase reforming of ethylene glycol. Supported Ni catalysts of ~10 wt% were prepared by impregnation of carbon nanofibers（CNF）,Zr O2, SiC, γ-Al2O3 and α-Al2O3. The extent of the Ni nanoparticle growth on various support materials follows the order CNF ~ ZrO2〉 SiC 〉 γ-Al2O3〉〉 α-Al2O3 which sequence, however, was determined by the initial Ni particle size. Based on the observed nickel leaching and the specific growth characteristics; the particle size distribution and the effect of loading on the growth rate, Ostwald ripening is suggested to be the main mechanism contributing to nickel particle growth. Remarkably, initially smaller Ni particles（~12 nm） supported on α-Al2O3 were found to outgrow Ni particles with initially larger size（~20 nm）. It is put forward that the higher susceptibility with respect to oxidation of the smaller Ni nanoparticles and differences in initial particle size distribution are responsible for this behavior.

EFFECT OF DISPERSED PHASE PARTICLES ON ELECTRICAL CONDUCTION OF PEO-NaSCN

Fast ionic conductors are one kind of solid state material with ionic conductivity as high as that of melten salts or liquid electrolytes.Ionic conductivity is one of the important parameters for characterizing a fast ionic conductor.For a long time materialists and chemists have made great efforts in search of new fast ionic conductors with high ionic conductivity.In view of structure,they have synthesised silver and copper fast ionic conductors with so called open structures.But it is not so successful for searching more applicable alkaline fast ionic conductors.Since polymer has flexibility for making thin film,it concentrates attention on the polymer-alkaline salt complex.Fenton et al.have first reported poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-alkaline salt complex.Later on Armard et al.have investigated the electrical property of PEO-NaSCN.

Motion of a Nonrelativistic Quantum Particle in Non-commutative Phase Space

The equation governing the motion of a quantum particle is considered in nonrelativistic non-commutative phase space. For this aim, we first study new Poisson brackets in non-commutative phase space and obtain the modified equations of motion. Next, using novel transformations, we solve the equation of motion and report the exact analytical solutions.

Particle Trajectory Integrator in Guiding Center Phase Space

A trajectory integrator is developed based on a particle＇s guiding center Hamiltonian. It is verified by a series of benchmarks, which are in good accordance with theoretical prediction. This integrator can be used as the guiding center trajectory integrator of a particle-in-cell simulation platform, such as the newly developed VirtEx. It can also be used as a stand-alone tool to investigate particle dynamics in a given background field.

Determination of Particle Sizes and Crystalline Phases on Colloidal Silicon Nanoparticle Suspensions

Particle size and crystallinity of silicon nanoparticles were determined by analyzing the optical extinction spectra of colloidal suspensions. Experimental results from these colloids were anaiyzed using Mie theory in connection with effective medium theory, in order to determine particle sizes and their internal structure with the simple technique of optical transmission spectroscopy. By modeling an effective refractive index for the particles, the crystalline volume fraction can be extracted from extinction spectra in addition to information about the size. The crystalline volume fraction determined in this way were used to calibrate the ratio of the Raman cross sections for nanocrystalline and amorphous silicon, which was found to be σc./σa = 0.66

Nano-refinement of the face-centered cubic Zr(Fe,Cr)_(2)secondary phase particles in Zircaloy-4 alloy via localized-shearing/bending-driven fracture under high-temperature compression

Nanoparticles are extensively introduced to improve the mechanical,physical,and chemical properties of alloys.In the present study,the underlying nano-refinement mechanisms of face-centered cubic Zr(Fe,Cr)_(2)secondary phase particles(SPPs)that precipitated in Zircaloy-4 alloy under high-temperature compression were investigated in detail by utilizing high-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM)and conventional TEM techniques.The frequently observed Zr(Fe,Cr)_(2)SPPs were incoherent with the matrix and exhibited brittle fracture behaviors without measurable plasticity.HRTEM observations revealed two mechanisms underlying the nano-refinement of incoherent micro-sized SPPs via localized shear fracture on{11¯2}SPP and nanoprecipitate-assisted bending fracture,respectively.The latter was,for the first time,found to occur when the movements of large SPPs were blocked by nanometer-sized SPP during alloy deformation.Accordingly,two force models were proposed to visualize their potential nano-refinement processes.The knowledge attained from this study sheds new light on the deformation behaviors of Zr(Fe,Cr)_(2)SPPs and their associated size refinement mechanisms under high-temperature compression,and is expected to greatly benefit the process optimization of zirconium alloys to achieve precipitate nano-refinement.

Pollution characteristics of 15 gas- and particle-phase phthalates in indoor and outdoor air in Hangzhou

Phthalate esters(PAEs),typical pollutants widely used as plasticizers,are ubiquitous in various indoor and outdoor environments.PAEs exist in both gas and particle phases,posing risks to human health.In the present study,we chose four typical kinds of indoor and outdoor environments with the longest average human residence times to assess the human exposure in Hangzhou,including newly decorated residences,ordinary residences,offices and outdoor air.In order to analyze the pollution levels and characteristics of 15 gasand particle-phase PAEs in indoor and outdoor environments,air and particulate samples were collected simultaneously.The total PAEs concentrations in the four types of environments were 25,396,25,466.8,15,388.8 and 3616.2 ng/m^3,respectively.DEHP and DEP were the most abundant,and DMPP was at the lowest level.Distinct variations in the distributions of indoor/outdoor,gas/particle-phase and different molecular weights of PAEs were observed,showing that indoor environments were the main sources of PAEs pollution.While most PAEs tended to exsit in indoor sites and gas-phase,the high-molecular-weight chemicals tended to exist in the particle-phase and were mainly found in PM2.5.PAEs were more likely adsorbed by small particles,especially for the indoor environments.There existed a good correlation between the particle matter concentrations and the PAEs levels.In addition,neither temperature nor humidity had obvious effects on the distributions of the PAEs concentrations.

Study of the morphology and properties of diamond joints brazed with carbide-reinforced Cu-Sn-Ti filler metal

Cu-Sn-Ti brazing filler is a new type of copper-based brazing filler for brazing diamond tools currently used in industry,but it suffers from poor wear resistance,high brazing temperature and low bond strength.This paper provides a way to improve the strength of dia-mond-brazed joints by adding zirconium carbide and tungsten carbide reinforcing phase particles to the Cu-Sn-Ti alloy,respectively.Dia-mond particles were attached to Q460 steel using Cu-Sn-Ti composite filler with the addition of the reinforcing phase,and experimental in-struments such as scanning electron microscope,X-ray diffractometer and energy spectrometer were used to investigate the brazed joint per-formance of the composite brazing material for brazing diamond.The results show that the addition of enhanced phase particles resulted in a metallurgical reaction at the joint of the composite brazed diamond,achieving a higher strength joint with no obvious cracks at the interface,while the addition of 15 wt.%WC resulted in excellent wear resistance and the highest hardness at the joint interface.

Experiment and Numerical Simulation of Free Water Jet by a Central-body Nozzle

The recent research about cavitation jet mainly focuses on the organ-pipe nozzle and triangular nozzle. The research content mainly includes the optimized design about the structure of nozzles, the observation and flow analysis about the cavitation jet in the water, and the theory of rock attacked by the cavitation jet, while the energy characteristic of the free jet is not studied yet. In China, the research about the central-body nozzle is almost empty. For the purpose of studying the energy characteristic and the structure of free water jet discharged from central-body nozzle, an experiment with phase Doppler particle anemometry（PDPA） technology is carried out to measure the free water jet flow, which is produced by a central-body nozzle under the jet pressure of 15 MPa. While five sections with different axial distances from the nozzle outlet are selected for data process and analysis, the axial and radial velocity and the droplets of the particle size are studied. Meanwhile, numerical calculation of corresponding flow field is conducted by using volume of fluid（VOF） multiphase model, and the jet flow feature is discussed. The experimental and calculating results show that the axial velocity of high speed jet flow dissipates slowly in the air, and the core area and diffused area are discovered. The diameter of droplet in the core area is small, and jet energy is concentrated, while in the diffusion area, water is mingled with ambient air and radial velocity is relatively large. Obvious low-pressure area exists behind the central body and potential cavitation may occur in that area. The proposed research reveals the energy characteristic of free jet discharged from central-body nozzle, provides the theoretical basis for preestimating erosion feature of the central-body nozzle and also the theoretical foundation for revealing the mechanism of erosion.

Kinetics of Precipitation Behavior of Second Phase Particles in Ferritic Ti-Mo Microalloyed Steel

Two types of stress relaxation tests were carried out to investigate the incubation time for incipient precipi-tation of Ti（C,N） in deformed austenite and （Ti,Mo）C in ferrite of ferritic Ti-Mo microalloyed steel The size dis-tribution, amount and chemical composition of precipitates were obtained by using physicochemical phase analysis, and calculated according to thermodynamics and kinetics. The experimental results demonstrated that the incubation time was reduced with increasing Ti content, and prolonged with the addition of Mo. After 30 % deformation at 850 ℃, the nucleation of strain-induced Ti（C,N） was a relatively slow process. On the other hand, the temperature where the nucleation rate of （Ti, Mo）C in ferrite was the highest descended first and then ascended with increasing Ti content, and so did the temperature where the incubation time was the shortest. The key point is that the tempera-ture of steel containing about 0.09 % Ti is the lowest. The mass fraction of MC-type particles with size smaller than 10 nm in steel containing 0.09% Ti and 0.2% Mo reached 73.7%. The size distributions of precipitates in steel containing 0.09% Ti were relatively concentrated compared with that in steel containing 0.07% Ti.

Influence of Self-excited Vibrating Cavity Structure on Droplet Diameter Characteristics of Twin-fluid Nozzle

It is a great challenge to find effective atomizing technology for reducing industrial pollution; the twin-fluid atomizing nozzle has drawn great attention in this field recently. Current studies on twin-fluid nozzles mainly focus on droplet breakup and single droplet characteristics. Research relating to the influences of structural parameters on the droplet diameter characteristics in the flow field is scarcely available. In this paper, the influence of a self-excited vibrating cavity structure on droplet diameter characteristics was investigated. Twin-fluid atomizing tests were performed by a self-built open atomizing test bench, which was based on a phase Doppler particle analyzer(PDPA). The atomizing flow field of the twin-fluid nozzle with a self-excited vibrating cavity and its absence were tested and analyzed. Then the atomizing flow field of the twin-fluid nozzle with different self-excited vibrating cavity structures was investigated.The experimental results show that the structural parameters of the self-excited vibrating cavity had a great effect on the breakup of large droplets. The Sauter mean diameter(SMD) increased with the increase of orifice diameter or orifice depth. Moreover, a smaller orifice diameter or orifice depth was beneficial to enhancing the turbulence around the outlet of nozzle and decreasing the SMD. The atomizing performance was better when the orifice diameter was2.0 mm or the orifice depth was 1.5 mm. Furthermore, the SMD increased first and then decreased with the increase of the distance between the nozzle outlet and self-excited vibrating cavity, and the SMD of more than half the atomizing flow field was under 35 μm when the distance was 5.0 mm. In addition, with the increase of axial and radial distance from the nozzle outlet, the SMD and arithmetic mean diameter(AMD) tend to increase. The research results provide some design parameters for the twin-fluid nozzle, and the experimental results could serve as a beneficial supplement to the twin-fluid nozzle study.

Denoising method of X-ray phase contrast DR image for TRISO-coated fuel particles

TRISO （tristructural-isotropic） fuel is a type of micro fuel particles used in high-temperature gas-cooled reactors （HTGRs）. Among the quality evaluation methods for such particles, inqine phase contrast imaging technique （PCI） is more feasible for nondestructive measurement. Due to imaging hardware limitations, high noise level is a distinct feature of PCI images, and as a result, the dimensional measurement accuracy of TRISO-coated fuel particles decreases. Therefore, we propose an improved denoising hybrid model named as NL P-M model which introduces non-local theory and retains the merits of the Perona-Malik （P-M） model. The improved model is applied to numerical simulation and practical PCI images. Quanti- tative analysis proves that this new anisotropic diffusion model can preserve edge or texture information effectively, while ruling out noise and distinctly decreasing staircasing artifacts. Especially during the process of coating layer thickness measurement, the NL P-M model makes it easy to obtain continuous contours without noisy points or fake contour segments, thus enhancing the measurement accuracy. To address calculation complexity, a graphic processing unit （GPU） is adopted to realize the acceleration of the NL P-M denoising.

Experimental and numerical investigation of liquid-solid binary fluidized beds： Radioactive particle tracking technique and dense discrete phase model simulations

Liquid-solid binary fluidized beds are widely used in many industries. However, the flow behavior of such beds is not well understood due to the lack of accurate experimental and numerical data. In the current study, the behavior of monodisperse and binary liquid-solid fluidized beds of the same density but dif- ferent sizes is investigated using radioactive particle tracking （RPT） technique and a dense discrete phase model （DDPM）. Experiments and simulations are performed in monodisperse fluidized beds containing two different sizes of glass beads （0.6 and I mm） and a binary fluidized bed of the same particles for vari- ous bed compositions. The results show that both RPT and DDPM can predict the mixing and segregation pattern in liquid-solid binary fluidized beds. The mean velocity predictions of DDPM are in good agree- ment with the experimental findings for both monodisperse and binary fluidized beds. However, the axial root mean square velocity predictions are only reasonable for bigger particles. Particle-particle interac- tions are found to be critical for predicting the flow behavior of solids in liquid-solid binary fluidized beds.

Inhibition of Abnormal Grain Growth in Stir Zone via In‑Situ Intermetallic Particle Formation During Friction Stir Welding of AA6061

Abnormal grain growth(AGG)has been widely observed in many friction stir welded(FSWed)joints during post-weld heat treatment(PWHT).The coarse grain structure not only reduces the strength of the joint but also limits its usage in superplastic forming.Several methods have been reported in previous studies to inhibit AGG,but all of them can only mitigate AGG.Complete inhibition of AGG was not achieved.In the current research,AGG was widely observed during the PWHT of friction stir welded AA6061.Multi-pass FSW enhanced the thermal stability of the as-welded grain structure but did not eliminate the occurrence of AGG.A new welding method was developed with the ball-milled Al–Ti powder mixture introduced into the stir zone and proved effective in inhibiting AGG in FSWed AA6061 during PWHT.The adoption of 5-pass FSW with an alternate rotation mode succeeded in producing an AGG-free sample.Microscopic characterizations conducted in the stir zone showed an evolution of Al–Ti powder mixture into different particle formations and Al3Ti new phase.Quantitative analysis of the second phase particles(SPPs)in the stir zone confirmed the increases in both particle number and average size.The quantitative results fit well with Humphreys’grain growth model,which theoretically explains the mechanism for AGG inhibition,i.e.,the significantly enhanced particle pinning effect.

Effect of heat treatment on the Nb distribution and corrosion resistance of Zr-Sn-Nb-Fe zirconium alloy

After being treated in different ways, Zr-Sn-Nb-Fe alloy specimens are exposed in 0.01mol/L LiOH aqueous solution at 350℃ under 16.8 MPa. The examination of microstructures and second phase particles （SPPs） of these specimens was carried out by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy （HR-TEM）. The specimens treated at 800℃ before the final cold rolling have a better corrosion resistance than those treated at 680℃, and the specimens treated at 500℃, after the final cold rolling, have a better corrosion resistance than those treated at 560℃. TEM examination shows that the SPPs existing in the 800℃/500℃ specimen, which has the best corrosion resistance, contains a lot of Nb element, which results in the reduction of the niobium content in the α-Zr solid solution.

Particle Measurement Sensor for in situ determination of phase structure of fluidized bed

Based on three-dimensional （3D） acceleration sensing, an intelligent particle spy capable of detecting, transferring, and storing data, is proposed under the name of Particle Measurement Sensor （PMS）. A prototype 60-mm-dia PMS was tested to track its freefall in terms of velocity and displacement, and served as a particle spy in a fluidized bed delivering the in situ acceleration information it detects. With increasing superficial gas velocity in the fluidized bed, the acceleration felt by PMS was observed to increase. The variance of the signals, which reflect the fluctuation, increased at first, reaching a maximum at the gas velocity （Uc） which marks the transition from bubbling to turbulent fluidization. Through probability density distribution （PDD） analysis, the PDD peak can be divided into the emulsion phase peak and the bubble phase peak. The average acceleration of emulsion and bubble phase increased, while the variance of both phases reached a maximum at Uc, at the same time. However, the difference between the variances of two phases reached the maximum at Uc. Findings of this study indicate that PMS can record independent in situ information. Further, it can provide other in situ measurements when equipped with additional multi-functional sensors.

A study on welded joint toughness of X-60 steel

Charpy impact test and COD test were performed on the specimens subjected to simulated welded thermal cycle and the specimens taken from welded joint. The optical microscope, TEM, SEM, EDAX and XRD analysis have been used to investigate the behaviors of second phase particles and the effects of microstructure on toughness separately. The results are as follows. The dispersed second phase particles can effectively retard the growth of austenite grain in the coarse grained HAZ (CGHAZ), and improve the toughness. When t 8/5 is different, the behaviors of the particles are also different in dissolving, coarsening and re precipitating. The ability of retarding the growth of austenite grain will be affected. When t 8/5 increases from 10 s to 70 s , the microstructure of CGHAZ will transform from upper bainite and granular bainite to granular bainite, and the size of austenite grain will grow a little, thus the toughness of the materials decreases slightly.