Abnormal variation of magnetic properties with Ce content in(PrNdCe)_2Fe_(14)B sintered magnets prepared by dual alloy method

Resource-saving（PrNdCe）_2Fe_（14）B sintered magnets with nominal composition（PrNd）_（15-x）Ce_xFe_（77）B_8（x=0–10）were prepared using a dual alloy method by mixing（PrNd）_5Ce_（10）Fe_（77）B_8 with（PrNd）_（15）Fe_（77）B_8 powders. For Ce atomic percent of 1% and 2%, coercivity decreases dramatically. With further increase of Ce atomic percent, the coercivity increases, peaks at 6.38 kOe in（PrNd）_（11）Ce_4Fe_（77）B_8, and then declines gradually. The abnormal dependence of coercivity is likely related to the inhomogeneity of rare earth chemical composition in the intergranular phase, where Pr Nd concentration is strongly dependent on the additive amount of（PrNd）_5Ce_（10）Fe_（77）B_8 powders. In addition, for Ce atomic percent of 8%,7%, and 6% the coercivity is higher than that of magnets prepared by the conventional method, which shows the advantage of the dual alloy method in preparing high abundant rare earth magnets.

Application of the Embedded-atom Method to Liquid Binary Cu-Ni Alloys

A simple analytic embedded-atom model of monoatoms that includes more than nearest neighbours has been extended to study properties of binary liquid Cu-Ni alloys, here the two-body potential between different species of atoms is taken as a function of the two-body potential for the pure metals with a unique form which yields alloy models with the same invariance to electron density transformations as monoatomic models. Faber-Ziman structure factors have been computed by molecular dynamics simulation on the base of this model. The results are in good agreement with experimental data given by Waseda, thus supporting the overall validity of the approach, especially for cross potential of Cu-Ni pair. Further, a detailed description of structure of binary liquid Cu-Ni alloys with different compositions have been performed using pair analysis and bond orientational order method etc., and then the chemical short range order has also been examined to reveal the structural characterization.

Magnetic properties of misch-metal partially substituted Nd–Fe–B magnets sintered by dual alloy method

The misch-metal （MM） partially substituted Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets were fabricated by the dual alloy method, and the crystal structure, microstructure, and magnetic properties were analyzed comprehensively. X-ray diffraction （XRD） reveals that the increasing content of the MM has an inconsiderable effect on the crystallographic alignment of the magnets. Grains of the two main phases are uniformly distributed, and slightly deteriorate on the grain boundary. Due to the diffusion between the adjacent grains, the MM substituted Nd-Fe-B magnets contain three types of components with different Ce/La concentrations. Moreover, the first-order reversal curve （FORC） diagram is introduced to analyze the magnetization reversal process, coercivity mechanism, and distribution of reversal field in magnetic samples. The analysis indicates that there are two major reversal components, corresponding to the two different main phases. The domain nucleation and growth are determined to be the leading mechanism in controlling the magnetization reversal processes of the magnets sintered by the dual alloy method.

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.

Problem and Improvement of Kissinger Method──New Method on Measuring Crystallization Activation Energy of Amorphous Alloy

By measuring and analyzing the crystallization activation energy (CAE) of Fe-based amorphous alloy Fe79B16Si5 and Fe78B13Si9, it is reconfirmed and further analyzed that the conventional Kissinger method does not conform with the premise of Kissinger equation, namely, samples with different heating rates should keep a constant fraction of transformation at the exothermal peak temperature Tp of DSC thermogram. The XRD equal first peak height (EFPH) method is applied to CAE measurement of Fe-based amorphous alloy for the first time. It is shown again that the EFPH method coincides with the premise of Kissinger equation. The procedure of EFPH method is introduced in detail in this paper. The accuracy in determining CAE of amorphous alloy may be improved by applying the EFPH method. As a result, the mechanism of embrittlement of amorphous alloy may be better elucidated.

Compact Sn/C composite realizes long-life sodium-ion batteries

Sodium-ion batteries are considered as a promising low-cost alternative to commercial lithium-ion batteries.However,the harsh preparation conditions and unsatisfactory electrochemical performance of most sodium-ion batteries anode materials limit their commercial applications.Herein,we develop a new alloying/dealloying method for producing nano-scale tin from freezing point to room temperature.Due to the unique surface properties of tin particles,a tin/carbon composite with a compact structure is obtained.When coupled with a diglyme-based electrolyte,tin/carbon composite(contains 60 wt.%tin)exhibits a reversible capacity of 334.8 mAh·g^(−1)after 1,000 cycles at 500 mA·g^(−1).An as-prepared tin/carbon anode||high-load vanadium phosphate sodium full cell(N/P ratio:1.07)shows a stable cycle life of 300 cycles at 1 A·g^(−1).The achievement of such an excellent performance can be ascribed to the carbon conductive network and robust solid electrolyte interphase film,which facilitates the fast transportation of electrons and Na ions.This work provides a new idea to prepare other alloyed anode materials for highperformance sodium-ion batteries.

Extraordinary simultaneous enhancement of the coercivity and remanence of dual alloy HRE-free Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets by post-sinter annealing

Post-sinter annealing process plays an important role in the microstructures and magnetic properties of the Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets.In this paper,systematically investigated are the magnetic properties and microstructures of the as-sintered and post-sinter annealed Nd-Fe-B magnets with Pr-Fe-Ga boundary addition.Two choice consecutive annealing methods are adopted at high and low temperatures,namely the 1 st annealing at 880℃ for 2 h and then the 2^(nd) annealing at 440℃ for 3 h.It is exceptional to find out that both the remanence and coercivity are improved after 2^(nd) annealing process for this type of magnet.The coercivity is hugely increased from 10.09 kOe for the as-sintered sample to 17.19 kOe for the 2^(nd) annealed magnet,with a significant increment of 70.37%in coercivity.The extraordinary magnetic properties of B_(r)=14.44 kGs,H_(cj)=17.19 kOe and(BH)_(max)=51.08 MGOe are obtained for the designated Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets without heavy rare earth(HRE)elements manufactured by dual alloy method.The Curie temperature is monotonically decreased from 634 K to 602 K while the c-axis alignment degree is optimized after annealing.Microstructural observation and analysis indicate that the elemental distribution patterns are altered after the 2^(nd) annealing.The diffusion of the aggregate(Pr,Nd,Cu,Ga)-rich phase from triple junctions into the grain boundary regions is ascribed to the formation of thin and continuous grain boundary layer,which is critical to improve the microstructures and magnetic properties.

Finite element modelling on microstructure evolution during multi-pass hot compression for AZ31 alloys using incremental method

Based on the principle of piecewise linearization, the incremental forms of microstructure evolution models were integrated into the thermo-mechanical coupled finite element（FE） model to simulate nonlinear microstructure evolution during multi-pass hot deformation. This is an unsteady-state deformation where dynamic recrystallization（DRX）, meta-dynamic recrystallization（MDRX）, static recrystallization（SRX） and grain growth（GG） take place during hot deformation or deformation interval. The distributions of deformation and microstructure for cylindrical AZ31 sample during single-pass and double-pass hot compressions were quantitatively calculated and compared with the metallographic observation. It is shown that both the deformation and microstructure are non-uniformly distributed due to the presence of friction between the die and the flat end of sample. The average grain size and its standard deviation under the double-pass hot compression are slightly smaller than those under single-pass compression.The simulated average grain sizes agree well with the experiments, which validates that the developed FE model on the basis of incremental forms of microstructure evolution models is reasonable.

Analytic estimation and numerical modeling of actively cooled thermal protection systems with nickel alloys

Actively cooled thermal protection system has great influence on the engine of a hypersonic vehicle, and it is significant to obtain the thermal and stress distribution in the system. So an analytic estimation and numerical modeling are performed in this paper to investigate the behavior of an actively cooled thermal protection system. The analytic estimation is based on the electric analogy method and finite element analysis（FEA） is applied to the numerical simulation. Temperature and stress distributions are obtained for the actively cooled channel walls with three kinds of nickel alloys with or with no thermal barrier coating（TBC）. The temperature of the channel wall with coating has no obvious difference from the one with no coating, but the stress with coating on the channel wall is much smaller than that with no coating. Inconel X-750 has the best characteristics among the three Ni-based materials due to its higher thermal conductivity, lower elasticity module and greater allowable stress. Analytic estimation and numerical modeling results are compared with each other and a reasonable agreement is obtained.

Surface micro/nanostructure evolution of Au-Ag alloy nanoplates： Synthesis, simulation, plasmonic photothermal and surface-enhanced Raman scattering applications

This study reports the controllable surface roughening of Au-Ag alloy nanoplates via the galvanic replacement reaction between single-crystalline triangular Ag nanoplates and HAuC14 in an aqueous medium. With a combination of experimental evidence and finite element method （FEM） simulations, improved electromagnetic field （E-field） enhancement around the surface-roughened Au- Ag nanoplates and tunable light absorption in the near-infrared （NIR） region （-800-1,400 nm） are achieved by the synergistic effects of the localized surface plasmon resonance （LSPR） from the maintained triangular shape, the controllable Au-Ag alloy composition, and the increased surface roughness. The NIR light extinction enables an active photothermal effect as well as a high photothermal conversion efficiency （78.5%）. The well-maintained triangular shape, surface- roughened evolutions of both micro- and nanostructures, and tunable NIR surface plasmon resonance effect enable potential applications of the Au-Ag alloy nanoplates in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopic detection of biomolecules through 785-nm laser excitation.

TG method for studying crystallization of amorphous alloys

The nano-crystalline materials with many special and super magnetic properties could be synthesized by fractional crystallization of amorphous alloys. Since this new method for preparation of nano-crystalline materials was introduced, the crystallization kinetics of amorphous alloys has been studied in more and more intensive investigations. So far, almost all experiments on the crystallization kinetics are conducted by differential

An analytical method for quantitative estimation of the cytotoxicity of dental alloys using MTT assay,ICP analysis and effective cytotoxicity calculation

The two most important criteria for dental materials are their biofunctional and biocompatible endurance within the anticipated life-span of the dental restoration in the mouth. Biocompatibility relates mainly to the allergenicity and the toxicity of the material. To test the non-specific toxicity of dental materials, in vitro cell culture assays have been developed. For in vitro screening, such tests are recommended to check the cytotoxicity of dental materials (ISO 10993 5). Various studies have already been performed to quantitatively determine the cytotoxicity level of dental alloys. However, as long as only dental alloys and the cell culture technique are applied, it is not possible to determine which of the alloying elements cause the cytotoxicity. Therefore, an analytical method is needed. Wataha et al determined in 1991 the TC50 values of 9 metal cations of various dental casting alloys, using cell culture methods. Kapert et al reported in 1994 a complex in vitro test concept, where the ICP analysis (inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy) was introduced to measure the trace elements extracted from various alloys. Experimentelle Zahnheilkunde, Universitts ZMK Klinik Freiburg, Germany (Lü XY and Kappert HF) The aim of the present study was to find a relation between the ICP results, the TC50 value of metal cations, and the cytotoxicity of dental alloys. The cytotoxicity levels of various dental alloys and the TC50 values of 10 metal cations were established using the MTT assay, an effective cell culture of method. Then, the concentrations of the corrosively soluted metal cations in the extracts of the alloys were measured using the ICP method. From all these experimental results it was found that the relation between the effective cytotoxicity Z eff of an alloy, the concentrations C i of i th trace element and the TC50 values T Ci of the i th metal cation can approximately be expressed by Z eff =∑iC i2·T Ci . Two significant applications of this expression are a) The cytotoxicity of an alloy can be estimated by ICP analysis of the extract if the TC50 values of the trace elements are know. b) The cytotoxicity of a new-developed-alloy can be estimated in advance, according to the alloying components.