Softening–melting behavior of mixed burden based on low-magnesium sinter and fluxed pellets

A low MgO content in sinter is conducive to reduce the MgO content in blast furnace slag.This study investigated the effect of MgO content in sinter on the softening–melting behavior of the mixed burden based on fluxed pellets.When the MgO content increased from 1.31 wt% to 1.55 wt%, the melting temperature of sinter increased to 1521℃.Such an increase was due to the formation of the high-meltingpoint slag phase.The reduction degradation index of sinter with 1.31 wt% MgO content was better than that of others.The initial softening temperature of the mixed burden increased from 1104 to 1126℃ as MgO content in sinter increased from 1.31 wt% to 1.55 wt%, and the melting temperature decreased from 1494 to 1460℃.The permeability index(S-value) of mixed burden decreased to 594.46 kPa·℃ under a high MgO content with 1.55 wt%, indicating that the permeability was improved.The slag phase composition of burden was mainly akermarite(Ca_(2)MgSiO_(7)) when the MgO content in sinter was 1.55 wt%.The melting point of akermarite is 1450℃, which is lower than other phases.

Effect of Ti_(p) Content on the Work Hardening and Softening Behavior of Mg-Zn-Ca Alloy

The Ti_(p)/ZX60 composites with different Ti_(p) contents were prepared by semi-solid stirring casting.After extrusion,the microstructure,work hardening and softening behavior of the Ti_(p)/ZX60 composites were analyzed compared with the ZX60(Mg-6Zn-0.2Ca)alloy.The results showed that the addition of Ti_(p) could not only promote the nucleation of dynamic recrystallized(DRXed)grains,but also be propitious to the refinement of DRXed grains.With increasing Ti_(p) content,the size of DRXed grains decreased accompanied with increasing volume fraction of DRXed grains.As the Ti_(p) content increased to 15 vol.%,the average size and volume fraction of DRXed grains reached to~0.32μm and 93.2%,respectively.Besides,both the strength and elongation were improved by the addition of Ti_(p).With increasing content of Ti_(p),a substantial increase in the strength was achieved with little change in the elongation.However,the elongation decreased sharply when the Ti_(p) content further increased to 15 vol.%.The addition of Ti_(p) led to an increase in the work hardening rate,which gradually increased with increasing Ti_(p) content.However,the softening rate did not demonstrate the same tendency with increasing Ti_(p) content.Unlike the conventional ceramic particles,the Ti_(p) can be deformed in coordination with the matrix alloy,which imparted a higher softening rate to the matrix alloy.Even though the softening rate improved as the Ti_(p) content increased from 5 to 10 vol.%,it dropped deeply as the Ti_(p) content increased to 15 vol.%owing to the fracture of Ti_(p) during extrusion.

Microstructural Evolution and Softening Behavior of Simulated Heat-Affected Zone in 2219 Aluminum Alloy

The effect of peak temperature （Tp） at 200, 300, 400, 500 and 550 ℃ on the microstructural evolution and softening behavior of the simulated heat-affected zone （HAZ） was studied in the 2219-T87 alloy by electron-backscatter diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, micro-hardness and micro-tensile tests. The results showed that the grain size in the HAZs at 200-500 ℃ was comparable, but the number density of the strengthening precipitates （GP zones/θ′） decreased with increasing Tp. At a Tp of 550 ℃, the grain size significantly decreased and the distribution of the misorientation angles corresponded to the MacKenzie distribution. The GP zones/θ′ phase coarsened and translated into θ phases at Tp values in the range of 200-400 ℃. Increasing the Tp to 500 ℃ and above, some θ′ phases translated into θ phases and others dissolved into the α-Al matrix which led to an increase in the solid solution strengthening. The reduction of the number density of the GP zones/θ′ was responsible for the softening behavior.

Mesh-dependence of Material with Softening Behavior

The issue of mesh-dependence emerges when the conventional continuum damage model is applied to handling the softening behavior. In order to circumvent the mesh-dependence, the non-local theory is introduced into the conventional damage model and the finite element formulas are derived for two-dimensional gradient-enhanced damage model. A new element is proposed in which the basic unknown quantities are displacement, non-local equivalent strain and the gradient of non-local equivalent strain. The element and constitutive equation proposed in this article are added to the finite element software ABAQUS through user subroutine UEL. Numerical results show that the gradient-enhanced damage model can eliminate the mesh-dependence and is effective for dealing with the issue of softening behavior.

Correlation Between Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of 2219-T8 Aluminum Alloy Joints by VPTIG Welding

In this study, 2219-T87 aluminum alloys were butt welded by the double-pass tungsten inert gas arc welding process. And the softening behavior of fusion zone（FZ） and heat-affected zone（HAZ） was evaluated with the analysis of welding temperature field, grain size, alloying element distribution and precipitates evolution. Results show that the two FZs are almost the weakest regions in the joint, where the microhardness value is 76 and 78 HV, respectively. Microhardness of the HAZ generally grows along with increasing distance from fusion line except a valley value at the distance of about 4.5 mm. The mean grain size of two FZs is about 74.4 and 79.2 lm, whereas 41.5, 44.9 and 43.4 lm for the two measured HAZs and base metal（BM）, respectively. There is about 60.4% and 54.2% Cu consumed in the coarse whitish particles of FZs that have little strengthening effect, while the percentage is about 24.6% of BM that is almost the same as HAZ. A large number of strengthening phases h0 distribute dispersively in BM, whereas hardly any precipitates exist in FZ and HAZ adjacent to FZ. So the coarsening of grain size, reduction and segregation of alloying element content, and the precipitate evolution are regarded as the main causes of softening in FZ, while the precipitate evolution is the main factor of softening in HAZ.