Microstructural characterization of silicon carbide reinforced dissimilar grade aluminium explosive clads

Aluminium composites are inevitable in ship building,commercial and defence aircrafts construction due to their light weight,high strength to weight ratio,admirable properties and cost affordability.In this study,the microstructural characteristics of explosive cladded dissimilar grade aluminium(Al 1100-Al 5052) clad composites reinforced with silicon carbide(SiC) particles is presented.Microstructure taken at the interface by optical and scanning electron microscopes(SEM) revealed the formation of a silicon carbide layer between the dissimilar grade aluminium sheets.Though reaction layers were witnessed at few locations along the interface,the diffusion of atoms between the participant metals is not visible as confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy,elemental mapping,line analysis and X-ray diffraction(XRD).The variation in microhardness at various regions of the silicon carbide reinforced dissimilar aluminium explosive clad is reported.The increase in tensile strength of the SiC laced clad is also presented.

Microstructure and Properties of AlCoCrFeNiTi High-Entropy Alloy Coatings Prepared by Laser Cladding

21-4N(5Cr21Mn9Ni4N)is extensively employed in the production of engine valves,operating under severe conditions.Apart from withstanding high-temperature gas corrosion,it must also endure the impact of cylinder explosion pressure.The predominant failure mode of 21-4N valves is abrasive wear.Surface coatings serve as an effective approach to prevent such failures.In this investigation,Laser cladding technology was utilized to fabricate AlCoCrFeNiTi high entropy alloy coatings onto the surfaces of 21-4N valves.According to the findings,the cladding zone has a normal dendritic microstructure,a good substrate-to-cladding layer interaction,and no obvious flaws.In terms of hardness,the cladding demonstrates an average hardness of 620 HV.The hardness has increased by 140%compared to the substrate.The average hardness of the cladding remains at approximately 520 HV even at elevated temperatures.Regarding frictional wear performance,between 400℃and 800℃,the cladding layer exhibits an average friction coefficient of 0.4,with the primary wear mechanisms being abrasive wear,adhesive wear,and a minor degree of plastic deformation.

Preparation of Laser Cladding Coating Undercooling Cu-based Alloy and Co on Non-equilibrium Solidification Structure

The effect of the gradient content of Co element on the solidification process of Cu-based alloy under deep under cooling conditions was explored.The non-equilibrium solidification structure of the under cooled alloy samples were analyzed.It is found that the rapidly solidified alloy has undergone twice grain refinement during the undercooling process.Characterization and significance of the maximum undercooling refinement structure of Cu60Ni35Co5 at T=253 K were analyzed.High-density defects were observed,such as dislocations,stacking faults networks,and twinning structures.The standard FCC diffraction pattern represents that it is still a single-phase structure.Based on the metallographic diagram,EBSD and TEM data analysis,it is illustrated that the occurrence of grain refinement under high undercooling is due to stress induced recrystallization.In addition,the laser cladding technology is used to coat Co-based alloy(Stellite12) coating on 304 stainless steel substrate;the microstructure of the coating cross-section was analyzed.It was found that the microstructure of the cross-section is presented as columnar crystals,planar crystals,and disordered growth direction,so that the coating has better hardness and wear resistance.By electrochemical corrosion of the substrate and coating,it can be seen that the Co and Cr elements present in the coating are more likely to form a dense passivation film,which improved the corrosion resistance of the coating.

First-principles study on the diffusion behavior of Cs and I in Cr coating

Cs and I can migrate through fuel-cladding interfaces and accelerate the cladding corrosion process induced by the fuel-cladding chemical interaction.Cr coating has emerged as an important candidate for mitigating this chemical interaction.In this study,first-principles calculations were employed to investigate the diffusion behavior of Cs and I in the Cr bulk and grain boundaries to reveal the microscopic interaction mitigation mechanisms at the fuel-cladding interface.The interaction between these two fission products and the Cr coating were studied systematically,and the Cs and I temperature-dependent diffusion coefficients in Cr were obtained using Bocquet’s oversized solute-atom model and Le Claire’s nine-frequency model,respectively.The results showed that the Cs and I migration barriers were significantly lower than that of Cr,and the Cs and I diffusion coefficients were more than three orders of magnitude larger than the Cr self-diffusion coefficient within the temperature range of Generation-IV fast reactors(below 1000 K),demonstrating the strong penetration ability of Cs and I.Furthermore,Cs and I are more likely to diffuse along the grain boundary because of the generally low migration barriers,indicating that the grain boundary serves as a fast diffusion channel for Cs and I.

Ultra wear resistant TiC-Fe coating prepared by high efficient and economic plasma cladding method

The key components of engineering machinery frequently failed due to working in the high load and high wear operating envir-onment.And the performance of the Fe-based alloy coatings typically employed need to be improved for fulfilling the service requirements.Herein,a TiC strengthened Fe-based alloy cladding layer,named TiC-Fe coating,was designed and prepared by plasma cladding technology.The frictional wear performance of coating under various loads was tested.The wear morphology of the coating was observed,and its wear mechanism was examined.The results indicated that the TiC-Fe coating was well formed and metallurgically bonded to the Q345C substrate.Its microstructure mainly consisted of Fe-Cr solid solution,α-Fe phase,(Fe,Cr)_(7)C_(3) phase and TiC phase.The coating exhibited an average microhardness of 980 HV0.2,which was about 5.4 times that of the Q345C substrate.The wear mass loss of the TiC-Fe coatings was much smaller than that of the Q345C substrate,which indicated that the wear resistance of the Q345C coating was superior to the substrate,and the wear mechanism of the coating was mainly attributed to the abrasive wear.

Evaluation of Textured Concrete as an Alternative for Stone as a Cladding Material

Along with the increasing demand on exterior wall cladding as a protective cover for the interior elements and an indicator for modernity and architectural innovation,comes the need to develop new cladding materials that can replace the old ones and overcome their setbacks.This paper discusses the possibility of replacing stone by textured concrete as a cladding material in order to overcome the main challenges faced stone cladding by comparing them together.The comparison was made based on the main requirements of the cladding materials namely:economic,environmental,social,functional and structural aspects.

Conceptual design and safety characteristics of a new multi-mission high flux research reactor

Research reactors with neutron fluxes higher than 10^(14) n cm^(−2) s^(−1) are widely used in nuclear fuel and material irradiation,neutron-based scientific research,and medical and industrial isotope production.Such high flux research reactors are not only important scientific research facilities for the development of nuclear energy but also represent the national comprehensive technical capability.China has several high flux research reactors that do not satisfy the requirements of nuclear energy development.A high flux research reactor has the following features:a compact core arrangement,high power density,plate-type fuel elements,a short refueling cycle,and high coolant velocity in the core.These characteristics make it difficult to simultaneously realize high neutron flux and optimal safety margin.A new multi-mission high flux research reactor was designed by the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology at Tsinghua University in China;the reactor can simul-taneously realize an average neutron flux higher than 2.0×10^(15) n cm^(−2) s^(−1) and fulfill the current safety criterion.This high flux research reactor features advanced design concepts and has sufficient safety margins according to the preliminary safety analysis.Based on the analysis of the station blackout accident,loss of coolant accident,and reactivity accident of a single-control drum rotating out accidently,the maximum temperature of the cladding surface,minimum departure from nucleate boiling ratio,and temperature difference to the onset of nucleate boiling temperature satisfy the design limits.

Multiphysics simulation of VVER-1200 fuel performance during normal operating conditions

Nuclear fuel performance modeling and simulation are critical tasks for nuclear fuel design optimization and safety analysis under normal and transient conditions.Fuel performance is a complicated phenomenon that involves thermal,mechanical,and irradiation mechanisms and requires special multiphysics modules.In this study,a fuel performance model was developed using the COMSOL Multiphysics platform.The modeling was performed for a 2D axis-symmetric geometry of a UO2fuel pellet in the E110 clad for VVER-1200 fuel.The modeling considers all relevant phenomena,including heat generation and conduction,gap heat transfer,elastic strain,mechanical contact,thermal expansion,grain growth,densification,fission gas generation and release,fission product swelling,gap/plenum pressure,and cladding thermal and irradiation creep.The model was validated using a code-to-code evaluation of the fuel pellet centerline and surface temperatures in the case of constant power,in addition to validation of fission gas release(FGR)predictions.This prediction proved that the model could perform according to previously published VVER nuclear fuel performance parameters.A sensitivity study was also conducted to assess the effects of uncertainty on some of the model parameters.The model was then used to predict the VVER-1200 fuel performance parameters as a function of burnup,including the temperature profiles,gap width,fission gas release,and plenum pressure.A compilation of related material and thermomechanical models was conducted and included in the modeling to allow the user to investigate different material/performance models.Although the model was developed for normal operating conditions,it can be modified to include off-normal operating conditions.

Fretting Wear Characteristics of Nuclear Fuel Cladding in High-Temperature Pressurized Water

In pressurized water reactor(PWR),fretting wear is one of the main causes of fuel assembly failure.Moreover,the operation condition of cladding is complex and harsh.A unique fretting damage test equipment was developed and tested to simulate the fretting damage evolution process of cladding in the PWR environment.It can simulate the fretting wear experiment of PWR under different temperatures(maximum temperature is 350℃),displacement amplitude,vibration frequency,and normal force.The fretting wear behavior of Zr-4 alloy under different temperature environments was tested.In addition,the evolution of wear scar morphology,profile,and wear volume was studied using an optical microscope(OM),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),and a 3D white light interferometer.Results show that higher water temperature evidently decreased the cladding wear volume,the wear mechanism of Zr-4 cladding changed from abrasive wear to adhesive wear and the formation of an oxide layer on the wear scar reduced the wear volume and maximum wear depth.

Fiber cladding dual channel surface plasmon resonance sensor based on S-type fiber

Fiber cladding surface plasmon resonance(SPR)sensors have few structures,and a clad SPR sensor based on S-type fiber is proposed in this paper.This new type of fiber cladding SPR sensor was formed by electrofusing an S-shaped structure on the fiber to couple the light in the fiber core to the cladding.In this paper,the effects of fiber parameters on the performance of the sensor were studied by simulation and experiment.Based on the conclusion that the smaller the core diameter is,the closer the working band of the SPR resonance is to long wavelengths,and that the geometric characteristics mean that a multimode fiber can receive the fiber cladding light from a small core diameter few-mode fiber,a dual channel SPR sensor with a double S-type fiber cascade was proposed.In the refractive index detection range of 1.333–1.385refractive index units(RIU),the resonant working band of channel I is 627.66 nm–759.78 nm,with an average sensitivity of 2540.77 nm/RIU,and the resonant working band of channel II is 518.24 nm–658.2 nm,with an average sensitivity of2691.54 nm/RIU.The processing method for the S-type fiber cladding SPR sensor is simple,effectively solving the problem of this type of SPR sensor structure and the difficult realization of a dual channel.The sensor is expected to be used in the fields of medical treatment and biological analysis.

Prediction and sensitivity analysis of the surface quality in Ni60/WC coatings

For laser cladding a large temperature gradient easily weakened the surface quality by generating cracks and irregular coating surfaces,which in turn affected the bearing capacity and corrosion resistance of coatings in the rapid heating and cooling process.The response surface methodology(RSM)was used to predict coating cracks by changing the powder ratio,energy density,and preheating temperature,which obtained the relevant mathematical model.After that,the sensitivity of the crack length to process parameters was analyzed based on the sensitivity analysis method.The effect of Ni60/WC composite powder process parameters on the surface quality was revealed in laser cladding.The crack length first decreased and then increased,and the Smooth decreased with the increased powder ratio.The crack length and Smooth increased with the increased energy density.The crack length decreased and Smooth increased with the increased preheating temperature.Sensitivity analysis showed that the crack length and Smooth were the most sensitive to the powder ratio.Therefore,the process parameters were reasonably selected to control the surface quality.The mathematical model and sensitivity analysis method in the work could improve the surface quality,which provided a theoretical basis for the prediction and control of laser cladding cracks.

省域视角下文化创意产业发展效率影响因素研究

采用CLAD模型探索2015—2021年我国31个省份(不含港澳台)文创产业发展效率的影响因素。研究表明,从全国整体来看,影响文创产业发展效率的因素中地区经济水平、财政扶持力度、投资状况、专业集聚程度、创新能力及人力资本发挥正向推动作用,而产业关联则产生阻碍作用,且同一影响因素在不同地区的作用效果也存在明显区别。基于此,从顶层设计、协同发展、产业规模以及技术创新的角度提出对策建议。

A cladding-pumping based power-scaled noise-like and dissipative soliton pulse fiber laser

We report a high-average-power noise-like pulse(NLP) and dissipative soliton(DS) pulse fiber laser. Average power as high as 4.8 W could be obtained at the fundamental mode-locked repetition rate. The NLP can also be transformed into a more powerful DS mode-locking state by optimizing the polarization and losses of intra-cavity pulses in the nonlinear polarization evolution regime. The operation mode between the NLP and DS can be switched, and the laser output performance in both modes has been studied. The main advantage of this work is switchable high-power operation between the NLP and DS. In comparison with conventional single-mode NLP fiber lasers, the multi-function high-power optical source will greatly push its application in supercontinuum generation, coherence tomography, and industrial processing.

The Effects of WC on the Microstructures and Wear Resistance of FeCoCrNiB_(0.2) High Entropy Alloy

To improve the wear resistance of the FeCoCrNiB_(0.2)high entropy alloy(HEA),the FeCoCrNiB_(0.2)(WC_(0))and FeCoCrNiB_(0.2)+20wt%WC(WC_(20))HEA coatings were prepared on Q235 steel by laser cladding(LC).The microstructure,hardness,and tribometer of the HEA coatings were investigated using scanning electron microscopy with spectroscopy(SEM/EDS),X-ray diffraction(XRD),vickers microhardness tester,and pin-on-disc tribometer,respectively.The experimental results show that the WC0HEA coating comprises a simple BCC phase mixed with an M_(2)B phase.Adding 20wt%WC,the WC_(20)HEA coating is composed of a simple BCC phase mixed with the Cr_(23)C_(6)carbide phase.The microstructure of the WC_(20)HEA coating is simple,which consists of equiaxed grain and dendritic.The microhardness also increases from 625.5HV to 806.0HV,and the wear mass loss correspondingly decreases from 30.9 to 14.9 mg.W and C atoms formed by WC dissolution are mainly dissolved in the BCC phase,which leads to the solution strengthening effect.Besides,Cr_(23)C_(6)carbides inhibit the growth of the grains,play the role of fine-grain strengthening,and further improve the hardness and wear resistance of the HEA coating.

Effects of process parameters and annealing on microstructure and properties of CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy coating prepared by plasma cladding

Plasma cladding was used to prepare a CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy(HEA)coating under different conditions.The process parameters were optimized using an orthogonal experiment design based on surface morphology quality characteristics,dilution rate,and hardness.The optimal process parameters were determined through range and variance analysis to be a cladding current of 70 A,a cladding speed of 7 cm·min^(-1),and a powder gas flow rate of 8 L·s^(-1).During the optimized experiments,both the cladded and annealed CoCrFeMnNi HEA coatings exhibit some pores,micro-voids,and a small amount of aggregation.However,the aggregation in the annealed coating is more dispersed than that in the cladded coating.The cladded CoCrFeMnNi HEA coating consists of simple FCC phases,while a new Cr-rich phase precipitates from the FCC matrix after annealing the coating at a temperature range of 550°C-950°C.After annealing at 850°C,the proportion of the FCC phase decreases compared to the cladded coating,and the number of large-angle grain boundaries is significantly reduced.However,the proportion of grains with sizes below 50μm increases from 61.7%to 74.3%.The micro-hardness and wear resistance of the cladded coating initially increases but then decreases with an increase in annealing temperature,indicating that appropriate annealing can significantly improve the mechanical properties of the CoCrFeMnNi HEA coatings by plasma cladding.The micro-hardness of the CoCrFeMnNi HEA coatings after annealing at 650°C increases to 274.82 HV_(0.2),while the friction coefficient decreases to below 0.595.

Transient fuel performance analysis of UO_(2)–BeO fuel with composite SiC coated with Cr cladding based on multiphysics method

The transient multiphysics models were updated in CAMPUS to evaluate the accident-tolerant fuel performance under accident conditions.CAMPUS is a fuel performance code developed based on COMSOL.The simulated results of the UO_(2)–Zircaloy fuel performance under accident conditions were compared with those of the FRAPTRAN code and the experimental data to verify the correctness of the updated CAMPUS.Subsequently,multiphysics models of the UO_(2)–BeO fuel and composite SiC coated with Cr(SiC_(f)/SiC-Cr)cladding were implemented in CAMPUS.Finally,the fuel performance of the three types of fuel cladding systems under Loss of Coolant Accident(LOCA)and Reactivity Insertion Accident(RIA)conditions was evaluated and compared,including the temperature distribution,stress distribution,pressure evolution,and cladding failure time.The results showed that the fuel temperature of the UO_(2) fuel under accident conditions without pre-irradiation was lower after being combined with SiC_(f)/SiC-Cr cladding.Moreover,the centerline and outer surface temperatures of the UO_(2)–BeO fuel combined with SiC_(f)/SiC-Cr cladding reduced further under accident conditions.The cladding temperature increased after the combination with the SiC_(f)/SiC-Cr cladding under accident conditions with pre-irradiation.In addition,the use of SiC_(f)/SiC-Cr cladding significantly reduced the cladding hoop strain and plenum pressure.

Numerical simulation of a truncated cladding negative curvature fiber sensor based on the surface plasmon resonance effect

A refractive index(RI)sensor based on the surface plasmon resonance effect is proposed using a truncated cladding negative curvature fiber(TC-NCF).The influences of the TC-NCF structure parameters on the sensing performances are investigated and compared with the traditional NCF.The simulation results show that the proposed TC-NCF RI sensor has an ultra-wide detection range from 1.16 to 1.43.The maximum wavelength sensitivity reaches 12400 nm/RIU,and the corresponding R^(2)of the polynomial fitting equation is 0.9999.The maximum and minimum resolutions are 2.56×10^(-5)and 8.06×10^(-6),respectively.In addition,the maximum amplitude sensitivity can reach-379.1 RIU^(-1)when the RI is chosen as 1.43.The proposed TC-NCF RI sensor could be useful in biochemical medicine,environmental monitoring,and food safety.

Development of Glass Optical Fibers 1970-2020,Providing Us the Digitalized Communication World

New types of communication cables were found to be needed already during the 1960-decade,because the copper cables had,and still would have,too high attenuation and especially limited bandwidth,due to extremely high dispersion at communication signals above 2 Mbit/s.Already the first commercially available multimode optical fibers(1979),developed from pure silica glass with a Ge-doped core,had much lower attenuation at signal frequencies of the order of 2-9 Mbit/s and above it.However,fiber core,cladding and coating materials,cable structures and materials,as well as manufacturing-,measurements-and test methods have been needed to be developed much further to get the reliable fiber cable communication networks.The important development stages and solutions to the most significant childhood problems of the optical fibers and cables are described in this paper.Now over 500 million km of optical fibers are manufactured and installed worldwide for the communication networks.The understanding of how to make the fibers with the very good transmission,mechanical and reliability properties exists at the manufacturers of the fibers and cables.

Microstructure and high temperature tribological behavior of laser cladding Ni60A alloys coatings on 45 steel substrate

The crack-free Ni60 A coating was fabricated on 45 steel substrate by laser cladding and the microstructure including solidification characteristics, phases constitution and phase distribution was systematically investigated. The high temperature friction and wear behavior of the cladding coating and substrate sliding against GCr15 ball under different loads was systematically evaluated. It was found that the coating has homogenous and fine microstructure consisting of γ（Ni） solid solution, a considerable amount of network Ni-Ni3 B eutectics, m^23C6 with the floret-shape structure and Cr B with the dark spot-shape structure uniformly distributing in interdendritic eutectics. The microhardness of the coating is about 2.6 times as much as that of the substrate. The coating produces higher friction values than the substrate under the same load condition, but the friction process on the coating keeps relatively stable. Wear rates of the coating are about 1/6.2 of that of the substrate under the higher load（300 g）. Wear mechanism of the substrate includes adhesion wear, abrasive wear, severe plastic deformation and oxidation wear, while that of the coating is merely a combination of mild abrasive wear and moderate oxidation wear.

Microstructure and wear resistance of laser clad TiB-TiC/TiNi-Ti_2Ni intermetallic coating on titanium alloy

A wear resistant TiB-TiC reinforced TiNi-Ti2Ni intermetallic matrix composite coating（TiB-TiC/TiNi-Ti2Ni） was prepared on Ti-6.5Al-2Zr-1Mo-1V titanium alloy by the laser cladding process using Ti＋Ni＋B4C powder blends as the precursor materials.Microstructure and worn surface morphologies of the coating were characterized by optical microscopy（OM）,scan electron microscopy（SEM）,X-ray diffraction（XRD）,energy dispersive X-ray analysis（EDS） and atomic force microscopy（AFM）.Wear resistance of the coating was evaluated under dry sliding wear test condition at room temperature.The results indicate that the laser clad coating has a unique microstructure composed of flower-like TiB-TiC eutectic ceramics uniformly distributed in the TiNi-Ti2Ni dual-phase intermetallic matrix.The coating exhibits an excellent wear resistance because of combined action of hard TiB-TiC eutectic ceramic reinforcements and ductile TiNi-Ti2Ni dual-phase intermetallic matrix.