Enhancing strength and creep resistance of Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Zr alloy by substituting Mn for Zr

The age-hardening behavior and mechanical properties of the extruded Mg-2Gd-1.2Y-0.5Zn(at.%)alloy with Zr or Mn additions were investigated.The results show that Mn added alloy exhibits more remarkable age-hardening response than Zr added alloy,which is attributed to the fact that partitioning of Mn into the β'phases,β'precipitates and long period stacking ordered(LPSO)phases leads to the decrement in(G d+Y)concentrations in the second phases,facilitating the precipitation during aging treatment.Both peak-aged alloys show bimodal microstructure comprising the fine DRXed grains with nano-sized β phases pinned at DRXed grain boundaries as well as coarse worked grains with strong fiber texture.High strength and good thermal stability were obtained in both peak-aged Mn and Zr added alloys.While the peak-aged Mn added alloy shows higher strength and superior creep resistance due to its denser β'precipitates,thin LPSO phases and γ'precipitates and higher area fraction of worked grains with strong fiber texture.The 0.2% tensile proof stress and ultimate tensile strength of peak-aged Mn added alloy reach up to 454 MPa and 508 MPa,respectively,with elongation of 3.2%at room temperature.The minimum creep rate of the peak-aged Mn added alloy at 250℃/150 MPa is 2.4 × 10^-8 s^-1,which is superior than previously reported extruded Mg-Gd based alloys.

Understanding effects of microstructural inhomogeneity on creep response-New approaches to improve the creep resistance in magnesium alloys

Previous investigations indicate that the creep resistance of magnesium alloys is proportional to the stability of precipitated intermetallic phases at grain boundaries.These stable intermetallic phases were considered to be effective to suppress the deformation by grain boundary sliding,leading to the improvement of creep properties.Based on this point,adding the alloying elements to form the stable intermetallics with high melting point became a popular way to develop the new creep resistant magnesium alloys.The present investigation,however,shows that the creep properties of binary Mg-Sn alloy are still poor even though the addition of Sn possibly results in the precipitation of thermal stable Mg_(2)Sn at grain boundaries.That means other possible mechanisms function to affect the creep response.It is finally found that the poor creep resistance is attributed to the segregation of Sn at dendritic and grain boundaries.Based on this observation,new approaches to improve the creep resistance are suggested for magnesium alloys because most currently magnesium alloys have the commonality with the Mg-Sn alloys.

An Investigation of Creep Resistance in Grade 91 Steel through Computational Thermodynamics

This study was conducted to understand the relationship between various critical temperatures and the stability of the secondary phases inside the heat-affected-zone(HAZ)of welded Grade 91(Gr.91)steel parts.Type IV cracking has been observed in the HAZ,and it is widely accepted that the stabilities of the secondary phases in Gr.91 steel are critical to the creep resistance,which is related to the crack failure of this steel.In this work,the stabilities of the secondary phases,including those of the M23C6,MX,and Z phases,were simulated by computational thermodynamics.Equilibrium cooling and Scheil simulations were carried out in order to understand the phase stability in welded Gr.91 steel.The effect of four critical temperatures—that is,Acl(the threshold temperature at which austenite begins to form),Ac3(the threshold temperature at which ferrite is fully transformed into austenite),and the M23C6 and Z phase threshold temperatures—on the thickness of the HAZ and phase stability in the HAZ is discussed.Overall,the simulations presented in this paper explain the mechanisms that can affect the creep resistance of Gr.91 steel,and can offer a possible solution to the problem of how to increase creep resistance at elevated temperatures by optimizing the steel composition,welding,and heat treatment process parameters.The simulation results from this work provide guidance for future alloy development to improve creep resistance in order to prevent type IV cracking.

IMPROVEMENT OF CREEP RESISTANCE OF POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE FILMS BY NANO-INCLUSIONS

To improve creep resistance of directional polytetrafluoroethylene （PTFE） films, epoxy grafted nano-SiO2 is mixed with PTFE powder before sintering and calender rolling. The aligned macromolecular chains （especially those in amorphous region） of the composite films can be bundled up by the nanoparticles to share the applied stress together. In addition, incorporation of silica nanoparticles increases crystallinity of PTFE and favors microfibrillation of PTFE in the course of large deformation. As result, PTFE films exhibit lower creep strain and creep rate, and higher tensile strength and hardness. The work is believed to open an avenue for manufacturing high performance fluoropolymers by nano-inclusions.

Creep mechanism of as-cast Mg-6Al-6Nd alloy

The creep mechanism of as-cast Mg-6A1-6Nd alloy was studied. The stress exponent for creep is 5.8 under the applied stresses of 50-70 MPa at 175℃. The activation energy for creep is 189 kJ.mol^-1 under the applied stress of 70 MPa in the range of 150-200℃. The true stress exponent and threshold stress for creep are calculated as 4.96 and 10.2 MPa, respectively. The true stress exponent indicates that its creep mechanism belongs to the dislocation climb-controlled creep, which is in agreement with the microstructure changes before and after creep. The high value for stress exponent is attributed to the interaction of Al11Nd3 phase with dislocations. The activation energy is more than the self-diffusion activation energy of Mg, which is attributed to the load transfer taking place from the matrix to Al11Nd3 phase during creep.

The properties of flax fiber reinforced wood flour/high density polyethylene composites

Flax fiber(FF) was used to reinforce wood flour/high density polyethylene composites(WF/PE).WF/PE particles were uniformly mixed with FF via high-speed mixing and then extruded with a single screw extruder to prepare FF reinforced WF/PE composites(FF/WF/PE).Mechanical testing,dynamic mechanical analysis,scanning electron microscopy(SEM),creep measurement and Torque rheology were used to characterize the resulting composites.The results indicate that the mechanical performance of the composites could be remarkably improved by adding a limited amount of FF.The flexural strength and modulus increased by 14.6 and 51.4%,respectively(FF content of 9 wt%),while the unnotched impact strength could be increased by 26.5%(FF content of12 wt%).The creep resistance and toughness of thecomposite was markedly improved without changing the plastic content of the composite material.

Plastic characterization and performance of SnAgCuBiNi/Cu lead-free BGA solder joints

Nanoindentation test is performed on study the plastic and creep properties of the Sn-Ag-Cu （SAC） lead-free ball grid array （ BGA ） solder joints. The dynamic hardness of two kinds of solder joints decreases with indentation depth increase. SACO705 BiNi/ Cu exhibits a higher ultimate dynamic hardness and a smaller indentation depth than SAC305/ Cu. Then the strain hardening phenomenon of SAC305/ Cu is more obvious compared to that of SACO705 BiNi/ Cu. The indentation creep of SACO705BiNi/ Cu solder joint is lower than that of SAC305/ Cu solder joint before and after thermal shock. The creep rate sensitive index of SACBiNi/Cu solder joint is lower than that of solder joint. SACO705BiNi/Cu solder joint is superior to SAC305/Cu solder joint in the anti-creep property. The plasticity of SACOTOSBiNi/Cu and SAC305/Cu solder joints are similar. Compared with SAC305 solder, the SACO705 BiNi solder pe^forms higher hardness and solder creep resistance and still maintains a good plasticity.

Growth Kinetics of Laves Phase and Its Effect on Creep Rupture Behavior in 9Cr Heat Resistant Steel

The effects of Laves phase formation and growth on creep rupture behaviors of P92 steel at 883 K were studied.The microstructural evolution was characterized using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.Kinetic modeling was carried out using the software DICTRA.The results indicated Fe_2（W,Mo）Laves phase has formed during creep with 200 MPa applied stress at 883 Kfor 243 h.The experimental results showed a good agreement with thermodynamic calculations.The plastic deformation of laths is the main reason of creep rupture under the applied stress beyond 160 MPa,whereas,creep voids initiated by coarser Laves phase play an effective role in creep rupture under the applied stress lower than 160 MPa.Laves phase particles with the mean size of 243 nm lead to the change of creep rupture feature.Microstructures at the vicinity of fracture surface,the gage portion and the threaded ends of creep rupture specimens were also observed,indicating that creep tensile stress enhances the coarsening of Laves phase.

Progress in application of rare metals in superalloys

Rare metals play an important role in development of superalloys. Over the last two decades, the application of the rare metals in superalloys has achieved progress significantly. They present multi-beneficial effects for strengthening the matrix and the cophase, increasing the lattice misfit, cleaning the grain boundary, improving the carbides and eutectics, refining the grain, stabilizing the oxidation film, etc., so that the elevated temperature rupture life and elevated temperature oxidation resistance are improved significantly, leading to a broad application in the superalloys. In order to meet the higher demand for better superalloys in the future, more intensive research is necessary on the effects of the rare metals on the superalloy, and especially on the combination effect of various rare metals and mutual influence among them. Utilization of the computational materials science and combinatorial high throughput experiment will be of importance in application of rare metals in superalloys.

Molybdenum alloying in cast iron and steel

Metal casting is an important manufacturing technology for efficiently producing massive components with complex shape.A large share of industrial castings is made from iron and steel alloys,combining attractive properties and low production cost.Upgrading of properties in cast iron and steel is mainly achieved by alloying and in fewer cases by heat treatment.Molybdenum is an important alloying element in that respect,increasing strength,hardness and toughness.It also facilitates particular heat treatments such as austempering.The paper describes the metallurgical functionality of molybdenum alloying in iron-based castings and demonstrates its effectiveness for applications in the automotive and mining industry.

Plasticity-induced stacking fault behaviors ofγ'precipitates in novel CoNi-based superalloys

Implementation of novelγ/γ'Co-based superalloys with higher strength and improved creep durability is a challenging task for researchers.The lack of atomic-level understanding of plastic deformation behavior has seriously limited the exploration of the full capacity of Co-based alloys.We put forward a comprehensive study of generalized stacking fault energies by first principles to explore the effect of Ni and Al/W on the plastic deformation mechanism ofγ'precipitates in Co-based superalloys.It is found that alloying Ni and adjusting Al/W obviously change the dislocation glide and twinning nucleation in theγ'precipitates by altering the stable fault energies and the unstable fault energy barriers.Excessive addition of either Ni or W deteriorates the strength even the stability of alloys.The ratio of effective planar fault energy(ΔEp)bridges intrinsic energy barriers and various deformation mechanisms of superalloys at elevated temperatures.Except for alloying effects,the grain orientation also significantly governs the operation of the plastic deformation of superalloys.Our theoretical results agree with the available measurements and well capture the observed phenomena in experiments.

Synthesis of Granular Hydroxy‑Functionalized Ultra‑high‑molecular‑weight Polyethylene and Its Fiber Properties

Granular hydroxyl-functionalized UHMWPE was successfully prepared through copolymerization of ethylene and 10-undecen-1-ol protected by tri-iso-butylaluminum using a titanium complex.[tBuNSiMe_(2)(2,7-tBu2Flu)]TiMe_(2) was activated in hexane by silica-supported modified-methylaluminoxane.Without any additional pretreatments,the obtained polymer powders were transformed into fibers through a gel-spinning and heat drawing process.When compared to fibers generated from the equivalent unfunctionalized UHMWPE or the commercial HUMWPE,both creep resistance and hydrophilic properties were improved in the hydroxy-functionalized UHMWPE fibers without losing tensile strength.

Effect of rhenium on the microstructure and mechanical behavior of Fe–2.25Cr–1.6W–0.25V-0.1C bainitic steels

A new ferritic creep resistant steel has been developed by eliminating Nb and adding 1.5 mass % Re to a ferritic steel grade T/P23 with the aim of enhancing its mechanical properties at high temperature.Cast ingots of both steels, new grade and ASTM T/P 23, were hot rolled at 900℃ and then submitted to a thermal treatment consisting of solubilization at 1050℃ and tempering at 700℃. Tempered bainitic microstructures obtained contain second phases reinforcing carbide particles, mainly M_6C and M_（23）C_6 at the boundaries of both, prior austenite grains and bainitic ferrite laths, as well as MC within the grains. Mechanical properties at temperatures ranging from 540 to 600℃ were studied by strain-ratechange tests in compression at strain rates between 10^（-7） and 10^（-4）s^（-1）. These tests showed high stress exponents（n ≥ 20） and activation energies（Q ≈ 400 k J/mol） for both alloys, which were associated with a dislocation movement mechanism with a strong interaction between dislocations and precipitates. On the other hand, a creep exponent of 5 was derived for the stress dependence of minimum creep rate from conventional-type creep tests at 600℃. Although this stress exponent is usually related to a dislocation climb controlled creep mechanism, remarkable microstructural degradation observed with increasing creep time makes difficult to elucidate the true deformation mechanism controlling creep.