APPLICATION OF RARE EARTH IN SURFACE HEAT TREATMENT OF HOT-WORKING DIE STEELS

This paper studies a compound treatment. i. e. liquid S , N,C co-diffusing with rare earth (RE) and then oxidization , for hot-working die steels , and the effect of RE on thermal fatigue behavior of the diffused layer. XRD and SEM energy spectrum prove that trace RE element actually penetrates into the surface layer of steels. The result shows that RE can reduce the gradient of change of hardness in diffused layer, improve the morphology and distribution of compounds , and reduce the degree of surface alligator crack for thermal fatigue. The behavior of thermal fatigue of hot-working die steels is raised by 70% or so after the application of RE. The effect of RE is analysed according to the theory.

Effect of heat treatment on tensile deformation behavior of Ni-Co film/Fe substrate systems

The effects of heat treatment on microstructure and tension property of Ni-Co film/Fe substrate systems were investigated. The deformation and fracture morphologies of Ni-Co films/Fe substrate systems were studied by in-situ scanning electron microscopy（in-situ SEM）before and after heat treatment.The results show that a Ni-Co/Fe diffusion layer appears between the film and substrate after heat treatment;the elongation of film/substrate system increases with increasing the heat treatment temperature. Both the strength and ductility of the film/substrate system are preferable when heat treatment temperature is 650 o C,meanwhile the maximum elongation is up to 46%.During tensile deformation,the deformation behaviors of Ni-Co film/Fe substrate are quite different before and after heat treatment.The samples after heat treatment went through the progress of holes’emergence,growth and extension,whereas the samples without heat treatment accompanied with no holes,just cracked instead,showing that appropriate heat treatment is helpful to improve the toughness of material,and mechanical properties.

Influence of pre-strain and heat treatment on subsequent deformation behavior of extruded AZ31 Mg alloy

Pre-compression and heat treatment were performed on an extruded AZ31 Mg alloy,and their effects on subsequent deformation behavior were investigated.The results show that at low temperature annealing(170 ℃ for 4 h),the extruded samples with and without annealing exhibit a nearly equivalent yield stress(~148 MPa) because their microstructures are nearly unchanged.However,under the same annealing condition,the yield stress of sample with pre-twinning and subsequent annealing(~225 MPa) is higher than that of the pre-twinned one(~200 MPa).The former sample presents a hardening effect because the solute atoms segregated on twin boundaries lead to a strengthening effect.The pre-twinned sample annealed at 400 ℃ for 1 h shows a higher ultimate elongation(~28%) than the pre-twinned one(~15%),but its yield stress(~125 MPa) is much lower than that of the pre-twinned one(~200 MPa).

Effects of heat treatment on the microstructures and mechanical properties of a new type of nitrogen-containing die steel

Nitrogen can increase the strength of steels without weakening the toughness and improve the corrosion resistance at the same time. Compared with conventional nitrogen-free die steels, a new type of nitrogen-containing die steel was developed with many superior properties, such as high strength, high hardness, and good toughness. This paper focused on the effects of heat treatment on the microstruc- tures and mechanical properties of the new type of nitrogen-containing die steel, which were investigated by the optimized deformation process and heat treatment. Isothermal spheroidal annealing and high-temperature quenching as well as high-temperature tempering were ap- plied in the experiment by means of an orthogonal method after the steel was multiply forged. The mechanical properties of nitro- gen-containing die steel forgings are better than the standard of NADCA #207-2003.

Different aging behaviors at surface layer and central region of a die-casting A380 alloy during heat treatment

Microstructural and hardness evolutions of a vacuum-assistant die-cast A380(Al-8.67 wt.%Si-3.27 wt.%Cu) alloy during heat treatment were investigated. Isothermal DSC test at 200 °C revealed that the precipitation reaction in the surface layer was faster than that in the central region. This corresponded with the hardness evolution that the surface layer hardened faster. The hardness increment in the surface layer was higher than that in the central region. Further experimental evidences indicated that the differences were due to the different amounts of heterogeneous nucleation sites for precipitation in the two parts. The influence of the characteristic as-cast microstructure on the artificial aging process is analyzed and discussed in detail.

Influence of deformation and heat treatment on electrical conductivity of CuMoCr alloy

The solution heat treatment,cold deformation and subsequent aging were performed on CuMoCr alloy.And the influence of deformation and aging treatment on the electrical conductivity of CuMoCr alloy was studied through metallograph,transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and electrical conductivity measurement.Results show that deformation without subsequent aging can reduce the electrical conductivity of CuMoCr alloy,but deformation followed by the optimum aging treatment can effectively improve the electrical conductivity of CuMoCr alloy.Aging at 500 ℃ for 4 h after 80% deformation,the much better electrical conductivity of CuMoCr alloy can be obtained.Reduction of Cr content in the Cu matrix could be the reason for the enhancement of electrical conductivity.

Synergistic effects of composition and heat treatment on microstructure and properties of vacuum die cast Al-Si-Mg-Mn alloys

The purpose of this study was to prepare high-quality Al-Si-Mg-Mn alloy with a good combination of strength and ductility employing the vacuum-assisted high-pressure die cast process. An orthogonal study of heat treatments was conducted to design an optimized T6 heat treatment process for both Al-10%Si-0.3%Mg-Mn and Al-11%Si-0.6%Mg-Mn alloys. The results demonstrate that no obvious blisters and warpage were observed in these two alloys with solid solution treatment. After the optimal T6 heat treatment of 530°C×3 h + 165°C×6 h, Al-11%Si-0.6%Mg-Mn alloy has better mechanical properties, of which tensile strength, yield strength and elongation reached 377.3 MPa, 307.8 MPa and 9%, respectively. The improvement of mechanical properties can be attributed to the high density of needle-like β″(Mg_5Si_6) precipitation after aging treatment and the fine and spherical eutectic Si particles uniformly distributed in the α-Al matrix.

Effect of cold deformation and heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of TC21 Ti alloy

In the present research work on TC21 titanium alloy(6.5 Al-3 Mo-1.9 Nb-2.2 Sn-2.2 Zr-1.5 Cr), the effects of cold deformation, solution treatment with different cooling rates and then aging on microstructure, hardness and wear property were investigated. A cold deformation at room temperature with 15% reduction in height was applied on annealed samples. The samples were solution-treated at 920 ℃ for 15 min followed by different cooling rates of water quenching(WQ), air cooling(AC) and furnace cooling(FC) to room temperature. Finally, the samples were aged at 590 ℃ for 4 h. Secondary α-platelets precipitated in residual β-phase in the case of solution-treated samples with AC condition and aged ones. The maximum hardness of HV 470 was obtained for WQ + aging condition due to the presence of high amount of residual β-matrix(69%), while the minimum hardness of HV 328 was reported for FC condition. Aging process after solution treatment can considerably enhance the wear property and this enhancement can reach up to about 122% by applying aging after WQ compared with the annealed samples.

Deformation and heat treatment ability of three-layer 6009/7050/6009 Al alloy clad slab prepared by direct-chill casting

Three-layer6009/7050/6009aluminum alloy clad slab was fabricated by an innovative direct-chill casting process.To study the response of the clad slab to plastic deformation and heat treatments,homogenization annealing,hot rolling,solution and aging were successively performed on the as-cast6009/7050/6009clad samples.The results revealed that excellent metallurgical bonding between7050alloy layer and6009alloy layer was achieved under optimal parameters.The clad ratio obviously decreased when the annealed sample was rolled to55%hot reduction level,and then changed slightly with further rolling.Furthermore,the content of rodlike Zn-rich phases increased significantly in7050alloy layer in the homogenized clad samples after rolling at55%,65%and75%hot reduction levels,and the higher level of hot reduction resulted in narrower diffusion layer.Subsequent solution and aging significantly improved the hardness in7050alloy layer,interfaces and6009alloy layers of the rolled samples except for the thin side for the75%hot reduction sample.

Microstructural evolution of 2026 aluminum alloy during hot compression and subsequent heat treatment

2026 aluminum alloy was compressed in a temperature range of 300-450 ℃ and strain rate range of 0.01-10 s^-1. The correlation between compression conditions and microstructural evolution after solution and aging heat treatment was investigated. It is found that the recrystallization and precipitation behavior after heat treatment are associated with the temperature compensated strain rate Z value during hot deformation. Under low Z parameter condition, a small quantity of free recrystallized grains are formed, and the well formed subgrains with clean high-angle boundaries and coarse precipitates seem to be remained during heat treatment. Under high Z parameter condition, a large number of fine equiaxed recrystallized grains are produced, and a high dislocation density with poorly developed cellularity and considerable fine dynamic precipitates are replaced by the well formed subgrains and relatively coarse precipitates after heat treatment. The average recrystallized grain size after heat treatment decreases with increasing Z value and a quantitative relation between the average grain size and the Z value is obtained.

Effects of Mg Enhancement and Heat Treatment on Microstructures and Tensile Properties of Al2Ca-Added ADC12 Die Casting Alloys

The effects of Mg enhancement and heat treatment on the microstructures and tensile properties of Al_2Ca-added ADC12 die casting alloys were investigated. 0.3% and 0.5% Mg in the form of a master alloy including a trace amount of Al_2Ca were added to conventional ADC12（383 and AlSi10Cu2Fe） alloy with an initial Mg-content of 0.3% to increase the Mg content to 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively. To avoid heat treatmentinduced surface blisters, shortened solution treatment for 15 min at 490 ℃ and artificial aging for 6 h at 150 ℃ was undertaken. The results show that a 10% improvement in the shape factor of eutectic Si particles was achieved for Al_2Ca-added ADC12 with 0.8% Mg compared to the conventional ADC12 in the as-aged condition. Al_2Ca-added ADC12 with 0.8% Mg exhibited a yield strength of 289 MPa, a tensile strength of 407 MPa, and an elongation of 4.22%.

Modeling effects of alloying elements and heat treatment parameters on mechanical properties of hot die steel with back-propagation artificial neural network

Materials data deep-excavation is very important in materials genome exploration.In order to carry out materials data deep-excavation in hot die steels and obtain the relationships among alloying elements,heat treatment parameters and materials properties,a 11×12×12×4 back-propagation（BP）artificial neural network（ANN）was set up.Alloying element contents,quenching and tempering temperatures were selected as input;hardness,tensile and yield strength were set as output parameters.The ANN shows a high fitting precision.The effects of alloying elements and heat treatment parameters on the properties of hot die steel were studied using this model.The results indicate that high temperature hardness increases with increasing alloying element content of C,Si,Mo,W,Ni,V and Cr to a maximum value and decreases with further increase in alloying element content.The ANN also predicts that the high temperature hardness will decrease with increasing quenching temperature,and possess an optimal value with increasing tempering temperature.This model provides a new tool for novel hot die steel design.

Application of shortened heat treatment cycles on A356 automotive brake calipers with respective globular and dendritic microstructures

Since the automotive industry has many possible applications for semi-solid metal (SSM)-high-pressure die casting (HPDC) parts, the newly developed heat treatment cycles, as well as the traditional heat treatment cycles, were applied to A356 brake calipers cast using a LK DCC630 HPDC machine.Vickers hardness measurements at a cross section of the brake calipers were performed, indicating that similar values can be obtained when using the significantly shorter heat treatment cycles.Finally, the typical tensile properties that can be obtained for SSM-HPDC A356 brake calipers are compared with those manufactured by gravity die casting.Results indicate that the differences in microstructures (globular or dendritic) do not have a noteworthy effect on the heat treatment response.This implies that the short heat treatment cycles originally developed for globular SSM-HPDC A356 castings can be successfully applied to dendritic liquid A356 castings too.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of fine grained uranium prepared by ECAP and subsequent intermediate heat treatment

The microstructure and mechanical properties of fine grained uranium prepared by equal channel angular pressing(ECAP)and subsequent intermediate heat treatment were investigated systematically by the confocal laser scanning microscope(CLSM),electron backscatter diffraction(EBSD)and split Hopkinson pressure bar(SHPB).The results show that the initial coarse grained uranium was refined from about 1000 to 6.5μm prepared by ECAP at 3 passes and subsequent heat treatment,and the corresponding dynamic yield strength increased from 135 to 390 MPa.For the ECAPed uranium samples,the relationship between grain size and yield strength could be described by classical Hall−Petch relationship,and the fitting Hall−Petch relationship for the fine grained uranium samples prepared by ECAP was drawn.

Heat Treat ment of Die and Mould Oriented Concurrent Design

Many disadvantages exist in the traditional die design method which belongs to serial pattern. It is well known that heat treatment is highly important to the dies. A new idea of concurrent design for heat treatment process of die and mould was developed in order to overcome the existent shortcomings of heat treatment process. Heat treatment CAD/CAE was integrated with concurrent circumstance and the relevant model was built. These investigations can remarkably improve efficiency, reduce cost and ensure quality of R and D for products.

Heat shock behavior of permanent die during non-solid near-net forming process

Heat shocks caused by alloy melt and coat spraying are the main reason of die plastic deformation and early fracture. Based on theoretical analysis of heat shock phenomenon, two characteristic parameters of die damage caused by heat shock were proposed, which are heat shock plastic deformation index (HSPI) and heat shock crack index (HSCI). The effect of heat shock on die plastic deformation and fracture behaviors was described quantitatively by these two parameters. HSPI represents approaching of heat shock stress to die yield stress. Plastic deformation will happen on a die if this index reaches 1. HSCI represents approaching of heat shock stress to die tensile strength. Die fracture will happen if this index reaches 1. According to theoretical analysis of heat transfer, theoretical models of HSPI and HSCI were established. It is found that, the smaller the interfacial thermal resistance (ITR) is, the higher the pouring temperature and die temperature are before heat shock, and the greater the HSPI and HSCI are, which can be fitted as exponential curves, linear and cubic curves.

Study of heat treatment parameters for large-scale hydraulic steel gate track

In order to enhance external hardness and strength, a large-scale hydraulic gate track should go through heat treatment. The current design method of hydraulic gate wheels and tracks is based on Hertz contact linear elastic theory, and does not take into account the changes in mechanical properties of materials caused by heat treatment. In this study, the heat treatment parameters were designed and analyzed according to the bearing mechanisms of the wheel and track. The quenching process of the track was simulated by the ANSYS program, and the temperature variation, residual stress, and deformation were obtained and analyzed. The metallurgical structure field after heat treatment was predicted by the method based on time-temperatuxe-transformation （TTT） curves. The results show that the analysis method and designed track heat treatment process are feasible, and can provide a reference for practical projects.

Plastic deformation and heat treatment of Mg-Li alloys:a review

As the lightest structural metallic materials,Mg-Li alloys have a bright development prospect in the fields of aerospace,weapon equipment,electronic technology and transportation.In this paper,the research progress of deformation processing and heat treatment of Mg-Li alloys is reviewed,with particular emphasis on the factors affecting the plastic deformation,the effects of plastic deformation on microstructural evolution and mechanical properties,and the heat treatment behavior of Mg-Li alloys.The problems existing in the scale application of Mg-Li alloys are pointed out,and the research focus of Mg-Li alloys in the future are also prospected.

Selection of Heat Treatment Process and Wear Mechanism of High Wear Resistant Cast Hot-Forging Die Steel

Dry sliding wear tests of a Cr-Mo-V cast hot-forging die steel was carried out within a load range of 50--300 N at 400℃ by a pin-on-disc high temperature wear machine. The effect of heat treatment process on wear resistance was systematically studied in order to select heat treatment processes of the steel with high wear resistance. The morphology, structure and composition were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, X-ray diffraction （XRD） and energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS） ; wear mechanism was also discussed. Tribo-oxide layer was found to form on worn surfaces to reduce wear under low loads, but appear inside the matrix to increase wear under high loads. The tribo-oxides were mainly consisted of Fe3O4 and Fe2O3, FeO only appeared under a high load. Oxidative mild wear, transition of mild-severe wear in oxidative wear and extrusive wear took turns to operate with increasing the load. The wear resistance strongly depended on the selection of heat treatment processes or microstructures. It was found that bainite presented a better wear resistance than martensite plus bainite duplex structure, martensite structure was of the poorest wear resistance. The wear resistance increased with increasing austenizing temperature in the range of 920 to 1 120 ℃, then decreased at up to 1 220 ℃. As for tempering temperature and microstructure, the wear resistance increased in following order： 700℃ （tempered sorbite）, 200 ℃ （tempered martensite）, 440 to 650 ℃ （tempered troostite）. An appropriate combination of hardness, toughness, microstructural thermal stability was re- quired for a good wear resistance in high-temperature wear. The optimized heat treatment process was suggested for the cast hot-forging steel to be austenized at 1020 to 1 120 ℃, quenched in oil, then tempered at 440 to 650℃ for 2 h.