Gravel hardness effect on compaction characteristics of gravelly soil

The compaction characteristics of gravelly soil are affected by gravel hardness.To investigate the evolution and influencing mechanism of different gravel hardness on the compaction characteristics of gravelly soil,heavy compaction tests and crushing tests were conducted on gravelly soils with gravels originated from hard,soft and extremely soft rocks.According to orthogonal experiments and variance analysis,it was found that hardness has a significant impact on the maximum dry density of gravelly soil,followed by gravel content,and lastly,moisture content.For gravel compositions with an average saturated uniaxial compressive strength less than 60 MPa,the order of compacted maximum dry density is soft gravels>hard gravels>extremely soft gravels.Each type of gravelly soil has a threshold for gravel content,with 60%for hard and soft gravels and 50%for extremely soft gravels.Beyond these thresholds,the compacted dry density decreases significantly.There is a certain interaction between hardness,gravel content,and moisture content.Higher hardness increases the influence of gravel content,whereas lower hardness increases the influence of moisture content.Gravelly soils with the coarse aggregate(CA)between 0.7 and 0.8 typically achieve higher dry densities after compaction.In addition,the prediction equations for the particle breakage rate and CA ratio in the Bailey method were proposed to estimate the compaction performance of gravelly soil preliminarily.The results further revealed the compaction mechanism of different gravelly soils and can provide reference for subgrade filling construction.

Influence of heat input on microhardness and microstructure across the welding interface between stainless steel and low alloy steel

The welding interface is crucial to the service safety of dissimilar metal weld(DMW)joints between stainless steel(SS)and low alloy(LA)steel.Different status of welding interfaces was prepared by cladding SS consumables to LA steel substrates with different heat inputs via tungsten inert gas arc welding(TIG),followed by a series of microstructural characterizations and hardness tests.Results showed that a hardening and transition layer(TL)would be generated along the welding interface,and the width and hardening degree of the TL would increase with the heat input.Meanwhile,heavy load hardness tests showed that highly severe inhomogeneous plastic deformation and the microcrack would be generated in the interfacial region and the welding interface respectively in the highest heat input sample(1.03 kJ/mm).These results indicate that the increase in heat input would deteriorate the bonding performance of DMW joints.Further microstructural observations showed that the higher hardening degree of the highest heat input sample was mainly attributed to the stronger grain boundary,solution,and dislocation strengthening effects.

Friction welding influence on microstructure,microhardness and hardness behavior of CrNiMo steel(AISI 316)

For joining high Cr,Ni and Mo austenitic stainless steel(AISI 316)by direct drive friction welding(DDFW),with friction weld-ing conditions:rotation speed of 3000 r/min,friction time of 10 s,friction pressure of 130 MPa,forge time of 5 s and forge pressure of 260 MPa.The results of microstructure showed that the temperature at the interface reached 819℃while forge applied between 357-237℃,which subdivided welded joint into four distinct regions of highly plastically deformed zone(HPDZ),thermo-mechanically affected zone(TMAZ),heat affected zone(HAZ)and the base metal,with grain size about 10µm,100µm,90µm and 30µm respectively.These re-gions were created due to dynamic recrystallization(DRX)at the interface and thermo-mechanical deformation with heat diffusion in the neighboring regions.Whereas,high level of microhardness about 300 HV0.1 and hardness roughly 240 Hv10 at the interface due to HPDZ creation while low level of 240 HV0.1 for microhardness and moderately of 205 HV10 for hardness in neighboring regions.

Influence of quenching medium on the dendrite morphology,hardness,and tribological behaviour of cast Cu-Ni-Sn spinodal alloy for defence application

Cu-Ni-Sn spinodal alloys(Spinodal bronze)are potential materials with robust applications in components associated with defence applications like bearings,propellers,bushes,and shafts of heavily loaded aircraft,off-road vehicles,and warships.This paper presents a comparative study using water,Brine solution,and SAE 40 oil as the quenching media in regular bronze(Cu-6Sn)and spinodal bronze(Cu-9Ni-6Sn)alloys.Morphological analysis was conducted by optical microscopy,transmission electron microscopy(TEM),and X-ray diffraction technique(XRD)on bronze and spinodal bronze samples immersed in the three different quenching media to understand the grain size and hardness values better.Tribological analysis was performed to analyze the effect of quenching media on the wear aspects of bronze and spinodal bronze samples.The hardness value of the brine-aged spinodal bronze samples was as high as 320 Hv,and the grain size was very low in the range of 60μm.A quantitative comparison between brine-aged regular bronze and brine-aged spinodal bronze showed that the hardness(Hv)was almost 80%higher for brine-aged spinodal bronze.Further,the grain size was approximately 30%finer for spinodal bronze when compared with regular bronze.When the load was increased in spinodal bronze samples,there was an initial dip in wear rate followed by a marginal increase.There was a steady increase in friction coefficient with a rise in load for brine-aged regular bronze and spinodal bronze samples.These results indicate that brine solution is the most effective quenching medium for cast Cu-Ni-Sn spinodal alloys.

Dietary protein levels changed the hardness of muscle by acting on muscle fiber growth and the metabolism of collagen in sub-adult grass carp(Ctenopharyngodon idella)

Background:Nutrient regulation has been proven to be an effective way to improve the flesh quality in fish.As a necessary nutrient for fish growth,protein accounts for the highest proportion in the fish diet and is expensive.Although our team found that the effect of protein on the muscle hardness of grass carp was probably related to an increased collagen content,the mechanism for this effect has not been deeply explored.Moreover,few studies have explored the protein requirements of sub-adult grass crap(Ctenopharyngodon idella).Therefore,the effects of different dietary protein levels on the growth performance,nutritional value,muscle hardness,muscle fiber growth,collagen metabolism and related molecule expression in grass carp were investigated.Methods:A total of 450 healthy grass carp(721.16±1.98 g)were selected and assigned randomly to six experimen-tal groups with three replicates each(n=25/replicate),and were fed six diets with 15.91%,19.39%,22.10%,25.59%,28.53%and 31.42%protein for 60 d.Results:Appropriate levels of dietary protein increased the feed intake,percentage weight gain,specific growth rate,body composition,unsaturated fatty acid content in muscle,partial free amino acid content in muscle,and muscle hardness of grass carp.These protein levels also increased the muscle fiber density,the frequency of new muscle fibers,the contents of collagen and IGF-1,and the enzyme activities of prolyl 4-hydroxylases and lysyloxidase,and decreased the activity of matrix metalloproteinase-2.At the molecular level,the optimal dietary protein increased col-lagen type Iα1(Colα1),Colα2,PI3K,Akt,S6K1,La ribonucleoprotein domain family member 6a(LARP6a),TGF-β1,Smad2,Smad4,Smad3,tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2,MyoD,Myf5,MyoG and MyHC relative mRNA levels.The levels of the myostatin-1 and myostatin-2 genes were downregulated,and the protein expression levels of p-Smad2,Smad2,Smad4,p-Akt,Akt,LARP6 and Smad3 were increased.Conclusions:The appropriate levels of dietary protein promoted the growth of sub-adult grass carp and improved muscle hardness by promoting the growth of muscle fibers,improving collagen synthesis and depressing collagen degradation.In addition,the dietary protein requirements of sub-adult grass carp were 26.21%and 24.85%according to the quadratic regression analysis of growth performance(SGR)and the muscle hardness(collagen content),respectively.

Relationship between Hardness and Deformation during Cold Rolling Process of Complex Profles

The hardening on surface of complex profles such as thread and spline manufactured by cold rolling can efectively improve the mechanical properties and surface quality of rolled parts. The distribution of hardness in superfcial layer is closely related to the deformation by rolling. To establish the suitable correlation model for describing the relationship between strain and hardness during cold rolling forming process of complex profles is helpful to the optimization of rolling parameters and improvement of rolling process. In this study, a physical analog experiment refecting the uneven deformation during complex-profle rolling process has been extracted and designed, and then the large date set (more than 400 data points) of training samples refecting the local deformation characteristics of complexprofle rolling have been obtained. Several types of polynomials and power functions were adopted in regression analysis, and the regression correlation models of 45# steel were evaluated by the single-pass and multi-pass physical analog experiments and the complex-profle rolling experiment. The results indicated that the predicting accuracy of polynomial regression model is better in the strain range (i.e., ε < 1.2) of training samples, and the correlation relationship between strain and hardness out strain range (i.e., ε > 1.2) of training samples can be well described by power regression model;so the correlation relationship between strain and hardness during complex-profle rolling process of 45# steel can be characterized by a segmented function such as third-order polynomial in the range ε < 1.2 and power function with a ftting constant in the range ε > 1.2;and the predicting error of the regression model by segmented function is less than 10%.

Effect of Dynamic Strain Aging on Hardness in the Heat-Affected Zone of SUS316 Steel Welds

DSA(dynamic strain aging)phenomenon in SUS316 steel was investigated using isothermal and non-isothermal tensile tests of simulated HAZ(heat-affected zone)thermal cycles.Isothermal tensile tests were performed on SUS316 in the peak temperature range of 20-700°C,with strain rates varying from 4.2×10^(-3)to 4.2×10^(-5)s^(-1).Based on the appearance of discontinuous plastic flows,expressed as serrations,and the hardening phenomenon of the tensile samples,the conditions for the occurrence of DSA in the SUS316 steel were investigated.Furthermore,the extent of hardening due to DSA was evaluated by comparing the hardness values of the SUS316 and SUS316EHP steels after the tensile tests.To confirm the effect of DSA on hardness in the HAZ of the welded SUS316 steel,non-isothermal tensile tests of the simulated HAZ thermal cycles were performed using a Thermec Master.The relationship between the increase in Vickers hardness due to DSA and the strain in the HAZ was determined;the effect of DSA on hardness in the HAZ could be predicted.The DSA in SUS316 steel was found to be mainly attributed to the dynamic interaction of dislocations with C and N interstitial atoms during high-temperature deformation.

Effects of cubic carbides and La additions on WC grain morphology,hardness and toughness of WC-Co alloys

Effects of Cr3C2,VC and La2O3 additions on the WC grain morphology,hardness and toughness of WC-10Co alloys were investigated.To intensify the grain growth driving force,nano W and nano C,instead of the conventionally used WC,were used as the starting materials.To obtain a three-dimensional WC grain morphology,the natural sinter skins of the alloys were observed directly by scanning electron microscopy.It is shown that the additions have a strong ability in regulating the WC grain morphological and grain size distribution characteristics and the combinations of hardness and toughness.Due to the formation of regular and homogeneous triangular platelet WC grains,WC-10Co-0.6Cr3C2-0.06La2O3 alloy shows an excellent combination of hardness and toughness.The morphological regulation mechanism,the relationship between the WC grain morphology and the properties were discussed.

Effect of welding heat input and post-welded heat treatment on hardness of stir zone for friction stir-welded 2024-T3 aluminum alloy

The microstructure and hardness of the stir zone （SZ） with different welding heat inputs were investigated for friction stir-welded 2024-T3 aluminum by transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimeter and Vickers micro-hardness test. The results show that welding heat input has a significant effect on the hardness of the SZ. Under high welding heat input condition, a higher welding speed is beneficial for improving the hardness of the SZ. However, when the welding heat input is low, the hardness of the SZ elevates with increasing the rotation speed. The hardness of the SZ decreases after post-welded heat treatment due to overaging. The joints welded at 500 r/min and 100 mm/min show a high resistance to overaging. The reduction of hardness in the SZ is only 3.8%, while in other joints, the reduction is more than 10%. The morphology of strengthening precipitates plays important roles for the improvement of hardness.

HARDNESS PROPERTY AND WEAR RESISTANCE OF Al_2O_(3P)/ Zn-Al COMPOSITE

The hardness values and the wear resistance of Al2O3P/ Zn-Al composite, prepared by means of rheological casting technology,are investigated separately in this work. The results show that the addition of Al2O3P increases the hardness values of the matrix at both room and high temperature and improves the wear resistance of the material.The hardness values and the wear resistance of the composite rise with the increase of the particle volume fraction or the decrease of the particle size.The raising of test temperature results in a rapid descending of its hardness values.However, the addition of Al2O3P improves the property of high temperature resistance of Zn-Al alloys significantly.Moreover,the effect of quenching, tempering or cycling heat treatment on the hardness values of the composite is also studied.

Influence of Floating Body Effect on Radiation Hardness of PD SOI nMOSFETs

H-gate and closed-gate PD SOI nMOSFETs are fabricated on SIMOX substrate,and the influence of floating body effect on the radiation hardness is studied.All the subthreshold characteristics of the devices do not change much after radiation of the total dose of 106rad(Si).The back gate threshold voltage shift of closed-gate is about 33% less than that of H-gate device.The reason should be that the body potential of the closed-gate device is raised due to impact ionization,and an electric field is produced across the BOX.The floating body effect can improve the radiation hardness of the back gate transistor.

On the Indeterminacy in Hardness of Shape Memory Alloys

The present communication addresses an interesting problem related to the indeterminacy in hardness of superelastic NiTi reported by Xu et al. The origin of the indeterminacy is attributed to the inadequacy of the conventional Vickers hardness testing measurement which does not record elastic deformation, and thus the indeterminacy may be removed with suitable techniques. Concepts of hardness in relation to deformation are clarified. Recommendations for measuring the hardness of NiTi and other elastic-plastic materials are suggested, together with comments on the advantages and disadvantages of each of these methods.

Conversion between Vickers hardness and nanohardness by correcting projected area with sink-in and pile-up effects

The Vickers hardness test has been widely used for neutron-irradiated materials and nanoindentation for ion-irradiated materials.Comparing the Vickers hardness and nanohardness of the same materials quantitatively and establishing a correlation between them is meaningful.In this study,five representative materials—pure titanium(Ti),nickel(Ni),tungsten(W),304 coarse-grained stainless steel(CG-SS)and 304 nanocrystalline austenitic stainless steel(NG-SS)—are investigated for comparison.The results show that the relationship between Vickers hardness and nanohardness does not conform to a mathematical geometric relationship because of sink-in and pile-up effects confirmed by finite element analysis(FEA)and the results of optical microscopy.Finally,one new method was developed by excluding the effects of sink-in and pile-up in materials.With this improved correction in the projected area of the Vickers hardness and nanohardness,the two kinds of hardness become identical.

Effect of indentation size and grain/sub-grain size on microhardness of high purity tungsten

Hardness of materials depends significantly on the indentation size and grain/sub-grain size via microindentation and nanoindentation tests of high-purity tungsten with different structures.The grain boundary effect and indentation size effect were explored.The indentation hardness was fitted using the Nix-Gao model by considering the scaling factor.The results show that the scaling factor is barely correlated with the grain/sub-grain size.The interaction between the plastically deformed zone（PDZ） boundary and the grain/sub-grain boundary is believed to be the reason that leads to an increase of the measured hardness at the specific depths.Results also indicate that the area of the PDZ is barely correlated with the grain/sub-grain size,and the indentation hardness starts to stabilize once the PDZ expands to the dimension of an individual grain/sub-grain.

Effects of water hardness on selective flocculation of diasporic bauxite

The effect of electrolyte on settling behavior of kaolinite was studied. Effects of hard water on selective flocculation of diasporic bauxite was tested and the measures were taken to eliminate the effects of Ca2＋ and Mg2＋ in hard water. The results indicated that, not only the concentration of electrolyte ions but also the ionic valence of the electrolyte ions affects the settling behavior of kaolinite; hard water significantly affects its selective flocculation owing to Ca2＋ and Mg2＋; general dispersants could not eliminate the effects of Ca2＋ and Mg2＋. Self-made softening agent in our lab could weaken or eliminate the effects of hard water on flocculation processes. The results of molecular dynamics simulation show that softening agent molecules could restrict Ca2＋ and prevent them from playing their roles, so as to eliminate the effects. The continuous pilot experiment results of bauxite flocculation were even better than those obtained in laboratory.

Effects of high pressure on the microstructure and hardness of a Cu-Zn alloy

The microstructure of a Cu-Zn alloy treated under different high pressures was investigated by means of metallographic, scanning electron microscope （SEM）, energy dispersive spectrometer （EDS）, and X-ray diffraction （XRD）, and the hardness of the Cu-Zn alloy was also measured. The results show that the ct phase with a smaller grain size, different shapes, and random distribution appears in the Cu-Zn alloy during the solid-state phase transformation generation in the temperature range of 25-750℃ and the pressure range of 0-6 GPa. The amount of residual α phase in the microstructure decreases and then increases with increasing pressure. Under a high pressure of 3 GPa, the least volume fraction of residual a phase was obtained, and under a high pressure of 6 GPa, the changes of the microstructure of the Cu-Zn alloy were not obvious. In addition, high pressure can increase the hardness of the Cu-Zn alloy, but it cannot generate any new phase.

Influence of Cu addition on microstructure and hardness of near-eutectic Al-Si-xCu-alloys

The influence of Cu content on the microstructure and hardness of near-eutectic Al-Si-xCu（x = 2%,3%,4% and 5%） was investigated.After melting Al-based alloys with different Cu contents,alloys were cast in green sand molds at 690 °C and solidified.The solution treatment was performed at 500 °C for 7 h and then the specimens were cooled by water quenching.The samples were respectively aged at 190 °C for 5,10 and 15 h to observe the effect of aging time on the hardness of matrix.Also differential thermal analysis was used to obtain the transition temperature of the equilibrium phases at cooling rate of 30 K/min and to determine the effect of Cu content on the formation of quaternary eutectic phases and the melting point of-（Al） ＋ Si.The results show that as Cu content in the alloy increases,the hardness of matrix increases due to precipitation hardening,the melting point of -（Al） ＋ Si decreases and the amount of these eutectic phases increases,quaternary eutectic phase with melting point of 507 -C forms when Cu content is more than 2%.

Heat Treatment Effect on Microstructure, Hardness and Wear Resistance of Cr26 White Cast Iron

High chromium cast iron（HCCI） is taken as material of coal water slurry pump impeller, but it is susceptible to produce serious abrasive wear and erosion wear because of souring of hard coal particles. The research on optimization of heat treatments to improve abrasive wear properties of HCCI is insufficient, so effect of heat treatments on the microstructure, hardness, toughness, and wear resistance of Cr26 HCCI is investigated to determine the optimal heat treatment process for HCCI. A series of heat treatments are employed. The microstructures of HCCI specimens are examined by using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The hardness and impact fracture toughness of as-cast and heat treated specimens are measured. The wear tests are assessed by a Type M200 ring-on block wear tester. The results show the following： With increase of the quenching temperature from 950 ℃ to 1050 ℃, the hardness of Cr26 HCCI increased to a certain value, kept for a time and then decreased. The optimal heat treatment process is 2 h quenching treatment at 1000 ℃, followed by a subsequent 2 h tempering at 400 ℃. The hardness of HCCI is related to the precipitation and redissolution of secondary carbides in the process of heat treatment. The subsequent tempering treatment would result in a slight decrease of hardness but increase of toughness. The wear resistance is much related to the ＂supporting＂ effect of the matrix and the ＂protective＂ effect of the hard carbide embedded in the matrix, and the wear resistance is further dependent on the hardness and the toughness of the matrix. This research can provide an important insight on developing an optimized heat treatment method to improve the wear resistance of HCCI.

Microstructure, hardness evolution and thermal stability of binary Al-7Mg alloy processed by ECAP with intermediate annealing

A binary Al-7Mg alloy was processed by equal channel angular pressing （ECAP） at room temperature via route Bc, combined with intermediate annealing. After 6 passes, a high hardness of HV218 is achieved. Transmission electron microscopy （TEM） observations demonstrate that ECAP leads to a significant grain refinement and ultrafine grains down to 100-200 nm are developed after 5 or 6 passes. X-ray diffraction （XRD） analysis indicates that the major part of Mg atoms are in solid solution in the deformed material, and the possible strengthening effect of Mg solute atom clusters or precipitates is neglected. The high hardness of the 6 pass-treated materials comes mainly from grain boundary strengthening, which contributes about 41% to the total strength, while dislocations and Mg solid solution contribute about 24% and 35% to the remaining strength, respectively. Also, the thermal stability of this severely deformed material was investigated by hardness measurements. The material is relatively stable when annealed at a temperature lower than 250 ℃, while annealing at 300 ℃ leads to a rapid softening of the material.

An optimized hardness model for carburizing-quenching of low carbon alloy steel

Research has been conducted about the hardness prediction for the carburizing and quenching process based on an optimized hardness simulation model,in accordance with the calculation rule of mixed phases.The coupling field model incorporates carburizing field analysis,temperature field analysis,phase transformation kinetics analysis and a modified hardness calculation model.In determination of the calculation model for hardness,calculation equations are given to be applied to low carbon content(x(C)<0.5%) for the child phases and the martensite hardness is calculated for high carbon content(x(C)>0.5%) in alloy.Then,the complete carburizing-quenching hardness calculation model is built,and the hardness simulation data are corrected considering the influence of residual austenite(RA) on hardness.Hardness simulations of the carburizing and quenching process of 17CrNiMo6 samples have been performed using DEFORM-HT_V10.2 and MATLAB R2013 a.Finally,a series of comparisons of simulation results and measured values show a good agreement between them,which validates the accuracy of the proposed mathematical model.