Calculation of the Hardness Space Distribution in the As Quenched Condition of a Medium Hardening Tool Steel

The calculation of the hardness profile is a powerful tool for the selection of the right steel for a given purpose. Computer programs INC-PHATRAN and INDUCTER-B were formerly developed by the authors for the calculation of hardness profiles after heat treatment processes of low alloy and carbon steels. The first one simulates quenching as well as through hardening operations, and the second one models electromagnetic induction heat treatments processes. These codes make use of the SAE Standard 3406 in order to obtain the hardness profile, with enhanced regression coefficients recently obtained by the authors. The present work broadens the field of application of this method, allowing to apply it for low hardenability tool steels such as the ASTM O1 Tool Steel. The method used for the calculation of the hardness profile is here summarized, and an example of application is described, which shows good correspondence between the calculated and measured values.

An experimental method to obtain the hard alpha anomaly distribution for titanium alloy aeroengine disks

A probability-based damage tolerance methodology has been proposed to improve the recognition of material anomalies, especially hard alpha(TiN) anomalies for aeroengine rotor disks. A key input to this method is hard alpha anomaly distribution, which reflects the occurrence rate and size of anomalies present in the finished part material of titanium rotors. Since anomalies rarely occur naturally, an experimental method is proposed to obtain the anomaly distribution for titanium alloy aeroengine disks to reflect and equivalently replace the manufacturing development in titanium industry. In general, the anomaly distribution information can be divided into two parts: the Probability of Detection(POD) curve and the detected anomaly distribution, which contains the size and frequency data of the detected anomalies. The distribution can be established based on several appropriate assumptions and derivation steps with different confidence levels of POD curves and detected anomaly distributions. In this case, the distribution can be obtained in a relatively short time as a key input to the probability-based damage tolerance methodology. Then the Probability of Failure(POF) can be calculated, and the value is found to vary with different confidence levels. On this basis, the conservative estimated POF can be obtained in conjunction with confidence levels.

Review of the development of the probabilistic damage tolerance assessment of life-limited parts in compliance with the airworthiness regulations

Probabilistic damage tolerance is a critical method to understand and communicate risk and safety.This paper reviews recent research on the probabilistic damage tolerance design for life-limited parts.The vision of the probabilistic damage tolerance assessment is provided.Five core parts of the probabilistic damage tolerance method are introduced separately,including the anomaly distribution,stress processing and zone definition,fatigue and fracture calculation method,probability of failure(POF)calculation method,and the combination with residual stress induced by the manufacturing process.The above currently-available risk assessment methods provide practical tools for failure risk predictions and are applied by the airworthiness regulations.However,new problems are exposed with the development of the aeroengines.The time-consuming anomaly distribution derivation process restricts the development of the anomaly distribution,especially for the developing aviation industries with little empirical data.Additionally,the strong transient characteristic is prominent because of the significant temperature differences during the take-off and climbing periods.The complex loads then challenge the fatigue and fracture calculation model.Besides,high computational efficiency is required because various variables are considered to calculate the POF.Therefore,new technologies for the probabilistic damage tolerance assessment are provided,including the efficient anomaly distribution acquisition method based on small samples,the zone definition method considering transient process,and stress intensity factor(SIF)solutions under arbitrary stress distributions combined with the machine learning method.Then,an efficient numerical integration method for calculating failure risk based on the probability density evolution theory is proposed.Meanwhile,the influence of the manufacturing process on residual stress and the failure risk of the rotors is explored.The development of the probabilistic damage tolerance method can meet the requirement of the published airworthiness regulation Federal Aviation Regulation(FAR)33.70 and guide the modification or amendment of new regulations to ensure the safety of the high-energy rotors.

Effects of CeO_2 nanoparticles on microstructure and properties of laser cladded NiCoCrAlY coatings

CeO2 nanoparticles(nano-CeO2p) were added into laser cladded NiCoCrAlY coatings on Ni-based superalloy substrate to improve the microstructure and properties.Scanning electron microscope(SEM),X-ray diffractometer(XRD),micro-hardness tester,and heat treatment furnace were employed to investigate their morphologies,phases,micro-hardness and thermal shock resistance,compared with the coating without nanoparticles added.The results showed that the microstructure and properties of the coatings with the addition ...

Equal Channel Angular Pressing of Tubular Samples

A new technique to equal channel angular pressing of tubular samples has been proposed and investigated through experiments and simulations. Deformation behavior of copper tube sample was numerically analyzed during the first pass of tubular ECAP process. The investigation included the efect of various tube wall thicknesses on the efective strain magnitude and strain distribution uniformity. It is shown that tube wall thickness of 3.5 mm gives the optimum value for strain behavior. In addition, copper tube specimens with 3.5 mm wall thickness have been successfully ECAPed up to four passes with the die channel angle of 90 using flexible polyurethane rubber pad. Micro-hardness measurements on both annealed and ECAPed tubes show that 33% and 57% increases in hardness value and also, 50% and 70% reductions in the grain size were achieved after the first and fourth passes respectively. Furthermore, tube wall thickness measurements show that the process does not change the dimension of deformed specimens.