Microstructure and mechanical properties of GTA weldments of titanium matrix composites prepared with or without current pulsing

The effects of current pulsing on the microstructure, hardness and tensile properties at different temperatures of gas tungsten arc （GTA） weldments of titanium matrix composites were studied. Full-penetration butt joints were made with or without current pulsing. Optical microscopy, hardness test and scanning electron microscopy were employed to evaluate the metallurgical characteristics of welded joints. Tensile properties of weldments at different temperatures were studied and correlated with the microstructure. The results exhibit that current pulsing leads to the refinement of the weld microstrucmre and TiB whisker and the redistribution of reinforcements resulting in higher hardness, tensile strength and ductility of weldments in the as-welded condition.

Microstructure and properties of nanocrystalline nickel coatings prepared by pulse jet electrodeposition

The fabrication of nanocrystalline nickel coatings was conducted by pulse jet electrodeposition on the substrate of 45# carbon steel.The effects of average current density on the surface morphology,microstructure,average grain size and microhardness of nickel coatings were investigated by scanning electron microscopy(SEM),X-ray diffractometry(XRD)and microhardness measurement.In addition,the corrosion resistances of coating and substrate were compared.It is revealed that the nickel coatings prepared by pulse jet electrodeposition exhibit a fine-grained structure with a smooth surface and a high density,although some pores and defects are still present in coatings.With the increase of average current density,the average grain size of nickel coatings is reduced at first and then increased.The coating with the optimum compactness,the smallest average grain size(13.7 nm)and the highest microhardness are obtained at current density of 39.8 A/dm2.The corrosion resistance is obviously increased for the coatings prepared by pulse jet electrodeposition;however,the corrosion rate is increased after a certain period due to the penetration of the corrosive media.

Influence of SiO_2 nano-particles on microstructures and properties of Ni-W-P/CeO_2-SiO_2 composites prepared by pulse electrodeposition

Ni-W-P base composites containing CeO2 and SiO2 nano-particles were prepared on common carbon steel surface by pulse co-deposition of Ni,W,P,CeO2 and SiO2 nano-particles.The influence of SiO2 concentrations in bath on microstructures and properties of Ni-W-P/CeO2-SiO2 composites was studied,and the characteristics were assessed by chemical compositions,element distribution,surface morphologies,deposition rate and microhardness.The results indicate that when SiO2 concentration in bath is controlled at 20 g/L,the composites possess the fastest deposition rate,the highest microhardness,compact microstructures,smaller crystallite sizes and uniform distribution of W,P,Ce and Si within Ni-W-P matrix metal.Increasing SiO2 concentration in bath from 10 to 20 g/L leads to the refinement in grain size and the inhomogeneity of microstructures.While when SiO2 concentration is increased to 30 g/L,the crystallite sizes increase again and some bosses with nodulation shape appear on the surface of composites.

Microstructure and property modifications in surface layers of a Mg-4Sm-2Al-0.5Mn alloy induced by pulsed electron beam treatments

In this work,surface modification of a Mg-4Sm-2Al-0.5Mn alloy with high current pulse electron beam(HCPEB)under different number of pulses were investigated.The evolution in microstructure,composition and phase components and properties in the surface layer before and after HCPEB treatment were characterized.It was found that the Al 11 Sm 3 and Al 2 Sm phases in the surface layer were gradually dissolved during HCPEB treatment,leading to the formation of a chemical homogeneous melted layers.Besides,deformation bands were formed in the treated layer due to the thermal stress generated during treatment.After 15 pulses treatment,the surface hardness increases to the maximum value of about 62.2 HV,about 61.2%higher than that of the untreated state.Electrochemical results show that the 15 pulses treated sample presents the best corrosion resistance in the 3.5wt%NaCl water solution by showing the highest corrosion potential(E_(corr))of-1.339V SEC and the lowest corrosion current density(I_(corr))of 1.48×10^(-6)A·cm^(-2).The results prove that the surface properties of the Mg-4Sm-2Al-0.5Mn alloy can be significantly improved by the HCPEB treatments under proper conditions.

Effect of harmonic magnetic field and pulse magnetic field on microstructure of high purity Cu during electromagnetic direct chill casting

The effects of two types of magnetic fields,namely harmonic magnetic field(HMF)and pulse magnetic field(PMF)on magnetic flux density,Lorentz force,temperature field,and microstructure of high purity Cu were studied by numerical simulation and experiment during electromagnetic direct chill casting.The magnetic field is induced by a magnetic generation system including an electromagnetic control system and a cylindrical crystallizer of 300 mm in diameter equipped with excitation coils.A comprehensive mathematical model for high purity Cu electromagnetic casting was established in finite element method.The distributions of magnetic flux density and Lorentz force generated by the two magnetic fields were acquired by simulation and experimental measurement.The microstructure of billets produced by HMF and PMF casting was compared.Results show that the magnetic flux density and penetrability of PMF are significantly higher than those of HMF,due to its faster variation in transient current and higher peak value of magnetic flux density.In addition,PMF drives a stronger Lorentz force and deeper penetration depth than HMF does,because HMF creates higher eddy current and reverse electromagnetic field which weakens the original electromagnetic field.The microstructure of a billet by HMF is composed of columnar structure regions and central fine grain regions.By contrast,the billet by PMF has a uniform microstructure which is characterized by ultra-refined and uniform grains because PMF drives a strong dual convection,which increases the uniformity of the temperature field,enhances the impact of the liquid flow on the edge of the liquid pool and reduces the curvature radius of liquid pool.Eventually,PMF shows a good prospect for industrialization.

Microstructure and wear resistance of electro-thermal explosion sprayed stellite coating used for remanufacturing

Electro-thermal explosion directional spraying was used to prepare the stellite coating on substrate of the AISI 1045 steel. The morphologies of cross-section and worn scar, porosity, distribution of elements, micro- hardness and wear resistance of the coating were determined by means of SEM, EDAX, micro-hardness tester and sliding wear tester. Because of the compact construction, good bonding and high hardness, the coating is characterized by good wear resistance. The results show that the mainly failure mode of the stellite coating is micro- plowing.

Microstructure and Deposition Mechanism of C/SiCN Composites Prepared by Rapid Electro-thermal Pyrolysis CVD

Carbon fiber-reinforced silicon carbonitride ceramic matrix composites （C/SiCN） were prepared by rapid electro-thermal pyrolysis CVD using liquid polymer hexamethyldisilazane （HMDS, （CH3）3SiNHSi（CH3）3） as precursor. Microstructure morphology and production technique of C/SiCN composites were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were respectively employed to characterize microstructures of the as-received C/SiCN composites samples. The high temperature pyrolysis of HMDS results in destruction of molecular chain, fracture of bonds, as well as liquid-gas-solid conversion from polymer to ceramic. Microstructures observation indicates that there is a high degree of coalescence between SiCN matrix and C fiber. The deposition model of liquid precursor electro-thermal pyrolysis CVD is different from that of gas precursor isothermal chemical vapor infiltration. Rapid liquid flow and slow gas diffusion are key factors for the difference of two methods. Preparation of rapid electro-thermal pyrolysis CVD consists of four steps including liquid polymer infiltration, polymer pyrolysis, rapid deposition of pyrolyzed substances and rapid densification, respectively.

Microstructure of electromagnetic stirred semi-solid AZ91D alloy

The microstructures of semi-solid AZ91D alloy stirred by rotationally electromagnetic field were studied. The shape of primary α-Mg phase is dendrite under conventional solidification condition and the primary α-Mg grains are changed to the fine rosette-like or granular grains under electromagnetic stirring condition. If the electromagnetic stirring frequencies are low, there are a large amount of fine rosette-like primary α-Mg grains and the fine rosette-like primary α-Mg grain in two dimensions belongs to a single grain in three dimensions; there are also many spherical primary α-Mg grains, they may belong to a single grain in three dimensions and the orientation differences of the grains between them are very small. If the electromagnetic stirring frequencies are high, a lot of the fine rosette-like primary α-Mg grains disappear and are converted into granular grains, and moreover, most of these granular grains belong to different grains in three dimensions.

Study on Microstructures and Properties of Electro Brush-plating Composite Coatings

In this paper, composite coatings were prepared using improved electro brush-plating, and the possibility and feasibility of obtaining of composite coatings with various hard dispersion paticles (C^Os. SiC, ZrO, A^Ojetc.) were studied.The microstructure, constitution, microhardness and wear resistance were examined. The results show that.electro brush-plating composite coatings have finner microstructures and higher microhardness and wear-resistance than ordinary electro brush-plating coatings.The research results can be used in repairing and surface strengthening of worn machine parts,and have practical uses.

Electro-pulse modification and reheating process for production of thixotropic microstructure in AlSi_7Mg alloy

Electro-pulse modification(EPM) was used to change the dendritic structure of AlSi7Mg alloy to globular one.The effects of the modified temperature,electro-pulse frequency and time on the solidified structure were examined.The results show that these parameters play an important role in the solidified microstructures.That is to say,under the same modified temperature,the solidified microstructure will be improved greatly with the increase of electro-pulse frequency and time,but when they exceed to limit values,the solidified microstructure will become worse,resulting from the decrease of the ratio of nucleation.The experimental results indicate that the suitable modified temperature of AlSi7Mg alloy is 720 °C,and the appropriate electro-pulse frequency and time are 5 Hz and 40 s,respectively.Then the microstructures produced by suitable EPM process were reheated at temperatures between liquidus and solidus,the primary-Al grains ripen further and become more spherical,which is favorable to the semi-solid forming of AlSi7Mg alloy.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of pulsed laser welded Al/steel dissimilar joint

Pulsed laser welding was used in joining pure aluminum to stainless steel in a lap joint configuration. It is found that the mechanical properties of the laser joints were closely correlated with the bead geometry, i.e., penetration depth. In order to study the correlation, two typical laser welds with different penetration depths were analyzed. In high penetration depth (354 μm) joint, Al-rich Fe?Al IMCs with microcracks were formed at the Al/fusion zone (FZ) interface. The joint strength was found to be (27.2±1.7) N/mm and three failure modes were observed near the Al/FZ interface. In low penetration depth (108 μm) joint, Fe-rich Fe?Al IMCs without any defect were formed at the Al/FZ interface. The joint strength was found to be (46.2±1.9) N/mm and one failure mode was observed across the FZ.

Effects of rare earth on microstructures and properties of Ni-W-P-CeO_2-SiO_2 nano-composite coatings

Ni-W-P-CeO2-SiO2 nano-composite coatings were prepared on common carbon steel surface by pulse electrodeposition of nickel, tungsten, phosphorus, rare earth （nano-CeO2） and silicon carbide （nano-SiO2） particles. The effects of nano-CeO2 concentrations in electrolyte on microstructures and properties of nano-composite coatings were studied. The samples were characterized with chemical compositions, elements distributions, microhardness and microstructures. The results indicated that when nano-CeO2 concentration was controlled at 10 g/L, the nano-composite coatings possessed higher microhardness and compact microstmctures with clear outline of spherical matrix metal crystallites, fine crystallite sizes and uniform distribution of elements W, P, Ce and Si within the Ni-W-P matrix metal. Increasing the nano-CeO2 particles concentrations from 4 to 10 g/L led to refinement in grain structure and improvement of microstructures, while when increased to 14 g/L, the crystallite sizes began to increase again and there were a lot of small boss with nodulation shape appearing on the nano-composite coatings surface.

Microstructure refinement of AZ31 alloy solidified with pulsed magnetic field

The effects of a pulsed magnetic field on the solidified microstructure of an AZ31 magnesium alloy were investigated.The experimental results show that the remarkable microstructural refinement is achieved when the pulsed magnetic field is applied to the solidification of the AZ31 alloy.The average grain size of the as-cast microstructure of the AZ31 alloy is refined to 107 μm.By quenching the AZ31 alloy, the different primary α-Mg microstructures are preserved during the course of solidification.The microstructure evolution reveals that the primary α-Mg generates and grows in globular shape with pulsed magnetic field, contrast with the dendritic shape without pulsed magnetic field.The pulsed magnetic field causes melt convection during solidification, which makes the temperature of the whole melt homogenized, and produces an undercooling zone in front of the liquid/solid interface, which makes the nucleation rate increased and big dendrites prohibited.In addition, the Joule heat effect induced in the melt also strengthens the grain refinement effect and spheroidization of dendrite arms.

Effects of electric pulse on microstructure of Al-Si alloy in liquid and solid states

In order to investigate the change in liquid microstructure of Al-Si alloytreated by electric pulse (EP), X-ray diffraction tests with liquid Al-Si alloy and ZL109 alloytreated or not by EP were carried out. The results show that the number of Al-Si atomic clustersdecreases and that of Al-Al and Si-Si atomic clusters increases for the treated samples. The testswith ZL109 alloy indicate that a large amount of primary crystal Si appears in the solidifiedmicrostructure after treated by EP. It is found that EP can change the microstructure of liquidmetal by affecting the probability of electrons appearing in different atoms (Al and Si) in theliquid metal. The combining force of different atoms decreases relatively, and that of the sameatoms increases, which is the main reason of reducing the atomic cluster with different atoms(Al-Si) and increasing the atomic cluster with the same atoms (Al-Al, Si-Si). The increasing of theatomic cluster with the same atom cluster resulted in the increasing of Si activity and the higherpoint of eutectics in the phase diagram. It makes a lot of primary silicon appeared in ZL109 alloy.

Microstructure and Temperature Distribution in ZnAl_2O_4 Sintered Body by Pulse Electric Current

Microstructure of reaction sintering of ZnAl2O4 at 1500℃ by hot-pressing(HP) and pulse electric current was investigated. The results indicated that the existed cracks in sintered body were caused by structure mismatch. It is the evidence that periodical temperature field existed during pulse electric current sintering of nonconductive materials. The distance between high temperature areas was related to die diameter.

Effect of microstructure on short pulse duration shock initiation of TATB and initial response mechanism

Micro-TATB particles with different sizes and 3D nanoporous TATB architectures with different specific surface areas were prepared through recrystallization to study short pulse duration shock initiation properties by electric gun technology.For micro-TATB,the initiation threshold significantly decreases with TATB average size ranging from 79.7μm to 0.5μm.For 3D nanoporous TATB architecture,the initiation threshold decreases and then increases with specific surface areas increased from 9.6 m^2/g to36.2 m^2/g.The lowest initiation thresholds are obtained for the micro-TATB with average sizes of 1.3μm and 0.5μm,and 3D nanoporous TATB architecture with specific surface area of 22.4 m^2/g.The shock initiation thresholds of micro-TATB and 3D nanoporous TATB architectures show significantly decreases with the porosity increased.The decomposition reaction and thermal conductivity properties were further investigated to understand the initial response mechanism.High porosity provides more collapse sites to generate high temperature for formation of hot spots.The low thermal conductivity and decomposition temperature could enhance the formation and ignition of the hot spots,and initial decomposition reaction of TATB.The effect of the decomposition temperature is higher than that of the thermal conductivity on the shock initiation properties.The enhanced decomposition reaction could pro mote energy release and transfer process from the ignition to the combustio n.This work offe rs a new insight to understand the effects of microstructure on the shock initiation properties and the initial response mechanism of TATB.

Higher-order effects on self-similar parabolic pulse in the microstructured fibre amplifier

By considering higher-order effects, the properties of self-similar parabolic pulses propagating in the microstructured fibre amplifier with a normal group-velocity dispersion have been investigated. The numerical results indicate that the higher-order effects can badly distort self-similar parabolic pulse shape and optical spectrum, and at the same time the peak shift and oscillation appear, while the pulse still reveals highly linear chirp but grows into asymmetry. The influence of different higher-order effects on self-similar parabolic pulse propagation has been analysed. It shows that the self-steepening plays a more important role. We can manipulate the geometrical parameters of the microstructured fibre amplifier to gain a suitable dispersion and nonlinearity coefficient which will keep high-quality self-similar parabolic pulse propagation. These results are significant for the further study of self-similar parabolic pulse propagation.

Effect of Pulse Frequency on Microstructure of 21% Cr Ferritic Stainless Steel in Pulsed Gas Tungsten Arc Welding

Thin plates of 21% Cr ferritic stainless steel welded by pulsed gas tungsten arc welding at different pulse frequencies were investigated for the microstructure characteristics and hardness behavior.The welds contained columnar grains in the outer part and fine equiaxed grains in the central region due to the pulsed process.

Influence of SiO_2 Particles on Microstructures and Properties of Ni-W-P-CeO_2-SiO_2 Nano-Composite Coatings

Ni-W-P-CeO2-SiO2 nano-composite coatings were prepared on the carbon steel surface by pulse co-deposition of nickel, tungsten, phosphorus, nano-CeO2 and nano-SiO2 particles. The influence of nano-SiO2 particles concentrations in electrolyte on microstructures and properties of the nano-composite coatings were researched, and the characteristics were assessed by chemical compositions, element distribution, deposition rate, microhardness and microstructures. The results indicate that when nano-SiO2 particles concentrations in electrolyte are controlled at 20 g·L-1, the deposition rate with 27.07 μm·h-1 and the microhardness with 666 Hv of the nano-composite coatings are highest, element line scanning and area scanning analyses show that the average contents of elements W, P, Si and Ce in the nano-composite coatings are close, displaying that the distribution of every element within the nano-composite coatings is even. An increase in nano-SiO2 particles concentrations in electrolyte (when lower than 20 g·L-1) leads to refinement in grain structure of nano-composite coatings, but when it improved to 30 g·L-1, the crystallite sizes increase again and in the meantime there are a lot of small boss with nodulation shape appearing on the surface of nano-composite coatings.

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Submicron-grained NiAl-Al_2O_3 Composite Prepared by Pulse Current Auxiliary Sintering

Dense and submicron-grained NiAl-Al2O3 composite was fabricated by pulse current auxiliary sintering（PCAS）.Its microstructure was analyzed by XRD,SEM and TEM,and its mechanical behavior was evaluated through compression test and fracture toughness test.The average grain sizes of NiAl and Al2O3 are about 200 nm and 100 nm respectively.The Al2O3 particles dispersed in NiAl matrix,forming intergranular structure and intragranular structure.During sintering,Al2O3 particles were remarkably spherized due to the unique sintering mechanism of PCAS,which is beneficial to the improvement of toughness.The NiAl-Al2O3 composite exhibits high compressive yield strength,whether at room temperature or elevated temperature.Its room-temperature（23 ℃） and elevated-temperature（1 200 ℃） compressive yield strength are up to 2 050 MPa and 140 MPa,respectively.Meanwhile,its fracture toughness is significantly enhanced,which is up to 8.2 MPa？m1/2.It is suggested that the main strengthening-toughening mechanisms are grain refinement strengthening and Al2O3 dispersion strengthening.The fracture of larger NiAl grain is the transgranular cleavage and this is induced by crack tip deflection and grain boundary weakening which are caused by intergranular and intragranular Al2O3 particles,respectively.