Interplay of laser power and pore characteristics in selective laser melting of ZK60 magnesium alloys:A study based on in-situ monitoring and image analysis

This study offers significant insights into the multi-physics phenomena of the SLM process and the subsequent porosity characteristics of ZK60 Magnesium(Mg)alloys.High-speed in-situ monitoring was employed to visualise process signals in real-time,elucidating the dynamics of melt pools and vapour plumes under varying laser power conditions specifically between 40 W and 60 W.Detailed morphological analysis was performed using Scanning-Electron Microscopy(SEM),demonstrating a critical correlation between laser power and pore formation.Lower laser power led to increased pore coverage,whereas a denser structure was observed at higher laser power.This laser power influence on porosity was further confirmed via Optical Microscopy(OM)conducted on both top and cross-sectional surfaces of the samples.An increase in laser power resulted in a decrease in pore coverage and pore size,potentially leading to a denser printed part of Mg alloy.X-ray Computed Tomography(XCT)augmented these findings by providing a 3D volumetric representation of the sample internal structure,revealing an inverse relationship between laser power and overall pore volume.Lower laser power appeared to favour the formation of interconnected pores,while a reduction in interconnected pores and an increase in isolated pores were observed at higher power.The interplay between melt pool size,vapour plume effects,and laser power was found to significantly influence the resulting porosity,indicating a need for effective management of these factors to optimise the SLM process of Mg alloys.

Investigations on the tensile deformation of pure Mg and Mg–15Gd alloy by in-situ X-ray synchrotron radiation and visco-plastic self-consistent modeling

In this study,the texture evolutions of two Mg materials during tension are explored.In-situ X-ray synchrotron and Visco-Plastic SelfConsistent(VPSC) modeling are employed to investigate the different deformation modes between pure Mg and Mg-15Gd(wt.%) alloy.These two materials with a strong extrusion texture show large different slip/twinning activity behaviors during tensile deformation.The basal(a) slip has the highest contribution to the initial stage of plastic deformation for pure Mg.During the subsequent plastic deformation,the prismatic slip is dominant due to the strong ED//(100) fiber texture.In contrast,the deformation behavior of Mg-15Gd alloy is more complex.Twinning and basal slip are dominant at the early stage of plastic deformation,but further deformation results in the increased activation of prismatic and pyramidal slips.In comparison to pure Mg,the ratios of the critical resolved shear stress(CRSS) between non-basal slip and basal slip of the Mg-15Gd alloy are much lower.

Industrial-Scale Polypropylene–Polyethylene Physical Alloying Toward Recycling

Polypropylene(PP)and polyethylene(PE)play central roles in our daily life.However,their immiscibility presents a major hurdle in both industry and academia when recycling them into alloys with favorable mechanical properties.Moreover,typical compatibilizer-enabled approaches are limited due to increased environmental concerns.Herein,inspired by a traditional Chinese technique,we report a facile,industry-scale methodology that produces a PP/PE binary blend with a highly ordered honeycomb nanostructure without any additives.Due to its nanostructure,the blend exhibits enhanced tensile properties in com-parison with the parent components or with a sample prepared using an internal mixer.This approach has potential for applications not only in immiscible polymer blending,but also in non-sorting,compatibilizer-free waste plastics recycling.Through this technique,we expect that an environmentally friendly and sustainable plastic wastes recycling avenue can be found,and great economic benefits can be gained.

Efficient and stable PtFe alloy catalyst for electrocatalytic methanol oxidation with high resistance to CO

Direct methanol fuel cells(DMFC) are widely considered to be an ideal green energy conversion device but their widespread applications are limited by the high price of the Pt-based catalysts and the instability in terms of surface CO toxicity in long-term operation.Herein,the PtFe alloy nanoparticles(NPs) with small particle size(~4.12 nm) supported on carbon black catalysts with different Pt/Fe atomic ratios(Pt_(1)Fe_(2)/C,Pt_(3)Fe_(4)/C,Pt_(1)Fe_(1)/C,and Pt_(2)Fe_(1)/C) are successfully prepared for enhanced anti-CO poisoning during methanol oxidation reaction(MOR).The optimal atomic ratio of Pt/Fe for the MOR is 1:2,and the mass activity of Pt_(1)Fe_(2)/C(5.40 A mg_(Pt)^(-1)) is 13.5 times higher than that of conventional commercial Pt/C(Pt/C-JM)(0.40 A mg_(Pt)^(-1)).The introduction of Fe into the Pt lattice forms the PtFe alloy phase,and the electron density of Pt is reduced after forming the PtFe alloy.In-situ Fourier transform infrared results indicate that the addition of oxyphilic metal Fe has reduced the adsorption of reactant molecules on Pt during the MOR.The doping of Fe atoms helps to desorb toxic intermediates and regenerate Pt active sites,promoting the cleavage of C-O bonds with good selectivity of CO_(2)(58.1%).Moreover,the Pt_(1)Fe_(2)/C catalyst exhibits higher CO tolerance,methanol electrooxidation activity,and long-term stability than other Pt_(x)Fe_(y)/C catalysts.

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYPROPYLENE/MONTMORILLONITE NANOCOMPOSITES VIA AN in-situ POLYMERIZATION APPROACH

Polypropylene/montmorillonite (PP/MMT)nanocomposites were prepared by in-situ polymerization using aMMT/MgCl_2/TiCl_4-EB Ziegler-Natta catalyst activated by triethylaluminum(TEA). The enlarged layer spacing of MMT wasconfirmed by X-ray wide angle diffraction (WAXD), demonstrating that MMT were intercalated by the catalyst components.X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS) analysis proved that TiCl_4 was mainly supported on MgCl_2 instead of on the surfaceof MMT The exfoliated structure of MMT layers in the PP matrix of PP/MMT composites was demonstrated by WAXDpatterns and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation. The higher glass transition temperature and higher storage modulus of the PP/MMT composites in comparison with pure PP were revealed by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA).

Investigation of the Micro-Mechanics of an Extruded Precipitation-Strengthened Magnesium Alloy under Cyclic Loading

Precipitation strengthening is a crucial microscopic mechanism for enhancing the strength of magnesium alloys. In order to elucidate the influence of precipitation on the microscopic deformation mechanisms and macroscopic mechanical response of magnesium alloys under cyclic loading conditions, we employed a crystal plasticity model to analyze the stress-strain curves, specific crystal plane diffraction intensities, and the temporal evolution of various microscopic deformation mechanisms and twinning volume fractions for an extruded magnesium alloy, AXM10304, containing coherent precipitates. The research findings indicate that precipitation does not fundamentally alter the microscopic mechanisms of this alloy. However, it hinders twinning during the compression stage, mildly promotes detwinning during the tension stage, and enhances tension secondary hardening by elevating the difficulty of activation of the prismatic slip.

Quasi in-situ EBSD analysis of twinning-detwinning and slip behaviors in textured AZ31 magnesium alloy subjected to compressive-tensile loading

Twinning and detwinning behavior,together with slip behavior,are studied in a textured AZ31 magnesium alloy under compressive and tensile strains along the rolling direction(RD)after each interrupted mechanical test via quasi in-situ electron backscattered diffraction technique.The results show that twinning firstly takes place under the compressive strain along the RD.With the increasing compressive strain,{1012}tensile twins firstly nucleate,then propagate,and finally thicken.While under a reversed tensile strain along the RD,detwinning occurs.No nucleation happens during detwinning.Thus,tensile twins can detwin at lower tensile strain,followed by thinning,shortening,and vanishing.Slips are also activated to accommodate the plastic deformation.In the matrix,prismatic slip can only dominate at relatively high strains.Otherwise,basal slip dominates.While in the twins,prismatic slip can activate at lower strains,which is ascribed to the texture reorientation.

SEM in-situ investigation on fatigue cracking behavior of P/M Rene95 alloy with surface inclusions

The low-cycle fatigue behavior of powder metallurgy Rene95 alloy containing surface inclusions was investigated by in-situ observation with scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The process of fatigue crack initiation and early stage of propagation behavior indicates that fatigue crack mainly occurs at the interface between the inclusion and the matrix. The effect of inclusion on the fatigue crack initiation and the early stage of crack growth was very obvious. The fatigue crack growth path in the matrix is similar to the shape of inclusion made on the basis of fatigue fracture image analysis. The empiric relation between the surface and inside crack growth length, near a surface inclusion, can be expressed. Therefore, the fatigue crack growth rate or life of P/M Rene95 alloy including the inclusions can be evaluated on the basis of the measurable surface crack length parameter. In addition, the effect of two inclusions on the fatigue crack initiation behavior was investigated by the in-situ observation with SEM.

In-situ analysis of slip transfer and heterogeneous deformation in tension of Mg-5.4Gd-1.8Y-1.5Zn alloy

Slip transfer is influential in determining damage nucleation of polycrystalline material.The interactions between dislocations and grain boundaries(GBs)was investigated using in-situ tension test in a multi-directionally forged Mg-5.4Gd-1.8Y-1.5Zn(wt%)alloy.It was found that strain accommodation of individual grains by means of slip occurred more easily than slip transfer when several slip systems were operable.The basal-basal slip transfer occurred when the GB misorientation was smaller than 34.2°,whereas basal-pyramidal type took place when the crystallographic misorientation was larger than 48.8°.The product of Luster-Morris m factor and the sum of the Schmid factors of the two correlated slip systems indicated that the threshold for basal-basal slip transfer may exist,however,basal-pyramidal slip transfer shows no such threshold and is more complicated.These results presented here demonstrated that besides the geometrical alignment,the deformation details(such as the number of operable slip systems)and stress state in each individual grain must be considered.

Effect of In-Situ TiB₂Particle Addition on the Mechanical Properties of AA 2219 Al Alloy Composite

Aluminium alloy AA2219 was reinforced with TiB2 particles introduced in-situ by the saltmetal reaction technique. The microstructural examinations of the composites clearly reveal the formation of TiB2 particles with a hexagonal morphology. The addition of TiB2 particles results in increased mechanical properties, such as 0.2%YS, UTS and hardness. The improvement in mechanical properties is correlated to the microstructure.

Comparative study on high temperature deformation behavior and processing maps of Mg-4Zn-1RE-0.5Zr alloy with and without in-situ sub-micron sized TiB2 reinforcement

Mg-4Zn-1RE-0.5Zr (ZE41) Mg alloy is extensively used in the aerospace and automobile industries.In order to improve the applicability and performance,this alloy was engineered with in-situ Ti B2reinforcement to form Ti B2/ZE41 composite.The high temperature deformation behavior and manufacturability of the newly developed Ti B2/ZE41 composite and the parent ZE41 Mg alloy were studied via establishing constitutive modeling of flow stress,deformation activation energy and processing map over a temperature range of 250℃-450℃ and strain rate range of 0.001 s-1-10 s-1.The predicted flow stress behavior of both materials were found to be well consistent with the experimental values.A significant improvement in activation energy was found in Ti B2/ZE41 composite (171.54 k J/mol) as compared to the ZE41 alloy (148.15 k J/mol) due to the dispersed strengthening of in-situ Ti B2particles.The processing maps were developed via dynamic material modeling.A wider workability domain and higher peak efficiency (45%) were observed in Ti B2/ZE41 composite as compared to ZE41 alloy (41%).The Dynamic recrystallization is found to be the dominating deformation mechanism for both materials;however,particle stimulated nucleation was found to be an additional mode of deformation in Ti B2/ZE41 composite.The twinning and stress induced cracks were observed in both the materials at low temperature and high strain rate.A narrow range of instability zone is found in the present Ti B2/ZE41 composite among the existing published literature on Mg based composites.The detailed microstructural characterization was carried out in both workability and instability domains to establish the governing deformation mechanisms.

Mobility of Various Intervariant Interfaces in 18R Martensite in a Cu-Zn-Al Alloy Part Ⅰ: In-situ Observations

The motion of intervariant intedeces under the action of applied stress in the internally faulted 18R martensite in a Cu-Zn-Al shape memory alloy has been studied. Transmission electron microscopy in situ observations show that the interfaces between 24 martensite variants have different reaction to applied stress. The A/C type and A/B type interfaces have good mobil-ity, the A/D type interface has bad mobiIity, and the different-group-intervariant interfaces are basically immobile.

The in-situ Ti alloying of aluminum alloys and its application in A356 alloys

This research has investigated the in-situ Ti alloying of aluminum alloys and its application to A356 alloys and wheels through the evaluation of microstructure and mechanical properties. The results showed that stable titanium content can be obtained by adding a small quantity of TiO2 into electrolyte of pure aluminum. Under this approach, a greater than 95% absorptivity of titanium was achieved, and the microstructure of the specimens was changed to fine equiaxed grains from coarse columnar grains in the pure aluminum. In comparison with the tradition A356 alloys and wheels, the corresponding microstructure in the testing A356 alloys and wheels was finer. Although the tensile strength was similar between the testing and the tradition A356 alloys and wheels, the ductility of the former (testing) is superior to that of the later (tradition), leading to an excellent combination of strength and ductility from the testing alloys and wheels.

Comparison on crack propagation under tension at 150℃ of Mg-2Zn-1.5Mn alloy sheets with and without crack notch

Generally,edge crack of rolled magnesium alloy sheets initiates in the RD(rolling direction)-ND(normal direction)plane and then propagate in the RD-TD(transverse direction)plane.Hence,the Mg-2Zn-1.5Mn(ZM21)alloy sheets with and without crack notch were designed to carry out in-situ tensile experiments under 150℃(the same temperature of rolling),with the aim to understand their crack propagation mechanism.The scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and electron backscattered diffraction(EBSD)techniques were utilized to reveal microstructural evolution in real time at designated displacements.The results show that the prismatic slip,basal slip,and extension twining play synergistic role in coordinating strain during the tensile process in ZM21 alloy sheet at 150℃.In both tensile samples with and without crack notch,localized strain is mainly concentrated at relatively fine grain area and the grain boundaries or triple junctions of the grains with large basal Schmid factor(SF)difference,which eventually leads to severe surface roughening and subsequent crack initiation.Compared with the sample without crack notch,the pre-cracked sample exhibits severer deformation at the crack tip due to strain concentration.Strain gradient distribution is observed at the crack tip region in the pre-cracked sample.The crack propagation path of the sample with pre-crack is identified and the underlying mechanism is also discussed.

IN-SITU OBSERVATION OF S'PHASE IN Al-Li BASE ALLOY USING TEM SERIAL ROTATION TECHNIQUE

An in situ observation of the s'phase morphology and its orientation with the matrix in an Al-Li base alloy was carried out by means of double-tilt rotating around[220]a in a transmission electron microscope(TEM).The results show that the s'phase precipitates in the form of bundles.The units of s'phase are lath-shaped,grow along the<100>,orientation,and have habit planes of{210}*.Many units of the s'phase grow in the same orientation and get together to form a plate-shaped bundle of s'phase laths which lie on the{110}a planes.

Microstructure and properties evolution of in-situ fiber-reinforced Ag-Cu-Ni-Ce alloy during deformation and heat treatment

Silver-based alloys are significant light-load electrical contact materials(ECMs).The trade-off between mechanical properties and electrical conductivity is always an important issue for the development of silver-based ECMs.In this paper,we proposed an idea for the regulation of the mechanical properties and the electrical conductivity of Ag-11.40Cu-0.66Ni-0.05Ce(wt%)alloy using in-situ composite fiber-reinforcement.The alloy was processed using rolling,heat treatment,and heavy drawing,the strength and electrical conductivity were tested at different deformation stages,and the microstructures during deformation were observed using field emission scanning electron microscope(FESEM),transmission electron microscope(TEM)and electron backscatter diffraction(EBSD).The results show that the method proposed in this paper can achieve the preparation of in-situ composite fiber-reinforced Ag-Cu-Ni-Ce alloys.After the heavy deformation drawing,the room temperature Vickers hardness of the as-cast alloy increased from HV 81.6 to HV 169.3,and the electrical conductivity improved from 74.3%IACS(IACS,i.e.,international annealed copper standard)to 78.6%IACS.As the deformation increases,the alloy strength displays two different strengthening mechanisms,and the electrical conductivity has three stages of change.This research provides a new idea for the comprehensive performance control of high-performance silver-based ECMs.

Sb-Mn Alloy in-situ Composites and Magnetic Properties

The microstructures and magnetic properties of two in-situ composites, directionally solidified Sb-9.5%Mn and Sb-50%Mn alloys, were investigated. The aligned ferromagnetic compound MuSb or Mn2Sb was embedded in Sb or Mn matrix with varying Mn content. The magnetization curves and thermal magnetic Curves were examined along solidification direction, which reveals the magnetic behaviors of the composites.

In-situ straining observation on crack initiation and growth in an intermetallic Al_(67)Mn_8Ti_(25)alloy

In-situ straining SEM observations of an intermetallic Al67Mn8Ti25 alloy were carried out on sheet specimens containing notch with root radius about 100μm. The results show that the crack initiation occurs at notch root along grain boundary, and it grows very rapidly in transgranular manner. During the crack growing, some crack branches and segments are formed. Occasionally when the crack propagates in the direction close to grain boundary, it grows intergranularly along a part of boundary. The observed crack propagation process indicates that the alloy is very brittle at ambient temperatures.

The effect of temperature on load partitioning evolution in magnesium metal matrix composite reinforced with Ti particles using in-situ synchrotron radiation diffraction experiments

The load partitioning between the magnesium and titanium phases in an extruded Mg-15%Ti(vol.%) composite from room temperature up to 300 ℃ using synchrotron radiation diffraction during in-situ compression tests. During compression, the magnesium matrix composite deforms mainly by the activation of the extension twinning system up to 200 ℃. The volume fraction of twins increases with the plastic strain but decrease with the compression temperature. Hard titanium particles bear an additional load transferred by the soft magnesium matrix from room temperature up to 300 ℃. This effect is amplified after yield stress during plastic deformation. Additionally, twins within magnesium grains behaves as an additional reinforcement at low temperature(below 200 ℃) inducing an increase in the work hardening of the composite.

Preparation and property of self-sealed plasma electrolytic oxide coating on magnesium alloy

Plasma electrochemical oxidation (PEO) is a surface modification technology to form ceramic coatings on magnesium alloys However,its application is limited due to its defects.This work reports a novel preparation of in-situ sealing of PEO coatings by four-layer voltage and sol addition.The morphology and structure were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM),energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS),and X-ray diffractometer (XRD).Image-Pro Plus 6.0 was used to determine the porosity of the coating,which was decreased from 8.53%to 0.51%.Simultaneously,the coating thickness was increased by a factor of four.The anti-corrosion performance of each sample was evaluated using electrochemical tests,and the findings revealed that the corrosion current density of coatings (i_(corr)) of the samples were lowered from 9.152×10^(-2) to 6.152×10^(-4) mA·cm^(-2),and the total resistance (R_(T)) of the samples were enhanced from 2.19×10^(4) to 2.33×10^(5)Ω·cm^(2).The salt spray test used to simulate the actual environment showed that corrosion points appeared on the surface of the coating only at the 336 h.In addition,the mechanism of PEO self-sealing behavior was described in this article.