Microstructure and corrosion resistance of 304 stainless steel electroslag strip cladding

The 304 stainless steel strips were deposited one layer on carbon steel base metal by electroslag strip cladding （ESC） and submerged arc cladding （SAC）, respectively. The solidification microstrueture of ESC metal was analyzed by the optical microscopy, scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The corrosion resistance studies of strip cladding metals were carried out in 10% oxalic acid electrolytic etching test. The results showed that the cladding metal obtained by ESC presented low content of C, high content of Cr and enough alloying element of Ni in the chemical composition. The transition zone of ESC with small width was almost parallel with the base metal, leading to a lower dilution. There are three types of solidification modes （ A→AF→FA ） occurred in the ESC metal due to the decrease of cooling rate and degree of dilution from the transition zone to the top of ESC metal. As a result, the microstructure of ESC metal exhibited mainly austenite with a small amount of ferrite, contributing to achievement of better corrosion resistance.

Evolution of bonding interface in solid-liquid cast-rolling bonding of Cu/Al clad strip

Cu/Al clad strips are prepared using solid?liquid cast-rolling bonding(SLCRB)technique with a d160mm×150mm twin-roll experimental caster.The extent of interfacial reactions,composition of the reaction products,and their micro-morphology evolution in the SLCRB process are investigated with scanning electron microscope(SEM),energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS),and X-ray diffraction(XRD).In the casting pool,initial aluminized coating is first generated on the copper strip surface,with the diffusion layer mainly consisting ofα(Al)+CuAl2and growing at high temperatures,with the maximum thickness of10μm.After sequent rolling below the kiss point,the diffusion layer is broken by severe elongation,which leads to an additional crack bond process with a fresh interface of virgin base metal.The average thickness is reduced from10to5μm.The reaction products,CuAl2,CuAl,and Cu9Al4,are dispersed along the rolling direction.Peeling and bending test results indicate that the fracture occurs in the aluminum substrate,and the morphology is a dimple pattern.No crack or separation is found at the bonding interface after90°-180°bending.The presented method provides an economical way to fabricate Cu/Al clad strip directly.

Cast-rolling force model in solid-liquid cast-rolling bonding(SLCRB) process for fabricating bimetal clad strips

Based on twin-roll casting, a cast-rolling force model was proposed to predict the rolling force in the bimetal solid-liquid cast-rolling bonding(SLCRB) process. The solid-liquid bonding zone was assumed to be below the kiss point(KP). The deformation resistance of the liquid zone was ignored. Then, the calculation model was derived. A 2D thermal-flow coupled simulation was established to provide a basis for the parameters in the model, and then the rolling forces of the Cu/Al clad strip at different rolling speeds were calculated. Meanwhile, through measurement experiments, the accuracy of the model was verified. The influence of the rolling speed, the substrate strip thickness, and the material on the rolling force was obtained. The results indicate that the rolling force decreases with the increase of the rolling speed and increases with the increase of the thickness and thermal conductivity of the substrate strip. The rolling force is closely related to the KP height. Therefore, the formulation of reasonable process parameters to control the KP height is of great significance to the stability of cast-rolling forming.

Bonding strength of Invar/Cu clad strips fabricated by twin-roll casting process

Based on traditional twin-roll casting process,Invar/Cu clad strips were successfully fabricated by using solid Invar alloy strip and molten Cu under conditions of high temperature,high pressure and plastic deformation.A series of tests including tensile test,bending test,T-type peeling test and scanning electron microscope(SEM)and energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS)measurements were carried out to analyze the mechanical properties of Invar/Cu clad strips and the micro-morphology of tensile fracture surfaces and bonding interfaces.The results indicate that no delamination phenomenon occurs during the compatible deformation of Invar/Cu in bending test and only one stress platform exists in the tensile stress-strain curve when the bonding strength is large.On the contrary,different mechanical properties of Invar and Cu lead to delamination phenomenon during the uniaxial tensile test,which determines that two stress platforms occur on the stress-strain curve of Invar/Cu clad strips when two elements experience necking.The average peeling strength can be increased from13.85to42.31N/mm after heat treatment at800℃for1h,and the observation of the Cu side at peeling interface shows that more Fe is adhered on the Cu side after the heat treatment.All above illustrate that heat treatment can improve the strength of the bonding interface of Invar/Cu clad strips.

Heat transfer analysis and experimental study of unequal diameter twin-roll casting process for fabricating Cu/Al clad strips

Unequal diameter twin-roll casting(UDTRC)can improve the formability,surface conditions,and production efficiency during the fabrication of clad strips.Using Fluent software,a numerical simulation is used to study the asymmetric heat transfer characteristics of Cu/Al clad strips fabricated by UDTRC.The effects of roller velocity ratio,Cu strip thickness,and inclination angle on the kissing point position,as well as the entire temperature distribution are obtained.The heat transfer model is established,and the mechanism is discussed.The Cu strip and rollers are found to be the main causes of asymmetric heat transfer,indicating that the roller velocity ratio changes the liquid zone proportion in the molten pool.The Cu strip thickness determines the heat absorption capacity and the variations in thermal resistance between the molten Al and the big roller.The inclination angle of the small roller changes the cooling time of big roller to molten Al.Moreover,the microstructure of Al cladding under different roller velocity ratios is examined.The results show significant grain refinement caused by the shear strain along the thickness direction of Al cladding and the intense heat transfer at the moment of contact between the metal Al cladding and Cu strip.

Interfacial pressure distribution and bonding characteristics in twin-roll casting of Cu/Al clad strip

The mechanical properties and product thickness specifications of bimetallic clad strip prepared by twin-roll casting are tightly related to the mechanical behavior of bonding interface interaction.The thermal−flow coupled simulation and the interface pressure calculation models are established with the cast-rolling velocity as the variable.The results show that the interface temperature decreases,the interface pressure and the proportion of the thickness of the Al side increase with the decrease in cast-rolling velocity.The thinning of Cu strip mainly occurs in the backward slip zone.The higher pressure and longer solid/semi-solid contact time make the interface bonded fully,which provides favorable conditions for atomic diffusion.The inter-diffusion zone with a width of 4.9μm is attained at a cast-rolling velocity of 2.4 m/min,and the Cu side surface is nearly completely covered by aluminum.Therefore,the ductile fracture occurs on the Al side,which prevents the propagation of interface delamination cracks effectively.Meanwhile,shear effect becomes more significant at high interfacial pressure and large plastic strain,and the microstructure on Al side is composed of slender columnar crystals.Thus,the metallurgical bonding and refinement of grains on the Al side can result in higher bonding strength and tensile properties of the clad strip.

Improvement of material properties and cladded flat product productivity with roll-bonding technology

Taking advantage of the progress of roll-bonding technology, the integrity of the material technology, and the development of the production and examination facilities of all the main carbon steels, stainless steels and specialty alloys in Baosteel, the cladded flat new products, which combined both properties of base material and clad material ,have been developed and produced in large quantities. The product categories includes heavy plates with high alloy content and homogeneous distribution in thickness and carbon steel plates cladded with all kinds of stainless steels ,nickel alloys ,and titanium alloys. The double-sided and single-sided cladding hot roiled strips and cold rolled sheets were also commercially produced. Due to the combined properties of both the cladding material and backing material, all products show obvious improvement in properties when compared with solid material. The comparability with the existing production process and equipment laid a very solid foundation for high productivity.

Preface

Bonding together two or more materials with different properties to obtain a new material with better properties has been a long-standing concept and practice in human history. One example that is relevant all around the world is making a sharp and break-resistant knife with a hard steel edge and tough steel on the back of the blade. Until 1868, the volume of composite steels manufactured was quite small and productivity was low.

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer electro-optic switch with ultralow voltage-length product using poled-polymer/silicon slot waveguide

By using poled-polymer/silicon slot waveguides in the active region and the Pockels effect of the poled-polymer,we propose a kind of Mach-Zehnder interferometer(MZI) electro-optic(EO) switch operated at 1 550 nm.Structural parameters are optimized for realizing normal switching function.Dependencies of switching characteristics on the slot waveguide parameters are investigated.For the silicon strip with dimension of 170 nm×300 nm,as the slot width varies from 50 nm to 100 nm,the switching voltage can be as low as 1.0 V with active region length of only 0.17–0.35 mm,and the length of the whole device is only about 770–950 μm.The voltage-length product of this switching structure is only 0.17–0.35 V·mm,and it is at least 19–40 times smaller than that of the traditional polymer MZI EO switch,which is 6.69 V·mm.Compared with our previously reported MZI EO switches,this switch exhibits some superior characteristics,including low switching voltage,compact device size and small wavelength dependency.