Journal of Alloys and Metallurgical Systems最新文献

Due to strength and biodegradability, magnesium (Mg) and its alloys are potential biodegradable implant materials. However, pure Mg corrodes more rapidly in the physiological environment, causing rapid deterioration before bone repair. The discrepancy between bone healing and Mg implant deterioration encourages the development of new Mg alloys with other acceptable alloying elements to achieve the desired high corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. In this work, different concentrations of yttrium (Y), that is, Mg-4zn-0.2ca-xY, (x= 3,6,9,12% wt), are added to Mg-based alloys. The microstructure, mechanical characteristics, corrosion behavior, and biocompatibility of the alloys were carefully investigated. When Y concentrations are high, Mg alloys with Y change significantly. High Y concentrations in Mg alloys containing yttrium (Y) suppress intermetallic phases along grain boundaries and form chemically stable Y oxide layers on the surfaces, changing their microstructures and improving their corrosion resistance. Cytotoxicity analysis showed that human osteoblast cells were not significantly affected by the Y-containing Mg alloys. The benefits of using Y as an alloying element to simultaneously adjust Mg alloys with higher strength and slower deterioration are presented.

This study aims to investigate the dry sliding wear behaviour of AA-7075 based metal matrix composites developed by powder metallurgy route. AA-7075 metal matrix composites have been developed with 1–15 vol% micrometric yttrium oxide particulate reinforcement and 0.1–3 vol% nanometric yttrium oxide particulate reinforcement by sinter forging.The matrix and reinforcing powders were blended together to obtain a homogeneous composite powder mixture which was cold compacted and further sintered under pure nitrogen atmosphere. The sintered compacts were forged in a closed die to attain full density. The hot forged samples were further artificially age hardened to peak hardness. Wear behavior of AA-7075 and its composites at peak aged condition were investigated at various loads and sliding speeds. The coefficient of friction and wear rate were determined with respect to different volume fractions of micrometric and nanometric yttrium oxide additions to AA-7075 alloy matrix. The overall wear at a constant volume fraction was found to be lower for the compositions having nanometric Y₂O₃ as compared to micrometric Y₂O₃. Further the basic wear mechanism of pure aluminum 7075 alloy and reinforced composites consisted of adhesive wear with plastic deformation followed by abrasive wear (due to hard reinforcement particles).Material strengthening by precipitation hardening and reinforcement addition and the role of the forging operation and yttria reinforcements in the removal and uniform distribution of oxide layers present on the AA-7075 powder particles were accountable for the improvement in the wear resistance of the composites.

The AlSi10Mg alloy is one of the most studied alloys processed by the Powder Bed Fusion-Laser Beam (PBF-LB). Many already published works focus on post-process heat treatments to reduce residual stress or improve mechanical strength. Instead, the present study aims to identify direct artificial aging (AA) heat treatment able to optimize both aspects, thus enhancing the trade-off between strengthening and residual stress relief for the PBF-LB AlSi10Mg alloy produced using a no-heated platform. Higher temperatures (190–240 °C) than those typically used in AA heat treatment were selected based on thermal analysis to benefit both residual stress relief and precipitation of reinforcing phases from the supersaturated solid solution of the metastable as-built alloy. The effects of AA heat treatment on mechanical properties (i.e. hardness) and residual stress were evaluated by plotting aging curves and by XRD and Raman analyses and demonstrated that different trade-offs between strengthening and stress relief can be achieved by tuning heat treatment parameters (temperature and time). In particular, the exposure at the lowest temperature (190 °C) induced a partial decrease in residual stress and a slight increase in hardness. By increasing heat treatment temperature and soaking time, the relief was more significant, whilst the decrease in hardness was rather limited. The results are supported by the microstructural changes observed on the samples due to the different heat treatment conditions applied and show the feasibility of designing an AA heat treatment for the PBF-LB AlSi10Mg alloy capable of satisfying the mechanical response required by the final application.

This study investigated the interface microstructure that developed between 50In-50Pb (wt%) solder and copper (Cu) base material as a function of solid-state aging. The aging temperatures and times were in the range of 55°C – 170°C and 1 – 350 days, respectively. The analysis examined the intermetallic compound (IMC) layer compositions; the rate kinetics of IMC layer growth; and the role of the IMC layer on solder joint shear strength. The IMC layer transitioned from pseudo-equilibrium compositions towards an equilibrium composition of Cu₁₁In₉ (φ phase) with an increased degree of aging, illustrating the non-equilibrium nature of the interface. The rate kinetics for solid-state IMC formation exhibited a time exponent, n, of 0.47±0.09, which indicated a diffusion-controlled reaction. The relatively low, apparent activation energy, ΔH, of 23±4 kJ/mol implied an anomalously-fast diffusion mechanism. The shear stresses were 22±2 MPa and 19±1 MPa for the 0.190 mm and 0.380 mm joint clearances, respectively, representing the as-fabricated condition; the difference reflected the plane strain effect. The crack path remained in the In-Pb solder so that the In-Pb microstructure, not the thickness, composition, or morphology of the IMC layer, controlled shear strength for either joint clearance. The shear strength trends differed between joint clearances due to competing processes in the In-Pb solder. Precipitation and re-solutionization of Cu dissolved in the In-Pb solder controlled the effects of aging on the shear strength of the 0.190 mm joint clearance while traditional recovery and recrystallization mechanisms determined the aging response of the 0.380 mm solder joints.

The effect of austenitizing temperature (ranging from 850 to 1050 °C) and cooling rates on the phase transformations were investigated, particularly when a two cooling steps protocol was adopted. It was possible to observe that the heat treatment parameters play a major role on the martensitic transformation kinetics a possible occurrence of bainitic transformation. The results indicate that a microstructure composed by small austenite grains and the formation of bainite prior the athermal martensitic transformation significantly contribute to increase the martensitic transformation rate. The Koistinen-Marburger model was employed to analyze the non-isothermal kinetics, revealing an increase in the KM and k parameters due to an increase in austenite grain size and the presence of bainite in the microstructure. The results herein demonstrate that the optimization of the heat treatment parameters is crucial to the proper control of the phases that will be present in the microstructure of the alloy, as well as the volume fraction of martensite. Thus, the accurate control of the heat treatment process is a promising approach to enhance the properties of SAE 9254 spring steel, which finds extensive use in the automotive industry.

As more industries move to capitalize on the technological benefits of additive manufacturing, researchers are exploring ways to design new alloys with properties that cannot be achieved through traditional manufacturing methods. One approach is to tailor the solidification microstructures of lightweight components using dense materials. This study examines the microstructures and mechanical properties of near eutectic Al-Cu alloys under different thermal histories, covering both high and low solidification rates found in various additive manufacturing techniques. Slow cooled lattice structures of diamond type unit cell were produced at a relatively low cooling rate by a hybrid investment casting process involving 3D printing of the lattice patterns, and rapid solidified powders of various sizes were generated by Impulse Atomization. Microstructural analysis revealed different eutectic morphologies and spacing depending on the cooling rate and location. The alloys strength was increased by spheroidization of their eutectic phases. The alloys eutectic structures were spheroidized using two spheroidization mechanisms, including (i) Thermo-mechanically by plastic deformation of as solidified samples, followed by heat treatment, and (ii) Chemically by addition of Mg and Si to the near eutectic Al-Cu alloy. Both the thermo-mechanical and the chemical spheroidization mechanism are found to improve the mechanical properties of the alloys. This study demonstrates a potential cost-effective use of heavy alloys in high-performance applications through additive manufacturing (e.g. using lattice structures) by optimizing microstructures and enhancing mechanical properties.

The kinetics of magnesium hydride formation depends on many factors such as thermodynamic conditions, the presence/absence of additives and the mechanical treatments applied to the starting material. As a result, the impact on the reaction of the material is complex. Additionally, during repeated hydrogenation/dehydrogenation cycles, the microstructure of the material becomes significantly different from the original one. In such case, it is not so simple to order the relative importance of the different experimental contributions. In fact limited research efforts have been devoted to the impact of elastic deformation and its direct consequences on the hydride nucleation process. This motivates the present theoretical analysis of the mechanical energy balance between the Mg and MgH₂ entities. Here the formation and interaction of a hydride nucleus with structural defects as a pore or a free surface is carried out in the Mg-MgH₂ system.

The present work evidences that calculation makes it possible to underline and unequivocally analyze the importance of a single parameter among a set of multiple factors that potentially have an impact on the kinetic processes. It is demonstrated here that due solely to the change in volume during hydride nucleation, conditions develops in the magnesium matrix for predominant release of hydride onto free surfaces, including pores.

The calculation of the energy balance made it possible to classify the local impact on the nuclei for different typical configurations such as the vicinity of a free surface, a boundary and the vicinity of low rigidity defects (e.g. pores, vacancies, etc.). Hydride formation near a surface (external or internal, a twin plane or a grain boundary, etc.) results in a reduction in mechanical energy terms, which favors the easy nucleation step in magnesium. Nucleation occurs primarily on free surfaces rather than in bulk.

The effect of dilute solute additions on growth restriction in binary ferrous alloys has been assessed by means of the heuristic growth restriction parameter (β) modelling framework (Fan et al. in Acta Mater. 152, 248–257, 2018). The CALPHAD (CALculation of PHAse Diagrams) methodology (Kaufman and Bernstein in Computer Calculation of Phase Diagrams, 1970) has been used to calculate β values from the liquidus slope m and the equilibrium distribution coefficient k values, at first approximation, in conjunction with the liquid-to-solid fraction to obtain true β values. Critical solute concentrations, below which solidification becomes partitionless, have also been calculated. Among 23 dilute binary ferrous alloy systems investigated, the five most efficient solutes on grain refinement are B, Y, O, S and C. A negative correlation, or inverse relationship, was observed between the true β values and the grain size values obtained from a study on experimental multicomponent dilute ferrous alloy systems (Li et al. in Metall. Mater. Trans. A 49 A, 2235–2247, 2018).

This paper focuses on the nanoscale characterization of a welded Al/Cu interface produced by magnetic pulse welding. Welding tests were performed using three field shapers with similar dimension but having strongly different electrical conductivity. Other welding parameters were strictly the same. The three tests produce similar welded joints that consist of a similar morphology of wavy interface at the macroscopic scale. Thus, the Al to Cu transition zone across the location of an interfacial wave is identified as a suitable repetitive site that enables for repetitive fine-scale characterization across a distance less than 1 µm. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) observations of the welded Al/Cu interface reveal a gradient of nanostructures which consists of an amorphous Al_xCu_y nanolayer (∼30 nm) and then, a nanocrystalline layer with a thin thickness of a few tens of nanometres at the Cu side and at the Al side as well. This hierarchical nano-featured structure is confined within a very short total distance of about 200 nm. Outside these confined nanostructures, the interface exhibits a crystalline structure. These nanofeatures were observed at the interface of the Al/Cu welded joint produced by three different field shapers, that shows a reproducibility of the interface structure at the nanoscale level. A thermomechanical analysis of the high strain process at a collision point allows for depicting the mechanism of microstructure formation confined at the Al/Cu interface. The shear strain rate across the interface shows peaks where the temperature distribution also reaches a peak beyond the melting point of Al. The thermal kinetics within the molten zone is characterized by a high cooling rate up to 10³ °C/ns during the melting/solidification stage that explains the observation of the amorphous nanolayer revealed by the TEM observation. The formation of nanocrystalline structure confined at both sides of the amorphous layer can be explained by a nucleation of crystals at a very early stage governed by the thermal kinetics at the boundaries (Al side and Cu side) of the melted zone, and by a dynamic recrystallization governed by the gradient of shearing at high strain rate confined at the collision point. Together, these processes of highly transient thermomechanical responses confined at the Al/Cu interface explain the formation mechanism of interface microstructure that results in the hierarchical nanostructure as identified by TEM characterizations.

The present work investigates the effects of Ni, Cu, La, and Ce on the thermophysical properties of aluminium-based metal matrix composites. Transition metals and rare-earth elements were added to improve the mechanical performance of the material to above 420 °C, which is the maximum operating temperature of the reference material. In contrast, the addition of alloying elements results in the formation of intermetallic phases, Al₃Ni and Al₁₁(La,Ce)₃, which, in turn, affect the thermal and physical properties of the base alloy. The goal is to apply the improved composites to automotive brake discs. The addition of alloying elements decreased the thermal conductivity by 20% and increased the stiffness by 90% at temperatures up to 470 °C. When stiffness and thermal conductivity are critical requirements, the addition of these alloying elements represents a valid solution.