Iranian Journal of Materials Science and Engineering

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This study was launched to investigate the effects of heating rate and aging parameters on the kinetic of precipitation reactions in a high alloy high strength steel having Ni, Co, Mo and Ti. For this purpose, as quenched specimens were subjected to three types of aging methods with different heating rates. These methods consisted of aging in Pb bath, salt bath, and furnace at different aging cycles. The kinetic of precipitation in each method was studied by hardness measurements and was described adequately by the Johnson-mehl-Avrami equation. Remarkable increase in hardness and its rate is observed when the rate of heating increases. The substantial increase in hardness of the specimens aged rapidly in salt & Pb baths, compared with those aged normally in furnace, seemed to be due to the formation of thermo elastic stresses during sudden expansion of the substance subjected to rapid heating. According to the results obtained in this research, increase in the Avrami constants, n & k, and decrease in the start time of transformation, ts, are associated with heating rate increasing. Analysis of the observed and calculated data for hardness using Arrhenius equation, shows that for the same amount of volume fraction of precipitates, the activation energy of precipitates decreased for f=25 and 50%, while at f=90 % it increased by increasing heating rate.

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In this study the hot deformation behaviour of a precipitation hardened (PH) stainless steel at high strain rates has been predicted through hot compression testing. Stress-strain curves were obtained for a range of strain rates from 10-3 to 10+1 S-1 and temperatures from 850 to 1150°C. Results obtained by microstructure and stress-strain curves show that at low temperatures and high strain rates, where the Zener-Holman parameter (Z) is high, work hardening and dynamic recovery occure. By increasing temperature and decreasing strain rate, the Z parameter is decreased, so that dynamic recrystallization is the dominant softening mechanism. The results were fitted using a Log Z versus Log (sinh (a sp) diagram allowing an assessment of the behavior of the stresses measured at strain rates closer to those related to the industrial hot rolling schedules. It is clearly shown that the data collected from low strain rate testing can be fairly reasonably extrapolated to higher orders of magnitude of strain rate.

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In order to evaluate the sintering behavior of lithium meta titanate (Li2TiO3) powder, the shrinkage of powder compact was measured under constant rates of heating. Densification curves for Li2TiO3 have been constructed with the help of shrinkage powder measured at different heating rates. The activation energy at the initial stage of sintering was determined by analyzing the densification curves and the value of Q=377 kJ/mol was obtained. The diffusion mechanism at the initial sintering stage was determined by the analytical method applied to the constant rates of heating data. This analysis exhibited that the dominant mechanism for initial sintering stage of Li2TiO3 is volume diffusion from grain boundary and surfaces.

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The effect of aging time and temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-13V-11Cr-3Al and Ti-13V-11Cr-3Al-0.2C was studied. The carbon addition increases the rate of age hardening as well as the peak hardness of aged samples. The presence of titanium carbides in Ti-13V-11Cr-3Al-0.2C limits grain growth during the process. The observations in this work are discussed in terms of the effect of the microstructural changes in quenched and aged samples associated with the presence of carbide precipitates

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Effect of electro migration on crystal structures of platinum nanowire (Nano bridge) during Nano-gap formation is investigated by means of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Selected area diffraction patterns as well as bright field images are used for this investigation. There were severely recessions in the polycrystalline Nano bridge and crystal structures around the nanogap changed completely during electro migration. Due to Joule heating, original small crystal with random orientation disappeared and newly crystals with a preferred orientation grew. They have [111] orientations (respect to beam direction) with slight misorientations. α and θ was defined to calculate the misorientation and used to represent Nano-gap formation mechanism. The calculation gives the breaking of Nano bridge occurred along grain boundaries in most of Nano bridges. The controlling system during eletromigration may affect on the shapes of tips so that the shape of tips in Nano bridges, in which feedback control is applied, is more symmetric than others. The effect of temperature on atomic diffusivity might be the reason of the behaviour. {422} could be a preferred surface plane for mass transport in platinum Nano bridge in which atoms move along it

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Precipitation hardening is the most common method in the strengthening of aluminium alloys. This method relies on the decrease of solid solubility with temperature reduction to produce fine precipitations which impede the movement of dislocations. The quality control of aluminium alloy specimens is an important concern of engineers. Among different methods, non-destructive techniques are the fastest, cheapest and able to be used for all of parts in a production line. To assess the ability of eddy current as a non-destructive method in the evaluation of precipitation hardening of aluminium alloys, 7075 aluminium alloy specimens were solution treated at 480°C for 1 hr. and followed by water quenching. Afterwards, the specimens were aged at different temperatures of 200, 170, 140, 110 and 80°C for 8 hr. Eddy current measurements was conducted on the aged specimens. Hardness measurement and tensile test were employed to investigate the mechanical properties. It was demonstrated that eddy current is effectively able to separate the specimens with different aging degree due to the change of electrical conductivity during aging process

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In the present work, iron recovery from a low-grade hematite ore (containing less than 40% iron), which is not applicable in common methods of ironmaking, was studied. Non-coking coal was used as reducing agent. Reduction experiments were performed under various coal to hematite ratios and temperatures. Reduction degree was calculated using the gravimetric method. Reduced samples were subjected to magnetic separation followed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Total iron content, degree of metallization and recovery efficiency in magnetic part were determined by quantitative chemical analysis, which were obtained about 82%, 95% and 64% respectively under optimal conditions. CaO as an additive improved ore reducibility and separation efficiency. The microstructure of reduced samples and final products were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. Final product with a high degree of metallization can be used in steel making furnaces and charging of blast furnaces which can improve production efficiency and decrease coke usage.

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In this work, lithium meta titanate (Li₂TiO₃) nanocrystallites were synthesized by hydrothermal method and subsequent heat treatment. The shrinkage of the powder compact was measured under constant heating rate in order to study the sintering behavior of the synthesized powders. Densification curves of the synthesized powders were also constructed via the dilatometry analysis and evaluated at several heating rates. Two separate methods of analytical procedure and master curve sintering were employed to determine the activation energy of the initial sintering stage. The activation energy values were estimated based on these two distinct methods as 229±14 and 230 kJ/mol respectively, consistenting with each other. Moreover, surface diffusion was determined as the dominant mechanism of densification on initial sintering of Li₂TiO₃ nanocrystallites.

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The effect of cooling rate after annealing at 900 °C on the microstructure and hardness of high entropy alloys was investigated using two typical samples with the chemical composition of Co₁₆Cr_14.5Fe₂₉Mn_11.5Ni₂₉ and Co_11.5Cr₇Fe₂₇Mn₂₇Ni₂₇(Nb_0.08C_0.5) (at%). The microstructural characterisation and hardness measurements were carried out by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, electron back scattered diffraction, X-ray diffraction technique and Vickers hardness testing. A face centred cubic crystal structure matrix was observed in both alloys before and after annealing and regardless of cooling conditions. SEM analyses revealed an extensive precipitation in Co_11.5Cr₇Fe₂₇Mn₂₇Ni₂₇(Nb_0.08C_0.5) alloy after annealing. It was also found that air/furnace cooling can enhance grain growth-coarsening just in Co₁₆Cr_14.5Fe₂₉Mn_11.5Ni₂₉. However, the hardness results generally showed insignificant hardness variations in both alloys after water-quenching, air-cooling and furnace-cooling. The results suggested that the hardness is mainly controlled by solid solution strengthening.

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Single crystals of double crystalline block copolymers of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and PEG-b-poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) were grown from dilute solution in homo- and mixed-brush systems. Crystallization behavior of biodegradable one end-restricted crystallizable PCL and PLLA chains in homo- and mixed-brush nanostructures were investigated. Chemical and physical circumstances of crystallizable brushes were altered. Physical environment was adjusted by amorphism/crystallinity and rigidity/flexibility of neighboring brushes. Chemical environment was manipulated by interaction and miscibility of various brushes. Distinct single crystals were grown with mixed-brushes of amorphous-crystalline (polystyrene (PS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), PCL and PLLA, double crystalline (PCL/PLLA), and rod-crystalline polyaniline (PANI)/PCL or PLLA. Surrounding was only effective on hindrance or nucleation commencement of crystallization for crystallizable brushes and had no effect on crystallization features. Novel three-layer fully single crystalline nanostructures, whose characteristics were fixed via changing the crystallization temperature, were also developed. For long crystallizable tethers, crystallization increased both brush and substrate thicknesses. 

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This study investigates the synthesis of Al/MoS₂ nanocomposite coating by the electro spark deposition (ESD) method for its lubricating properties. ESD method was selected because it is a very easy, rapid, and cost-saving method and the resulting coating has a strong bonding with the substrate. As a substrate, a Ti-6Al-4V alloy sheet containing 6.12 % Al, 4.06 % V, 0.19% Fe, and 0.05 % Ni was used. For coating, an aluminum-molybdenum disulfide composite electrode in the form of a cylindrical rod was employed. Three frequencies of 5, 8, and 11 kHz, three current limits of 15, 25, and 35 amps, and three duty cycles of 50, 60, and 70% were used in the coating operation. AFM analysis was used to study the topography, morphology, and calculate roughness. The samples were then subjected to hardness tests. To determine the wear resistance of the samples, pin on disk tests were performed. XRD analysis was performed to identify the phases on the surface of the coated samples. SEM was used to examine the microstructure of the coating before and after wear testing, in order to determine the wear mechanism. The results indicated that the Al/MoS2 nanocomposite coating was synthesized on the substrate surface. The hardness of the reference sample is 353 Vickers, and that of the coated samples is about 200 Vickers. For the reference sample, the roughness was measured at 15.7 nm, and for the coated sample at 268.1 nm. As spark energy increased, the coefficient of friction increased by approximately 0.09. As spark energy increased, the wear rate increased by 27%. A significant increase in the Lancaster coefficient occurred around 5 joules of energy. According to the wear rate results, the sample with the lowest thickness wears 4% less than the sample with the highest thickness. The wear rate of sample 351170 is 78% lower than that of sample 150550.

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The aims of this research were to evaluate the effects of different thermomechanical treatments on the microstructure and investigate some of the mechanical properties of a TWIP steel rich in Mn & Al. So, a block of a TWIP steel with nominal composition Fe-17.5Mn-1.36Al-0.8C was cast and then subjected to hot rolling followed by cold rolling and heat treatment. Cold rolling was performed before heat treatment in order to reduce the grain size and improve the tensile and fatigue properties. X-ray diffraction technique was used before and after the heat treatment to evaluate the possibility of any phase formation. No sign of martensitic transformation after cold deformation was observed. However, by increasing the amount of cold deformation, the number of mechanical twins and slip band increased resulted to an increase in hardness and strength. The best tensile and fatigue result were obtained after 47% thickness reduction and annealing at 715˚C for 10 min. Under these conditions, the mean grain size reduced from 138 to 9 μm resulted to an increase in yield strength from 395 to 510 MPa, and the fatigue life improvement from the mean life of 10200 for the cast sample to 21500 cycles for the treated sample, when these samples underwent fatigue tests at a stress range of 650 MPa and R=0. In addition, the diameter and depth of dimples in fracture surfaces decreased by reducing the grain size but the fracture mode was remained ductile and adequate plastic deformation occurred before failure.
 

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Pressureless sintering was employed at 1400 °C to synthesize Ti matrix composites (TMCs) reinforced with in-situ TiB and TiC reinforcements using TiB₂ and B₄C initial reinforcements. The microstructure and wear behavior of the synthesized composites were evaluated and compared and the results showed that B₄C caused the formation of TiB-TiC in-situ hybrid reinforcements in the Ti matrix. Also, TiB was in the form of blades/needles and whiskers, and TiC was almost equiaxed. Moreover, the volume fraction of the in-situ formed reinforcement using B₄C was much higher than that formed using TiB₂. In addition, although the hardness of the B₄C-synthesized composites was higher, the composite synthesized using 3 wt.% TiB₂ exhibited the highest hardness (425 HV). The wear test results showed that the sample synthesized using 3 wt.% TiB₂ showed the lowest wear rate at 50 N, mainly because of its higher hardness. The dominant wear mechanism in the samples synthesized using 3 wt.% B₄C was abrasive and delamination at 50 N and 100 N, respectively while in the samples synthesized 3 wt.% TiB₂, a combination of delamination and adhesive wear and adhesive wear was ruling, respectively.