Iranian Journal of Materials Science and Engineering

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A mixture of Tio2+Al+C powders was mechanically activated using a planetary ball mill under different milling conditions wherein the milled powders were further subjected to combustion synthesis to produce TiC+Al2O3 composite. The mechanically alloyed powders were characterized by X-Ray diffraction analysis and TEM investigations. XRD analysis of milled powder mixture showed no significant reaction between TiO2, Al and C while a significant amorphization of powder mixtures was observed. TEM analysis indicated the formation of a composite structure of powder particles after milling. The subsequent thermal treatment of the milled powder mix showed that the milling of initial powder mixture under dry environment using mixed large and small balls had a great effect on reaction efficiency and yielded to the highest TiC + Al2O3 ratio in the synthesized products.

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Abstract: Dissolution and recovery of Mn-Al compacts with and without a chloride flux was studied by taking samples from the melt after addition of the compact. Events occurring after the addition of the compacts into the melt were studied using water quenched specimens after holding them for a specified time in molten state. The cross sections of these specimens were characterized by SEM as well as optical imaging. The results showed that an optimized amount of flux (10 to 15%wt. in this research) considerably decreases the time to reach more than 90% recovery in comparison with non-fluxed compacts. The flux caused the intermetallic forming reactions to be started considerably sooner in fluxed compacts in comparison with the non-fluxed compact. Consequently, the incubation time decreased from about 180 seconds for non-fluxed compacts to less than 3 seconds for compacts with 10%wt. flux.

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Abstract: The horizontal continuous casting process has received a significant attention for near net shape casting of non ferrous metals and alloys. Numerical Simulation has been widely used for process design and optimization of continuous casting process. In the present study, a 3-dimensional heat flow model was developed to simulate the heat transfer and solidification in a horizontal billet continuous casting system in which the air gap formation and its effect on heat extraction rate from solidifying billet was also considered. In order to test the developed model, it was run to simulate the heat transfer and solidification for an industrial billet caster. The predicted temperature distribution within the mold and billet was compared with those measured on the industrial caster in which a good agreement was obtained. Finally, parametric studies were carried out by validated model to evaluate the effects of different parameters on solidification profile and temperature distribution within the model brass billet. The microstructure of cast billet was analyzed to determine the secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) under different cooling conditions. Based on measured SDAS and predicted solidification rate a correlation between SDAS and cooling rate was proposed for continuously cast brass billet.

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Abstract:A combination of mechanical activation and Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA) together with X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and various microstractural characterization techniques were used to evaluate the starting reaction in the combustion synthesis of TiC-Al2O3 composite in TiO2-Al-C system. The mechanical activation was performed on the mixtures of two components of TiO2/Al, Al/C and TiO2/C and then the third component was added according to the stoichiometric reaction for 3TiC+2Al2O3 composite formation. The powder mixtures were heated up to 1450 °C under Argon atmosphere at a heating rate of 10 °C/min. The combustion synthesis temperature was observed to decrease from 962 °C to 649 °C after milling of TiO2/Al mixture for 16 hr. On the contrary, the mechanical activation of Al/C and TiO2/C mixtures for 16 hr made the reaction temperature increase to 995 °C and 1024 °C, respectively. The decrease in reaction temperature as a result of milling the TiO2/Al mixture could be due to an increase of TiO2 and Al interface area as confirmed by TEM micrographs and XRD patterns of milled powder mixture. In addition, DTA experiments showed that for the sample in which TiO2 and Al were mechanically activated the reaction occurred at the temperature even lower than that of Al melting point.

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Abstract:Optimization of specimen geometry before subjecting it to hot torsion test (HTT) is essential for minimizingnon-uniform temperature distribution and obtaining uniform microstructure thought the specimen.In the present study, a nonlinear transient analysis was performed for a number of different geometries andtemperatures using the commercial finite element (FE) package ANSYSTM. FE thermal results then were applied tooptimize HTTspecimen produced from API-X 70 microalloyed steel taking into account the microstructurehomogeneity.  The thermodynamic software Thermo-calcTM was also used to analysis solubility of microalloyingelements and their precipitates that may exist at different equilibrium conditions. In addition the behavior of austenitegrain size during reheating was investigated. The results show high temperature gradient occurred in long specimens.This could lead to non homogeneous initial austenite grain size and alloying element or precipitates within the gaugesection of the specimen. The proposed optimization procedure can in general be used for other materials and reheatingscenarios to reduce temperature. This then creates more homogeneous initial microstructure prior to deformation andreduces errors in post processing of the HTTresults

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  Abstract

  Recovery and recrystallization phenomena and effects of microalloying elements on these phenomena are of great importance in designing thermomechanical processes of microalloyed steels. Thus, understanding and modeling of microstructure evolution during hot deformation leads to optimize the processing conditions and to improve the product properties.

  In this study, finite element method was utilized to simulate thermomechanical parameters during hot deformation processes. FEM results then were integrated with physically based state variable models of static recovery and recrystallization combined with a realistic microstructural geometry. The thermodynamic software Thermo-calc was also used to predict present microalloying elements at equilibrium conditions.

The model performance was validated using stress relaxation tests. Parametric studies were carried out to evaluate the effects of deformation process parameters on the microstructure development following hot deformation of the API-X70 steel

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Combustion synthesis is a special thermophysico-chemical process applied for production of intermetallic compounds. In the present work, a reaction–diffusion numerical model was developed to analyze the combustion synthesis of aluminide intermetallics by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis process. In order to verify the reliability of the numerical model, an experimental setup was designed and used to perform the combustion synthesis of nickel and titanium aluminides. The developed model was further used to determine the temperature history of a powder mixture compact during self-propagating high-temperature synthesis. The effect of compact relative density on combustion temperature and wave propagation velocity was also studied.

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ABSTRACT Macrosegregation has been received high attention in the solidification modeling studies. In the present work, a numerical model was developed to predict the macrosegregation during the DC Casting of an Al-4.5wt%Cu billet. The mathematical model developed in this study consists of mass, momentum, energy and species conservation equations for a two-phase mixture of liquid and solid in an axisymmetric coordinates. The solution methodology is based on a standard Finite Volume Method. A new scheme called Semi-Implicit Method for Thermodynamically-Linked Equations (SIMTLE) was employed to link energy and species equations with phase diagram of the alloying system. The model was tested by experimental data extracted from an industrial scale DC caster and a relatively good agreement was obtained. It was concluded that a proper macrosegregation model needs two key features: a precise flow description in the two-phase regions and a capable efficient numerical scheme

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Abstract: Microwave processing is one of the novel methods for combustion synthesis of intermetallic compounds and
composites. This method brings about a lot of opportunities for processing of uniquely characterized materials. In this
study, the combustion synthesis of TiAl/Al2O3 composite via microwave heating has been investigated by the
development of a heat transfer model including a microwave heating source term. The model was tested and verified
by experiments available in the literature. Parametric studies were carried out by the model to evaluate the effects of
such parameters as input power, sample aspect ratio, and porosity on the rate of process. The results showed that
higher input powers and sample volumes, as well as the use of bigger susceptors made the reaction enhanced. It was
also shown that a decrease in the porosity and aspect ratio of sample leads to the enhancement of the process.

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Electrochemical coating processes are significantly affected by applied magnetic fields due to the generation of electromagnetic forces. The present research work has been undertaken to study the effect of coating parameters such as current density and alumina concentration on the characteristics of Ni-Al2O3 composite coating under static magnetic field. Ni-Al2O3 composite coating was applied on a mild steel substrate using conventional Watts solution containing Al2O3 particles with and without magnetic field. The coating microstructure and Al2O3 particle density in the coating layer were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was found that the applied magnetic field made the coating structure finer and leads to the increases of the particle content in the coating. However, the results confirmed that the magnetic forces inversely affected the particle density in the coating at higher current density than that of normal coating process.

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Geometrical design of the spiral crystal selector can affect crystal orientation in the final single crystal structure. To achieve a better understanding of conditions associated with the onset of crystal orientation in a spiral crystal selector, temperature field was investigated using three-dimensional finite element method during the process. Different geometries of spiral crystal selector were used to produce Al- 3 wt. % Cu alloy single crystal using a Bridgman type furnace. The Crystal orientation of the samples was determined using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) and optical microscopy. Analysing the temperature field in the crystal selector revealed that, the orientation of growing dendrites against liquidus isotherm in the spiral selector was the reason for crystal misorientation which differs in various selector geometries. Increasing the take-off angle from 35° up to 45° increases the misorientation with respect to <001> direction. Further increase of take-off angle greater than 45° will decrease the crystal misorientation again and the efficiency of the selector to produce a single grain is decreased.

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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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Hot dip aluminizing was carried out on the low carbon steel rod under optimized conditions. The aluminized samples were further oxidized at 1000̊C in air atmosphere at two different times of 20 and 60 minutes. Microstructure study and phase analysis were studied by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction methods, respectively. The characterization of the coating showed that, Fe2 Al5 has been the major phase formed on the surface of specimen before heat treatment. Following the oxidation of the coating at high temperature, Al 2O3 was formed on the surface of coating while Fe 2 Al5 transformed into FeAl and Fe 3 Al which are favorable to the hot corrosion resistance of the coating. Corrosion resistance of aluminized samples before and after heat treatment was evaluated by rotating the samples in the molten aluminum at 700 ̊C for various times and the dissolution rate was determined. The obtained results showed that by oxidizing the coating at high temperature, the corrosion resistance of the samples in molten aluminum improves significantly.

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The evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties of a magnesium cast alloy (AZ31) processed by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at two different temperatures were investigated. The as-cast alloy with an average grain size of 360  was significantly refined to about 5  after four ECAP passes at 543 K. Grain refinement was achieved through dynamic recrystallization (DRX) during the ECAP process in which the formation of necklace-type structure and bulging of original grain boundaries would be the main mechanisms. ECAP processing at lower temperature resulted in finer recrystallized grains and also a more homogenous microstructure. The mechanical behavior was investigated at room temperature by tensile tests. The obtained results showed that the ECAP processing can basically improve both strength and ductility of the cast alloy. However, the lower working temperature led to higher yield and ultimate strength of the alloy.

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In this work, the different fuels (citric acid, glycine and urea) were used for solution combustion synthesis of CoFe₂O₄ powders. X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry techniques were employed for characterization of phase evolution, cation distribution, microstructure and magnetic properties of the as-combusted CoFe₂O₄ powders. Single phase CoFe₂O₄ powders with partially inverse structure in which the Co²⁺ cations are distributed in both tetrahedral and octahedral sites were synthesized by the citric acid, glycine and urea fuels. The as-combusted CoFe₂O₄ powders by the citric acid fuel exhibited the highest inversion coefficient. The crystallite size of the as-combusted CoFe₂O₄ powders synthesized by urea fuel was 15 nm, increased to 41 and 52 nm for the glycine and citric acid fuels, respectively. Furthermore, the solution combusted CoFe₂O₄ powders showed ferromagnetic behavior with saturation magnetization of 61.9, 63.6 and 41.6 emu/g for the citric acid, glycine and urea fuels, respectively. The high crystallinity and particle size of the as-combusted CoFe₂O₄ powders using glycine fuel led to the highest magnetization and the moderate coercivity.
 

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In this paper, the effect of two-step precipitation hardening on the mechanical properties of Al-3.7Cu-1Mg was investigated. For this meaning, some specimens were subjected to the first step aging at 175, 190 and 205°C for 2 h, once the samples solution treated at 500°C. To have stable precipitates uniformly distributed in the microstructure and to reduce the heat treatment time, the second step was implied at 65°C. The tensile and hardness tests were performed at ambient temperature immediately after aging. The results indicated that depending on the first step temperature, the second aging time affects the alloy mechanical behavior in different aspects. A factor named SNMP introduced to determine the cycle giving the best mechanical properties. The strength and elongation increase 1.5 and 2 times respectively; compared to the values reported in the DIN EN 755-2 standard by performing the two-step aging cycle, consisting of the first-stage at 175°C and the second step at 65°C for 10 hours. Moreover, using the proposed two-step aging, the heat treatment time was reduced considerably compared to the conventional precipitation hardening process.

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Cu-based alloys have a wide range of applications in the electronics industry, communications industry, welding industries, etc. Regarding the type and percentage of the second phase, changing in the alloying elements has a significant effect on the mechanical and electrical properties of copper composites. The aim of the present work is to synthesize, investigate, and compare the micro-structure, micro-hardness, and electrical properties of different Cu-based nanocomposites. For this purpose, Cu-Al, Cu-Al₂O₃, Cu-Cr, and Cu-Ti were fabricated via ball milling of copper with 1, 3, and 6 weight percentages. The vial speed was 350 rpm and the ball-to-powder weight ratio was kept at 15:1. The milling process was performed at different times in Argon. Next, the prepared composites were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Based on XRD patterns, crystallite size, lattice strain, and lattice constant were calculated by Rietveld refinement using Maud software. The results show a decrease of crystallite size, and an increase of the internal strain and lattice constant by rising the alloying elements in all composites. Then, the produced powders compressed via the cold press and annealed at 650˚C. Finally; the micro-hardness and the electrical resistance of the manufactured tablets were measured. The results of these analyses show that micro-hardness is increased by enhancement of the reinforcement material, due to the rising of the work hardening. Cu-6wt%Ti with 312 Vickers and Cu-1wt%Al₂O₃ with 78 Vickers had the highest and lowest micro-hardness, respectively. Moreover, the results of the electrical resistance indicate a dramatic rise in the electrical resistance by increasing the amount of alloying material, which Cu-1wt%Al with 0.26 Ω had the highest electrical conductivity.

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Solvent extraction of samarium from aqueous solutions by two different types of extractants, namely D2EHPA and PC88A, in kerosene was investigated. Through identification of speciation diagrams, the chemically stable complexes of samarium in different acidic solutions (H₂SO₄, HCl and HNO₃) were first investigated. Regarding the various types of samarium species in sulfate medium in comparison with other acidic environments, H₂SO₄ and HNO₃ media were chosen to examine the extraction behavior of samarium complexes. Thermodynamic parameters of samarium extraction reactions by D2EHPA and PC88A from aqueous solutions of HNO₃ and H₂SO₄ were calculated as ∆G^∘ (D2EHPA-HNO₃),  , ∆G^∘ (D2EHPA-H₂SO₄) , ∆G^∘ (PC88A-HNO₃), ∆G^∘ (PC88A-H₂SO₄)  equal to -5.58, 3.40, 6.70 and 14.26, and respective ΔHº values equal to -9.38, -2.75, 4.01 and 16.95 kJ/mol, respectively. According to the results, D2EHPA seemed to be a more efficient extractant than PC88A and nitric aqueous solution was a better media than the sulfuric one. The synergistic effect of binary extractants revealed that synergistic factors were 2.94 and 5.74 in sulfuric and nitric solutions, respectively, for a D2EHPA:PC88A ratio of 2:3. The compositions of extracted complexes by D2EHPA and PC88A in sulfuric and nitric solutions were SmH₃A₆ and SmH₃B₆, respectively. Thermodynamic parameters of extraction reactions were calculated to be K_e equal to 9.513, 0.254, 0.067, and 0.003 and ∆S^∘ (D2EHPA-HNO₃),  , ∆S^∘ (D2EHPA-H₂SO₄) , ∆S^∘ (PC88A-HNO₃), ∆S^∘ (PC88A-H₂SO₄) equal to -12.75, -20.64, -9.03, and 9.03 (J mol^-1), respectively.