Metals, Volume 10, Issue 1 (January 2020) – 155 articles

Increasing the removal efficiency of impurities during non-equilibrium solidification of hypereutectic Al-Si alloy remains a great challenge for the upgrading of metallurgical silicon (MG-Si) to solar grade Si (SOG-Si). Hence, a manageable method was provided to enhance the segregation behavior of impurities at the interface front of primary Si/Al-Si melt by introducing a rotating magnetic field (RMF) in the present work. Experimental results showed that electromagnetic stirring can improve the removal efficiency of impurities while achieving the separation of primary Si. The apparent segregation coefficients of the major impurities Fe, Ti, Ca, Cu, B and P were reduced to 7.5 × 10⁻⁴, 4.6 × 10⁻³, 7.9 × 10⁻³, 3.5 × 10⁻³, 0.1 and 0.16, respectively, under RMF of 25 mT and cooling rate of 2.5 °C/min. We confirmed that improving the transport driving force of impurities in the growth interface front of primary Si is an effective way to improve the segregation behavior of impurities, which would bring us one step closer to exploiting the economic potential of the Al-Si alloy solidification refining. Full article

Additive manufacturing is a technology that enables the repair and coating of high-added-value parts. In applications such as hot stamping, the thermal behavior of the material is essential to ensure the proper operation of the manufactured part. Therefore, the effective thermal diffusivity of the material needs to be evaluated. In the present work, the thermal diffusivity of laser-deposited AISI H13 is measured experimentally using flash and lock-in thermography. Because of the fast cooling rate that characterizes the additive process and the associated grain refinement, the effective thermal diffusivity of the laser-deposited AISI H13 is approximately 15% lower than the reference value of the cast AISI H13. Despite the directional nature of the process, the laser-deposited material’s thermal diffusivity behavior is found to be isotropic. The paper also presents a case study that illustrates the impact of considering the effective thermal conductivity of the deposited material on the hot stamping process. Full article

This paper outlines our effort to optimize PMO (Pulsed Magneto-Oscillation) design in order to improve the efficiency of ingot manufacturing. SPMO-H (Simplified Surface Pulse Magneto-Oscillation) and CPMO-H (Simplified Compound Pulse Magneto-Oscillation) were presented on the basis of SPMO (Surface Pulse Magneto-Oscillation) and CPMO (Compound Pulse Magneto-Oscillation). Our numerical and experimental results showed that optimized PMO coil design offered us a device that enabled the operator to examine and operate the melt more convenient without losing the efficiency and decreasing refinement effect. Our work also showed the distance between the coil and the melt surface had little effect on the grain sizes refined. Therefore, in ingot production, the dropping of melt surface is not a problem for PMO application. Full article

This article summarizes the development of laser peening without coating (LPwC) during the recent quarter century. In the mid-1990s, the study of LPwC was initiated in Japan. The objective at that time was to mitigate stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of structural components in operating nuclear power reactors (NPRs) by inducing compressive residual stresses (RSs) on the surface of susceptible components. Since the components in NPRs are radioactive and cooled underwater, full-remote operation must be attained by using lasers of water-penetrable wavelength without any surface preparation. Compressive RS was obtained on the top-surface by reducing pulse energy less than 300 mJ and pulse duration less than 10 ns, and increasing pulse density (number of pulses irradiated on unit area). Since 1999, LPwC has been applied in NPRs as preventive maintenance against SCC using frequency-doubled Q-switched Nd:YAG lasers (λ = 532 nm). To extend the applicability, fiber-delivery of intense laser pulses was developed in parallel and has been used in NPRs since 2002. Early first decade of the 2000s, the effect extending fatigue life was demonstrated even if LPwC increased surface roughness of the components. Several years ago, it was confirmed that 10 to 20 mJ pulse energy is enough to enhance fatigue properties of weld joints of a structural steel. Considering such advances, the development of 20 mJ-class palmtop-sized handheld lasers was initiated in 2014 in a five-year national program, ImPACT under the cabinet office of the Japanese government. Such efforts would pave further applications of LPwC, for example maintenance of infrastructure in the field, beyond the horizons of the present laser systems. Full article

The use of titanium bone fixation plates is considered the standard of care for skeletal reconstructive surgery. Highly stiff titanium bone fixation plates provide immobilization immediately after the surgery. However, after the bone healing stage, they may cause stress shielding and lead to bone resorption and failure of the surgery. Stiffness-modulated or stiffness-matched Nitinol bone fixation plates that are fabricated via additive manufacturing (AM) have been recently introduced by our group as a long-lasting solution for minimizing the stress shielding and the follow-on bone resorption. Up to this point, we have modeled the performance of Nitinol bone fixation plates in mandibular reconstruction surgery and investigated the possibility of fabricating these implants. In this study, for the first time the realistic design of stiffness-modulated Nitinol bone fixation plates is presented. Plates with different levels of stiffness were fabricated, mechanically tested, and used for verifying the design approach. Followed by the design verification, to achieve superelastic bone fixation plates we proposed the use of Ni-rich Nitinol powder for the AM process and updated the models based on that. Superelastic Nitinol bone fixation plates with the extreme level of porosity were fabricated, and a chemical polishing procedure used to remove the un-melted powder was developed using SEM analysis. Thermomechanical evaluation of the polished bone fixation plates verified the desired superelasticity based on finite element (FE) simulations, and the chemical analysis showed good agreement with the ASTM standard. Full article

The corrosion behaviour of Mg98.5-Nd1-Zn0.5 (at. %) alloy was studied in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution to evaluate its degradation performance as a potential candidate for biomedical applications. The alloy, produced by casting and hot extrusion, consists of a fine-grained magnesium matrix with an average grain size of 3.8 μm embedding a high volume fraction of (Mg, Zn)₁₂Nd precipitates. Hydrogen release tests revealed a stable low corrosion rate of 0.6 mm/year after 24 h of immersion. Electrochemical testing data proved good correlation with the data from hydrogen evolution, with the corrosion rate stabilizing below 1 mm/year. Full article

Metal matrix syntactic foams (MMSF) are foam composites obtained by filling hollow and/or porous particles into a metal matrix. MMSF are promising materials in defense, aerospace, automotive, marine and engineering applications. Mechanical and physical properties of MMSF can be tailored to reach better structural and/or functional behaviors by fitting processing and tailoring parameters. Some of these parameters are: reinforcement size, volume fraction, distribution of reinforcements and chemical composition. Three techniques are available to manufacture MMSF: Stir casting/vortex method (SC), powder metallurgy (P/M) and infiltration routes. Infiltration process is by far the main employed for making MMSF, it allows a large range of reinforcement (30 vol % to 78 vol %) and offers great advantages compared to other techniques. This paper reviews infiltration routes used to date, their advantages and drawbacks, the main processing parameters of each route, and a relation of representative studies developed to date on the synthesizing of MMSF by molten infiltration processes. Full article

Several open issues remain concerning the quantitative understanding of irradiation hardening in high-Cr steels. One of these issues is addressed here by correlating yield points that are observed in stress-strain curves with dislocation decoration observed by TEM for neutron-irradiated Fe-Cr alloys. It is found that both higher neutron exposure and higher Cr content promote irradiation-induced loops to arrange preferentially along dislocation lines. Consequently, the activation of dislocation sources requires unlocking from the decorating loops, thus resulting in a yield drop. This process is considered within the source hardening model as opposed to the dispersed barrier hardening model, the latter aimed to describe dislocation slip through a random array of obstacles. Microstructure-informed estimates of the unlocking stress are compared with measured values of the upper yield stress. As functions of neutron exposure, a cross-over from the dominance of dispersed-barrier hardening accompanied by smooth elastic-plastic transitions to the dominance of source hardening accompanied by yield drops is observed for Fe-9% Cr and Fe-12% Cr. Full article

Trace element arsenic is detrimental to the quality and properties of steel products. We used lanthanum to modify the distribution of arsenic by the formation of arsenic rare earth inclusions and investigated all inclusions on the full profile of the ingots prepared in the laboratory. The results show that the addition of lanthanum has dramatically influenced the distribution of arsenic in the ingots by the formation of arsenic inclusions. The arsenic inclusions turn out to be mainly the cluster-shaped La-S-As, as well as its composite inclusions combined with LaS and La-As. La-S-As can be considered a solid solution of LaS and LaAs. They distribute mainly at the top surface of the ingots within 3 mm, at the side and bottom surfaces within 1.5 mm, leading to a dramatic decrease of arsenic concentration at the inner part of the ingots. This distribution characteristic of La-S-As can be used to manufacture steel ingots with very low arsenic concentration by peeling off these (La-S-As)-containing layers. On the contrary, the distribution of composite inclusions (La-S-As)-(La-As) and single-phase La-As, is uniform. Except for the reaction with arsenic, lanthanum can also react with phosphorous and antimony to modify the existing state of these trace elements. Full article

In this study, Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy was refill friction spot welded, and the precipitates, dislocation, recovery, and recrystallization characteristics were focused. In the stir zone (SZ), continues dynamic recrystallization occurs under the intense plastic deformation. All the original GP (II) zones and η’ precipitates dissolved into the aluminum matrix under the welding heat input, and the stable η and E precipitates remained. In the thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ), high-density dislocations and subgrains boundaries can be observed. The continued dynamic recrystallization was not activated and only dynamic recovery occurs. Sub-boundaries and high-density dislocations in this zone can be observed. In this zone, the η precipitates are coarsened and dissolution is the main evolution mechanism for the GP (II) zones and η’ precipitates. In the heat-affected zone (HAZ), no dislocation was induced and all the initial precipitates were coarsened under the welding heat input. The HAZ, the TMAZ, and the SZ constitute a soft region in the refill friction stir spot welding (RFSSW) joint, and the minimum value located at the interface between the HAZ and the TMAZ. Full article

The use of aluminum alloy AA2024-T4 (Russian designation D16T) in applications requiring a high strength-to-weight ratio and fatigue resistance such as aircraft fuselage often demands the control and modification of surface properties. A promising route to surface conditioning of Al alloys is laser treatment. In the present work, the formation of ripples and conical microstructures under scanning with femtosecond (fs) laser pulses was investigated. Laser treatment was performed using 250 fs pulses of a 1033 nm Yb:YAG laser. The fluence of the pulses varied from 5 to 33 J/cm². The scanning was repeated from 1 to 5 times for different areas of the sample. Treated areas were evaluated using focused ion beam (FIB)- scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging and sectioning, energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and confocal laser profilometry. The period of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) and the average spacing of conical microstructures were deduced from SEM images by FFT. Unevenness of the treated areas was observed that is likely to have been caused by ablation debris. The structural and elemental changes of the material inside the conical microstructures was revealed by FIB-SEM and EDX. The underlying formation mechanisms of observed structures are discussed in this paper. Full article

There is an increase in reducing the weight of structures through the use of aluminium alloys in different industries like aerospace, automotive, etc. This growing interest will lead towards using dissimilar aluminium alloys which will require welding. Currently, tungsten inert gas welding and friction stir welding are the well-known techniques suitable for joining dissimilar aluminium alloys. The welding of dissimilar alloys has its own dynamics which impact on the quality of the weld. This then suggests that there should be a process which can be used to improve the welds of dissimilar alloys post their production. Friction stir processing is viewed as one of the techniques that could be used to improve the mechanical properties of a material. This paper reports on the status and the advancement of friction stir welding, tungsten inert gas welding and the friction stir processing technique. It further looks at the variation use of friction stir processing on tungsten inert gas and friction stir welded joints with the purpose of identifying the knowledge gap. Full article

In this work, the influences of a magnetic field of 2.4 T on the macro residual stress and the status of structural defects, including grain boundaries, dislocations and the Fe-rich clusters of Ti-6Al-4V were investigated by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) and magnetic measurement. The XRD test results show that the applied magnetic field can cause the relaxation and homogenization of macro residual stress. The maps of Kernel Average Misorientation (KAM) values obtained by EBSD tests present a significant dislocation multiplication caused by a magnetic field, and the rise of dislocation density was estimated to be about 32% by XRD tests. The EBSD test results also show an increase in the fraction of Coincidence Site Lattice (CSL) grain boundaries and a decrease in the fraction of low-angle grain boundaries. The results of magnetic measurement show that Ti-6Al-4V has mixed magnetism consisting of paramagnetism and weak ferromagnetism, and that the ferromagnetic saturation magnetization decreased after exposing the alloy to the magnetic field, which suggests the dissolution of the Fe-rich clusters in the alloy. These magnetically-induced changes are related to magnetoplastic effects, a kind of phenomena on which there have been some research, and the possible mechanism of them is discussed in this paper. Full article

Previous studies on the safety of gas-cooled high-temperature reactors (HTR) have analyzed the corrosion and oxidation behavior of the primary circuit components under normal and accident conditions. Through the use of graphite components, graphite particles can be formed by mechanical and chemical means whose influence on the structural change of metal surfaces must be analyzed in a comprehensive manner. The dust resuspension and deposition in tank geometry (DRESDEN-TANK) test facility was set up to thermally anneal metallic samples (Alloy 800H, Inconel 617) loaded with graphite particles under typical HTR conditions (helium, 750 °C, 6 MPa) for the investigation of interactions over a long-term range. In addition to the carrying out of a description of the processes occurring on the material surface, the gaseous reaction products have been analyzed. The results show that the presence of graphite particles in the near-surface layer has a significant impact on corrosion processes due to thermally-induced interactions. In this case iron and chromium are degraded in the metallic alloys, which leads to a structural change in the near-surface layer. Furthermore, the graphite particles significantly influence the formation of the oxide layers on the alloys; for example, they influence the formation speed of the layer and the layer height. The originally deposited particles thus exhibit a chemically-altered composition and a different geometric shape. Full article

AZ31 magnesium alloy joints obtained by friction stir welding with rotation speed of 1400 rpm and welding speed of 200 mm/min were subsequently subjected to the three-point bending process. The bending behavior, microstructure evolution and twinning mechanism were investigated. The results indicate that the stress-strain curve appeared as power-law shape during tension and the stress-strain curve appeared as work hardening shape during compression. However, the stress-strain curve during bending is different and macrographs of face and base bending indicated that the severe strain localization was present during bending of FSWed AZ31 magnesium alloy joint. Three concave regions formed due to texture distribution and stress state in the weld zone. In those regions, the grains had favorable orientation with c-axis parallel to the direction of tensile stress and abundant twins were activated. It can be proved by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis—two twinning mechanisms were activated during bending—that is, ~56° { $10\overline{1}1$ } contraction twin and ~86° { $10\overline{1}2$ } expansion twin, in which { $10\overline{1}2$ } twinning was main plastic deformation mechanism of joint and the number of twins was proportional to the compressive stress in corresponding areas. The twinning resulted in lattice rotation about 86° around < $1\overline{2}10$ > direction and changed the orientation distribution of original crystal. Full article

Hot stamping process is widely used in the manufacture of the high strength automotive steel, mainly including the stamping and quenching process of the hot-formed steel. In the hot stamping process, the steel is heated above the critical austenitizing temperature, and then it is rapidly stamped in the mold and the quenching phase transition occurs at the same time. The quenching operation in the hot stamping process has a significant influence on the phase transition and mechanical properties of the hot-stamping steel. A proper quenching technique is quite important to control the microstructure and properties of an ultra-high strength hot-stamping steel. In this paper, considering the factors of the austenitizing temperature, the austenitizing time and the cooling rate, a coupled model on the thermal homogenization and phase transition from austenite to martensite in quenching process was established for production of ultra-high strength hot-stamping steel. The temperature variation, the austenite decomposition and martensite formation during quenching process was simulated. At the same time, the microstructure and the properties of the ultra-high strength hot-stamping steel after quenching at different austenitizing temperature were experimental studied. The results show that under the conditions of low cooling rate, the final quenching microstructure of the ultra-high strength hot-stamping steel includes martensite, residual austenite, bainite and ferrite. With the increase of the cooling rate, bainite and ferrite gradually disappear. While austenitizing at 930 °C, the tensile strength, yield strength, elongation and strength-ductility product of the hot-stamping steel are 1770.1 MPa, 1128.2 MPa, 6.72% and 11.9 GPa%, respectively. Full article

The mechanisms behind the carbon enrichment of austenite during quenching and partitioning are still a matter of debate. This work investigates the microstructural evolution during the quenching and partitioning of a model Fe–C–Mn–Si alloy by means of in situ high energy X-ray diffraction (HEXRD) atom probe tomography, and image analysis. The ultra-fast time-resolved quantitative information about phase transformations coupled with image analysis highlights the formation of carbide-free BCT bainite, which is formed within a very short range during the reheating and partitioning step. Its transformation rate, which is a better indicator than the intrinsic volume fraction, depends on the quenching temperature (QT). It is shown to decrease with decreasing QT, from 45% at QT = 260 °C to 20% at QT = 200 °C. As a consequence, a significant part of the carbon enrichment observed in austenite can be attributed to bainite transformation. Furthermore, a large part of carbon was shown to be trapped into martensite. Both the formation of Fe_2.6C iron carbides and the segregation of carbon on lath boundaries in martensite were highlighted by atom probe tomography. The energy for carbon segregation was determined to be 0.20 eV, and the carbon concentration on the lath boundaries was obtained to be around 25 at %. Therefore, the carbon enrichment of austenite is the result of competitive reactions such as carbon partitioning from martensite, bainite transformation, and carbon trapping in martensite. Full article

The current work systematically investigated the microstructure, texture evolution, and mechanical properties of MDFed Mg-13Gd-4Y-2Zn-0.5Zr (wt%) alloy (GWZ) on the condition of high and low temperature cycle deformation. The high and low temperature cycle deformation was proposed on the basis of the conventional multi-directional forging (MDF) at decreasing temperature and annealing treatment. As a new method, it was aimed to timely uniform the microstructure and strengthen magnesium (Mg) matrix during the deformation process. A low accumulative strain of 3 after 1 pass resulted in a bimodal microstructure with undynamic recrystallized (unDRXed) regions and dynamic recrystallized (DRXed) grains, while a high accumulative strain of 12 after 4 passes lead to a homogeneous microstructure with fine DRXed grains. According to the experimental results, it indicated that the average grain size of 63 μm after homogenization treatment at 520 was refined remarkably to 5.20 μm after 4 passes at 420 °C through high and low temperature cycle deformation. The area fraction of DRXed grains was increased to 98.4%, which can be regarded as achieving complete DRX after 4 passes. The grain refinement was mainly caused by particle stimulation nucleation (PSN) and mechanism. As the MDF passes and accumulative strain increased, the basal texture was weakened and transformed from a strong basal texture to a random distribution gradually. Compared with conventional MDF at decreasing temperature, the mechanical properties were enhanced effectively. After 4 passes, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), tensile yield strength (TYS), and failure elongation (FE) were 405 MPa, 305 MPa, and 13.1%, respectively. Full article

The knowledge of the flow behavior of metallic alloys subjected to hot forming operations has particular interest for metallurgists in the practice of industrial forming processes involving high temperatures (e.g., rolling, forging, and/or extrusion operations). Dynamic recrystallisation (DRX) occurs during high temperature forming over a wide range of metals and alloys, and it is known to be a powerful tool that can be used to control the microstructure and mechanical properties. Therefore, it is important to know, particularly in low stacking fault energy materials, the precise time at which DRX is available to act. Under a constant strain rate condition, and for a given temperature, such a time is defined as a critical strain (ε_c). Unfortunately, this critical value is not always directly measurable on the flow curve; as a result, different methods have been developed to derive it. Focused on carbon and microalloyed steels subjected to laboratory-scale testing, in the present work, the state of art on the critical strain for the initiation of DRX is reviewed and summarized. A review of the different methods and expressions for assessing the critical strain is also included. The collected data are well suited to feeding constitutive models and computational codes. Full article

Jerky flow in alloys, or the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect, presents an outstanding example of self-organization phenomena in plasticity. Recent acoustic emission investigations revealed that its microscopic dynamics is governed by scale invariance manifested as power-law statistics of intermittent events. As the macroscopic stress serrations show both scale invariance and characteristic scales, the micro-macro transition is an intricate question requiring an assessment of intermediate behaviors. The first attempt of such an investigation is undertaken in the present paper by virtue of a one-dimensional (1D) local extensometry technique and statistical analysis of time series. The data obtained complete the missing link and bear evidence to a coexistence of characteristic large events and power laws for smaller events. The scale separation is interpreted in terms of the phenomena of self-organized criticality and synchronization in complex systems. Furthermore, it is found that both the stress serrations and local strain-rate bursts agree with the so-called fluctuation scaling related to general mathematical laws and unifying various specific mechanisms proposed to explain scale invariance in diverse systems. Prospects of further investigations including the duality manifested by a wavy spatial organization of the local bursts of plastic deformation are discussed. Full article

The utilization of CO₂ neutral carbon instead of fossil carbon is one way to mitigate CO₂ emissions in the steel industry. Using reactive reducing agent, e.g., bio-coal (pre-treated biomass) in iron ore composites for the blast furnace can also enhance the self-reduction. The current study aims at investigating the self-reduction behavior of bio-coal containing iron ore composites under inert conditions and simulated blast furnace thermal profile. Composites with and without 10% bio-coal and sufficient amount of coke breeze to keep the C/O molar ratio equal to one were mixed and Portland cement was used as a binder. The self-reduction of composites was investigated by thermogravimetric analyses under inert atmosphere. To explore the reduction progress in each type of composite vertical tube furnace tests were conducted in nitrogen atmosphere up to temperatures selected based on thermogravimetric results. Bio-coal properties as fixed carbon, volatile matter content and ash composition influence the reduction of iron oxide. The reduction of the bio-coal containing composites begins at about 500 °C, a lower temperature compared to that for the composite with coke as only carbon source. The hematite was successfully reduced to metallic iron at 850 °C by using bio-coal, whereas with coke as a reducing agent temperature up to 1100 °C was required. Full article

The present work introduces the role of heterogeneous microstructure in enhancing the nucleation density of reversed austenite. It was found that the novel pre-annealing produced a heterogeneous microstructure consisting of alloying elements-enriched martensite and alloying-depleted intercritical ferrite. The shape of the martensite at the prior austenite grain boundary was equiaxed and acicular at inter-laths. The equiaxed reversed austenite had a K-S orientation with adjacent prior austenite grain, and effectively refined the prior austenite grain that it grew into. The alloying elements-enriched martensite provided additional nucleation sites to form equiaxed reversed austenite at both prior austenite grain boundaries and intragranular inter-lath boundaries during re-austenitization. It was revealed that prior austenite grain size was refined to ~12 μm by pre-annealing and quenching, while it was ~30 μm by conventional quenching. This is a practical way of refining transformation products by refining prior austenite grain size to improve the strength, ductility and low temperature toughness of heavy-gage plate steel. Full article

Rare earth-bearing gypsum tailings from the fertilizer industry are a potential source for an economically viable and sustainable production of rare earth elements. Large quantities are generated inter alia in Catalão, Brazil, as a by-product in a fertilizer production plant. Hitherto, the gypsum has been used as soil conditioner in agriculture or was dumped. The cooperative project, “Catalão Monazite: Economical exploitation of rare earth elements from monazite-bearing secondary raw materials,” intends to extract rare earth elements from these gypsum tailings. In this paper, a chemical process route to obtain a mixed rare earth carbonate from a monazite concentrate, was investigated. The results of the digestion, leaching, and precipitation experiments are presented and discussed herein. This includes reagent choice, process parameter optimization through experimental design, mineralogical characterization of the feed material and residues, purification of the leach solution, and precipitation of the rare earth as carbonates. The results showed that a rare earth extraction of about 90% without the mobilization of key impurities is possible during a sulfuric acid digestion with two heating stages and subsequent leaching with water. In the following purification step, the remaining impurities were precipitated with ammonium solution and the rare earth elements were successfully recovered as carbonates with a mixture of ammonium solution and ammonium bicarbonate. Full article

The 6061-T6 aluminum (Al) alloys was joined by the laser induced tungsten inert gas (TIG) hybrid welding technique. It mainly studied the influences of welding parameters, solution, and aging (STA) treatment on the microstructure and tensile properties of Al alloy hybrid welding joints. Microstructures of the joints were also analyzed by optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Results showed that the laser induced arc hybrid welding source changed the microstructure of the fusion zone and heat effect zone. STA treatment effectively improved the mechanical properties of the softening area in the hybrid welding joint, whose values of the tensile strength and elongation were on average 286 MPa and 20.5%. The distribution of the reinforcement phases and dislocations distributed were more uniform, which improved the property of STA treated joint. Full article

Nickel laterite ore is divided into three layers and the garnierite examined in this study belongs to the third layer. Garnierite is characterized by high magnesium and silicon contents. The main contents of garnierite are silicates, and nickel, iron, and magnesium exist in silicates in the form of lattice exchange. Silicate minerals are difficult to destroy so are suitable for smelting using high-temperature pyrometallurgy. To solve the problem of the large amounts of slag produced and the inability to recycle the magnesium in the traditional pyrometallurgical process, we propose a vacuum carbothermal reduction and magnetic separation process to recover nickel, iron, and magnesium from garnierite, and the behavior of the additive CaF₂ in the reduction process was investigated. Experiments were conducted under pressures ranging from 10 to 50 Pa with different proportions of CaF₂ at different temperatures. The experimental data were obtained by various methods, such as thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. The analysis results indicate that CaF₂ directly reacted with Mg₂SiO₄, MgSiO₃, Ni₂SiO₄, and Fe₂SiO₄, which were isolated from the bearing minerals, to produce low-melting-point compounds (FeF₂, MgF₂, NiF₂, etc.) at 1315 and 1400 K. This promoted the conversion of the raw materials from a solid–solid reaction to a liquid–liquid reaction, accelerating the mass transfer and the heat transfer of Fe–Ni particles, and formed Si–Ni–Fe alloy particles with diameters of approximately of 20 mm. The smelting materials appeared stratified, hindering the reduction of magnesium. The results of the experiments indicate that at 1723 K, the molar ratio of ore/C was 1:1.2, the addition of CaF₂ was 3%, the recovery of Fe and Ni reached 82.97% and 98.21% in the vacuum carbothermal reduction–magnetic separation process, respectively, and the enrichment ratios of Fe and Ni were maximized, reaching 3.18 and 9.35, respectively. Full article

Metal combustion is one of the main issues threatening service safety in oxygen-enriched atmospheres, leading to unexpected explosions in rocket engines. This paper reviews the recent development of metals combustion in oxygen-enriched atmospheres. Test methods under three typical conditions and combustion behaviors of three typical metals are mainly discussed. The microstructures of the combustion areas of tested samples in stainless steels, nickel superalloys, and titanium alloys are similar, containing an oxide zone, a melting zone, and a heat-affected zone. The development trend of metal combustion in oxygen-enriched atmospheres in the future is also forecasted. Full article

A key aspect of the seismic design of structures is the distribution of the lateral strength, because it governs the distribution of the cumulative plastic strain energy (i.e., the damage) among the stories. The lateral shear strength of a story i is commonly normalized by the upward weight of the building and expressed by a shear force coefficient α_i. The cumulative plastic strain energy in a given story i can be normalized by the product of its lateral strength and yield displacement, and expressed by a plastic deformation ratio η_i. The distribution α_i/α₁ that makes η_i equal in all stories is called the optimum yield-shear force distribution. It constitutes a major aim of design; a second aim is to achieve similar ductility demand in all stories. This paper proposes a new approach for deriving the optimum yield-shear force coefficient distribution of structures without underground stories and equipped with metallic dampers. It is shown, both numerically and experimentally, that structures designed with the proposed distribution fulfil the expected response in terms of both damage distribution and inter-story drift demand. Moreover, a comparison with other distributions described in the literature serves to underscore the advantages of the proposed approach. Full article

In situ synthesized TiB whiskers (TiBw) reinforced Ti-15Mo-3Al-2.7Nb-0.2Si alloys were successfully manufactured by pre-sintering and canned hot extrusion via adding TiB₂ powders. During pre-sintering, most TiB₂ were reacted with Ti atoms to produce TiB. During extrusion, the continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) of β grains was promoted with the rotation of TiBw, and CDRXed grains were strongly inhibited by TiBw with hindering dislocation motion. Eventually, the grain sizes of composites decreased obviously. Furthermore, the stress transmitted from the matrix to TiBw for strengthening in a tensile test, besides grain refinement. Meanwhile, the fractured TiBw and microcracks around them contributed to fracturing. Full article