Papers by Author: Daniele Ugues

Abstract: The Al-alloy die casting die is a sector where the operating environment imposes a very severe aggression to hot working tools. Steel grades for such application, techniques for their surface modification and specifically conceived lubricants are continuously improved so as to limit Al soldering. Within this scenario the interaction between lubricant and die surface and the effect of finishing levels of such surface is poorly studied. This paper deals with a study of the influence of dies surface roughness on the working behavior of a die casting lubricant and on surface damages of a tool steel grade. Tool steel samples were prepared for the research and two different levels of surface roughness (as polished and as finely sand blasted) were investigated. Apart from the base characterization of steels and surface, two specific test rigs were used to study the lubricant-tool steel surface-Al alloy interactions. One of test rig was devoted to study the coupling principles of tool die surface-lubricant, while the other test rig was used to perform a cyclic immersion test in molten Al-alloy. The derived data were compared to the experimental investigation of cracks and craters as provided by cycling with a correlation with the surface finishing level of samples.

Abstract: The laser surface remelting (LSR) process was successfully applied to restore localized corrosion resistance in sensitized stainless steel and also as a useful method to improve passivity of some martensitic stainless steels. The LSR process can be successfully applied to repair cracks and defects at the surface of highly thermo-mechanically loaded parts of stainless steel. The purpose of presented study was to evaluate the microstructure and properties of laser remelted surface of stainless steels. The wrought austenitic stainless steel and sintered in vacuum 316L type were studied. The laser treatment was performed with the use of high power diode laser (HPDL) and the influence of beam power of 0.7-2.1kW on the properties of the surface layer was evaluated. The geometrical characteristics and x-ray analysis of weld bead were studied as well as microhardness, surface roughness and corrosion resistance were measured. The increase of laser beam power of LSR resulted in the increase of hardness of sintered stainless steel due to the reduction of porosity and formation of fine dendritic and cellular-dendritic microstructure. The corrosion resistance of remelted surface increased for sintered materials, when remelted at 2.1kW. The wrought stainless steel revealed impairment of pitting corrosion when remelted at lower beam power rate.

Abstract: Metal/ceramic composite materials were produced with core/shell structure by traditional pressing and the influence of the compacting parameters on the material properties has been studied. Different quantities of ceramic have been introduced to coat the base stainless steel powder. The use of a new generation of coated powders gives the opportunity to achieve near net shape massive composite exhibiting a composite microstructure, with a uniform dispersion of ceramic hard particles embedded in the metal matrix. Sintering was carried out in vacuum and at temperatures typical of metal sintering process (1250 °C). Microstructures of produced samples have been investigated through the use of LOM and SEM. Hardness as well as tensile and bending tests have been performed.