Papers by Author: Dong Bin Wei

Abstract: The compressive strain hardening behaviour of a novel bimetal with pearlitic steel and low carbon steel was investigated by computational analysis based on the isothermal compression tests in a wide range of deformation temperature and strain rate. The Hollomon’s equation was employed to calculate the strain hardening exponent (SHE) with the assistance of mathematical manipulation. The result shows that the logarithmic relationship between the flow stress and plastic strain of the bimetal is highly non-linear, which results in the variation of the SHE of the bimetal. This variation reflects the dynamic competition between the strain hardening and softening mechanism by the varying value of the SHE in the range of 0.4 to-0.4. Furthermore, the influences of deformation temperature and strain rate on the SHE are significant. With decreasing temperature and increasing strain rate, the strain hardening of the bimetal was enhanced, while the dynamic recrystallisation was activated under the opposite conditions with the evidence of negative SHE value.

Abstract: Strip profile control during rolling is required to assure the dimensional quality of rolled thin strip is acceptable for customers. Throughout rolling, the strip profile is controlled by using the advanced shape control rolling mill, such as the combination of work roll crossing and shifting during asymmetrical rolling, the one of the valuable methods to control the strip profile quality in rolling process. In this paper, the influences of cold rolling parameters such as the crossing angle and axial shifting value of work rolls on the strip profile are analysed. The strip shape control is discussed under both symmetrical and asymmetrical rolling conditions. The obtained results are appropriate to control the rolled thin strip profile in practice.

Abstract: This investigation attempts to improve the wear resistance of low chromium white cast iron (LCCI) by thermomechanical treatment. The thermomechanical treatment of the brittle LCCI with crack-free was successfully carried out by bonding it with a ductile low carbon steel firstly. Afterwards the dry sliding wear behavior of as-cast (LCCI-A) and thermomechanically processed (LCCI-B) samples was studied using a pin-on-disc apparatus under different test conditions. The microstructural examination shows that the refined supercooled austenite and plenty of secondary carbides in LCCI-B replaced the original microstructure of martensite and retained austenite with network carbide in LCCI-A. This significant evolution is beneficial to form and stabilise the oxide layer on the substrate, which makes the oxidational wear rather than abrasive wear or delamination dominating the wear process so that the improvement of the wear resistance of LCCI was achieved by hot working.

Abstract: As limited results were reported in terms of the evolution of sliding friction with growth of oxide layer in thickness during running-in, a pin-on-disc wear test was carried out in this study. 4.8Ni-1.5Cr cast iron as core layer and low carbon steel as outer layers, were thermo-mechanically processed via three different routes. For samples with lower hardness due to their predominantly austenitic or martensite retarded matrices, we found that initially rapid increase of thickness of oxide layer continually lowers the sliding friction. However, after the oxide layer was beyond a certain thickness, the sliding friction began to increase consecutively. After a fluctuation of friction caused by the break-down of oxide, a mild equilibrium wear with roughly constant friction followed.

Abstract: Oxidation characteristics of a microalloyed low carbon steel were investigated by a hot rolling mill combined with acceleration cooling system over the cooling rate range from 20 to 70°C/s. The effects of cooling rate after hot rolling on microstructure and phase composition of oxide scale were examined. The results showed that the increase of the cooling rate has a significant influence on the decrease of the grain size and surface roughness of oxide scale. A higher cooling rate promotes the formation of retain wustite and primary magnetite precipitation while suppression of eutectoid α-iron precipitates. This provides the possibility to enhance potential contribution of magnetite precipitates with preferable ductility, and hence fabricates a desired oxide-scale structure under continuous post cooling conditions considering a suitable cooling rate.

Abstract: High temperature oxidation of ferritic stainless steel 21Cr-0.6Mo-Nb-Ti was carried out isothermally at 1100 oC under different water vapour content conditions in an electrical furnace. Water vapour does accelerate the formation of oxide scale of stainless steel 21Cr-0.6Mo-Nb-Ti, however, it is not significant. Some oxide grains consist of spinel crystal structure, which should be spinel Manganese Chromite. In dry air atmosphere, the grain of the spinel is more and bigger than that in wet air. No breakaway oxidation occurs in the experiment indicating that 21Cr-0.6Mo-Nb-Ti has very high oxidation resistance, which might be contributed by the formation of MnCr₂O₄ and compact protective chromia. In addition, continuous silica formed along and accumulated at the oxide metal interface performs like a diffusion barrier.

Abstract: Quantitative investigation is made on the elemental segregation in different zones of a heavy microalloyed cast steel by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. It is demonstrated that C shows serious segregation tendency than that of Mn and Si, and the degree of C segregation in the surface zone is higher than that in the central zone. C enrichment is generally observed at both dendrite arm and grain boundaries, and more C segregation at dendrite arm boundary in contrast to that at grain boundary is found in this steel. The distribution of C concentration shows a decreased trend from root to tip along the dendrite arm boundary. The C concentration at trigeminal boundary intersection shows higher level than that at other position of the grain boundaries.

Abstract: Uniformity of microstructure and mechanical properties is required for the heavy section steel. In the present work, a heavy section wind tower flange was manufactured by controlled ring-rolling. Post-rolling heat treatment was employed to optimize the microstructure and mechanical properties. The chemical composition, microstructure and mechanical properties in different zones of the flange were investigated. The results showed that the chemical composition and microstructure were uniformly distributed in the flange. The tensile strength showed similar values in different sampling locations. The strain and impact energies of specimens prepared along the longitudinal direction were higher than that prepared along both the radius and thickness directions. Notch direction did not have noticeable effect on the impact energy. It is demonstrated that the designed process is effective for producing heavy section steel with improved quality.

Abstract: The process of twin-roll casting including pouring, solidifying, rolling and cooling can be accomplished in a very short time. Consequently, some important process parameters in the twin-roll casting that are difficult to be obtained in experiment can be acquired using numerical simulation. In this paper, a numerical simulation based on a 2D finite element model of vertical twin-roll strip casting of magnesium alloy has been conducted, and the thermal stress fields are significantly discussed. The influences of key process parameters consisting of submerged nozzle depth and nozzle spray angle have been studied. The thermal cracks on the surface of the strip are analysed according to the thermal stress distribution.

Abstract: Precipitation behavior of magnetite particles in the thermal grown oxide scale during isothermal cooling of microalloyed low carbon steel was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thin film X-ray. The oxide scale was generated from Gleeble 3500 Thermal Mechanical Simulator connected with a humid air generator, to simulate 550 and 450C isothermal treatments. Several types of magnetite precipitates were observed during different cooling processes with respect to the possible mechanisms of precipitation have been discussed. It is found that magnetite particles is as a result of pro-eutectoid precipitation from oxygen-rich wustite, and also as a product of the partial decomposition of wustite during the cooling process due to change of oxygen concentration and migration of iron ions. Furthermore, microalloyed elements in steel reduce the stability of wustite thereby facilitate the precipitation process, whose products of multi-phase oxide finally determine the adhesive strength of oxide scale and steel substrate.