Papers by Author: Jong Hoon Lee

Abstract: In Zr-Cu-Ni-Al bulk metallic glasses where there are no dislocations, localized plastic deformation in shear bands occurs largely by the formation and migration of defects such as voids, micropores, shear bands and local variations in composition. Thus, the investigation on defects is critical for the understanding and improvement of plastic deformation in metallic glasses. In this study, microstructures and nano defects in the Zr-Cu-Ni-Al BMGs are characterized by variety of techniques, such as X-ray diffractometry, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron holography.

Abstract: The formation of hollow zinc oxide has been studied by oxidation and subsequent thermal treatment of nanometer-sized zinc particles using in-situ TEM. The zinc particles produced under UHV condition were exposed to air at room temperature for 0.6 ks, which resulted in the formation of oxide layer with thickness of 3 nm. Subsequent heating inside UHV chamber of TEM induced the evaporation of the inner zinc, which resulted in the formation of hollow zinc oxide. The produced hollow zinc oxide had the wurtzite structure. Based upon the vapor pressure of the inner zinc, it seems reasonable to consider that the internal zinc vapor leaks away through the interface between the oxide layer and the amorphous carbon film used as a supporting substrate.

Abstract: Zr62Cu17Ni13Al8 in the supercooled liquid state is expected to be micro-formable at a relatively low stress. We used X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and quantitative high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) to investigate the microstructures of Zr62Cu17Ni13Al8 amorphous alloy after compression test. The alloy exhibited the homogeneous amorphous microstructure with some crystalline phases dispersed in the matrix. According to the XRD results, under the certain strain rate in the supercooled liquid state, the alloy showed higher crystallization at the higher heat treatment temperature. However, at the same heat treatment temperature, the alloy deformed under low strain rate showed higher crystallization. The β crystalline phase particles with spherical shape were detected by SEM and TEM. The sample with higher strain rate and temperature showed longer shear bands. Nano-voids formed by the coalescence of excess free volume in shear bands were investigated by quantitative HRTEM. Compared with the undeformed area, in the shear band, nanovoids were identified in the deformed area through quantitative HRTEM simulation.

Abstract: The influence of nitriding type and condition on the thermal crack propagation behavior of hot work die steel was investigated. Thermal fatigue tests were carried out using a special apparatus, which is consisted of induction heating and water spray cooling unit. The sum of crack length per unit specimen length, Lm is proposed as an index representing the susceptibility to crack propagation. The Lm values of the gas and ion nitrided specimens were lower than that of as-heat treated specimen. But in the case of maximum and average crack length of nitrided specimen was higher than those of as-heat treated specimen. The nitrogen diffusion layer still remained although the oxide scale was formed and fell off during thermal fatigue test. After 1000 cycles of the thermal fatigue test, the interior region of nitrided specimen showed lower hardness by softening. In particular, ion nitrided specimens of relatively less softening condition showed reduction both the depth and number of cracks compared with the other surface conditions.

Abstract: It is well known that the main failure mechanisms in die-casting mould are heat checking due to thermal fatigue and melt-out caused by chemical reaction between die and molten alloys. Thermal fatigue tests were carried out using the thermal cycle simulator to establish the proper method to estimate the thermal fatigue resistance of hot die steel. In this study, the thermal shock tester consisted of induction heating and water spray cooling unit was constructed to evaluate thermal crack propagation resistance and the sum of crack length per unit specimen length, Lm is proposed as the index representing the susceptibility to crack initiation and propagation. Also, new concept of measurement for the melt-out behavior was suggested. AISI H13 hot work tool steel was solution treated and tempered at various temperatures, to control the hardness and toughness that have effect on the behavior of thermal crack propagation. The result of thermal fatigue test showed that there is optimum value of hardness and impact energy to maximize the thermal crack propagation resistance. The influence of nitriding on melt-out resistance was also investigated. The dissolution rate due to melt-out phenomenon tended to be smaller for thicker compound layer. Furthermore, the resistance to melt-out was affected by the compound layer thickness rather than that of diffusion layer. The results of the both tests properly reflect the effect of materials properties on failure modes of die-casting mould and it means those test methods are suitable to evaluate the durability of hot work tool steel for die-casting.

Abstract: Micro-forming is considered to be a suited technology to manufacture very small metallic parts (several μm~mm). Zr-based bulk metallic glass, Zr62Cu17Ni13Al8, has been expected to be a promising metallic material for micro-forming process due to their isotropy, low flow stress in a wide supercooled liquid region and good stability of amorphous matrix. Therefore, one can expect that micro-forming of Zr62Cu17Ni13Al8 might be feasible at a relatively low stress in the supercooled liquid state without any crystallization during hot deformation. In this study, micro-formability of Zr62Cu17Ni13Al8 bulk metallic glass was investigated for micro-forging of U-shape pattern. Microformability was estimated by comparing Rf values (=Af/Ag), where Ag is corss-sectional area of U groove, and Af the filled area by material. Micro-forging process was also simulated and analyzed by applying the finite element method. The micro-formability of Zr62Cu17Ni13Al8 was increased with increasing load and time in the temperature range of the supercooled liquid state. In spite of the similar trend in the variations of Rf values, FEM simulation results showed much higher Rf values than the experimental Rf values. This disagreement was analyzed based on the stress overshoot phenomena of bulk metallic glasses in the supercooled liquid region. FEM simulation of the microstamping process was applicable for the optimization of micro-forming process by carefully interpreting the simulation results.

Abstract: In order to understand the melt-out mechanism of H13 die casting mould material, microstructural investigation was conducted for the immersion-tested surface in Al-alloy melt. The surface condition of H13 tool steel was modified by varying nitriding conditions and by surface blasting. In particular, long-term behavior of melt-out phenomena during immersion testing of up to 43 hours was focused in this article. It was observed that an ion-nitrided H13 surface showed higher resistance towards melt-out than a gas-nitrided or blasted surface. This was related to the surface layers that are normally formed by nitriding.

Abstract: For hot die steel, failure is mostly caused by heat checking and melt-out on its surfaces which are in contact with molten metals. In the present research, resistances to melt-out and heat checking of surface modified H13 hot die steels, such as gas nitriding(GN) and micro-blasting(MB), were investigated. The evaluation of melt-out behavior was carried out by measuring the mean depth from the original surface after immersion. To examine the thermal fatigue resistance, a cyclic thermal shock system consisting of induction heating and water spray quenching was constructed. The value of Lm is proposed as the index representing the susceptibility to crack initiation and propagation. The melt-out depth was the lowest for the GN treated surface. MB-GN and MB-GN-MB treated specimens also showed good resistance to melt-out. In the case of GN treatment, while the white layer was completely melted out, the diffusion layer still existed even after immersion for 43 hours. This implies that nitriding significantly reduced the rate of melt-out. From the total crack number, it is seen that crack initiation was reduced to the extent of half after surface treatment. This result means that the residual compressive stress and nitrided layer were beneficial to crack initiation resistance.

Abstract: The microstructures and mechanical properties of 17-4 PH stainless steel at each steps of heat treatment, such as homogenizing, solid solution treatment followed by aging treatment, longterm aging at 400 °C, and recovery treatment, in order to obtain a better understanding of the embrittlement phenomena on aging, was investigated. As the homogenizing treatment time increased, the length of δ-ferrite decreased and elongated shape of δ-ferrite turned to sphere shape with the decrease of volume fraction. The solution treated specimen mainly consists of lath martensite with a small fraction of elongated δ-ferrite. The spherical particles existed a little in the martensite matrix, while no precipitates were found in the δ-ferrite at the solution treated specimen. As the aging treatment temperature increased, the strength decreased while the toughness increased. The fcc Cu-rich particles precipitated in the δ-ferrite during the long-term aging at 400 °C after the solution heat treatment. This precipitation causes the aged hardening after long-term aging accompanied by decreases in elongation and charpy V-notch energy absorption. The strength and elongation was restored after recovery treatment and the fcc-Cu precipitated were almost dissolved into the δ-ferrite matrix.

Abstract: It is well known that the durability of tool steel could be improved by deep cryogenic treatment. It has been assumed that the increase of service life of tool steel caused by decrease of retained austenite and/or by formation of nano-scale fine η-carbide. But the principles of deep cryogenic treatment remain unclear yet. In this research, to manifest the effect of deep cryogenic treatment on wear resistance, the specimen was emerged in liquid nitrogen for 20 hours for deep cryogenic treatment after austenitizing and the following tempering temperature was varied. The microstructure of specimens was observed using TEM and the mechanical properties and wear resistance were examined. As the tempering temperature increased, the carbides became larger and fine carbides were formed above certain temperature. In the case of deep cryogenic treated specimen, the number of carbides increased while the carbides size was decreased, furthermore, the fine carbide forming temperature was lowered also. It was considered that the deep cryogenic treatment increased the driving force for the nucleation of carbides. As tempering temperature increased, hardness decreased while wear resistance and impact energy increased. The deep cryogenic treated specimens showed this tendency more clearly. It was considered that the wear resistance is affected not only to the hardness but also to the precipitation of fine carbides, and this carbide evolution can be optimized through the deep cryogenic treatment.