Papers by Author: Rui Ming Ren

Abstract: Mesh-insensitive structural stress approach is a robust method for fatigue characteristic analysis of welded structures and has been validated in correlating a large amount of published fatigue test of steel welded joints in the literature. Regarding Titanium welded joints, the combination of stress states and geometric shape can also lead to stress concentration that can result in fatigue crack initiation around the welded joints. This paper aims to analyze well-documented fatigue data of transverse and longitudinal fillet welded joints of Titanium using mesh-insensitive structural stress approach. This study is the first time using the approach for titanium fatigue data analysis. The results show that the employed method can correlate fatigue data of Titanium welded joints noticeably and make sense to understand the effect of thickness on fatigue life of the joints better than conventional methods.

Abstract: The organic-inorganic hybrid sol was prepared using an alkaline silica sol modified by acid-catalyzed hydrolytic polycondensation of methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) in a water-bath condition of 60oC, and then the water-based primer and topcoat were prepared through adding the pigments and nano-TiO2 suspension respectively. Through spraying and baking, the organicinorganic composite coating on the treated aluminum alloy was obtained. The optimum range of P/B (weight ratio of the pigment/binder) is determined between 1:1 and 1.5:1 by investigating the influence of the P/B of the primer on the adhesion and impact resistance of the coating. The microstructure of the coating was characterized by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that there are lots of holes and lamellar structure in the primer coating and the obtained topcoat coating is uniform, smooth and dense. The coating of ~30 μm in thickness is mainly composed of three elements of silicon, aluminum and titanium, in which transition layer of ~10 μm is included. The physicochemical properties suggest that the coatings on aluminum alloy can meet the needs of finishing coating very well.

Abstract: Using finite element analysis software of COSMAP, a three-dimensional elastic-plastic finite element model of linear friction welding (LFW) process of Ti6Al4V alloy was established. Based on metallo-thermo-mechanical theory relevant to describing the coupled fields of metallic structure, temperature and stress–strain, the temperature fields, phase transformation and stress fields during the LFW process were investigated in numerical simulation. Moreover, the validation experiment was carried out. The results showed that the simulation results of temperature，phase transformation and the residual stress were in good agreement with the experimental ones, which proved the numerical simulation to be reliable.

Abstract: The composite die steel was prepared by vacuum diffusion welding with the cold work die steel Cr12MoV and the alloy steel 40Cr. The composition, microstructure and property changes of the welded joints were studied experimentally, and the relationship between the microstructure and the property after the final heat treatment was analyzed. Based on the experiment results, the suitable welding and heat treatment process were approached. The results show that the good metallurgical bonding is obtained via welding at 1100oC for 30 minutes with a pressure of 20 MP and not more than 0.01 Pa in vacuum. A number of voids are found in the tensile fracture surfaces when the welding temperature is below 1100oC. The grains of 40Cr steel grow obviously when the welding temperature is higher than 1100oC. After quenching at 1050oC and tempering at 200oC, the better mechanical properties are obtained in Cr12MoV because fine carbides distribute evenly. At the same time, the mechanical properties of 40Cr do not decrease dramatically because even though high temperature quenching brings coarse grain size, the amount of lamellar martensite, which is hard and brittle, decreases a lot and the amount of lath matensite increases. After quenching and tempering treatment, the bending strength of the composite die steel reaches 73% of that of Cr12MoV when treated by conventional processing. In the course of welding, carbon migrates from 40Cr to Cr12MoV, which results in a decrease in hardness at the interface of 40Cr.

Abstract: The effect of the strain rate on the surface nanocrystallization of titanium is investigated both theoretically and experimentally in this paper. The strain rate variation and stress distribution from surface to the interior of titanium during shot peening are estimated firstly using finite element method. Then shot peening experiment is carried out on a commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti) plate, and the obtained surface microstructures is characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Combining theoretical simulations and experimental observations, the effect of strain rate on the strain accommodation mechanism and plastic deformation mode are discussed. It is concluded that the strain rate and stress achieve the highest at the top surface layer of CP-Ti, and the strain rate decrease dramatically from the surface to the interior. The strain rate at the top surface layer is up to 104 s-1, which leads to superplastic deformation of Ti. There is no mechanical twin in the surface layer, instead, deformation lamella and adiabatic shear bands are the dominating microstructures. By means of rotation recrystallization, those deformation bands evolve to nanocrystallines.

Abstract: Nano-sized precursor FePO4·xH2O particles were obtained by oxidation co-precipitation using FeSO4⋅7H2O, H2O2 and ammonia. The powder was characterized by differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermogravimetry (TG), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The TG-DTA results determined the content of crystal water of FePO4·xH2O, i.e. x = 1.5. The SEM observation suggested that FePO4·xH2O particles were spherical in shape and its grain size was about 150 nanometers. The dispersion of the synthesized powder was improved through the addition of surfactant. The XRD analysis indicated that the synthesized FePO4·xH2O was amorphous. After being calcined at 720 °C for 10 hrs, the synthesized FePO4·xH2O at pH of ~3.5 was crystallized and FePO4 in a single phase was obtained. According to the test results, the optimized preparation process parameters were determined.

Abstract: The olivine-type LiFePO4 powder was prepared by a chemical method using the synthesized FePO4⋅2H2O, LiOH and glucose as raw materials. The synthesized FePO4⋅2H2O powder was obtained by co-precipitation method. FePO4⋅2H2O and LiFePO4 powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed the synthesized FePO4⋅2H2O powder at pH of 2.05 was in a single phase and nearly spherical in shape. Using the synthesized powders to prepared LiFePO4 at 600 °C in vacuum for 2 h was nearly spherical in shape and whose size was in the range of 0.1-0.5μm.

Abstract: The olivine-type LiFePO₄ powder was prepared by a chemical method using the synthesized FePO₄ 1.78H₂O, LiOH, citric acid and PEG as raw materials. The synthesized FePO₄ 1.78H₂O precursor powder was obtained by co-precipitation method. LiFePO₄ powder was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA)/differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results showed that the calcined LiFePO₄ was in a single phase when fabricated by using the synthesized FePO₄ 1.78H₂O powder at pH of 3.5 in argon atmosphere.

Abstract: In order to synthesize WC-Co nanopowders through an integrated mechanical and thermal activation process, WO₃-Co₂O₃-C nanopowders need to be obtained first. It is critical how to obtain the WO₃-Co₂O₃-C nanopowders efficiently. The effect of processing parameters on the grain size during high-energy-milling of WO₃-Co₂O₃-C mixed powders was studied via X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that the grain size of reactants can be effectively decreased with increasing the milling time, rotation speed, and charge ratio. After a certain time milling, both WO₃ and C powders achieve nano-level in grain size and mixed homogeneously. The appropriate milling parameters for fabricating nanosized WO₃+C+Co₂O₃ powders are suggested to be 4 to 8 hours of milling time, 400 RPM of rotation speed, and 40:1 to 60:1 of charge ratio.

Abstract: Comparing with conventional mechanical shot peening (SP) technique, water cavitation peening (WCP) experiments of Almen strips were carried out on a self-manufactured equipment. The results show that WCP demonstrates a wide range of standoff distance (SD) that from the nozzle to the surface of the object. By measuring the colour changes of the Fuji pressure sensing film, over 110 MPa impacting pressure was detected, which is resulted from the bubbles blasting on the sample surface when the SD is from 65 to 100 mm under 40 MPa of operating pressure. 600 MPa compressive residual stress achieved on the suface of the Almen strips after WCPed for 32 min. The depth of the zone affected by the compressive residual stress is about 100 µm. The highest residual stress appears in the top surface layer, while in case of SP it appears in the subsurface. Compared to SP, WCP is capable to get rather smoother surface and cause less deformation of the testing sheet, simultaneously.