Materials Science Forum Vols. 654-656

Abstract: Fracture behaviour transitions due to change in the strain rate in steels with various Si content ranging from 2% to 5 wt% were studied. Room-temperature tensile tests were conducted over wide range of strain rates ranging from 10-3 s-1 to 103 s-1. Concerning of the steels with low Si content (no more than 3%), the nominal stress - nominal strain curves represented both uniform and local elongations at all strain rates. On the other hand, in 4% Si steel at a strain rate higher than 101 s-1, the tensile sample broke down without local elongation (necking). The stress at breaking was found to be nearly equal to its work hardening rate. The strain rate at which fracture behaviour transition took place in 5% Si steel (10-1s-1) was lower than that in 4% Si steel. TEM observations clarified the existence of deformation twins in the sample that fractured without necking. These results indicated that Si addition is subject to the brittle fractures and that the fracture mechanism transition is closely related with the deformation twinning behaviour.

Abstract: The pure titanium long-cups were formed by preventing the seizing in cold multi-stage deep drawing processes. For the prevention, pure titanium sheets were treated by heating oxide coating. The coating is very effective in preventing the occurrence of seizure and galling. The fresh and clean titanium is not in direct contact with the die during the forming due to the existence of the oxide layer. In multi-stage deep drawing, pure titanium sheets of the JIS grade 2 was employed. Various cups were drawn by exchanging the punch and ringed die. The die was flat in the first stage, and was taped without a blankholder in the subsequent stages. The effects of the coating conditions on the occurrence of seizure in multi-stage deep drawing were examined. It was found that the coating titanium sheet has sufficient ability in preventing the seizure in multi-stage deep drawing processes. The pure titanium long-cups were successfully formed by a multi-stage deep drawing operation in cold.

Abstract: The seamless steel tube continuous rolling process with 8-stand full-floating mandrel is simulated with the aid of commercial FE code MSC. SuperForm. The relationship is analyzed between the distribution of the transverse wall-thickness and the speed schedule of the rollers. The result shows that the transverse evenness of the wall thickness of the tubes can be enhanced by optimizing the speed schedule. Furthermore, by adopting meliorated method to measure the wall-thickness of the shell, the error is reduced while data reliability is increased. When using the existing equipments (mandrel mill), it is an effective way to improve the transverse wall-thickness accuracy of the shell tube by adjusting the speed schedule. Compared with present roll speed schedule, the transverse wall-thickness accuracy can be increased by 10% for the rolling of elongated shell with 152.5mm in OD and 6mm in wall thickness tube under the 3# speed schedule put forward in this paper.

Abstract: Aging solution-treated Cu-Ti alloys in a hydrogen atmosphere significantly improved their electrical conductivity without degradation of the mechanical strength, compared to conventionally aged alloys. In this study, the influence of prior deformation on the mechanical and electrical properties of Cu-4.2 at.% Ti alloys aged in a hydrogen atmosphere was examined. The Vickers hardness of the solution-treated specimen increased from 127 kgf/mm2 to 265 kgf/mm2 by aging at 673 K for 180 h in a hydrogen atmosphere of 0.8 MPa, while that of the deformed specimen achieved a maximum of approximately 280 kgf/mm2 by aging for 100 h in the same atmosphere. Prior deformation resulted in a more rapid increase in conductivity during aging than that without deformation. The conductivity at the peak-hardness of the deformed specimen was 22% IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard), which exceeded that for the solution-treated specimen. Thus, prior deformation assisted in a significant improvement of the mechanical and electrical properties during aging in a hydrogen atmosphere.

Abstract: Effects of hydrogenation process of the microstructure, electrical conductivity and mechanical properties for the Cu-(1~3) mass%Ti alloys were investigated. During hydrogenation process at 350°C, 7.5 MPa for 48 h, the disproportionation reaction occurred with forming of Ti hydrides in the alloy. It is found that remarkable simultaneous improvements of mechanical strength of 1094 MPa and electrical properties of 21%IACS are obtained in the hydrogenated Cu-3mass%Ti alloy.

Abstract: The development trend for diagnostics is reducing the diameter of coaxial signal cables that comprise the probe cable. The thinner super-fine coaxial cable which is offering superior electronic and mechanical properties, such as 75% IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard, electrical conductivity) and 700 ~ 800 MPa in tensile strength has to be developed. Three binary systems, Cu-Ag, Cu-Zr and Ag-Zr were thermodynamically optimized in the present study. Integration of optimized binary phase diagram can give useful information to predict the possible phases for the ternary Cu-Ag-Zr during manufacturing process. The large Cu5Zr particles were found at grain boundaries of as-cast alloys, which results from the strong affinity between Cu and Zr as well as no solubility of Zr in the Cu matrix. This coarse Cu5Zr phase was not dissolved fully during homogenization resides within the microstructure. Therefore, this phase induces decreasing in tensile strength after ageing.

Abstract: The cold joining of dissimilar metal sheets using a shot peening process was investigated. In shot peening the substrate undergoes large plastic deformation near the surface due to the hit with shots. Consequently, plastic flow areas formed by cold working may form the surface layer. The dissimilar sheets with the concavo-convex edge are connected, and then the contact area is shot-peened. In this joining, the convex edges of the sheet are laid on the other sheet. Namely, in the joining area, the two sheets are superimposed. In the experiment, the shot peening treatment was performed by using an air-type peening machine. The shots used were made of high carbon cast steel. Air pressure was 0.6MPa and peening time was in the range of 30-150s. The peening conditions were controlled in the experiment. The sheets were commercial low-carbon steel, stainless steel, pure aluminum, pure titanium, pure copper, and magnesium alloy. The effects of processing conditions on the joinability were mainly examined. The joint strength increased with the kinetic energy of shots. It was found that the present method was effective for cold joining of dissimilar metal sheets.

Abstract: The magnetic shape-memory alloy NiCoMnIn shows, in monocrystalline form, a large reversible magnetic-field-induced strain (MFIS). But it is difficult to achieve the properties in polycrystalline NiCoMnIn alloys. The technique of powder metallurgical preparation of NiCoMnIn foam was studied to improve the properties of polycrystalline NiCoMnIn alloys in the present paper. We introduced a processing route including choosing appropriate space-holding fillers, sintering NiCoMnIn alloy and the filling agent with appropriate grain size. The sintering temperature and time and the optimum volume fraction of the filling agent were determined by analysis of the structure of sintered bulk foams.

Abstract: Hydraulic turbine band castings are susceptible to deformation in heat treatment process if their cooling is not well controlled. The coupled analysis of forced air flow and heat transfer in normalizing process of a heavy turbine band runner casting with outer diameter of 8000 mm was carried out by using ANSYS software. The band undergoes significant deformation because of uneven cooling resulted by uneven air flow around it during normalizing. The forced air flow pattern is a key factor which influences the cooling uniformity and efficiency. It is optimized by adjusting the cooling fans’ orientation relative to the casting to form cyclone around it. Consequently, cooling uniformity is improved to avoid deformation.

Abstract: Turnbull’s transformation nucleus model initiated the concept of a growth barrier for a spherical-cap crystal nucleus growing on a small flat substrate. The recently developed free growth model provided a clear physical picture of the growth barrier concept with experimental and modelling support. Fletcher’s spherical substrate model enhanced the understanding of the geometrical effect of a substrate on nucleation. A recent novel analysis of Fletcher’s model furnished new insights into the similarities and differences between nucleation on spherical and flat substrates. It is necessary to distinguish between the undercooling required for nucleation and that for overcoming the growth barrier; the greater one determines the early stages of grain formation.