Iranian Journal of Materials Science and Engineering

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AZ31 magnesium alloy is considered as a promising alloy in various applications and industries. Furthermore, to design a proper hot working process (rolling, forging and extrusion), the assessment of hot working behaviour of the alloy is necessary. Accordingly, the hot deformation behaviour of AZ31 alloy was studied through hot compression testing method This was carried out in a wide range of temperature (523K to 783K) and strain rates. The obtained true stress-true strain curves and final microstructures were examined and a partial melting was realized at 740K. It was concluded that the presence of liquid did change the deformation mechanisms thereby affecting the flow behaviour.

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Life assessment on the base of grain boundary creep cavitation of 1%Cr - 0.5%Mo low alloy steel has been discussed in this paper. Since microstructural degradation is one of the most important mechanisms that affects creep life, it is necessary to assess microstructural damage in order to estimate the life. Microstructural damage within the grain boundaries is a continuous phenomena starting from about the beginning of secondary stage of creep process. In this research, the amounts of damage accumulation in the form of grain boundary cavitations for various creep times up to the ends of secondary creep stage for each creep condition was found by using quantitative metallography technique, i.e. image analyser. Then from the data obtained for grain boundary area cavitated and number of cavities per unit area, which was about linear as a function of time for each of creep conditions, the amount of damage in the tertiary stage was estimated for various times. Then a creep damage parameter was proposed for the creep process. Finally, having this damage parameter (?) and using continuum damage mechanics (CDM), a new version of Rabotnov-Kachanov equation for tertiary creep rate was established.

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An investigation of the electrochemical noise generation during Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) of 70-30 Brass in Mattson's solution was conducted. The fluctuations of potential and current were monitored. The relationship between potential and current fluctuations has been evaluated in time domain and the obtained data has been analyzed in the frequency domain using Power Spectral Density (PSD). It is shown that 70-30 Brass has characteristic noise behavior during SCC that is step-by-step change in current and potential up to the final stage of fracture, and this may be used for SCC monitoring.

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plasma-sprayed silicon layers have been used to produce silicon nitride layers with fibrous microstructure which optimizes fracture toughness and strength. SEM examination of the specimens shows that the surface is covered by fine needles and whiskers of Si3N4.In order to study the oxygen contamination effect as well as other contaminants introduced during spraying and nitridation processes, surface sensitive analysis techniques like AES and XPS have been used to determine concentration of these contaminants.

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Ultrafine hydroxyapatite (HAp) powders with crystallite size in the range of 10-90 nm were synthesized by chemical precipitation process using Ca(OH)2 and H3PO4 solutions as starting materials. Molar ratio of Ca/P=1.68 was kept constant throughout the process and alkaline condition for the reaction was maintained using ammonium hydroxide. The role of raw material concentration on HAp crystallite size and morphology were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques. The results revealed that variations in crystallite size and morphology of synthesized HAp are strongly affected by the concentration of acid solution. To study the sintering behavior of HAp particles, the powders were pressed at 200 MPa using a uniaxial press. Sintering experiments were carried out at temperatures of 1100, 1250 and 1300°C with various soaking times at maximum temperatures. XRD was also used in determining thephases present after sintering process. The results indicated the decomposition of HAp into a-tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and b-TCP phases at 1300°C. The microstructure of the sintered HAp ceramics was characterized by SEM.

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The hot cracking susceptibility can be determined by establishing the transition temperature between brittle and ductile fracture at high temperature tensile testing of in situ solidified samples. High temperature tensile properties were determined for commercial cathodic pure Cu and Cu- 30%Zn alloy. The transition temperatures for pure Cu and Cu-30%Zn were evaluated from ultimate tensile stress, true strain and area reduction at different testing temperatures. The results show that hot cracking in pure Cu also occurred below and near to its melting temperature. It can be proposed that in this case excess vacancies and vacancy diffusion and condensation are the dominating mechanisms for hot crack formation. The transition temperature for Cu- 30%Zn was much lower than its solidus temperature and this alloy has more susceptibility to hot cracking as compared to pure Cu. The effect of two different cooling rates (15 °C/min and 60 °C/min) on the transition temperature was investigated. The results show that by increasing cooling rate, the transition temperature will increase. The morphology of fracture surfaces for both ductile and brittle modes were evaluated by SEM Two different morphologies, i.e. interdendiritic and intergranual fracture, was found.

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Abstract: Static recrystallization (SRX) behavior of a composite based 7075 Aluminum alloy reinforced with SiC particles was studied during annealing the deformed samples at high temperatures. The results showed an absence of SRX in the samples annealed after hot working at the same deformation temperature, however, a rise in annealing temperature of 100-1500 􀁱C above that the deformation temperature led to full recrystallization. This can be ascribed to the relatively moderate dynamic recovery and the presence of dispersions which stabilize the substructure. Particle stimulated nucleation (PSN) had a significant effect on the grain size in deformed samples at low temperature, but no PSN was observed in samples strained at high temperatures. The possible cause might be that at high temperature the dislocations can be annihilated by climb process around the particles together with the absence of deformation zone for nucleating the recrystallization.

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Abstract: Ball mills are used in the last stage of ore processing for grinding raw materials. Forged 70Cr2 alloy steel and Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) balls are materials from which grinding balls are made for Sarcheshmeh Copper Plant (SCP) ball mills. In the present study wear and impact properties of these two kinds of balls have been investigated. Some balls randomly were selected as samples. They were cut to investigate the cross section under optical and scanning electron microscopes. The microstructure of the sample balls was studied and quantitative measurements of microstructural features were performed. The hardness of different parts of cross sections of balls was measured. The wear resistance of the balls was measured by Pin on Disc method. Repeated dropt test was employed to evaluate impact resistance of the balls. The microstructure of ADI balls consisted of bianitic matrix with graphite nodules and some retained austenite and martensite. Micro cracks and porosities in the cast structure were frequently observed. In the case of forged steel balls the microstructure composed of tempered martensite in outer area and bianitic structure with some tempered martensite in central areas. The wear and impact resistance of forged steel balls were markedly higher than those of ADI balls. The difference was consistent with the differences between the microstructures of the two kinds of balls. Cast structure with microcracks and shrinkage porosities in ADI balls gives rise to lower impact resistance.

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Abstract: Nanocrystalline MgAl2O4 spinel powder was synthesized using metal nitrates and a polymer matrix-based composed of sucrose and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The precursor and the calcined powders were characterized by simultaneous thermal analysis (STA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). According to XRD results, the inceptive formation temperature of spinel via this technique was between 600°C and 700°C. The average crystallite size of calcined powder at 800°C for 2h was in the range of 8-12nm. In addition, SEM micrograph showed that the synthesized powder had a spherical morphology.

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Abstract: Hardfacing is one of the most useful and economical ways to increase the service life of components subjected to abrasive wear. Iron based hardfacing alloys have long been considered as candidate coatings for wear-resistant applications in industry. In the present work two layer of Fe-34Cr-4.5C%wt hardfacing alloy was deposited on ASTM A36 carbon steel plates by SMAW method. The microstructure consists of large primary and eutectic M7C3 carbides, metastable austenite and small amount of secondary carbides. The microstructure was analyzed by optical and scanning electron microscopes. In the same condition of size, shape, distribution and volume fraction of carbides the as-welded matrix changed to martensite, tempered martensite and ferrite by heat treatment processes. The wear resistance was measured by pin-on-disk method under loads of 5, 10 and 20N and for sliding distance of 1500m. The results showed that the as-welded sample with austenitic matrix has the most and the ferritic matrix specimen has the least wear resistance. The predominate mechanisms for mass losses were determined to be micro-cutting, microploughing.

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Abstract: Despite having a number of advantages, reinforced concrete can suffer rebar corrosion in high–chloride media, resulting in failure of reinforced concrete structures. In this research the corrosion inhibition capability of the mixture of calcium and ammonium nitrate of steel rebar corrosion was investigated in the simulated concrete pore solution. Cyclic polarization and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) techniques were applied on steel concrete pore solution containing 2 weight percent sodium chloride (NaCl). Results show that such mixtures had higher inhibition efficiency than calcium nitrate alone. The optimum concentration of the inhibitor mixture was determined to be 45 mgr/lit.

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Abstract: To ensure the rail transportations safety, evaluation of fatigue behavior of the rail steel is necessary. High cycle fatigue behaviour of a rail steel was the subject of investigation in this research using fracture mechanics. Finite element method (FEM) was used for analyzing the distribution of the stresses on the rail, exerted by the external load. FEM analysis showed that the maximum longitudinal stresses occurred on the railhead. To find out about the relation of crack growth with its critical size, and to estimate its lifetime, the behaviour of transverse cracks to rail direction was studied using damage tolerance concept. It revealed that transverse crack growth initially occurred slowly, but it accelerated once the crack size became larger. Residual service life was calculated for defective segments of the rails. In addition, allowable crack size for different non-destructive testing intervals was determined the allowable crack size decreased as the NDT intervals increased.

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Abstract: Thermal fatigue is a stochastic process often showing considerable scatter even in controlled environments. Due to complexity of thermal fatigue, there is no a complete analytical solution for predicting the effect of this property on the life of various components, subjected to severe thermal fluctuations. Among these components, one can mention car cylinder, cylinder head and piston which bear damages due to thermal fatigue. All these components are usually produced by casting techniques. In order to comprehend and compare the thermal fatigue resistance of cast Al alloys 356 and 413, this research was designed and performed. For this purpose, several samples in the form of disc were cast from the two alloys in sand mould. The microstructures of the cast samples were studied by light microscopy in order to choose the samples with the least amounts of defects for thermal fatigue tests. The results of thermal fatigue tests showed that the nucleation of microcracks in Al-356 alloy occurred at shorter time relative to those occurred in Al- 413 alloy under the same test conditions. In addition, the density of micro-cracks in Al-356 alloy was more than that of Al-413 alloy. The results of fractography on 356 alloy indicated that the cracks were generally nucleated from inter-dendritic shrinkage porosities and occasionally from the interface of silicon particles with the matrix. The growth of these micro cracks was along the dendrite arms. Fractography of 413 alloy fracture surfaces showed that nucleation of microcracks was often associated with silicon particles.

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Abstract: The PZT-based ceramics with a composition of Pb1.1-xLax (Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3, were prepared by conventional mixed oxide followed by mechanical alloying and sol-gel methods in which x was chosen in the range of 0.02–0.06. The samples were calcined in the range of 450 °C - 750 °C for 4h. The physical and electrical properties of the samples were determined as a function of the calcination temperature. The obtained data from two methods were compared with conventional mixed oxide method. Microstructural and compositional analyses of the samples were carried out using XRD and SEM. Dielectric properties of the samples were measured with an impedance analyzer. The ferroelectric properties of the PZT and PLZT samples were measured using the frequencies applying equipment and d33 tester. The results indicated a complete tetragonal phase prepared from both methods. It was shown that the addition of La and reduction in calcination temperature improved both the dielectric and piezoelectric properties. The dielectric constant tended to increase with doping content, giving the maximum value of about 2000 at 3 mol% La3+. In addition, the mechanical coupling factor (Qm) of the doped samples showed a significant decrease. Finally, the value of planar coupling factor (kp) reached the maximum value of 0.47 at 1 mol% La3+.

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Abstract: Cooling slope-casting processing is a relatively new technique to produce semisolid cast feedstock for the thixoforming process. Simple equipment, ease of operation, and low processing costs are the main advantages of this process in comparison with existing processes such as mechanical stirring, electromagnetic stirring, etc. The processing parameters of cooling slope casting are length, angle and the material of the inclined plate and their combinations, which usually affect the micro structural evolutions of the primary solid phase. In order to clarify the effect of the processing parameters on the evolution of the particle size, based on experimental investigation, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was applied to predict the primary silicon crystals (PSCs) size of semisolid cast ingot via a cooling slope casting process of Al-20%(wt.%) Si alloy. The results demonstrated that the ANN, with 2 hidden layers and topology (4, 3), could predict the primary particle size with a high accuracy of 94%. The sensitivity analysis also revealed that material of the cooling slope had the largest effect on particle size.

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Abstract: The horizontal continuous casting process has received a significant attention for near net shape casting of non ferrous metals and alloys. Numerical Simulation has been widely used for process design and optimization of continuous casting process. In the present study, a 3-dimensional heat flow model was developed to simulate the heat transfer and solidification in a horizontal billet continuous casting system in which the air gap formation and its effect on heat extraction rate from solidifying billet was also considered. In order to test the developed model, it was run to simulate the heat transfer and solidification for an industrial billet caster. The predicted temperature distribution within the mold and billet was compared with those measured on the industrial caster in which a good agreement was obtained. Finally, parametric studies were carried out by validated model to evaluate the effects of different parameters on solidification profile and temperature distribution within the model brass billet. The microstructure of cast billet was analyzed to determine the secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) under different cooling conditions. Based on measured SDAS and predicted solidification rate a correlation between SDAS and cooling rate was proposed for continuously cast brass billet.

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Abstract: Two different coating microstructures of Ni-50Cr alloy were obtained on a stainless steel substrate by changing combustion characteristics of a high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) process and the size distribution of feed powder during coating process. Use of the finer feed powder and leaner fuel in oxygen/fuel ratio (i.e. using a ratio much less than stoichiometric ratio) led to formation of an extremely dense coating with high oxide content. Heat treating of this coating at 650ºC for 4 hours caused the formation of an intermetallic sigma phase having Cr7Ni3 stoichiometry. Formation of this phase has been reported occasionally in thin films not in thermal spray coatings, as reported for the first time in this research. In addition no sigma phase was detected in the HVOF as-deposited coating with low oxide content after heat treatment of the samples. Therefore, due to the limited number of papers available in the subject of formation of phase in either Ni-Cr bulk alloys or coatings, it is considered appropriate to show up a case in this field. In this work, the formation of sigma phase in Ni-50Cr coating deposited by HVOF technique and heat treated at 650ºC was discussed and then the coating was characterized.

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Abstract: Horizontal continuous casting is widely used to produce semi-finished and finished metallic products. Homogeneity in metallurgical characteristics and mechanical properties in such products is of importance. In the present work microstructure and mechanical properties of a horizontal continuous cast pipe have been studied. Microstructural features were investigated by an optical microscope equipped with image analyzer and SEM was used to characterize precipitates. Tensile behavior, impact strength and hardness variations were the mechanical properties which were studied. Results showed that microstructure and mechanical properties had diversities in different parts of the pipe and distinct differences were observed between upper and lower parts of the pipe. A meaningful correlation was found in microstructure and mechanical properties in different parts of the component.

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Abstract:

fabricated. Modifications carried out in different parts of the old system in order to control most

of the growth parameters with more accuracy. The fabricated system was used to grow sapphire

single crystals with almost 10 mm in diameter and 50 mm in length. The crystallinity and

structure of the grown crystals were characterized by computer aided single crystal X-ray

diffraction technique.

A Verneuil system, more sophisticated than a conventional one, has been designed and

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Abstract:In this study, an effort has been made to determine the influence of rotational speed of tool on themicrostructure and hardness values of friction stir welded 2024-T851 aluminum alloy. The microstructure of stir zonein the joints has been investigated. It was found that the particles such as Al6(CuFeMn) particles are broken up duringfriction stir welding, and the degree of break up of these particles in the stir zone increases with increasing rotationalspeed. Since the break up of these particles and the recrystallization of new grains happen simultaneously, the brokenparticles would be placed in the grain boundaries. Moreover, the hardness value in the stir zone increases withincreasing rotational speed