The Effect of Grain Structure on Casting Durability Assessment in Al-Si Alloys

Author(s):  
Glenn Byczynski ◽  
Robert Mackay
Author(s):  
E. F. Lindsey ◽  
C. W. Price ◽  
E. L. Pierce ◽  
E. J. Hsieh

Columnar structures produced by DC magnetron sputtering can be altered by using RF biased sputtering or by exposing the film to nitrogen pulses during sputtering, and these techniques are being evaluated to refine the grain structure in sputtered beryllium films deposited on fused silica substrates. Beryllium is brittle, and fractures in sputtered beryllium films tend to be intergranular; therefore, a convenient technique to analyze grain structure in these films is to fracture the coated specimens and examine them in an SEM. However, fine structure in sputtered deposits is difficult to image in an SEM, and both the low density and the low secondary electron emission coefficient of beryllium seriously compound this problem. Secondary electron emission can be improved by coating beryllium with Au or Au-Pd, and coating also was required to overcome severe charging of the fused silica substrate even at low voltage. The coating structure can obliterate much of the fine structure in beryllium films, but reasonable results were obtained by using the high-resolution capability of an Hitachi S-800 SEM and either ion-beam coating with Au-Pd or carbon coating by thermal evaporation.


Author(s):  
Z. Horita ◽  
D. J. Smith ◽  
M. Furukawa ◽  
M. Nemoto ◽  
R. Z. Valiev ◽  
...  

It is possible to produce metallic materials with submicrometer-grained (SMG) structures by imposing an intense plastic strain under quasi-hydrostatic pressure. Studies using conventional transmission electron microscopy (CTEM) showed that many grain boundaries in the SMG structures appeared diffuse in nature with poorly defined transition zones between individual grains. The implication of the CTEM observations is that the grain boundaries of the SMG structures are in a high energy state, having non-equilibrium character. It is anticipated that high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) will serve to reveal a precise nature of the grain boundary structure in SMG materials. A recent study on nanocrystalline Ni and Ni3Al showed lattice distortion and dilatations in the vicinity of the grain boundaries. In this study, HREM observations are undertaken to examine the atomic structure of grain boundaries in an SMG Al-based Al-Mg alloy.An Al-3%Mg solid solution alloy was subjected to torsion straining to produce an equiaxed grain structure with an average grain size of ~0.09 μm.


Author(s):  
K. Ogura ◽  
H. Nishioka ◽  
N. Ikeo ◽  
T. Kanazawa ◽  
J. Teshima

Structural appraisal of thin film magnetic media is very important because their magnetic characters such as magnetic hysteresis and recording behaviors are drastically altered by the grain structure of the film. However, in general, the surface of thin film magnetic media of magnetic recording disk which is process completed is protected by several-nm thick sputtered carbon. Therefore, high-resolution observation of a cross-sectional plane of a disk is strongly required to see the fine structure of the thin film magnetic media. Additionally, observation of the top protection film is also very important in this field.Recently, several different process-completed magnetic disks were examined with a UHR-SEM, the JEOL JSM 890, which consisted of a field emission gun and a high-performance immerse lens. The disks were cut into approximately 10-mm squares, the bottom of these pieces were carved into more than half of the total thickness of the disks, and they were bent. There were many cracks on the bent disks. When these disks were observed with the UHR-SEM, it was very difficult to observe the fine structure of thin film magnetic media which appeared on the cracks, because of a very heavy contamination on the observing area.


Author(s):  
P. J. Lee ◽  
D. C. Larbalestier

Several features of the metallurgy of superconducting composites of Nb-Ti in a Cu matrix are of interest. The cold drawing strains are generally of order 8-10, producing a very fine grain structure of diameter 30-50 nm. Heat treatments of as little as 3 hours at 300 C (∼ 0.27 TM) produce a thin (1-3 nm) Ti-rich grain boundary film, the precipitate later growing out at triple points to 50-100 nm dia. Further plastic deformation of these larger a-Ti precipitates by strains of 3-4 produces an elongated ribbon morphology (of order 3 x 50 nm in transverse section) and it is the thickness and separation of these precipitates which are believed to control the superconducting properties. The present paper describes initial attempts to put our understanding of the metallurgy of these heavily cold-worked composites on a quantitative basis. The composite studied was fabricated in our own laboratory, using six intermediate heat treatments. This process enabled very high critical current density (Jc) values to be obtained. Samples were cut from the composite at many processing stages and a report of the structure of a number of these samples is made here.


Author(s):  
F. Ma ◽  
S. Vivekanand ◽  
K. Barmak ◽  
C. Michaelsen

Solid state reactions in sputter-deposited Nb/Al multilayer thin films have been studied by transmission and analytical electron microscopy (TEM/AEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The Nb/Al multilayer thin films for TEM studies were sputter-deposited on (1102)sapphire substrates. The periodicity of the films is in the range 10-500 nm. The overall composition of the films are 1/3, 2/1, and 3/1 Nb/Al, corresponding to the stoichiometric composition of the three intermetallic phases in this system.Figure 1 is a TEM micrograph of an as-deposited film with periodicity A = dA1 + dNb = 72 nm, where d's are layer thicknesses. The polycrystalline nature of the Al and Nb layers with their columnar grain structure is evident in the figure. Both Nb and Al layers exhibit crystallographic texture, with the electron diffraction pattern for this film showing stronger diffraction spots in the direction normal to the multilayer. The X-ray diffraction patterns of all films are dominated by the Al(l 11) and Nb(l 10) peaks and show a merging of these two peaks with decreasing periodicity.


Author(s):  
Brian Ralph ◽  
Barlow Claire ◽  
Nicola Ecob

This brief review seeks to summarize some of the main property changes which may be induced by altering the grain structure of materials. Where appropriate an interpretation is given of these changes in terms of current theories of grain boundary structure, and some examples from current studies are presented at the end of this paper.


Author(s):  
Kulwant Singh ◽  
Gurbhinder Singh ◽  
Harmeet Singh

The weight reduction concept is most effective to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from vehicles, which also improves fuel efficiency. Amongst lightweight materials, magnesium alloys are attractive to the automotive sector as a structural material. Welding feasibility of magnesium alloys acts as an influential role in its usage for lightweight prospects. Friction stir welding (FSW) is an appropriate technique as compared to other welding techniques to join magnesium alloys. Field of friction stir welding is emerging in the current scenario. The friction stir welding technique has been selected to weld AZ91 magnesium alloys in the current research work. The microstructure and mechanical characteristics of the produced FSW butt joints have been investigated. Further, the influence of post welding heat treatment (at 260 °C for 1 h) on these properties has also been examined. Post welding heat treatment (PWHT) resulted in the improvement of the grain structure of weld zones which affected the mechanical performance of the joints. After heat treatment, the tensile strength and elongation of the joint increased by 12.6 % and 31.9 % respectively. It is proven that after PWHT, the microhardness of the stir zone reduced and a comparatively smoothened microhardness profile of the FSW joint obtained. No considerable variation in the location of the tensile fracture was witnessed after PWHT. The results show that the impact toughness of the weld joints further decreases after post welding heat treatment.


1981 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Stultz ◽  
J. F. Gibbons

ABSTRACTStructural and electrical characterization of laser recrystallized LPCVD silicon films on amorphous substrates using a shaped cw laser beam have been performed. In comparing the results to data obtained using a circular beam, it was found that a significant increase in grain size can be achieved and that the surface morphology of the shaped beam recrystallized material was much smoother. It was also found that whereas circular beam recrystallized material has a random grain structure, shaped beam material is highly oriented with a <100> texture. Finally the electrical characteristics of the recrystallized film were very good when measured in directions parallel to the grain boundaries.


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