The Influence of Layer Thickness on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of M300 Maraging Steel Additively Manufactured by LENS® Technology

This work investigates the effect of layer thickness on the microstructure and mechanical properties of M300 maraging steel produced by Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS®) technique. The microstructure was characterized using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mechanical properties were characterized by tensile tests and microhardness measurements. The porosity and mechanical properties were found to be highly dependent on the layer thickness. Increasing the layer thickness increased the porosity of the manufactured parts while degrading their mechanical properties. Moreover, etched samples revealed a fine cellular dendritic microstructure; decreasing the layer thickness caused the microstructure to become fine-grained. Tests showed that for samples manufactured with the chosen laser power, a layer thickness of more than 0.75 mm is too high to maintain the structural integrity of the deposited material.

Low neutron cross-section FeCrVTiNi based high-entropy alloys: design, additive manufacturing and characterization

The development of high-entropy alloys (HEAs) based on the novel alloying concept of multi-principal components presents opportunities for achieving new materials with desired properties for increasingly demanding applications. In this study, a low neutron cross-section FeCrVTiNi-based HEA was developed for potential nuclear applications. A face-centred cubic (FCC) HEA with the nominal composition of FeCr0.4V0.3Ti0.2Ni1.3 is proposed based on the empirical thermodynamic models and the CALculation of PHAse diagrams (CALPHAD) calculation. Verifications of the predictions were performed, including the additive manufacturing of the proposal material and a range of microstructural characterizations and mechanical property tests. Consistent with the prediction, the as-fabricated HEA consists of a dominant FCC phase and minor Ni3Ti precipitates. Moreover, significant chemical segregation in the alloy, as predicted by the CALPHAD modelling, was observed experimentally in the produced dendritic microstructure showing the enrichment of Ni and Ti elements in the interdendritic regions and the segregation of Cr and V elements in the dendritic cores. Heterogenous mechanical properties, including microhardness and tensile strengths, were observed along the building direction of the additively manufactured HEA. The various solid solution strengthening effects, due to the chemical segregation (in particular Cr and V elements) during solidification, are identified as significant contributing factors to the observed mechanical heterogeneity. Our study provides useful knowledge for the design and additive manufacturing of compositionally complex HEAs and their composition-microstructure-mechanical property correlation.

Microstructural administered mechanical properties and corrosion behaviour of wire plus arc additive manufactured SS 321 plate

Wire plus arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) technology with higher deposition rate and efficient material utilization was employed to fabricate a stainless steel 321 (SS 321) wall for the first time. In this work, the microstructural characteristics, mechanical properties and corrosion performance of as-built SS 321 were evaluated. The micrographs confirmed the presence of columnar and equiaxed dendrites along the building direction, and recrystallization of grains was noticed due to the re-melting of former layers. The microstructure was dominantly austenite with a small fraction of ferrite within the austenitic matrix. Better tensile properties were noticed for as-printed SS 321 WAAM samples in-comparison to wrought counterpart. This is corroborated to the equiaxed and columnar dendritic microstructure with small fraction of ferrite (FN). The hardness decreased from bottom (247 HV) to top (196 HV) region in SS 321 WAAM plate and is attributed to the microstructural difference with varying amount of ferrite (6.3 to 3.7 FN). The impact strength of samples in the horizontal and vertical direction was 116 ± 2 J and 114 ± 2.5 J respectively, and is comparable with the wrought AISI 321 (123 ± 1.5 J). The reduction in impact toughness is attributed to the ferrite (<6.3 FN) fraction. Polarization curves and Nyquist plots elucidate the excellent pitting resistance of SS 321 WAAM specimens, and the corrosion rate was less than 1 mils per year (mpy). Corrosion cracks were absent, and the passive film formation in the WAAM specimens were compact and highly stable for corrosive environments.

Evaluation of High Cycle Fatigue Properties of Double Side Welded AISI 321 Plates Using GTAW Process for Pressure Vessels

Titanium stabilized AISI 321 material (UNS S32100) is generally preferred in the pressure vessel industry as they are not sensitive to intergranular corrosion. In critical applications, the fatigue behaviour of weld seams are amongst the most stringent requirements. The microstructural characteristics and fatigue performance of double side welded AISI 321 plate having 6 mm thickness were evaluated in this work. AISI 321 was welded with Double side-gas tungsten arc welding (DS-GTAW) process. The fatigue behavior was examined under a loading ratio of 0.1 for two different specimens: Base metal (BM) and Weld metal (WM). Monotonic tensile results show the improved tensile properties of WM compared to BM samples. The fatigue strength of WM (332.6 MPa) was 25% higher than that of BM (265.7 MPa) specimen and is attributed to the increase in ferrite volume along with dendritic microstructure. The change in the fraction of low angle grain boundaries (LABs) and high angle grain boundaries (HABs) improved the tensile and fatigue properties. The stress amplitudes influenced the degree of striations in the BM and WM. Final fracture surfaces were characterized with dimples and micro-voids, revealing the ductile mode of fatigue fracture. The fatigue rupture surfaces of BM and WM samples at different stress regimes are discussed.

A study on grain refinement of AZ91E magnesium alloy with Al-5TiB₂, AI-Al₄C₃ and ZnO additions

There is great interest in increasing the use of magnesium (Mg) alloys in transportation applications to reduce weight. The use of these alloys would increase if their strength and castability were improved. Through grain refinement, it is possible to achieve significant improvement in specific mechanical properties such as strength and hardness. For aluminum (A1)-containing Mg alloys, a commonly used grain refiner is hexachloroethane (C₂Cl₆). Though effective, C₂Cl₆ use releases harmful chlorinated hydrocarbons. It is therefore desired to find novel grain refiners that are effective and environmentally safe. This thesis focused on the grain refinement of AZ9lE alloy with three refiners: Al-5TiB₂, Al-A1₄C₃ and ZnO. The refiners were chosen due to their known grain refinement efficiency in low-Al Mg or Mg-Zn alloys. Castings with each refiner were made in graphite molds to establish i) the optimum addition levels to achieve the smallest average grain size and ii) the effect of holding time on fading of grain refinement efficiency. These castings ere used to collect thermal data and sectioned for microscopy and hardness testing. Castings were also made with the optimum parameters in a permanent mold specifically designed to investigate hot tearing susceptibility. The results indicated that all three additions enabled grain refinement of the base alloy, and no fading of grain refiner efficiency was observed. These refiners transformed the coarse dendritic microstructure in AZ9lE to one that was equiaxed and globular. At optimal levels, the refinement mechanism was heterogeneous nucleation. Also, hot tearing was significantly decreased with all refiners except for ZnO. The excess Zn from ZnO addition led to an increase in the freezing range, thus increasing the hot tear severity. The hardness of AZ9lE did not increase with ZnO addition as it did with the other two refiners.

A study on grain refinement of AZ91E magnesium alloy with Al-5TiB₂, AI-Al₄C₃ and ZnO additions

There is great interest in increasing the use of magnesium (Mg) alloys in transportation applications to reduce weight. The use of these alloys would increase if their strength and castability were improved. Through grain refinement, it is possible to achieve significant improvement in specific mechanical properties such as strength and hardness. For aluminum (A1)-containing Mg alloys, a commonly used grain refiner is hexachloroethane (C₂Cl₆). Though effective, C₂Cl₆ use releases harmful chlorinated hydrocarbons. It is therefore desired to find novel grain refiners that are effective and environmentally safe. This thesis focused on the grain refinement of AZ9lE alloy with three refiners: Al-5TiB₂, Al-A1₄C₃ and ZnO. The refiners were chosen due to their known grain refinement efficiency in low-Al Mg or Mg-Zn alloys. Castings with each refiner were made in graphite molds to establish i) the optimum addition levels to achieve the smallest average grain size and ii) the effect of holding time on fading of grain refinement efficiency. These castings ere used to collect thermal data and sectioned for microscopy and hardness testing. Castings were also made with the optimum parameters in a permanent mold specifically designed to investigate hot tearing susceptibility. The results indicated that all three additions enabled grain refinement of the base alloy, and no fading of grain refiner efficiency was observed. These refiners transformed the coarse dendritic microstructure in AZ9lE to one that was equiaxed and globular. At optimal levels, the refinement mechanism was heterogeneous nucleation. Also, hot tearing was significantly decreased with all refiners except for ZnO. The excess Zn from ZnO addition led to an increase in the freezing range, thus increasing the hot tear severity. The hardness of AZ9lE did not increase with ZnO addition as it did with the other two refiners.

Remanufacturing the AA5052 GTAW Welds Using Friction Stir Processing

Progress in sustainable manufacturing is a crucial element to minimise negative environmental impacts. The conventional fusion weld process used to join aluminium alloys resulted in coarse grain structure, inevitable defects, and severe joint softening. Friction stir processing (FSP) has the potential to modify the microstructure of materials in joint structure and improve the mechanical properties. In this investigation, the effect of friction stir post–processing was evaluated to study the microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of GTAW (gas tungsten arc welding) welds in the aluminium 5052 alloy. During FSP, the grains’ dendritic microstructure was destroyed, and the dynamic recrystallisation resulted in a very fine and equiaxed grains structure in the fusion zone. The hardness of the friction-stir-processed welds significantly improved because of microstructure grain refinement. The processed joint demonstrated higher ultimate tensile and yield strength (~275 MPa and 221 MPa, respectively) and superior elongation (31.1%) compared to the unprocessed weld; at the same time, the mechanical strength (yield and ultimate tensile) is similar to that of the base metal.

INFLUENCE OF A LOW-TEMPERATURE PLASTIC-DEFORMATION PROCESS ON THE MICROSTRUCTURE OF AN Al-Si-Mg ALUMINUM ALLOY

This work was planned to modify the microstructure of a solution-treated, cast Al-Si-Mg aluminum alloy by a plastic deformation method at a cryogenic temperature. It was found that cryo-rolling is an efficient low-temperature, plastic-deformation method that causes the transformation of a dendritic microstructure to an ultrafine-grained counterpart with a high dislocation density and the redistribution of hard silicon particles in the cast aluminum alloy. The results show cryo-rolling strains lead to an increment of the dislocation density because of the annihilation of the dislocations’ dynamic recovery. The microstructural refinement imposed by cryo-rolling seems to lead to a notable strength enhancement of the material because of the coupled impact of dislocation-strengthening and grain-boundary-strengthening mechanisms.

On the evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties of type 316 austenitic stainless steel during ingot to billet conversion process

Manufacturing high value components involves complex and non-linear thermo-mechanical processes to obtain optimum combination of microstructure and mechanical properties required for the final part. Among these, the ingot-to-billet conversion process, involving forging operations of upsetting and cogging, are critical to refine the as-cast coarse, elongated, and dendritic microstructure. In this study, the first stage of the ingot-to-billet conversion process has been investigated in type 316 austenitic stainless steel, aiming to propose a novel methodology for the characterisation of the as-cast material behaviour. Hot upsetting tests were carried out on cylindrical samples taken out from an industrial-scale ingot. The resulted microstructures were analysed, using advanced image analysis method, for the fraction and distribution of the recrystallised grains, highlighting the strong dependency of recrystallisation behaviour on the initial microstructure of the as-cast material. Using a finite element (FE) model considering the anisotropic behaviour of the material, originated from the preferential grain growth during casting, the deformation of the samples were predicted with a good accuracy. The results demonstrate the importance of considering the anisotropic plastic properties in the FE models to effectively predict the as-cast material deformation, shape and thus the thermo-mechanical characteristics applied during forging.