Short-Term Oxidation Behavior, Microstructure Evolution and Compression Behavior of Nickel-Based Superalloy GH4037 in Solid and Semi-Solid States

Semi-solid processing combines the advantages of traditional forging and casting methods, so it has received much attention recently. However, the research on semi-solid behaviors of Nickel-based superalloys has been rarely reported. In order to investigate the behaviors of Nickel-based superalloy at solid and semi-solid states, oxidation experiments, isothermal treatment experiments and deformation experiments of GH4037 alloy were studied. Short-term oxidation experiments of GH4037 alloy were carried out at a solid temperature (1200 °C) and a semi-solid temperature (1360 °C). The results indicated that the oxides formed at 1200 °C were mainly composed of TiO2, Cr2O3 and a small amount of spinels NiCr2O4, while the oxides formed at 1360 °C consisted of the spinels of NiCr2O4, NiWO4 and NiMoO4 besides TiO2 and Cr2O3. Microstructure evolution of GH4037 alloy after semi-solid isothermal treatment at 1370 °C and 1380 °C was studied. The results indicated that semi-solid microstructures consisted of equiaxed solid grains and liquid phases. The average grains size and shape factor of solid grains were affected by melting mechanism and grain growth mechanism. Compression behaviors of GH4037 alloy after compressed at 1200 °C and 1360 °C were investigated. The results indicated that the flow stress of 1360 °C decreased significantly compared to that of 1200 °C. The deformation zones in the specimens were divided into three parts: the difficult deformation zone, the large deformation zone, and the free deformation zone. At 1200 °C, the deformation mechanism was plastic deformation mechanism. At 1360 °C, sliding between solid particles (SS), liquid flow (LF), flow of liquid incorporating solid particles (FLS), plastic deformation of solid particles (PDS) coexisted in the compression specimen.

Thermal non-equilibrium of porous flow in a resting matrix applicable to melt migration: a parametric study

Fluid flow through rock occurs in many geological settings on different scales, at different temperature conditions and with different flow velocities. Depending on these conditions the fluid will be in local thermal equilibrium with the host rock or not. To explore the physical parameters controlling thermal non-equilibrium the coupled heat equations for fluid and solid phases are formulated for a fluid migrating through a resting porous solid by Darcy flow. By non-dimensionalizing the equations three non-dimensional numbers can be identified controlling thermal non-equilibrium: the Peclet number Pe describing the fluid velocity, the heat transfer number A describing the local interfacial heat transfer from the fluid to the solid, and the porosity ϕ. The equations are solved numerically for the fluid and solid temperature evolution for a simple 1D model setup with constant flow velocity. Three stages are observed: a transient stage followed by a stage with maximum non-equilibrium fluid to solid temperature difference, ∆Tmax, and a stage approaching the steady state. A simplified time-independent ordinary differential equation for depth-dependent (Tf – Ts) is derived and analytically solved. From these solutions simple scaling laws of the form (Tf – Ts) = f (Pe, A, ϕ, H), where H is the non-dimensional model height, are derived. The solutions for ∆Tmax and the scaling laws are in good agreement with the numerical solutions. The parameter space Pe, A, ϕ, H is systematically explored. In the Pe – A – parameter space three regimes can be identified: 1) at high Pe (> 1) strong thermal non-equilibrium develops independently of Pe and A; 2) at low Pe (< 1) and low A (< 1) non-equilibrium decreases proportional to decreasing Pe; 3) at low Pe (<1) and large A (>1) non-equilbrium scales with Pe/A and thus becomes unimportant. The porosity ϕ has only a minor effect on thermal non-equilibrium. The time scales for reaching thermal non-equilibrium scale with the advective time-scale in the high Pe-regime and with the interfacial diffusion time in the other two low Pe – regimes. Applying the results to natural magmatic systems such as mid-ocean ridges can be done by estimating appropriate orders of Pe and A. Plotting such typical ranges in the Pe – A regime diagram reveals that a) interstitial melt flow is in thermal equilibrium, b) melt channelling as e.g. revealed by dunite channels may reach moderate thermal non-equilibrium, and c) the dyke regime is at full thermal non-equilibrium.

Microstructure modeling of a sintered Al–4Si–0.6Mg alloy extruded at semi-solid temperature ranges

The microstructure evolution of sintered and extruded samples of Al–4Si–0.6Mg powder alloys at various semi-solid temperature ranges of 560 °C, 580 °C, and 600 °C, holding times of 600, 1200, and 1800 s, and strain rates of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 s−1 was studied. From the stress–strain curves and metallographic studies, Arrhenius grain growth model and Avrami dynamic recrystallization model have been formulated by means of linear regression. Parameters such as peak strain, critical strain, recrystallization fraction, and material constants have been found using the above equations. The experimental and calculated values of various material parameters agree with each other, indicating the accuracy of the developed model. Finite element method-based simulations were performed using DEFORM 2D software, and the average grain size obtained from experiments and simulations was validated by means of average grain size. The relative density of the compacted specimens as well as the extruded specimens was also simulated. The simulation results showed that large grains appeared at high temperatures and at the bottom of the specimen.

Simulation of a continuous fluidised bed dryer for shelled corn

In this study, a mathematical model to simulate the drying of shelled corn in a continuous plug-flow fluidised bed dryer is presented. Equipment and material models were applied to describe the process. The equipment model was based on the differential equations obtained by applying mass and energy balances to each element of the dryer. In the case of the material model, mass and heat transfer rates in a single isolated particle were considered. Calculation results were verified by comparison with experimental data from the literature. There was a very good agreement between experimental data and simulation. The effects of gas temperature and velocity, particle diameter, dry solid flow and solid temperature on the drying process were investigated. It was found that the changes in gas velocity, dry solids flow and the solid temperature had essentially no effect on the drying process.

Re-examining the crystal structure behaviour of nitrogen and methane

In the light of NASA's New Horizons mission, the solid-phase behaviour of methane and nitrogen has been re-examined and the thermal expansion coefficients of both materials have been determined over their whole solid temperature range for the first time. Neutron diffraction results indicate that the symmetric Pa 3 space group is the best description for the α-nitrogen structure, rather than the long-accepted P213. Furthermore, it is also observed that β-nitrogen and methane phase I show changes in texture on warming, indicating grain growth.

Computation of flow and heat transfer in horizontal gas–solid flows through an adiabatic pipe

The current paper deals with the studies of heat transfer and pressure drop through a horizontal, adiabatic pipe, having gas–solid flows. The inlet air temperature is 443 K, whereas the inlet solid temperature is 308 K. The numerical results are compared with the benchmark experimental data and are agreed satisfactorily. The influences of solid loading ratio, solid diameter and gas velocity on Nusselt number and pressure drop have been studied. The Nusselt number decreases and the pressure drop increases with an increase in the solid diameter. The Nusselt number decreases with an increase in the solid loading ratio at a lower solid diameter of 100 µm. However, at a higher value of solid diameter of 200 µm, the Nusselt number first decreases up to a specific solid loading ratio, and after that, it increases. The pressure drop results show different behaviours with the solid loading ratio. Both the Nusselt number and pressure drop increase with the gas velocity. Finally, a correlation is generated to calculate the two-phase Nusselt number.

Compressive Properties of A2024 Alloy Foam Fabricated through a Melt Route and a Semi-Solid Route

A2024 alloy foams were fabricated by two methods. In the first method, the melt was thickened by Mg, which acts as an alloying element (melt route). In the second method, the melt was thickened by using primary crystals at a semi-solid temperature with a solid fraction of 20% (semi-solid route). A2024 alloy foams fabricated through the semi-solid route had coarse and uneven pores. This led to slightly brittle fracture of the foams, which resulted in larger energy absorption efficiency than that of the foams fabricated through the melt route. Moreover, A2024 alloy foams fabricated through the semi-solid route had a coarser grain size because of the coarse primary crystals. However, by preventing the decrease in the alloying element Mg, the θ/θ’ phase was suppressed. Additionally, by preventing the precipitation of the S′ phase, the amount of Guinier-Preston-Bagaryatsky (GPB) zone increased. This resulted in a larger plateau stress.

Effect of Primary α-Al Morphology in Slurry on Segregation during 357 Semi-Solid Die Casting

Controlling the morphology of the microstructure of the slurry is important during semi-solid die casting. For this project, semi-solid slugs were produced using the SEED (Swirled Enthalpy Equilibrium Device) process, where a fully liquid metal is poured into a steel crucible and cooled into the semi-solid temperature range, and the crucible and slurry are then swirled and cooled to the appropriate temperature (and solid fraction) for semi-solid casting. The pouring temperature of the melt into the crucible during SEED processing has been shown to influence the morphology and size of the aluminum solid particles within the slurry, which can influence the distribution and segregation of the solid particles during die casting. In this study, a specially-designed die with a serpentine-shaped flow channel has been used to study the distribution of the solid particles during semi-solid die casting. The experimental results show that a dendritic structure is formed when the liquid is poured from a high temperature, while a globular semi-solid morphology is more easily formed when poured from a low superheat. The current results also show that a dendritic structure leads to severe segregation during die casting.