Solidification Effect and Mechanism of Marine Muck Treated with Ionic Soil Stabilizer and Cement

In this study, an environmentally friendly ionic soil stabilizer (ISS) was adopted with combination of Portland cement to stabilize a marine muck. The macro and micro tests results demonstrated that the ISS was an effective stabilizer to improve the strength of marine muck when it was used combined with cement after adding the alkalizer NaOH. Except for the reduction in interlayer distance of clay minerals by ISS, Ca2+ and SO42− dissolved from ISS promoted the production of ettringite (AFt), pozzolanic and carbonation reactions of Portland cement in the presence of NaOH. Meanwhile, the hydration products of curing reaction notably agglomerated soil particles, which caused an obvious decrease of pores and a high increase of strength for solidified soils. Furthermore, this combination of stabilizers can not only save the dosage of cement, but also accelerate the solidification speed, decrease the cement setting time within 7 days to meet the curing requirements, and enhance the strength of solidified soils.

Microstructure and Elements Concentration of Inconel 713LC during Laser Powder Bed Fusion through a Modified Cellular Automaton Model

In this study, a hybrid finite element (FE) and cellular automaton (CA) model is developed to explore crystallization behavior and alloying of Inconel713LC during Laser powder bed fusion. A cellular automaton model is considering the surface nucleation, equiaxed bulk nucleation, and grain growth kinetics. In addition, the equation for solute diffusion is coupled with a cellular automaton model to simulate the IN713LC elements segregation. During the phase change, the non-equilibrium segregation model is applied to insert the effect of ultra-fast solidification happening during LPBF. It is found that, during LPBF processing of IN713LC, the micro segregation of Nb, Ti, and C is accrued at the grain boundaries. It is further shown that the micro segregation intensity depends on the solidification speed, which is determined in turn by the laser heat input. In particular, a lower laser heat input increases the solidification speed and results in a more uniform solid phase, thereby reducing the risk of crack formation. Finally, using a comparison between simulation results and experimental observation, it was shown that the proposed model successfully predicts the bulk element concentration of IN713LC after laser melting.

Study on Linear Segregation of ZL205A Alloy

Linear segregation of high strength aluminum alloy ZL205A castings were studied by X-ray Nondestructive testing, scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectrometer. It is found that the linear segregation occurs at the large wall thickness of the casting and/or at the place where the wall thickness is in transition. Segregation element is mainly Cu, which exists as compound θ (Al2Cu) phase. The formation of linear segregation is related to the flow of Cu-rich melt in the late solidification period, while the occurrence of thermal cracks promotes the formation of linear segregation. The formation of linear segregation of the casting can be effectively prevented by eliminating hot spots of the casting, refining crystal grains and increasing solidification speed of the casting.

In situ observation of the impact of hydrogen bubbles in Al–Cu melt on directional dendritic solidification

Much research has already been focused on the solid-bubble interaction in the interdendritic space for solidifying materials. However, commonly, bubble nucleation is not limited to the mushy zone but also occurs in the liquid melt. In the present research on an Al-$$10 \, \%\mathrm {wt. \,}$$ 10 % wt . Cu alloy, the interaction between these bubbles and the approaching solidification front becomes apparent under in situ X-radiography and allows for new insights into the influence of bubbles on the solidifying microstructure. The observed effects comprise bulging of the solidification front toward the bubble, bending of dendrites in front of the bubble, coronal outgrowths surrounding the bubbles, as well as bubble growth, bubble pushing, and bubble eruption. It is found that for the present Al–Cu alloy, the local variation in the solidification speed can be attributed to the bubbles’ insulating properties. The range of this effect was observed to be up to $$900 \,\upmu \text {m}$$ 900 μ m , depending on the bubble diameter, locally increasing solidification speed by up to $$350 \, \%$$ 350 % . The influences of Marangoni vortices and coronal nucleation of misoriented dendrites around bubbles on the homogeneity of the microstructure are discussed. A comparison with experiments on model alloys and simulations from various other studies highlights the similarities and differences to this metallic alloy system.

Investigation into microstructure and element segregation of Inconel 713LC during SLM processing using modified cellular automaton model

A numerical and experimental investigation is performed into the feasibility of fabricating IN713LC components using selective laser melting (SLM) through an appropriate control of the solidification speed, microstructure formation and element segregation. A modified Cellular Automaton (CA) model is developed to explore the nucleation, grain growth and element segregation behavior of IN713LC during ultra-fast solidification. It is found that the undesired phase formation which occurs during SLM processing of IN713LC is caused by the micro segregation of Nb, Ti, Mo and C at the grain boundaries. It is further shown that the micro segregation intensity depends on the solidification speed, which is determined in turn by the laser energy density. In particular, a lower laser energy density increases the solidification speed and results in a more uniform solid phase, thereby reducing the risk of crack formation. The simulation results are verified by experimental investigation. The results confirm that a lower laser energy density reduces the crack density and crack length. Finally, a crack-free IN713LC SLM sample is successfully produced by reducing the energy density from 360 to 170 J/m.

Phosphorus Segregation in Meta-Rapidly Solidified Carbon Steels

Twin-roll strip casters for near-net-shape manufacture of steels have received increased attention in the steel industry. Although negative segregation of phosphorus occurred in twin-roll strip casting (TRSC) steels in our prior work, its mechanism is still unclear. In this work, V-shaped molds were designed and used to simulate a meta-rapid solidification process without roll separating force during twin roll casting of carbon steels. Experimental results show that no obvious phosphorus segregation exist in the V-shaped mold casting (VMC) steels. By comparing TRSC and the VMC, it is proposed that the negative phosphorus segregation during TRSC results from phosphorus redistribution driven by recirculating and vortex flow in the molten pool. Meanwhile, solute atoms near the advancing interface are overtaken and incorporated into the solid because of the high solidification speed. The high rolling force could promote the negative segregation of alloying elements in TRSC.

Solidification Analysis of Density-Graded Closed-Cell Metallic Foam Under Constant Temperature Boundary Condition

In the industrial fabrication processes of density-graded closed-cell metallic foams, it is of great importance to control the solidification immediately after foams are formed so as to obtain the final products with well distributed density-graded pores and less defects. This paper presented an analytical work aiming to predict the solidification front of density-graded metallic foam under constant temperature boundary condition. Numerical simulations based on ideal density-graded circular pores demonstrated good agreement with the analytical solutions. The 2D porous morphology of a real density-graded aluminum foam was further reconstructed with microCT, on the basis of which the propagation of solidification front inside this real density-graded foam was numerically investigated. An equivalent shape factor for this real foam was calculated to provide an insight for the influence of different pore shapes on solidification. Compared with other pores, the solidification speed of elliptical pores (a common pore shape in real foams) is moderate, i.e., slower than circular pores but quicker than triangular pores for same porosity.