Impact of Solidification on Inclusion Morphology in ESR and PESR Remelted Martensitic Stainless Steel Ingots

This study focuses on the impact of solidification on the inclusion morphologies in different sizes of production-scale electro-slag remelting (ESR) and electro-slag remelting under a protected pressure-controlled atmosphere, (PESR), ingots, in a common martensitic stainless steel grade. The investigation has been carried out to increase the knowledge of the solidification and change in inclusion morphologies during ESR and PESR remelting. In order to optimize process routes for different steel grades, it is important to define the advantages of different processes. A comparison is made between an electrode, ESR, and PESR ingots with different production-scale ingot sizes, from 400 mm square to 1050 mm in diameter. The electrode and two of the smallest ingots are from the same electrode charge. The samples are taken from both the electrode, ingots, and rolled/forged material. The solidification structure, dendrite arm spacing, chemical analyzes, and inclusion number on ingots and/or forged/rolled material are studied. The results show that the larger the ingot and the further towards the center of the ingot, the larger inclusions are found. As long as an ingot solidifies with a columnar dendritic structure (DS), the increase in inclusion number and size with ingot diameter is approximately linear. However, at the ingot size (1050 mm in diameter in this study) when the center of the ingot converts to solidification in the equiaxial mode (EQ), the increase in number and size of the inclusions is much higher. The transition between a dendritic and an equiaxial solidification in the center of the ingots in this steel grade takes place in the region between the ingot diameters of 800 and 1050 mm.

The Effect of Rapid Solidification on Microstructure and Corrosion of Advanced Biomaterial Co-Cr-Mo-C Alloy

In this research, the microstructure and corrosion properties of rapidly solidified Co-Cr-Mo-C alloy as an advanced biomaterial alloy were studied. The use of rapid solidification casting method represents significant changes in not only the amount of formed e-HCP phase, which is strongly influenced by rapid solidification, but also in electrochemical behavior and solidified structure. In this research, rapid solidified Co-Cr-Mo-C alloy is studied using OM, SEM, EDS, XRD, and dynamic potentiostate. Co-alloy ingots were melted into an induction furnace filled by argon gas and casted into a V-shape sand and chill copper molds to prepare rapid solidified samples and its properties were measured in different cooling rates. The microstructure examination demonstrating the structure of alloy is mainly consist of columnar dendritic structure with the distribution of carbides within primary and secondary dendrites arms and finer dendritic structure along with modified carbide distribution will be achieved by rapid solidification. This structure will improve alloy’s corrosion behavior and reduces its corrosion rate when it is tested in Ringer’s solution as an electrolyte.

Use of Acoustic Energy in the Processing of Molten Aluminium Alloys

During the last years aluminium alloys have been gaining increased acceptance as structural materials in the automotive and aeronautical industries, mainly due to their light weight, good formability and corrosion resistance. However, improvement of mechanical properties is a constant in research activities, either by the development of new alloys or by microstructure manipulation. This presentation focuses a novel effective dynamic methodology to perform microstructural refinement / modification and degassing of light alloys, namely aluminium alloys, by applying acoustic energy to the melts. High intensity acoustic energy significantly improves the microstructure, therefore the mechanical properties of those alloys, avoiding the use of traditional chemically based degassing and refining techniques which are less effective and present significant environmental impact. Ultrasonic (US) vibration has proven to be extremely effective in degassing, controlling columnar dendritic structure, reducing the size of equiaxed grains and, under some conditions, producing globular grains and modifying the eutectic silicon cells in Al-Si alloys. The mechanisms of US processing of aluminium melts are discussed and experimental results on this field are presented.

Structure of NiCrAlY Coatings Deposited on Oriented Single Crystal Superalloy Substrates by Laser Cladding

In the present work single and multiple layer NiCrAlY coatings were produced by laser cladding on (100) single-crystalline substrates of SRR99 Ni-based superalloy. Detailed structural characterisation and texture analysis by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Rutherford backscattering showed that the NiCrAlY coatings consisted essentially of gamma phase with yttrium oxide (Y2O3) and a small proportion of yttrium–aluminium garnet (Al5Y3O12) precipitated in the interdendritic regions. The coatings presented a columnar dendritic structure grown by epitaxial solidification on the substrate and inherited the single-crystalline nature and the orientation of the substrate. The coating material also showed a mosaicity and a defect density similar to those of the substrate. It can be expected that the protective effect of these coatings against oxidation is greatly enhanced compared with polycrystalline coatings because high diffusivity paths, such as grain boundaries, are eliminated in single-crystalline coatings, thus reducing mass transport through the coating.

Optimization of Laser Deposited Ni-Based Single Crystal Superalloys Microstructure

In this paper, results concerning the microstructure of Rene N4 alloy layers produced by laser cladding on oriented CMSX-4 single crystal substrates are presented. The microstructure of the deposits was analyzed in the solidification condition after different temperature/time ageing cycles in order to assess the possibility of improving high temperature strength of laser deposited superalloys. The present work demonstrates that single crystalline deposits of René N4 nickel superalloy can be obtained provided that the deposition direction and the processing parameters are properly selected. The clad layer is perfectly bonded to the substrate and presents no pores or cracks. The deposits grow epitaxially on the substrate, so they inherit its orientation. For laser beam powers and scanning speeds varying between 500 to 800 W and 4 to 12 mm/s, respectively and (001) substrates, the deposited material presents a columnar dendritic structure consisting of arrays of similarly oriented dendrites, separated by subgrain boundaries, forming a single crystal. Heat treatments effective for the dissolution of detrimental phases and for inducing the precipitation of cuboid ’-Ni3Al strengthening phase precipitates in the laser clads were established.