Numerical Study on the Thermal Field and Heat Transfer Characteristics of a Hexagonal-Close-Packed Pebble Bed

Fuel elements in a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) core may be stacked with a hexagonal close-packed (HCP) structure; therefore, analyzing the temperature distribution and heat transfer efficiency in the HCP pebble bed is of great significance to the design and safety of HTGR cores. In this study, the heat transfer characteristics of an HCP pebble bed are studied using CFD. The thermal fields and convective heat transfer coefficients under different coolant inlet velocities are obtained, and the velocity fields in the gap areas are also analyzed in different planes. It is found that the strongest heat transfer is shown near the right vertices of the top and bottom spheres, while the weakest heat transfer takes place in areas near the contact points where no fluid flows over; in addition, the correlation of the overall heat transfer coefficient with the Reynolds number is proposed as havg = 0.1545(k/L)Re0.8 (Pr = 0.712, 1.6 × 104 ≤ Re ≤ 4 × 104). It is also found that the heat transfer intensity of the HCP structure is weaker than that of the face-centered-cubic structure. These findings provide a reference for reactor designers and will contribute to the development of safer pebble-bed cores.

Microstructure of Additive Manufactured Ti6Al4V by Electron Beam Melting

The electron beam melting-printed Ti6Al4V shows a great potential application for orthopedic implants and aerospace in recent years. A systematic study on the microstructure of additive manufactured Ti6Al4V by electron beam melting both parallel to and perpendicular to the building directions (Z axis) is presented in the present investigation. The results showed that the microstructure of the alloy was α lamina with HCP structure and β bar with BCC structure. The original β phase grew as columnar crystal along the direction of construction, showing an equiaxial shape in the cross section, numerous small α lamellae block the original β phase, and presenting a cluster distribution on the original β grain boundary, and a basket-like distribution in the original β grain. This may be due to the rapid cooling of the small pool after melting, the repeated heating of the subsequent constructed layer on the formed layer, and the subsequent limited vacuum cooling, resulting in the formation of the micro morphology, which leads to the original β grain boundaries broken, and the formation of a distinctive basket or widmanstatten structure [1, 2]. In addition, XRD results indicated that there was α′ martensite, part of which has been decomposes into α phases and β phases, SEM and TEM experiments also proved this. Of note is that random distribution dislocation was observed in TEM. Using EBSD results, and it may be understand that the sample build direction was parallel to [0001] crystal orientation and build plane parallel to (1210) and (1100) crystal facets.

Effect of Sintering Temperature on Mechanical Property of Ti + ZrO2 Prepared by Spark Plasma Sintering for Biomedical Applications

This paper aims to investigate effect of spark plasma sintering temperature on mechanical property of Ti + ZrO2. The samples were prepared by SPS system with the different sintering temperature containing 900, 1,000, and 1,100 oC under the pressing pressure of 30 MPa in vacuum. The results show that hardness of Ti + 2 wt.% ZrO2 alloy increases with increasing sintering temperature. The highest hardness was 363 HV while suitable temperature for sintering Ti + 2 wt.% ZrO2 alloy was 1,100 oC. Further, the microstructure and crystal structure of all samples were single-α-phase structure with different in elements dispersion, which was related to amount of lattice expansion in the HCP structure.

Hot Deformation Behavior and Constitutive Analysis of As-Extruded Mg–6Zn–5Ca–3Ce Alloy Fabricated by Rapid Solidification

The plasticity of Mg–6Zn–5Ca–3Ce alloy fabricated by rapid solidification (RS) at room temperature is poor due to its hexagonal-close-packed (HCP) structure. Therefore, hot deformation of RS Mg–6Zn–5Ca–3Ce alloy at elevated temperature would be a major benefit for manufacturing products with complex shapes. In the present study, hot deformation behavior of as-extruded Mg–6Zn–5Ca–3Ce alloy fabricated by RS was investigated by an isothermal compression test at a temperature (T) of 573–673 K and strain rate (ε˙) of 0.0001–0.01 s−1. Results indicated that the flow stress increases along with the declining temperature and the rising strain rate. The flow stress behavior was then depicted by the hyperbolic sine constitutive equation where the value of activation energy (Q) was calculated to be 186.3 kJ/mol. This issue is mainly attributed to the existence of fine grain and numerous second phases, such as Mg2Ca and Mg–Zn–Ce phase (T’ phase), acting as barriers to restrict dislocation motion effectively. Furthermore, strain compensation was introduced to incorporate the effect of plastic strain on material constants (α,Q,n,lnA) and the predicted flow stresses under various conditions were roughly consistent with the experimental results. Moreover, the processing maps based on the Murty criterion were constructed and visualized to find out the optimal deformation conditions during hot working. The preferential hot deformation windows were identified as follows: T = 590–640 K, ε˙ = 0.0001–0.0003 s−1 and T = 650–670 K, ε˙ = 0.0003–0.004 s−1 for the studied material.

Studying the Thermally Activated Processes Operating during Deformation of hcp and bcc Mg–Li Metal-Matrix Composites

Stress-relaxation tests were performed during plastic deformation at room temperature of three magnesium Mg–Li alloys reinforced with 10 vol% of short Saffil fibers. For comparison, the composite with the Mg matrix was studied. The time dependencies of the stress decrease were analyzed with the aim to determine the activation volume and the main types of thermally activated processes occurring during plastic flow. The Mg4Li matrix alloy exhibited the hcp structure, while the composite with the Mg12Li matrix alloy had the bcc structure. The third alloy, Mg8Li, combined both phases, hcp and bcc. The stress acting in the matrix was divided into two components: the internal stress and the effective stress. Activation volume and stress-sensitivity parameters were determined as a function of effective stress and strain. While the values of the activation volume depending on the effective stress lay on one “master” curve, the strain dependence was different for all materials. The main thermally activated process in the hcp structure was the dislocation motion in the noncompact planes, while in the bcc structure, massive recovery processes connected with an increase in dislocations were identified.

FE Simulation Investigation of Magnesium Alloy by Equal Channel Angular Processing

Magnesium alloy is one of the structure metals of great potential. The hcp structure makes its plasticity is poor at room temperature, which severely limits the development of magnesium alloy. Magnesium alloy plastic problem can be resolved through grain refinement method, and equal channel angular processing is one of the more effective methods of grain refinement. In this paper, two-dimensional dynamic simulation of equal channel angular processing for magnesium alloy were done with the finite element software. The deformation of magnesium alloy was analyzed when die angle and die corner angle were different. The results show that: in the main deformation zone, when die angles were different, the sample deformation in the horizontal direction is very uniform. But in the sample longitudinally direction, the greater the die angle, the more uniform the sample deformation. Die corner angle has no significant effect on the uniformity of the longitudinally deformation of the sample, but its affects the size of the dead zone and sample warpage.

Electrodeposited Ni-Co Films from Electrolytes with Different Co Contents

Ni–Co alloy coatings were electrodeposited at various cobalt amounts on pretreated steel substrates. The co-deposition phenomenon of Ni-Co alloys was described as anomalous behaviour. Different techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and potentiodynamic polarization were used to characterize the alloy coatings. EDX results showed that the Co content increase with the enhancing of Co amount. SEM images have shown that the increase of Co amount leads grain developing from large grain to branched grain form and that goes through spherical and pyramidal, this implies that the grain size of these alloy coatings is greatly affected by Co amount in the electrolyte baths. XRD patterns revealed that the phase structure of Ni–Co coatings is dramatically changed from fcc into hcp structure with the increase of Co amount. The electrochemical properties of Ni-Co alloy coatings evaluated in 3.5% NaCl solution reveal that Ni–34.32 wt.% Co alloy exhibits better corrosion resistance compared to pure Ni and other Ni–Co alloy coatings.

Vapor phase dealloying-driven synthesis of bulk nanoporous cobalt with a face-centered cubic structure

Cobalt (Co) mainly exists in two allotropic forms: a low temperature hexagonal close-packed (HCP) structure and a high temperature face centered cubic (FCC) structure. However, annealing at high temperature only...

Effect of semi-solid forming temperature and heat treatment on mechanical properties and microstructure of Mg-Al-Zn Alloy (AZ91D) for automotive light application

Magnesium alloy usage in manufacturing engineering components resulting in weight reduction and as a consequence, reduction in fuel and energy consumption. Magnesium has a relatively low density and roughly 30% lighter than aluminum. However, magnesium is considered to be difficult to deform because of the HCP structure. In this present work, the effect of semi-solid forming temperature and heat treatment on mechanical properties of Mg-Al-Zn were investigated. Mg-Al-Zn ingot was machined into a billet and formed with three different temperatures and underwent T4 heat-treatment process. To determine the mechanical properties and microstructure of the magnesium alloy, tensile and hardness test were performed and the result indicates that the highest average maximum tensile stress was achieved at 209 MPa at 530ºC after forming with T4 heat treatment and highest hardness value was at 21.44 HRB at 560ºC. On the other hand, effect of the forming temperature gives impact to the evolution of the microstructure from large grain size (as-cast) to the smaller grains size (0.00797mm2) forming at 560°C. This relate to the extensive dynamic recrystallization (DRX) occurs during forming and Mg-Al-Zn was sensitive with heat either direct or indirect heating method.