The substitution of cooling method from water quenching to air cooling after solution heat treatment was aimed for the development of a convenient and economical heat treatment process of duplex stainless steels without deterioration of mechanical and corrosion resistant properties for the industry. In order to achieve this goal, the mechanical properties and corrosion properties of a ASTM A890-4A duplex stainless steel were systematically investigated as functions of casting condition and cooling method after solution heat treatment. A 3-stepped sand mold and a permanent Y-block mold were used to check the effects of solidification structure and cooling rate after solution heat treatment. The microstructural characteristics such as the ferrite/austenite phase ratio and the precipitation behavior of ${\sigma}$ phase and carbides were investigated by combined analysis of OM and SEM-EDX with an aid of TTT diagram. Hardness and tension test were performed to evaluate the mechanical properties. Impact property at $-40^{\circ}C$ and corrosion resistance were also examined to check the possibility of the industrial application of this basic study. Throughout this investigation, air-cooling method was proved to effectively substitute for water-quenching process after the solution heat treatment, when the duplex stainless steel was sand mold cast with a thickness below 15 mm or permanent mold cast with a thickness below 20 mm.

Phase evolutions involving nucleation stages together with diffusional growth have been examined in order to provide a guideline for determining rate limiting stages during phase evolutions. In multiphase materials systems in coatings, composites or multilayered structures, diffusion treatments often result in the development of metastable/intermediate phases at the reaction interfaces. The development of metastable phases during solid state interdiffusion demonstrates that the nucleation reaction can be one controlling factor. Also, the concentration gradient and the relative magnitudes of the component diffusivities provide a basis for a phase selection and the application of a kinetic bias strategy in the phase selection. For multicomponent alloy systems, the identification of the operative diffusion pathway is central to control phase formation. Experimental access to the nucleation and growth stage is discussed in thin film multi layers and bulk samples.

In the present study, the possibility of Mg-Zn-Y alloys as high temperature casting alloys has been investigated. The fluidity of alloys containing yttrium were better than that of commercial AZ91 alloy because the oxide layer on the surface reduced the reaction between melt, and air and mold, which would reduce the resistance during the process of filling the mold. However, this oxide film reduced the hot-tearing resistance. In the case of ZAW942, this alloy exhibited fluidity and hot-tearing resistance better than AZ91 alloy. Because of thermally stable quasicrystal and other phases obstructed the movement of grains, the creep resistance of alloys containing rare earth elements more than 2 wt% was better than that of AZ91 alloy.

Most of the work reported concerned the semi-solid processing of low melting point alloys, and in particular light alloys of aluminum and magnesium. The purpose of this paper is to develop a semi-solid microstructure of Cu alloys using electromagnetic stirring applicable for squirrel cage rotor of induction motor. The size of primary solid particle and the degree of sphericity as a function of the variation in cooling rate, stirring speed, and holding time were observed. By applying electromagnetic stirring, primary solid particles became finer and rounder relative to as-cast sample. As the input frequency increased from 30 to 40 Hz, particle size decreased. The size of primary solid particle was found to be decreased with increasing cooling rate. Also, it decreased with stirring up to 3 minutes but increased above that point. The degree of sphericity became closer to be 1 with hold time. Semi-solid microstructure of Cu alloys, one of the high melting point alloys, could be controlled by electromagnetic stirring.