• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.42 no.8 s.279
• /
• pp.567-574
• /
• 2005

Densification of SiC powder with additives of total amount of2, 4, 8 $wt\%$ Al-B-C was carried out by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS). The unique features of the process are the possibilities of a very fast heating rate and a short holding time to obtain fully dense materials. The heating rate and applied pressure were kept at $100^{\circ}C/min$ and 40 MPa, while the sintering temperature and holding time varied from 1700 - $1800^{\circ}C$ for 10 - 40 min, respectively. The SPS-sintered specimens with different amount of Al-B-C at $1800^{\circ}C$ reached near-theoretical density. The $3C{\rightarrow}6H,\;15R{\rightarrow}4H$ phase transformation of SiC was enhanced by increasing the additive amount. The microstructure of SiC sintered up to $1750^{\circ}C$ consisted of fine equiaxed grains. In contrast, the growth of large elongated grains in small matrix grains was shown in sintered bodies at $1800^{\circ}C$, and the plate-like grains interlocking microstructure had been developed by increasing the holding time at $1800^{\circ}C$. The grain growth rate decreases with increasing amount of Al-B-C in SiC starting powder, however, the both of volume fraction and aspect ratio of large grains in sintered body increased.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
• /
• 2004.08a
• /
• pp.63-71
• /
• 2004

Recently, a sheet forming process of Mg alloys is highlighted again due to increasing demand for Mg wrought alloys in the applications of casings of mobile electronics and outer-skins of light-weight transportation. Microstructure control is essential for the enhancement of workability and formability of Mg alloy sheets. In this research, AZ31 Mg alloy sheets were prepared by hot rolling process and the rolling condition dependency of the microstructure and texture evolution was studied by employing a conventional rolling mill as well as an asymmetric rolling mill. When rolled through multiple passes with a small reduction per pass, fine-grained and homogeneous microstructure evolved by repetitive dynamic and static recrystallization. With higher rolling temperature, dynamic recrystallization was initiated in lower reduction. However with increasing reduction per pass, deformation was locallized in band-like regions, which provided favorable nucleation sites f3r dynamic recrystallization. Through post annealing process, the microstructures could be transformed to more equiaxed and homogeneous grain structures. Textures of the rolled sheets were characterized by $\{0002\}$ basal plane textures and retained even after post annealing. On the other hand, asymmetrically rolled and subsequently annealed sheets exhibited unique annealing texture, where $\{0002\}$ orientation was rotated to some extent to the rolling direction and its intensity was reduced.

• Applied Microscopy
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.164-172
• /
• 2013

In this work, microstructural and hardness evolution of the X20 steel upon short-term creep test ($550^{\circ}C$ to $650^{\circ}C$, $180^{\circ}C$ to 60 MPa) was studied by using scanning electron microscope, electron backscattered diffraction, and transmission electron microscope, microhardness tester. After creep rupture, gauge and grip part of the specimens were microstructurally analyzed. Creep at the $650^{\circ}C$/60 MPa resulted in a rupture at 1,460 hours with growth of lath width from 1.31 to $2.87{\mu}m$ and a grain growth with a more equiaxed feature. There is a close relationship between Microhardness and lath width. The formation and coarsening of Laves phase, which was observed up to $600^{\circ}C$ of creep temperature, was accelerated by the applied stress. Slight coarsening of the $M_{23}C_6$ was observed in the $550^{\circ}C$ and $600^{\circ}C$ crept or aged specimens. The coarsening of $M_{23}C_6$ depended on the temperature, where specimens crept at $650^{\circ}C$ showed higher growth rate. The microstructural evolution of X20 after short-term creep test was extensively discussed in relation to the long-term creep/aging test reported in literatures.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.369-381
• /
• 1993

Aluminum alloy(AC8A) matrix composites reinforced with SiC particles(10% in vol.) were fabricated by Centrifugal Spray Deposition(CSD) process. The microstructures were investigated in order to evaluate both the mixing mode between aluminum matrix and SiC particles, and the effect of SiC particles on the cooling behaviours of droplets during flight and preforms deposited. A non-continuum mathematical calculation was performed to explain and to quantify the evolution of microstructures in the droplets and preforms deposited. Conclusions obtained are as follows; 1. The powders produced by CSD process showed, in general, ligament type, and more than 60% of the powders produced were about 300 to 850 um in size. 2. AC8A droplets solidified during flight showed fine dendritic structure, but AC8A droplets mixed with SiC particles showed fine equiaxed grain structure, and eutectic silicon were formed to crystallize granularly between fine aluminum grains. 3. SiC particles seem to act as a nucleation sites for pro-eutectic silicon during solidification of AC8A alloy. 4. The microstructure of composite powders formed by CSD process showed particle embedded type, and resulted in dispersed type microstructure in preforms deposited. 5. The pro-eutectic silicon crystallized granularly between fine aluminum grains seem to prohibit grains from growth during spray deposition process. 6. The interfacial reactions between aluminum matrix and SiC particles were not observed from the deposit performs and the solidified droplets. 7. The continuum model seem to be useful in connecting the processing parameters with the resultant microstructures. From these results, it was concluded that the fabrication of aluminum matrix composites reinforced homogeneously with SiC particles was possible.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.36 no.12
• /
• pp.1356-1363
• /
• 1999

Self-reinforced silicon carbide was prepared by hot pressing and the control of starting phases of raw materials and its microstructural characteristics was investigated. The specimens with self-reinforced microstructure were obtained from the compacts with mixed compositions of ${\alpha}$-and ${\beta}$-SiC powders. Self-reinforced microstructure which is composed of large dispersed grains with rod-like shape and matrix with small equiaxed grains was formed by the transformation to the ${\alpha}$-SiC with 4H polytype for ${\beta}$-SiC and anisotropic grain growth during the heat treatment. Of all speimens the values of volume fraction maximum length and aspect ratio for large grains with rode-like types were the highest at the specimen with 50 vol% ${\beta}$-SiC in the starting SiC powder and therefore this specimen showed the highest fracture toughness due to the crack deflection by rod-like grains during crack propagation.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.26 no.7
• /
• pp.388-392
• /
• 2016

A cold roll-bonding process was applied to fabricate an AA1050/AA6061/AA1050 laminate complex sheet. Two AA1050 and one AA6061 sheets of 2 mm thickness, 40 mm width and 300 mm length were stacked up after surface treatment that included degreasing and wire brushing; material was then reduced to a thickness of 3 mm by one-pass cold rolling. The laminate sheet bonded by the rolling was further reduced to 1.2 mm in thickness by conventional rolling. The rolling was performed at ambient temperature without lubricant using a 2-high mill with a roll diameter of 210 mm. The rolling speed was 5.0 m/sec. The AA1050/AA6061/AA1050 laminate complex sheet fabricated by roll bonding was then hardened by natural aging T4) and artificial aging (T6) treatments. The microstructures of the as-roll bonded and the age hardened Al complex sheets were revealed by optical microscope observation; the mechanical properties were investigated by tensile testing and hardness testing. The strength of the as-roll bonded complex sheet was found to increase by 2.9 times compared to that value of the starting material. In addition, the hardness of the complex sheets increased with cold rolling for AA1050 and age-hardening treatment for AA6061, respectively. After heat treatment, both AA1050 and AA6061 showed typical recrystallization structures in which the grains were equiaxed; however, the grain size was smaller in AA6061 than in AA1050.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.50 no.3
• /
• pp.416-424
• /
• 2018

Microstructure of oxide formed on Zr-Nb-Sn tube sample was intensively examined by scanning transmission electron microscopy after exposure to simulated primary water chemistry conditions of various concentrations of Zn (0 or 30 ppb) and dissolved hydrogen ($H_2$) (30 or 50 cc/kg) for various durations without applying desirable heat flux. Microstructural analysis indicated that there was no noticeable change in the microstructure of the oxide corresponding to water chemistry changes within the test duration of 100 days (pretransition stage) and no significant difference in the overall thickness of the oxide layer. Equiaxed grains with nano-size pores along the grain boundaries and microcracks were dominant near the water/oxide interface, regardless of water chemistry conditions. As the metal/oxide interface was approached, the number of pores tended to decrease. However, there was no significant effect of $H_2$ concentration between 30 cc/kg and 50 cc/kg on the corrosion of the oxide after free immersion in water at $360^{\circ}C$. The adsorption of Zn on the cladding surface was observed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and detected as ZnO on the outer oxide surface. From the perspective of $OH^-$ ion diffusion and porosity formation, the absence of noticeable effects was discussed further.

• Laser Solutions
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.15-19
• /
• 2008

Electron beam (EB) weldability of pure grade Nb sheet was studied. One of Nb sheets was as-annealed and the other was cold rolled. Microstructures, Vickers hardness, and transverse weld tensile test were carried out for the base metal, the heat affected zone (HAZ) and weld metal. In the case of the EB welds made using the annealed Nb sheeet, fine equiaxed grains and coarse grains were dominant at the base metal and the HAZ, respectively, and columnar grains were observed at the weld metal. For the EB welds made using the cold rolled Nb sheet, elongated grains in the rolling direction at the base metal, and the microstructures of the weld metal and the HAZ are similar to those of the EB welds made using the annealed Nb sheet, respectively. For both annealed and cold rolled Nb sheet, the width of the HAZs are unusually wide in spite of using high density heat source, i.e. electron beam, and the grain sizes of both HAZs are similar. When tensile test was carried out using the transverse weld specimens, the failure occurred at the HAZ for both EB welds made using Nb sheets annealed and cold rolled, respectively and the tensile strengths of both specimens were 161MPa. Vickers hardness of EB welds made using annealed Nb was 56-57 Hv at both base metal and weld metal, 52-53 Hv at the HAZ. On the other hand, Vickers hardness of EB welds made using cold rolled Nb was 97-99 Hv at the base metal, but the hardness values of weld metal were similar to those obtained at the weld metal of annealed Nb.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.49 no.9
• /
• pp.678-685
• /
• 2011

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of applied pressure and sintering temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties for spark plasma sintering (SPS) from commercial pure titanium (CP-Ti) powders. Spark plasma sintering is a relatively new sintering technique in powder metallurgy which is capable of sintering metal and ceramic powers quickly to full density at a fairly low temperature due to its unique features. SPS of -200 mesh or -400 mesh CP-Ti powders was carried out in an $Ar+H_2$ mixed gas flowing atmosphere between $650^{\circ}C$ and $750^{\circ}C$ under 10 to 80 MPa pressure. When SPS was carried out at relatively low temperatures ($650^{\circ}C$ to $750^{\circ}C$), the high (>60 MPa) pressure had a marked effect on densification and grain growth suppression. The full density of titanium was achieved at temperatures and pressures above $700^{\circ}C$ and 60 MPa by spark plasma sintering. The crystalline phase and microstructure of titanium sintered up to $700^{\circ}C$ consisted of ${\alpha}$-Ti and equiaxed grains. Vickers hardness ranging from 293 to 362 Hv and strength ranging from 304 to 410 MPa were achieved for spark plasma sintered titanium.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.365-375
• /
• 2022

The microstructure and high-temperature plastic deformation behavior of the modified Al-0.7Mn alloy were investigated and compared with the conventional Al-0.3Mn (Al3102) alloy. α-Al (matrix) and Al₆(Mn, Fe) phases were identified in both alloys. As a result of microstructure observation, both alloys showed equiaxed grains, and Al-0.7Mn alloy showed larger grain size and higher Al₆(Mn, Fe) fraction than Al-0.3Mn alloy. High temperature compressive tests, the deformation temperatures of 410℃, 450℃, 490℃, 530℃ and strain rats of 10^-2/s, 10^-1/s, 1/s, 10/s, were conducted using Gleeble equipment. The flow stress values of Al-0.7Mn alloy were higher than that of Al-0.3Mn alloy at all strain rates and temperature conditions. Constitutive equations were presented using the flow stresses obtained from experimental results and the Zener-Hollomon parameter. In the true stress-true strain curves of the two alloys, the experimental and predicted values were in good agreement with each other. Based on the dynamic material model, eutectic deformation maps of Al-0.7Mn and Al-0.3Mn alloys were suggested, and the plastic instability region was presented. The modified Al-0.7Mn alloy showed a wider plastic instability region than that Al-0.3Mn alloy. Based on the process deformation maps, the MPE tube parts could be manufactured through the actual extrusion process using the suggested conditions.