Soft magnetic powder materials are used throughout industries such as motors and power converters. When manufacturing Fe-based soft magnetic composites, the size and shape of the soft magnetic powder and the microstructure in the powder are closely related to the magnetic properties. In this study, Fe-Si-Al-P alloy powders were manufactured using various manufacturing process parameter sets, and the process parameters of the vacuum induction melt gas atomization process were set as melt temperature, atomization gas pressure, and gas flow rate. Process variable data that records are converted into 6 types of data for each powder recovery section. Process variable data that recorded minute changes were converted into 6 types of data and used as input variables. As output variables, a total of 6 types were designated by measuring the particle size, flowability, apparent density, and sphericity of the manufactured powders according to the process variable conditions. The sensitivity of the input and output variables was analyzed through the Pearson correlation coefficient, and a total of 6 powder characteristics were analyzed by artificial neural network model. The prediction results were compared with the results through linear regression analysis and response surface methodology, respectively.
Novel Ni- and Fe-based alloys are developed to impart improved mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. The designed alloys are manufactured as a powder and deposited on a steel substrate using a high-velocity oxygen-fuel process. The coating layer demonstrates good corrosion resistance, and the thus-formed passive film is beneficial because of the Cr contained in the alloy system. Furthermore, during low-temperature heat treatment, factors that deteriorate the properties and which may arise during high-temperature heat treatment, are avoided. For the heattreated coating layers, the hardness increases by up to 32% and the corrosion resistance improves. The influence of the heat treatment is investigated through various methods and is considered to enhance the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the coating layer.
A new Fe-Cr-Mo-B-C amorphous alloy is designed, which offers high mechanical strength, corrosion resistance as well as high glass-forming ability and its gas-atomized amorphous powder is deposited on an ASTM A213-T91 steel substrate using the high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) process. The hybrid coating layer, consisting of nanocrystalline and amorphous phases, exhibits strong bonding features with the substrate, without revealing significant pore formation. By the coating process, it is possible to obtain a dense structure in which pores are hardly observed not only inside the coating layer but also at the interface between the coating layer and the substrate. The coating layer exhibits good adhesive strength as well as good wear resistance, making it suitable for coating layers for biomass applications.
In this study, we investigated the effects of precipitates and oxide dispersoids on the high-temperature mechanical properties of oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) Ni-based super alloys. Two ODS Ni-based super alloy rods with different chemical compositions were fabricated by high-energy milling and hot extrusion process at 1150℃ to investigate the effects of precipitates on high-temperature mechanical properties. Further, the MA6000N alloy is an improvement over the commercial MA6000 alloy, and the KS6000 alloy has the same chemical composition as the MA6000 alloy. The phase and microstructure of Ni-based super alloys were investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. It was found that MC carbide precipitates and oxide dispersoids in the ODS Ni-based super alloys developed in this study may effectively improve high-temperature hardness and creep resistance.
Additive manufacturing by electron beam melting is an affordable process for fabricating near net shaped parts of titanium and its alloys. 3D additive-manufactured parts have various kinds of voids, lack of fusion, etc., and they may affect crack initiation and propagation. Post process is necessary to eliminate or minimize these defects. Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) is the main method, which is expensive. The objective of this paper is to achieve an optimum and simple post heat treatment process without the HIP process. Various post heat treatments are conducted for the 3Dprinted Ti-6Al-4V specimen below and above the beta transus temperature (996oC). The as-fabricated EBM Ti-6Al-4V alloy has an α‘-martensite structure and transforms into the α+β duplex phase during the post heat treatment. The fatigue strength of the as-fabricated specimen is 400 MPa. The post heat treatment at 1000oC/30 min/AC increases the fatigue strength to 420 MPa. By post heat treatment, the interior pore size and the pore volume fraction are reduced and this can increase the fatigue limit.
This study investigates the directional recrystallization behavior of Ni based oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloy according to the zone annealing velocity. The zone annealing temperature is set as 1390oC, while the zone velocities are set as 2.5, 4, 6, and 10 cm/h, respectively. The initial microstructure observation of the as-extruded sample shows equiaxed grains of random orientation, with an average grain size of 530 nm. On the other hand, the zone annealed samples show a large deviation in grain size depending on the zone velocities. In particular, grains with a size of several millimeters are observed at 2.5-cm/h zone velocity. It is also found that the preferred orientation varies with the zone annealing velocity. On the basis of these results, this study discusses the role of zone velocities in the directional recrystallization of Ni base ODS alloy.
In this study, we investigate the deformation behavior of Hf44.5Cu27Ni13.5Nb5Al10 metallic glass powder under repeated compressive strain during mechanical milling. High-density (11.0 g/cc) Hf-based metallic glass powders are prepared using a gas atomization process. The relationship between the mechanical alloying time and microstructural change under phase transformation is evaluated for crystallization of the amorphous phase. Planetary mechanical milling is performed for 0, 40, or 90 h at 100 rpm. The amorphous structure of the Hf-based metallic glass powders during mechanical milling is analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Microstructural analysis of the Hf-based metallic glass powder deformed using mechanical milling reveals a layered structure with vein patterns at the fracture surface, which is observed in the fracture of bulk metallic glasses. We also study the crystallization behavior and the phase and microstructure transformations under isothermal heat treatment of the Hf-based metallic glass.
This study investigates the oxidation properties of Fe-14Cr ferritic oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) steel at various high temperatures (900, 1000, and 1100°C for 24 h). The initial microstructure shows that no clear structural change occurs even under high-temperature heat treatment, and the average measured grain size is 0.4 and 1.1 μm for the as-fabricated and heat-treated specimens, respectively. Y–Ti–O nanoclusters 10–50 nm in size are observed. High-temperature oxidation results show that the weight increases by 0.27 and 0.29 mg/cm2 for the asfabricated and heat-treated (900°C) specimens, and by 0.47 and 0.50 mg/cm2 for the as-fabricated and heat-treated (1000°C) specimens, respectively. Further, after 24 h oxidation tests, the weight increases by 56.50 and 100.60 mg/cm2 for the as-fabricated and heat-treated (1100°C) specimens, respectively; the latter increase is approximately 100 times higher than that at 1000°C. Observation of the surface after the oxidation test shows that Cr2O3 is the main oxide on a specimen tested at 1000°C, whereas Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 phases also form on a specimen tested at 1100°C, where the weight increases rapidly. The high-temperature oxidation behavior of Fe-14Cr ODS steel is confirmed to be dominated by changes in the Cr2O3 layer and generation of Fe-based oxides through evaporation.