فصلنامه مواد پیشرفته در مهندسی
سال سی و ششم شماره 2 (تابستان 1396)

Al-Zn-Mg/3 wt-% Al2O3 nanostructured composite powder was synthesized through Mechanical Alloying (MA). At first, the 7014 alloy matrix constituents were milled in a planetary ball mill for 20 hours. Then, 3 wt.% µ-Al2O3 particles were added to the pre-milled matrix and the nanostructured composite powder was produced at different MA times to investigate the effects of MA time on the characteristics of the produced composite powders such as morphology, crystallite size, lattice strain and microhardness. The characterization results proved that synthesizing nanostructured composite powder with a low amount of micrometric reinforcements in addition to pre-milled micrometric matrix is possible. Also, synthesis of the nanostructured composite powder with the minimum crystallite size of 24 nm and the minimum mean particle size of 5 µm was confirmed. Moreover, the steady state occurred after around 20 hours milling and further milling did not affect the powder characteristics excluding crystallite size, lattice strain and microhardness. In addition, sinterability of the composite powders increased with increasing the milling time due to decreased average particle size. However, after the steady state, the sinterability did not change.

In this paper, the optimization of the surface composite of Mg AZ31B-carbon nanotub(CNT) via friction stir processing was investigated. Then, the most effective process parameters such as transverse speed, rotational speed, CNT weight percent and welding passes were studied by Response Surface Methodology (RSM) design of experiment. The specimens were also characterized by micro-hardness, tensile, shear punch and pin on disk dry sliding wear tests. The optimization results of hardness and weight reduction responses showed that the best conditions would be achievable with a transverse speed of 24 mm/min, rotational speed of 660 rpm, 4wt.% CNT and 3 welding passes. Moreover, fracture analysis of the surfaces proved a uniform distribution of CNTs in the matrix resulted in higher tensile and shear strength.

In this research, dissimilar welding between 4130 low alloy steel and austenitic stainless steel 316L has been investigated using Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW). Two types of filler metals, including ERNiCr-3 and ER309L, were used for this purpose. Moreover, the joint microstructures including the weld metals, heat affected zones and interfaces were characterized by optical and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The mechanical behavior of the joint was tested by impact and tension tests. Observations by SEM showed that in impact test, the fracture is soft. In the tensile test, the welded sample by ER309L filler metal was fractured from 316L base metal, but welded specimen with ERNiCr-3 was fractured from welded zone. Also, the results showed a dendritic structure in the nickel-based weld metal. No crack was found in the cellular-dendritic microstructure of ER309L weld metal due to the existance of delta ferrite between them.

In this research, nickel ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized by sol-gel auto-combustion route, and the effect of calcination temperature on phase constituents, magnetic properties and microstructure of the synthesized nanoparticles was evaluated using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). XRD results were submitted to quantitative analysis. Microstructural studies and crystallite size calculations showed formation of nanoparticles. XRD results showed that the combustion product consisted of NiFe2O4, α-Fe2O3, NiO, and FeNi3 phases. FeNi3 was eliminated by calcination, and the amounts of NiO and α-Fe2O3 were modvlated by changing in calcination temperature. Saturation magnetization changed from 37emu/g in combustion product to 30emu/g by calcination at 600°C, due to decomposition of FeNi3 magnetic phase and formation of higher amount of antiferromagnetic hematite phase. Also, the coercivity values increased, that could be due to increasing the amount of nickel ferrite phase and eliminating FeNi3 phase. Saturation magnetization reached to 43emu/g in calcinated sample at 1000°C due to the reaction between hematite and NiO phases that led to formation of higher amount of nickel ferrite to 43emu/g. Coercivity value dropped out to 127Oe by calcination at 1000°C, the reason of which could be incresing of particle size and formation of multi domain magnetic particles.

In this study, the kinetics of austenite layer growth on the surface of Fe-23Cr-2.4Mo ferritic stainless steel during solution nitriding and the effects of nitrogen adding on microstructure and hardness of the steel have been investigated. Steel plates of 2 mm thick were solution-nitrided at 1200˚C under nitrogen pressure of 0.25 MPa for 2, 3, 6, 9, 12 hours. Microstructure, the thickness of austenite layer and the hardnes of the nitrided samples, were investigated by using optical microscope, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and microhardness measurements. The results showed that during solution nitriding, nitrogen diffuses through the lattice and grain boundaries and transforms ferrite to austenite phase, with average nitrogen diffusion coefficient of 6.54×10-5 mm2s-1. The thickness of the austenite layer formed on the samples surfaces increased proportional to the square root of the nitriding time, so that after 12 hours niriding, the whole thickness of the ferritic sample with hardness of 262 HV0.1 transformed to austenite with hardness of 420 HV0.1.

In this paper, Ni-doped lead hexaferrites (PbFe12-xNixO19) nanoparticles with x = 0.2 were prepared by sol- gel method. Then, the effect of annealing temperature on its structural, magnetic and dielectric properties was studied. First, the dryed gel was evaluated by Thermogravimetry-Differential Thermal Analysis (TG/DTA) and then, the structural morphology, magnetic and dielectric properties of samples have been characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) and LCR meter. The results of x-ray diffraction patterns show that by increasing annealing temperature up to 800 °C, PbFe11.8Ni0.2O19 phase percentage in the samples increases. Also, by increasing annealing temperature, the magnetization increases because the unwanted phases disappear and pure and single-phase lead hexaferrite are formed. By increasing frequency, first the AC electrical conductivity of the samples decreases and then increases. These variations have been explained by Maxwell- Wanger model. The result measurements show that the best sample is PbFe11.8Ni0.2O19 with annealing temperature of 800 °C for 3 h.

Age hardening processes cause a wide range of changes in 17-4 PH stainless steel properties. Aging at 480ºC for 1 hour (A480-1) and aging at 620ºC for 4 hours (A620-4) are two most applicable heat treatment processes for this alloy. Not only the studies on fatigue behavior of this alloy in these two heat treatment conditions are few, but also the methods of fatigue test were mostly axial. In this study, after microstructure studies, hardness and tension tests, fatigue behavior at A480-1 and A620-4 conditions were evaluated by using a rotational bending fatigue test machine. Tension results showed that yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of A480-1 specimens were 40 percent more than A620-4 specimens. However, elongation of A620-4 specimens was 30 percent more than A480-1 specimens. Fatigue results revealed the endurance limit of aged specimens is 50 MPa more than overaged specimens. Overall results showed that A480-1 condition specimens are more resistant to fatigue than A620-4 condition specimens.

In this study, the composition of magnesium aluminate spinle and the converter mud were used as raw materials to in-situ formation of hercynite phase in magnesite-hercynite refractory bricks. The pressed samples were sintered at 1400 and 1500℃ and then, the phase composition of bricks was evaluated after firing at 1400℃. Besides, the effect of nano-magnesia particles addition on the properties of magnesia-hercynite refractory bricks was examined. Hence, the physical peroperties, thermal shock resistance and microstructure of refractory bricks were evaluated. The phase composition results showed that hercynite is well-formed in the refractory matrix, which leads to bonding formation and its increase between magnesia particles. The evaluation of results indicated that the addition of nano-magnesia particles can reduce the porosity of brick via increasing particles packing. In this relation, 1 wt. % nano-magnesia addition was determined as optimum content. Further addition of nano-magnesia leads to increasing of porosity via agglomeration of particles. Due to the high surface area of used nano-magnesia particles, the adequate sintering of refractory brick containing nano-magnesia take places at 1400℃. This leads to increasing of particles bonding and then, increasing mechanical strength, but it can not affect the thermal shock resistance of refractory bricks. The microstructural evaluations showed the lower porosity and further particles bonding with addition of nano-magnesia optimum content.

In the present study, FeAl/Al2O3 nanocomposite coating was produced on the carbon steel plate using mechanical alloying (MA) technique via a mechanochemical reaction. Stoichiometric ratios of Fe, Al and Fe2O3 as well as a substrate were mixed and milled up to 22h in a vibrating high energy mill with a 4 mm ball. Samples prepared after 18h of MA were subjected to annealing at 773 K for 1-3 h. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and microhardness measurements were carried out to study mechanochemical reaction and coating formation characterization. The results showed that mechanochemical reactions were started after 10h of MA, which finally caused the slight formation of FeAl/Al2O3 nanocomposite. Increasing the milling time to 18 hours led to the continuous increase of the coating thickness up to 80 μm, while the coating layer fractured and began to peel by further milling. The microhardness of the coating after 18h milling was 1050 vickers. Annealing of the 18h milled powders at 773K for 3h led to the complete formation and synthesis of the FeAl/Al2O3 nanocomposite. The results showed that the annealing treatment had considerable effects on the hardness increase up to 1200 vickers as well as adhesion strength of the composite coating.

Electrophoretic Deposition (EPD) weight is highly affected by electrophoretic mobility of powders in suspension. In theoretical aspect, electrophoretic mobility is influenced by suspension viscosity in opposite direction, and increasing in viscosity can decrease electrophoretic mobility and consequently can decrease EPD weight. In non-aqueous suspension, viscosity is determined by ion strengths of suspension. In this study, viscosity, electrical conductivity and deposit weight were determined for electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of alumina suspended in ethanolic solvent of Y-, Mg-, Ce- and La- salts, prepared in dispersant level between 350 to 1350 ppm. The concentration of XCly, (X: Mg, Y, Ce and La), is also found to be a critical factor to control the viscosity. It is shown that the deposit weight is influenced by precursor concentration, and on the other hand, electrical conductivity, viscosity or the pH of the suspension cannot change the yield. All concentrations interactions, except Mg × Ce concentration are significant in ANOVA model. The viscosity of suspension reached 2.5 mPa.s with Mg-, Y-, La- and Ce- decreased to 100, 100, 100 and 0 ppm in low iodine concentration (400 ppm). The reason is that heavier cations can be adsorbed to alumina surface with iodine adsorption, but lighter Mg- cations can be adsorbed under the influence of OH groups excited on alumina surface.