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As três famílias de ligas de maior importância comercial para a indústria de fundição apresentam a formação de eutéticos do tipo facetado/não-facetado durante a solidificação: os ferros fundidos com grafita (eutético austenita/grafita), os ferros fundidos brancos (eutético austenita/carboneto) e as ligas Al-Si (eutético alfa/silício). No caso dos ferros fundidos brancos, a morfologia dos carbonetos eutéticos exerce influência decisiva sobre o comportamento mecânico e a resistência à degradação (em função de solicitações como abrasão ou ciclos térmicos e/ou mecânicos) das ligas resistentes a desgaste pertencentes ao sistema Fe-C-X (em que X representa um ou mais dos elementos Cr, V, Mo, W e, mais raramente, Nb). Investigou-se o efeito do potencial nucleante do banho metálico sobre o eutético de ligas do sistema Fe-C-V, e conseqüentemente sobre a morfologia do carboneto. As alterações de morfologia do eutético austentita/carboneto VC em função da adição de alumínio ou titânio foram avaliadas por meio de microscopias óptica e eletrônica de varredura. Observou-se que a adição de alumínio ou titânio, em ligas com teores residuais de oxigênio ou nitrogênio, promoveu alteração do eutético VC de irregular para fibroso (no caso da adição de alumínio) e para divorciado (no caso da adição de titânio). Conclui-se que a presença de partículas nucleantes induziu a nucleação seletiva da fase facetada (carboneto VC) a temperaturas mais elevadas, diminuindo o grau de cooperação durante o crescimento do eutético. / The three most commercially important families of alloys for the foundry industry show the formation of faceted/non-faceted eutectics type during solidification: cast irons with graphite (austenite/graphite eutectic), white cast irons (austenite/carbide eutectic) and Al-Si alloys (alfa/silicon eutectic). In the case of white cast irons, the eutectic carbide morphology has decisive influence on mechanical behavior and on degradation resistance (due to solicitation such as abrasion or thermal and/or mechanical cycling) of wearing resistant alloys of the Fe-C-X system (where X stands for one or more of the following elements: Cr, V, Mo, W and, seldom, Nb). The metallic bath nucleant potential on the eutectic of the Fe-C-V system and, thus, on the carbide morphology, were investigated. It was evaluated the nucleant potential for aluminum and titanium addition to the bath. The morphologies changes for the austenite/carbide eutectic were evaluated by optical and scanning electronic microscopy. It was observed that aluminum or titanium addition in alloys with residual content of oxygen or nitrogen promoted VC eutectic morphology change from irregular to fibrous (when aluminum is added) and to divorced (when titanium is added). It is concluded that the presence of nucleant agents in the metallic bath induced the preferred nucleation of the faceted phase at higher temperatures, decreasing the cooperation during the eutectic growth.

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Understanding the changes occurring in the mechanical properties during martensite tempering is essential in the development of new industrial grades. The aim of this research was to develop new ultra-high strength steels via nanoprecipitation control, which requires an understanding of the processing-microstructure-property relationship in medium carbon (0.5-0.6 wt.%) steels throughout tempering. Much of the work has been centred in understanding the role of silicon at the precipitation level and in the recovery of martensite. By using an existing spring steel grade, the effect of interrupted ageing (IA) in tempered martensite has been studied. In IA, an intermediate step between quenching and tempering is introduced, where quenched martensite is left to rest at room temperature for a defined period of time. By allowing carbon segregation into dislocation cores, the incorporation of IA resulted in a more stable microstructure and hardness improvement. The effect of silicon in the epsilon to cementite carbide transition has also been studied. The classical nucleation theory was applied in order to model cementite formation under paraequilibrium conditions, thus incorporating silicon during nucleation. Characterisation using high energy X-rays showed the inhibiting effect of silicon in the overall cementite precipitation. The second effect of silicon was observed in the martensite recovery. A series of experiments were carried out in order to capture the various microstructural changes taking place during tempering: precipitation, grain size and dislocation density evolution. It was observed that the addition of silicon reduces the rate of martensite recovery, owing to the reduced cross-slip in the ferrite lattice. A plasticity model based on irreversible thermodynamics and EBSD characterisation was applied to identify the effective grain size. The results from these two techniques require further research. Nevertheless, based on the post-failure analysis by TEM, it appears that at relatively early tempering stages, even low angle lath boundaries can contribute to strengthening, where piled-up dislocations have been observed at lath boundaries.

B4C is an important engineering ceramic used in a number of different applications. One of the promising applications of B4C is in the nuclear industry. B4C has a high neutron absorption cross-section (600 barns) and that is why it can absorb neutrons without forming long lived radio nuclides. As a result, B4C is extensively used as control rods, shielding material and as neutron detectors in nuclear reactors. During the reactor’s operation, the B4C undergoes severe neutron radiation and defects, such as vacancies and helium bubbles, are generated in the structure. These defects are responsible for the degradation of mechanical performance of B4C and can make this material unsuitable for further exploitation. Therefore, both crystal structure and mechanical properties of B4C were studied before and after radiation, as well as for the case when irradiated by neutrons B4C samples has been annealed in order to heal the defects introduced by the radiation. Fully dense B4C ceramics were produced by hot pressing at 2100ºC, 30MPa, and 45 minutes dwell time. 120 small bars of 2×2.5×25mm were machined according to the MOR bar standard. 40 bars after machining were tested as they were, 80 bars were irradiated with neutrons in neutron source for 3.5 months. 40 out of the 80 irradiated bars were annealed at 400ºC for 1 hour with an attempt to heal the defects possibly introduced by the irradiation. iv 4-point bending strength, SEVNB fracture toughness, and Vickers hardness have been measured on as received B4C, B4C after radiation, and B4C after radiation and annealing. The Weibull parameters were determined for each set of the conditions. The fracture surfaces of the B4C samples before and after radiation as well as after radiation and annealing have also been analyzed using SEM. X-ray diffractometer was used to collect diffraction pattern of the B4C, and Raman spectrometer was used to evaluate the vibrational response of B4C. Thus the effect of neutron radiation and annealing on the mechanical performance and structure of B4C has been analyzed.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:55:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:05:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Dissertação (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:55:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:05:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Avanços tecnológicos geram a necessidade de materiais com propriedades cada vez melhores, de acordo com a sua aplicação final. Compósitos de alumina com adição de partículas de carbeto são uma opção promissora de aplicação estrutural. Neste trabalho foi estudada a influência da diferença de distribuição e tamanho de partículas de duas aluminas comerciais, a adição de 1,5 e 6% em volume de carbeto de nióbio e a adição de 500 ppm de óxido de magnésio, nas propriedades microestruturais e mecânicas de compósitos à base de alumina. Foram preparados corpos de prova por prensagem uniaxial e isostática, sinterizados em forno de resistência de grafite a temperaturas de 1600, 1650, 1700 e 1750°C, por trinta minutos, em atmosfera com pressão positiva de argônio. As amostras obtidas foram avaliadas quanto à densidade, microestrutura e propriedades mecânicas. Também foram realizados ensaios de difusão para verificar a reatividade química entre pares formados por amostras de alumina e ferro fundido cinzento. As características físicas e químicas das aluminas comerciais utilizadas acarretaram diferenças nos materiais finais; os compósitos produzidos com alumina A16 apresentaram densidade maior do que os produzidos com alumina A1000, nas mesmas condições; assim como os valores de dureza também foram maiores. A adição de 6vol% de carbeto de nióbio à matriz de alumina retarda o início da sinterização, enquanto que a adição de 1,5vol% não provoca mudanças sensíveis na cinética de densificação em relação aos materiais sem adição. Os valores de densidade e dureza dos compósitos contendo 1,5vol% de NbC foram superiores nas menores temperaturas de sinterização utilizadas. Os melhores resultados de densificação (>96% Dt) e dureza (>15GPa) foram obtidos para compósitos produzidos com alumina A16 e adição de 1,5% de NbC. / Dissertação (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:36:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T13:59:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Tese (Doutoramento) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP