Student Number: 9400670E School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment / The selection of a particular steel grade for an application is extremely important to ensure that the final components have a long serviceable life. The chemical compositions of the steels are critical, and minor changes in chemistry can make substantial differences. Aluminium and vanadium are used in heat treatable steels as grain refining agents. These elements affect the properties of the steels. Two steels with identical chemical composition except for the aluminium and vanadium additions were comparatively tested to determine the better steel for a particular automotive coil spring. The tests included mechanical testing and on site fatigue testing. Fatigue resistance is extremely important especially for automotive coil springs. The mechanical properties revealed superior tensile strength in the vanadium grain refined spring steel while the aluminium grain refined spring steel had superior ductility and fatigue resistance.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:27:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-02-05Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:16:12Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 martins_ms_me_guara.pdf: 4378638 bytes, checksum: 5ab218d0c5345113e4a7e43df186b4af (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O presente trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar uma nova proposta de produção do aço para molas de válvulas para motores de combustão interna SAE 9258. Atualmente, este aço é produzido pela rota de lingotamento convencional, e pretende-se adotar o processo de lingotamento contínuo, mantendo-se todas as características mecânicas e metalúrgicas do aço produzido convencionalmente. Cuidados especiais durante o processo de refino secundário (fase líquida) foram levados em consideração para que sejam obtidas inclusões de silicatos deformáveis, essenciais para se conseguir uma vida em fadiga segura para as molas durante a vida útil do motor. Para avaliar essas características do aço foram feitas análises metalográficas da microestrutura em amostras na fase de processamento do aço (fio-máquina) e na fase final do processo (arames), realizados ensaios de tração, ensaios de fadiga axial em corpos-de-prova padronizados (ASTM E 466), ensaios de fadiga por flexão rotativa no arame (Nakamura test), ensaio de fadiga nas molas e análise das superfícies de fratura por fadiga com auxílio de microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV), para as duas rotas de produção (lingotamento convencional e contínuo). Os resultados obtidos mostram que não há diferenças com relação a microestrutura, propriedades mecânicas e comportamento em fadiga do aço na fase final de produção (arame) e na forma de produto (molas). Por outro lado, os resultados obtidos para o aço na fase intermediária do processamento (fiomáquina) mostram diferenças com relação à microestrutura, (presença de maior quantidade de carbonetos nas amostras do lingotamento contínuo), e menor redução de área com a consequente redução da resistência à fadiga. / This paper aims to present a new proposal for production of steel for valve springs for internal combustion engines SAE 9258. Currently this steel is produced by ingot casting route, and intended to adopt the continuous casting process, maintaining all the mechanical and metallurgical characteristics of the steel produced conventionally. Special attention during the process of refinement (liquid phase) were taken into account are obtained for silicate inclusions deformable essential to achieving a safe fatigue life for the springs during the life of the engine. To evaluate these features were made of steel metallographic analysis of microstructure in specimens during processing of steel (wire rod) and the final stage (wires) performed tensile tests, axial fatigue tests on specimens standard (ASTM E 466), fatigue tests in rotating bending on the wire (Nakamura test), the fatigue test the springs and examination of the areas of fatigue fracture with the aid of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for the two production routes (ingot and continuous casting). The results show no differences with respect to microstructure, mechanical properties and fatigue behavior of steel in the final stages of production (wire) and the product form (spring). Moreover, the results obtained for steel in the intermediate stage of processing (wire rod) show differences from the microstructure (the larger amount of carbides in the samples of the continuous casting), lower area reduction with the consequent reduction resistance to fatigue.

Resumo: O presente trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar uma nova proposta de produção do aço para molas de válvulas para motores de combustão interna SAE 9258. Atualmente, este aço é produzido pela rota de lingotamento convencional, e pretende-se adotar o processo de lingotamento contínuo, mantendo-se todas as características mecânicas e metalúrgicas do aço produzido convencionalmente. Cuidados especiais durante o processo de refino secundário (fase líquida) foram levados em consideração para que sejam obtidas inclusões de silicatos deformáveis, essenciais para se conseguir uma vida em fadiga segura para as molas durante a vida útil do motor. Para avaliar essas características do aço foram feitas análises metalográficas da microestrutura em amostras na fase de processamento do aço (fio-máquina) e na fase final do processo (arames), realizados ensaios de tração, ensaios de fadiga axial em corpos-de-prova padronizados (ASTM E 466), ensaios de fadiga por flexão rotativa no arame (Nakamura test), ensaio de fadiga nas molas e análise das superfícies de fratura por fadiga com auxílio de microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV), para as duas rotas de produção (lingotamento convencional e contínuo). Os resultados obtidos mostram que não há diferenças com relação a microestrutura, propriedades mecânicas e comportamento em fadiga do aço na fase final de produção (arame) e na forma de produto (molas). Por outro lado, os resultados obtidos para o aço na fase intermediária do processamento (fiomáquina) mostram diferenças com relação à microestrutura, (presença de maior quantidade de carbonetos nas amostras do lingotamento contínuo), e menor redução de área com a consequente redução da resistência à fadiga. / Abstract: This paper aims to present a new proposal for production of steel for valve springs for internal combustion engines SAE 9258. Currently this steel is produced by ingot casting route, and intended to adopt the continuous casting process, maintaining all the mechanical and metallurgical characteristics of the steel produced conventionally. Special attention during the process of refinement (liquid phase) were taken into account are obtained for silicate inclusions deformable essential to achieving a safe fatigue life for the springs during the life of the engine. To evaluate these features were made of steel metallographic analysis of microstructure in specimens during processing of steel (wire rod) and the final stage (wires) performed tensile tests, axial fatigue tests on specimens standard (ASTM E 466), fatigue tests in rotating bending on the wire (Nakamura test), the fatigue test the springs and examination of the areas of fatigue fracture with the aid of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for the two production routes (ingot and continuous casting). The results show no differences with respect to microstructure, mechanical properties and fatigue behavior of steel in the final stages of production (wire) and the product form (spring). Moreover, the results obtained for steel in the intermediate stage of processing (wire rod) show differences from the microstructure (the larger amount of carbides in the samples of the continuous casting), lower area reduction with the consequent reduction resistance to fatigue. / Orientador: Aelcio Zangrandi / Coorientador: César Alves da Silva Leandro / Banca: Aelcio Zangrandi / Banca: Carlos Kiyan / Banca: Carlos Moura Neto / Mestre

This master’s thesis focuses on the fatigue properties of spring steel 54SiCrV6. The theoretical part deals with the properties and use of spring steel and metal response to cyclic loading. The main aim of this work was to obtain the basic mechanical properties as well as the hight cycle fatigue data. Additional metallographical evaluation of microstructure.

O processo de jateamento com granalhas é um tratamento superficial, muito utilizado em peças, com o intuito de melhorar as propriedades de resistência à fadiga. A deformação controlada do impacto das esferas introduz tensões residuais compressivas na camada superficial do material. Geralmente, este processo é executado na temperatura ambiente. Existem poucos estudos exploratórios de se executar este tratamento superficial em temperaturas acima da ambiente, para a promoção de um aumento na vida em fadiga causada por uma maior deformação plástica. Este trabalho teve como principal objetivo o estudo do efeito do jateamento com granalhas, executados em temperaturas fora da ambiente, no comportamento em fadiga de lâminas fabricadas de aço mola SAE 5160, utilizado pela indústria automobilística. Foram realizados ensaios de fadiga por flexão em três pontos em corpos de prova no formato do componente original. Estas amostras foram jateadas nas temperaturas de 25, 100, 150, 200, 250 e 300ºC. Os resultados deste trabalho permitiram a obtenção de algumas conclusões importantes quanto ao processo de jateamento que deverão influir diretamente no processo de fabricação destas lâminas e possivelmente de outros componentes mecânicos. Com o aumento da temperatura, ocorreu primeiramente um acréscimo no nível das tensões residuais na faixa de temperatura de 25 a 100ºC, passando a decrescer continuadamente até a temperatura de 300ºC e um aumento crescente da rugosidade superficial. O jateamento a 200ºC promoveu um melhor desempenho, pois executado nesta temperatura, proporcionou a melhor associação de tensão residual introduzida e encruamento, resultando em, um acréscimo de aproximadamente 10 vezes na vida em fadiga. / Shot peening is a surface treatment commonly used in parts with the aim of improving fatigue properties. The controlled plastic deformation caused by the impact of the shots introduces compressive residual stresses on the surface layer of the material. Normally, this process is performed at room temperature, however a few studies propose to perform this surface treatment above room temperature in order to increase the fatigue strength due to the associated higher plastic deformation. The aim of this work was to study the effects of shot peening process above room temperature on the fatigue properties of a SAE 5160 leaf spring steel used by the automotive industry. Three point bending fatigue tests were performed in test pieces with the same geometry of the original component. Test pieces were peened at 25, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300ºC. Increasing temperature, it was observed an increase in surface roughness (i.e. plastic deformation). However, residual stress values increase up to 100ºC and decrease continuously above this temperature. Fatigue strength was the highest for parts peened at 200ºC possibly due to an optimized association of residual stress and hardening effects caused by the plastic deformation. These results may directly affect the fabrication process of spring leaves and other mechanical parts.

O processo de jateamento com granalhas é um tratamento superficial, muito utilizado em peças, com o intuito de melhorar as propriedades de resistência à fadiga. A deformação controlada do impacto das esferas introduz tensões residuais compressivas na camada superficial do material. Geralmente, este processo é executado na temperatura ambiente. Existem poucos estudos exploratórios de se executar este tratamento superficial em temperaturas acima da ambiente, para a promoção de um aumento na vida em fadiga causada por uma maior deformação plástica. Este trabalho teve como principal objetivo o estudo do efeito do jateamento com granalhas, executados em temperaturas fora da ambiente, no comportamento em fadiga de lâminas fabricadas de aço mola SAE 5160, utilizado pela indústria automobilística. Foram realizados ensaios de fadiga por flexão em três pontos em corpos de prova no formato do componente original. Estas amostras foram jateadas nas temperaturas de 25, 100, 150, 200, 250 e 300ºC. Os resultados deste trabalho permitiram a obtenção de algumas conclusões importantes quanto ao processo de jateamento que deverão influir diretamente no processo de fabricação destas lâminas e possivelmente de outros componentes mecânicos. Com o aumento da temperatura, ocorreu primeiramente um acréscimo no nível das tensões residuais na faixa de temperatura de 25 a 100ºC, passando a decrescer continuadamente até a temperatura de 300ºC e um aumento crescente da rugosidade superficial. O jateamento a 200ºC promoveu um melhor desempenho, pois executado nesta temperatura, proporcionou a melhor associação de tensão residual introduzida e encruamento, resultando em, um acréscimo de aproximadamente 10 vezes na vida em fadiga. / Shot peening is a surface treatment commonly used in parts with the aim of improving fatigue properties. The controlled plastic deformation caused by the impact of the shots introduces compressive residual stresses on the surface layer of the material. Normally, this process is performed at room temperature, however a few studies propose to perform this surface treatment above room temperature in order to increase the fatigue strength due to the associated higher plastic deformation. The aim of this work was to study the effects of shot peening process above room temperature on the fatigue properties of a SAE 5160 leaf spring steel used by the automotive industry. Three point bending fatigue tests were performed in test pieces with the same geometry of the original component. Test pieces were peened at 25, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300ºC. Increasing temperature, it was observed an increase in surface roughness (i.e. plastic deformation). However, residual stress values increase up to 100ºC and decrease continuously above this temperature. Fatigue strength was the highest for parts peened at 200ºC possibly due to an optimized association of residual stress and hardening effects caused by the plastic deformation. These results may directly affect the fabrication process of spring leaves and other mechanical parts.

This diploma thesis evaluates two competitive cutting inserts for machining of disk-shaped blanks. The first part summarizes theoretical knowledge of turning, wear of cutting inserts and cost analysis of the cutting process. In the second part, the wear of two inserts from a different manufacturer is observed in two different cutting speeds. Wear is evaluated by electron microscope images. In the end, there is an economic evaluation of both VBD in different cutting speeds for serial production.

The optimal choice of cutting conditions, as well cutting tool, has a significant effect on the quality of machined part and is an essential parameter to reduce the cost of production. This thesis describes CNC turning process of disc springs made of 51CrV4 material, especially using new cutting tools and the use of higher cutting speeds. A comparison of four manufacturers of cutting tools in terms of surface quality, tool path and the machined material volume will be introduced. It was experimentally verified that our proposed facility has achieved the best result.

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Sydney Ferreira Santos / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Nanociências e Materiais Avançados, Santo André, 2018. / Molas automotivas são componentes de segurança veicular que demandam um controle rigoroso de suas características. Por este motivo, necessitam ser confeccionadas a partir de aços de alta qualidade, tanto em termos microestruturais quanto de propriedades mecânicas. A fabricação de tais molas envolve diversas etapas de processamento, destacando-se as de tratamentos térmicos e termomecânicos, que são críticas na determinação do desempenho da mola. No presente trabalho, foi investigada a influência dos parâmetros de tratamentos térmicos e termomecânicos na microestrutura e microdureza do aço mola SAE 9254. Como primeira etapa deste trabalho, foi avaliada a influência dos parâmetros de tratamentos térmicos na microestrutura do aço SAE 9254. Este estudo foi realizado com amostras tratadas em forno convencional e também simulando os ciclos térmicos destes tratamentos num dilatômetro de têmpera, que permitiu determinar a sequência de transformações de fases durante a têmpera, para taxas de resfriamento selecionadas. Analisou-se também a influência dos tempos e temperaturas de austenitização empregados nas temperaturas de transformações de fase. Observou-se que a evolução do tamanho médio dos grãos austeníticos prévios apresentou comportamento cinético esperado em função das variáveis adotadas. Foi também possível determinar as mudanças nas temperaturas de transformações de fase (Ar1, Ar3, Ac1, Ac3 e Ms) em função das taxas de resfriamento investigadas. Com base nas informações de dilatometria, foi determinado o diagrama de transformação em resfriamento contínuo (TRC) do aço SAE 9254. Na segunda etapa desta tese, amostras do mesmo aço foram tratadas termomecanicamente em um simulador físico Gleeble. No tratamento termomecânico, diversos fenômenos metalúrgicos ocorrem concomitantemente, tais como transformações de fases, encruamento, e fenômenos de amaciamento. Por simulação física, é possível identificar diversas informações relativas a estes fenômenos em função dos parâmetros de processamento empregados. Demonstrou-se a forte influência da taxa de deformação em diversos parâmetros das curvas de escoamento plástico, o que foi explicado com base na evolução microestrutural do aço, bem como aspectos relevantes de metalurgia física da liga. / Automotive springs are safety components of the vehicles requiring a rigorous control of all their main features. Therefore, they must be produced from high-quality steels with controlled microstructural features and mechanical properties. The production of such components encompass a number of processing steps, with special attention for heat treatments and thermomechanical treatments which are critical steps to determine the spring performance. In this thesis, the influence of heat and thermomechanical treatment parameters on the microstructure and microhardness of the SAE 9254 steel were investigated. In a first step of this Thesis work, the influence of heat treatment parameters on the steel microstructure was investigated using conventional furnace and quenching dilatometer. This later approach allowed accessing the phase transformations under gone by this steel during quenching for several cooling rates. The influence of asutenitizing times and temperatures on these phase transformations was also accessed. The grain growth of the (previous) austenite phase showed the expected kinetic behavior. Changes in phase transformation temperatures (Ar1, Ar3, Ac1, Ac3, and Ms) were also determined as function of the investigated quenching rates. Based on the information obtained by dilatometry, the continuous cooling transformation (CCT) diagram of the SAE 9254 steel was determined. In the second step, the SAE steel was thermomechanically treated in a Gleeble simulator. During thermomechanical treatments, several metallurgical phenomena take place simultaneously, such as phase transformations, work hardening, and softening. Performing the thermomechanical treatments in a Gleeble machine, some important information can be accessed allowing understanding the metallurgical phenomena taking place as function of the processing parameters investigated. The strong influence of the deformation rate in some relevant aspects of the plastic flow curves could be demonstrated which could be explained based on the microstructural characterization of the steels and fundamental aspects of physical metallurgy.

Simultaneously achieving high-sensitivity and a large resonance frequency of micromachined accelerometers is difficult because of the inherent trade-off between the two. In this thesis, we present a mechanical displacement-amplifying technique that is amenable to micromachining to enhance sensitivity without compromising on the resonance frequency and cross-axis sensitivity. Depending on the requirements of sensitivity alone or sensitivity and resonance frequency, Displacement-amplifying Compliant Mechanisms (DaCMs) are designed using the selection map-based technique, which indicates the limits of what is possible for given specifications on size and microfabrication. In order to prove the benefits of a DaCM, we modified the designs of two very sensitive capacitive micromachined accelerometers from the literature by incorporating DaCMs and showed that, within the same footprint on the chip, the displacement sensitivity could be enhanced by more than 60% while the resonance frequency was also improved by more than 30%. As the focus of the thesis is to explore the integration of DaCMs into accelerometers, the analytical, computational, and practical aspects are discussed in detail. Both single and dual axis in-plane accelerometers are considered. The fabrication processes used are Silicon-on-Insulator Multi-user MEMS Processes (SOIMUMPs) and a customized Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) based process. The fabricated accelerometers are packaged and brought to the product form. They were tested at the die level as well as in the packaged form. Under dynamic conditions, the measured amplification factor of the fabricated single-axis in-plane accelerometer was observed to be 11. The overall dimension of the accelerometer was 4.25 mm × 1.25 mm. The first in-plane natural frequency of the fabricated accelerometer was found to be 6.25 kHz. The voltage sensitivity of the packaged accelerometer with the DaCM measured 26.7 mV/g at 40 Hz with differential capacitance sensitivity of 3926 ppm/g around the base capacitance of 0.75 pF. The fabricated dual-axis accelerometer has a special configuration of twelve folded-beam suspension blocks that de-couple any displacements along the two in-plane orthogonal axes. The decoupling feature is retained even after adding the DaCMs along both the axes. The total device size was 8.6 mm × 8.6 mm. The device was also fabricated and packaged inside a ceramic flat-pin package using hybrid die-to-die wire-bonding. Die-level dynamic characterization showed that the average geometric advantage achieved using the DaCMs is 6.2 along both the in-plane axes. The measured axial voltage sensitivity of about 580 mV/g for both the axes was achieved with a cross-axial sensitivity of less than 2% and a natural frequency of 920 Hz. The static capacitance sensitivity was found to be 0.296 × 106 ppm/g with a base capacitance of 0.977 pF. Also presented in this work is a wide-band dual-axis accelerometer without an amplifying mechanism. Its first two in-plane modal frequencies measured 14.2 kHz. The measured sensitivity of the packaged accelerometer along both the axes of the device was found to be 62 mV/g at 200 Hz. Aiming at towards cost-effective accelerometers for small-volume markets, we also developed a single-axis and two dual-axis meso-scale spring-steel in-plane accelerometers equipped with Allegro A1395 linear Hall-effect sensors for sensing the displacement of the proof-mass. The single-axis in-plane meso-scale accelerometer also contains a DaCM. It is observed through simulation that the single-axis design with a DaCM is 39% more sensitive and has 41% more bandwidth compared to a single-axis design without a DaCM. The measured sensitivity of the fabricated single-axis spring-steel accelerometer with a DaCM was found to be 71.4 mV/g with a minimum resolvable acceleration of 14 milli-g. The unique features of the first generation of dual-axis accelerometers are that a rechargeable Li-ion battery adds to the proof-mass. It also contains a de-coupling mechanism that can decompose any planar acceleration into its axial components. The second generation of dual-axis accelerometers is more compact in size. All the mechanical elements of the accelerometers are made of EN J42/AISI 1080 spring steel foil machined using Wire-cut Electro-Discharge- Machining. The measured sensitivity of the first generation of dual-axis meso-scale accelerometers is 78 and 108 mV/g along the X and Y axes whereas the second generation device exhibits a sensitivity of 40 mV/g for both the axes. The thesis concludes that the sensitivity of a displacement-based sensor can be improved using a suitably designed DaCM without compromising the resonance frequency and hence the bandwidth. Furthermore, the work describing the development of meso-scale accelerometers also establishes spring steel as a viable material for meso-scale applications.