Orientador: Nivaldo Lemos Coppini / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-15T08:50:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Yamada_Yoshio_M.pdf: 2447082 bytes, checksum: c2b6d6ed800ac7addff199bda2a55b5a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho consiste em aperfeiçoar o processo de fabricação de furos realizados pela empresa X em um de seus produtos. Além da otimização deverá ser mantida a qualidade dimensional através do controle do diâmetro, da cilindricidade, da circularidade e do acabamento superficial de furos cilíndricos obtidos pelo processo de alargamento, com ferramentas de aço rápido em de liga de alumínio Al 7175 T66, para se obter furos com alta qualidade superficial e precisão de forma, que atendam as especificações de projeto de componentes da indústria aeronáutica. É estudada a influência das variáveis do processo: velocidade de corte, avanço, sobre as variáveis de resposta: força de avanço e momento torsor. O processo de alargamento estudado é realizado em 04 operações sendo 02 operações de furação e 02 operações de alargamento com ferramentas de aço rápido, na primeira etapa os ensaios foram realizados com os parâmetros de usinagem do processo produtivo para caracterizar o processo, na segunda etapa foi implementada uma elevação dos parâmetros de usinagem com uma redução do tempo de produção. Na terceira etapa os ensaios foram realizados para avaliar a influência do pré-furo e do pré-alargamento na qualidade final, acarretando em uma maior redução do tempo de processo comparado com o processo otimizado. Pretende-se obter tal furo com a realização de apenas uma etapa de furação e uma de alargamento. Para isso, é necessária a observação não só da qualidade das peças em relação aos requisitos exigidos pelos clientes, mas também do tempo de ciclo de produção. As condições otimizadas e resultantes foram: velocidade de corte 100 m/min., avanço 0,2 mm/rot., com operação de pré-furação e sem operação de pré-alargamento. Com estas condições reduziu-se o tempo de produção por peça de 1,42 min. para 0,63 min / Abstract: The purpose of this study is to optimize the manufacturing process of holes made by Company X in one of their products. Besides the optimization, should be maintained the dimensional quality by controlling the diameter, roundness, circularity, and surface finish of cylindrical holes obtained by the widening process, with high-speed steel reamers in a aluminum alloy 7175-T66, to obtain holes with high surface quality and precision of form that meet the design specifications of aviation industry components. It is studied the influence of process variables: cutting speed, feed, about the response variables: feed force and torsion moment. The widening process studied is realized in four operations, consisting of two drilling operations and two widening operations with high-speed steel tools. In the first stage, the tests were carried out with machining parameters of the company to characterize the process. In the second stage, was implemented an increase in machining parameters with a reduction in the production time. In the third stage, the tests were realized to evaluate the influence of pre-drilling and pre-widening on the final quality, resulting in a further reduction of processing time compared with the optimized process. We intend to obtain this hole with the realization of only one drilling stage and one widening stage. For this, it's necessary not only the observation of the quality of the pieces in relation to the requirements demanded by the customers, but also the cycle time of production. The optimized conditions and resulting were: cutting speed of 100 m/min., feed of 0.2 mm/rev, with pre-drilling operation and without pre-widening operation. With this conditions, reduced the production time per piece of 1.42 min. to 0.63 min / Mestrado / Engenharia de Fabricação / Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica

Orientador: Fernando Alvarez / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-11T05:33:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Basso_RodrigoLeonardodeOliveira_D.pdf: 34307948 bytes, checksum: fd2817ddc7e94a48942bf4136fdb0472 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Este trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre os efeitos da incorporação de carbono e nitrogênio na formação de uma camada monofásica, compacta e homogênea, composta por carbonitretos do tipo e -Fe2-3(C,N), na superfície da liga metálica AISI H13. Também são apresentados estudos sobre os efeitos da incorporação desses elementos nas propriedades mecânicas, químicas e na microestrutura da superfície da liga metálica. A incorporação desses elementos na superfície do material foi feita utilizando-se o tratamento termoquímico de nitrocarburização por plasma pulsado em atmosferas contendo N2+ H2+ CH4 em diferentes proporções. Além da composição da atmosfera de tratamento, também foram variadas a temperatura e o tempo de tratamento. De maneira a complementar o estudo do comportamento da liga metálica frente ao tratamento termoquímico a plasma, também foram preparadas amostras com atmosferas oxidantes contendo CO2. A análise da composição química da superfície das amostras foi feita através de espectroscopia de fotoelétrons e mostra que a incorporação de nitrogênio sofre grande influência da quantidade de gás contendo carbono, presente no plasma. Porém a incorporação desses elementos não é diretamente proporcional à concentração do gás contendo esse elemento. Ao contrário do esperado, aumentando-se suficientemente a concentração desses elementos na atmosfera de tratamento, não acarreta em aumento na concentração dos mesmos no material. Por outro lado a análise através de difração de raios X revelou a formação de estruturas cristalinas consistentes com o diagrama de fases do sistema Fe-C-N. Para menores concentrações de compostos de carbono no plasma, a formação de nitretos e carbonitretos é predominante enquanto que maiores quantidades desse elemento levam ao surgimento da fase cementita e -Fe3 C, indesejável por possuir baixa resistência mecânica. As propriedades mecânicas da superfície foram estudadas através de medidas de nano e micro-dureza e seus resultados indicam que, como esperado, amostras com maior quantidade de nitrogênio incorporada possuim maior dureza da superfície. Esse comportamento é condizente com a microestrutura observada por microscopia eletrônica de varredura que mostra o entrelaçamento dos grãos da estrutura do aço e o preenchimento de seus contornos com carbonitretos de ferro que dificultam a movimentação dos planos cristalinos do cristal aumentando sua dureza. Foi verificado que as concentrações de carbono e de nitrogênio contido no material exercem grande influência sobre a reatividade da superfície das amostras frente a processos corrosivos em meios contendo íons cloreto. Esse comportamento foi verificado através de medidas de corrosão em solução aquosa de NaCl a 0,9 vol.%. Novamente os resultados apontam que maior concentração de nitrogênio é responsável por conferir a superfície maior proteção contra corrosão. Esses resultados são atribuídos a presença de uma mono-fase compacta formada pela fase e - Fe2-3 (C,N) na superfície das amostras. Resultados menos significativos foram obtidos quando a superfície continha uma mistura de fases contendo g -Fe4 N, e -Fe2-3 N, a -Fe e CrN / Abstract: This work presents a study on the effect of the incorporation of carbon and nitrogen on he formation of a singlephase homogeneous layer, composed by e -Fe2-3(C,N) carbonitrides, on the top surface of a AISI H13 tool steel. We also present studies on the effect of the incorporation of these elements (C and N) in the microstructure and in the mechanical and chemical properties of the surface of the metallic alloy. The incorporation of these elements in the surface of the material was made using the plasma nitrocarburizing termochemical treatment in atmospheres containing N2 + H2+CH4 in different ratios. Beyond the composition of the treatment atmosphere, the temperature and the time of treatment had been also varied. In way to complement the study of the behavior of the metallic alloy we had been also prepared samples with oxidating atmospheres containing CO2. The chemical composition analysis of the sample¿s surface was made through X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy and pointed that nitrogen incorporation suffers great influence from the amount of gas containing carbon, on the plasma atmosphere. However the incorporation of these elements is not directly proportional to the concentration of the gas containing this element. In con-trast, increasing enough the concentration of these elements in the treatment atmosphere, it does not cause increase in the concentration of the same element in the material¿s surface. On the other hand the X-ray diffraction analysis showed the formation of crystalline structures, consistent with the phase diagram of Fe-C-N system. For lesser carbon concentrations in the plasma, the formation of nitrides and carbides are predominant whereas bigger amounts of this element lead to the formarion of the cementite phase (q -Fe3 C , undesirable for possessing low resistance mechanics). The mechanical properties of the surface had been studied by means of nano and microhardness and its results indicate that, as expected, samples with bigger amount of incorporated nitrogen possesses bigger hardness in its surface. This behavior is in agreement with the observed microstructure observed by scanning electron microscopy that show the interlacement of the grains of the steel structure and the fulfilling of its boundaries with iron carbonitrides that make it difficult the movement of the crystalline plans of the lattice increasing its hardness. It was verified that the nitrogen and carbon concentrations in the material¿s surface, are of great influence on the reactivity of the surface regarding to corrosive processes in clorine solutions. This behavior was verified by measurements of corrosion in NaCl aqueous solution. Again the results pointed that bigger nitrogen concentration is responsible for protecting the surface against corrosion process. These results are attributed to the presence of a compact and homogeneous e -Fe2-3(C,N) surface layer on the surface of the samples. Less significant results had been gotten when the surface contained a mixture of phases containing g -F e4N, e -Fe2-3 N, a -Fe e CrN / Doutorado / Física da Matéria Condensada / Doutor em Ciências

Este estudo apresenta uma abordagem para a avaliação do comportamento de um ferro fundido branco de alto cromo e um aço ferramenta AISI D2 submetido a ciclos térmicos. Para a realização do estudo foi desenvolvido um procedimento para ensaios de fadiga térmica submetidos a números de ciclos variados, usando para aquecimento um sistema indutivo e para resfriamento um tanque de água. Devido a complexidade dos fenômenos envolvidos, um modelo de elementos finitos foi elaborado para a solução do campo de temperaturas e tensões superficiais atuantes. O controle da tensão superficial atuante foi realizado por meio da mudança de geometria do corpo de prova, sendo esta geometria resultante de teste por simulação computacional. Os corpos de prova foram caracterizados quando a sua microdureza e fração volumétrica de carbonetos antes do ensaio e após ensaio foram caracterizados quanto a sua microdureza, número e profundidade das trincas. O regime de propagação durante os primeiros 50 ciclos foi controlado por mecanismo de fadiga de baixo ciclo, exibindo as maiores velocidade de propagação das trincas e o regime de propagação depois dos 50 ciclos foram controlados por mecanismos de fadiga de alto ciclo. A nucleação das trincas ocorreu predominantemente pela interface matriz/carboneto e pelo próprio carboneto, sendo a propagação das trincas predominantemente pela interconexão de carbonetos fraturados na superfície do material e predominantemente na interface matriz carboneto em camadas mais profundas do corpo de prova. Os resultados obtidos mostraram uma boa correlação entre o ensaio e o modelo numérico, permitindo uma maior confiabilidade para execução do modelo mecânico subsequente. Baseado nos resultados foi possível propor uma metodologia para a avaliação de ambos materiais submetidos a ciclos térmicos. / This study presents an approach to evaluate the behavior of high chromium white cast iron and AISI D2 tool steel submitted at thermal cycles. It was developed a procedure for a thermal fatigue test in different times of cycles were done, using induced heating and water cooling. Due to the complexity of the phenomena involved, a FEM study was performed for solving the temperatures and superficial stresses fields. The control of superficial stress was done by changing the geometry of the test specimens, what was defined by computational simulation. The test specimens were evaluated the microstructure, microhardness and carbides contends before the test. After the test were evaluated microhardness, amount and depth of thermal fatigue cracks. The propagation during the earlier cycles was defined by mechanics of low cycle instead of after 100 cycles that was defined by mechanics of high cycle fatigue. This mechanics was observed by crack velocity analyses in both periods. The nucleation of thermal fatigue cracks initiate mostly at the matrix/carbide interface or at the carbide itself, being the cracks propagation was mainly by the interconnection of fractured carbides at surface and mainly at the interface matrix/carbide in the inner layer of the specimens test. The results obtained showed an adherence between the test and the numerical model, allowed a greater reliability to the subsequent mechanical model. Based on the results was possible propose a methodology for evaluation of both materials subjected a thermal cycles.

The thesis aims for the surface treatment of materials using electron beam. It includes a literary research describing physical principle and properties of the electron beam. This research also presents possible influencing of the beam and describes the construction of the device that generates the beam. Various applications of the electron beam for the material treatment are presented in the second part of the paper. Within this thesis an experiment with the heat treatment of the steel surface by the electron beam has been realized. The experiment was aimed at creating a layer as deep as possible without melting the surface. The results and their evaluation are presented in the experimental part of the thesis. The attention is also paid to selected process parameters.

The control of non-metallic inclusions is very important for the improvement of performance during the application of tool steel. This present study was performed to see the effect of changing of some process parameters during the vacuum degassing of the melt and how these changing parameters affects the characteristics of inclusions in tool steel. The main parameters that were changed during the vacuum degassing were the change of induction stirring, argon flow rate from both the plug 1 and 2 and different ladle ages for different heat. Electrolytic extraction method was used to observe the morphology and characteristics of inclusions as a 3 dimensional view in tool steel. Four lollipop samples from four different heats were used for the experiment and all the samples were after vacuum (AV) degassing. In this study four different types of inclusions were found and they are classified as type 1, 2, 3 and 4. Of them type 1 inclusion was the major one with mostly spherical shaped. This study shows that among the three parameters, induction stirring has the biggest effect for the total number of inclusions per volume in the sample than the other two parameters Heat 4A showed the lowest number of inclusions per volume comparing with the other heats. The main reason behind this can be said that the induction stirring was the lowest comparing with the other heats with moderate argon flow and ladle age of 12. Extreme value analysis was used in this study to predict the probability of getting largest size inclusions in a certain volume of the metal. For the prediction of the largest inclusion size, both the electrolytic extraction (3D) and cross-sectional (2D) method was used. Later in this study comparison was done to determine the accuracy of both the methods and it is concluded that for the type 1 inclusions electrolytic extraction method shows almost similar trend with cross-sectional method and electrolytic extraction method shows better accuracy for the prediction of largest size inclusions than the cross-sectional method. Electrolytic Extraction method is also applicable for the prediction of largest size inclusions for multiple types of inclusions.

Classical fatigue models teach that there is an intrinsic fatigue limit for steels, representing a level of stress that is too low for regular crack growth where every cyclic load propagates a fatigue crack through the material. Modern application with extreme lifetimes has shown that fatigue will still take place in steels with stress levels well below the expected fatigue limit. This relatively new area of study has been named Very High Cycle Fatigue, or VHCF, and describes fatigue failures with a number of load cycles exceeding 107. Fractography of steels that has suffered VHCF tends to reveal an especially rough crack surface adjacent to where the fatigue crack originates, which is typically some form of defect in the bulk of the steel. This area is believed to be critical for VHCF and has been referred to in a number of ways by different studies, but will herein be called Fine Granular Area, or FGA. The aim of this study is to try and get a better understanding of VHCF. This was done by fractography analysis of test specimens of high strength tool steel that suffered fatigue failure at lifetimes ranging from about 106 cycles to 1,9x109 cycles. The lower lifetimes were achieved using hydraulic testing equipment, while the specimens in the VHCF range suffered fatigue failure in ultrasonic testing equipment allowing the application of a cyclic stress at a rate of 20 000 Hz. The resulting fracture surfaces were then investigated using a scanning electron microscope, or SEM, taking special note of the fatigue initiating defects and, in the case of VHCF, the rough area found adjacent to it. In combination with the SEM an elemental analysis of the fatigue initiating defects as well as the bulk of the material was done using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, or EDS. This was done to find out what the defects consisted of; confirming that they were slags and checking that the composition of the material of the bulk of the specimen matches what was expected. Using light optical microscopy in combination with acid etching of the surface of samples cut out of the test specimens the structure of the steel was investigated. Calculating the local stresses at the location of the fatigue initiating defect was done using FEM in combination with displacement amplitude gathered from the ultrasonic testing equipment. The data gathered was then measured and compared to that of previous studies, using models of prediction and seeing how they match the experimental results. The results suggest that the stress intensity factor at the internal slags is critical for VHCF and that with lower stress intensity factors one can expect longer lifetimes. Another observation is a relatively consistent stress intensity factor at the edge of the FGA combined with the original defect, likely signifying the transition from the creation of FGA to traditional crack propagation. There also seems to be a connection between the size of the FGA and the number of cycles to failure, with larger FGA with increasing lifetimes. The most glaring shortcoming of this study is the amount satisfactory tests conducted, and thus amount of data points, is very low due to the majority of specimens suffered failure at the threading used to connect them to the ultrasonic testing equipment at lifetimes far too low to be relevant. / Klassiska utmattningsmodeller lär ut att det finns en utmattningsgräns för stål, vilket representerar en spänningsnivå som är för låg för regelbunden sprickväxt där varje cyklisk belastning sprider en utmattningsspricka genom materialet. Moderna applikation med extrema livstider har visat att utmattning fortfarande äger rum i stål med spänningsnivåer långt under den förväntade utmattningsgränsen. Detta relativt nya studieområde har fått namnet Very High Cycle Fatigue, eller VHCF, och beskriver utmattningsfall med ett antal belastningscykler som överstiger 107. Fraktografi av stål som har drabbats av VHCF tenderar att ha en särskilt gropig sprickyta som ligger intill där utmattningssprickan har sitt ursprung, vilket typiskt är någon form av defekt i stålets bulk. Detta område tros vara kritiskt för VHCF och har hänvisats till på ett antal sätt av olika studier, men kommer här att kallas Fine Granular Area eller FGA. Syftet med denna studie är att försöka få en bättre förståelse för VHCF. Detta gjordes genom fraktografianalys av testprover av verktygsstål med hög hållfasthet som drabbades av utmattningsbrott vid livstider från cirka 106 cykler till 1,9x109 cykler. De lägre livslängderna uppnåddes med hjälp av hydraulisk testutrustning, medan proverna i VHCF-området drabbades av utmattningsbrott i ultraljudstestutrustning som klarar att applicera en cyklisk stress med en frekvens på 20 kHz. De resulterande sprickytorna undersöktes sedan med hjälp av ett svepelektronmikroskop, eller SEM, med särskild fokus på utmattningsinitierande defekter och, i fallet med VHCF, det grova området som hittades intill det, FGA. I kombination med SEM utfördes en elementanalys av utmattningsinitierande defekter liksom huvuddelen av materialet med energidispersiv röntgenspektroskopi, eller EDS. Detta gjordes för att ta reda på vad inneslutningarna bestod av för att bekräfta att de var slagg samt kontrollera att sammansättningen av materialet i huvuddelen av provet matchar det som förväntades. Med användning av optisk ljusmikroskopi i kombination med syraetsning av ytan på prover som skars ut ur testproverna undersöktes stålets struktur. Beräkning av de lokala spänningarna på platsen för den utmattningsinitierande defekten gjordes med hjälp av FEM i kombination med förskjutningsamplituden som samlats från ultraljudsutrustningen. De insamlade uppgifterna mättes sedan och jämfördes med tidigare studier genom att använda diverse modeller och se hur de matchar de experimentella resultaten. Resultaten antyder att stressintensitetsfaktorn vid inneslutningarna är kritisk för VHCF och att man med lägre stressintensitetsfaktorer kan förvänta sig längre livstid. En annan observation är en relativt konsekvent stressintensitetsfaktor vid kanten av FGA, vilket sannolikt markerar övergången från skapandet eller utbredning av FGA till traditionell sprickutbredning. Det verkar också finnas en koppling mellan storleken på FGA och antalet cykler till fel, med större FGA med ökande livslängd. Den mest uppenbara bristen i denna studie är mängden tillfredsställande tester som genomförts. Därmed är mängden datapunkter mycket låg, detta på grund av att majoriteten av proverna misslyckades vid gängningen som användes för att ansluta dem till ultraljudstestutrustningen vid livstider alltför låga för att vara relevanta.

Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde die drahtbasierte additive Fertigung mittels Elektronstrahls (WEBAM) unter Nutzung einer lateralen Drahtzuführung und des Warmarbeitsstahls X37CrMoV5-1 untersucht. Die Schwerpunkte lagen auf der Analyse des Einflusses der Prozessparameter, der Drahtführungstechniken (schleppend, stechend und seitlich), des Substratwerkstoffes und des Materialübergangs auf die Prozessstabilität sowie die Auftraggeometrie. Das Ziel war die prozesssichere Herstellung von 3D-Geometrien mit bidirektionaler und kontinuierlicher Aufbaustrategie. Die Untersuchungen zeigten, dass die Auftraggeometrie und insbesondere der Materialübergang wesentlich vom Substratwerkstoff abhängig waren. Anhand eines aufgestellten Prozessfensters wurde ein Parametersatz ermittelt, welcher unabhängig von der Drahtführungstechnik nahezu identische Auftraggeometrien erzeugte. Mit Hilfe einer dynamischen Anpassung des Positionsversatzes für die jeweilige Drahtführungstechnik konnten rissfreie Aufbauten mit bidirektionaler, alternierender Aufbaustrategie generiert werden. Diese Aufbauten wurden anschließend hinsichtlich der Mikrostruktur sowie der mechanischen Eigenschaften in Abhängigkeit vom Wärmebehandlungszustand charakterisiert. Die Prozessstabilität und Reproduzierbarkeit konnte anhand von mehreren aufgebauten 3D-Geometrien mit hoher Konturtreu demonstriert werden.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is an emerging and interesting technology that enables some of theproduct development projects (PDPs) to produce products that have mechanical and tribologicalproperties comparable to products that are conventionally manufactured. Selective laser melting(SLM) is an additive manufacturing technology that is predominantly used for the production of metalbased components (i.e. it could be pure metal, alloys, and metal matrix composites). This workevaluates and ranks two different steel grades produced with SLM technology in tribological andcutting tool applications at AB Sandvik Coromant. The two steel grades used in this work were Cofree maraging steel alloy and Co-free W360 AMPO alloy. Both the grades are Cobalt free, hencedeveloped as a sustainable alternative for the future. The W360 AMPO alloy is a hot-work tool steelwith high temperature wear resistance and heat resistance. The work covers the characterization ofmicrostructure and chemical composition, mechanical properties, and tribological properties toevaluate the performance of the tool steel grades when used as tool bodies in drilling applications.The microstructure and chemical composition of the additive manufactured and heat-treated tool steelswere analyzed using SEM and EDS. The mechanical properties were evaluated using micro-Vickersindentation and scratch testing while the tribological properties were evaluated using pin-on-disctesting where counter material used was quenched and tempered steel. The application test included asimulated chip wear test using chip breakers (CB’s) and an actual drilling test, both performed at ABSandvik Coromant. To study the effect of surface topography on the adhesion tendency, the simulatedchip wear test was performed on both milled and grounded chip breaker (CB) samples. The drillingtest was done with three different test-set ups; function test, 30° inclined exit, and forced tool life test.The cellular microstructure was observed on Co-free maraging steel alloy sample, while themicrostructure was tempered martensite in W360 AMPO alloy. Elemental analysis revealed thechemical composition of the two steel grades. The measured hardness for both the samples Co-freemaraging steel alloy and W360 AMPO was found to be within the specification of demands (50-52HRC), although the hardness of W360 AMPO was a bit higher than Co-free maraging steel alloy. Theresults of the pin-on-disc tests showed that the wear resistance of the W360 AMPO alloy issignificantly higher than that of the Co-free maraging steel alloy, the tribo-system used was similarwhen compared to the actual application. Also, after analyzing the pin made up of quenched andtempered steel 34CrNiMo6 (SS2541) it can be seen that due to the W360 AMPO sample the volumeloss of the pin is almost 4 times when compared to Co-free maraging steel alloy. The result from thesimulated chip wear test showed that W360 AMPO has better wear characteristics. Adhesion ofworkpiece material (SS2541) was observed on both samples. In the simulated chip wear test, thesurface topography effect was studied by performing a test on milled and grounded CBs. GroundedCBs showed less adhesion tendency compared with milled CBs on both samples but the wearcharacteristics were similar irrespective of the surface roughness. The result from the drilling testshowed wear scar was predominant on a drill with Co-free maraging steel alloy and a drill with W360AMPO alloy was intact. Future possible investigations proposed after findings from experimentalresults may lead to future work.

The thesis is based on two supplements with two major objectives. In the first supplement equilibrium top slag-steel bulk and inclusions-steel bulk were investigated by comparison between calculated and measured oxygen activity values. This was done by applying different oxide activity models for slags combined with thermodynamic calculations. In the second supplement the inclusion composition is studied during the ladle refining process. The inclusion composition is related to top slag composition and other parameters during ladle treatment. The work was carried out by collecting data during well controlled sampling procedures at two different steel plants. Extensive inclusion analyses in Scanning Electron Microscope, SEM, were done. The data was used together with thermodynamics for a description of the interaction between slag-steel-inclusion interaction during ladle treatment. Evaluation of inclusion composition during the ladle refining have revealed that the majority of the inclusions belonged to the system Al2O3-CaO-MgO-SiO2 and showed a continuous composition change throughout the ladle refining process, from high Al2O3, via MgO-spinel to finally complex types rich in CaO and Al2O3. The final composition after vacuum treatment was found to be close to the top slag composition. Small process parameter changes and practical variations during ladle refining were proven to give large differences of the inclusion composition. Finally, it was concluded that equilibrium does not exist between top slag and steel bulk, with respect to oxygen, for the studied conditions. However, the equilibrium does exist between the steel bulk and inclusion. / QC 20101109

Nickel-based superalloys and tool steels are well-known high-performance alloys due to their extensive use in many different industries. Nickel-based superalloys have found their way into aircraft, aerospace, marine, chemical, and petrochemical industries owing to their excellent high-temperature corrosion and oxidation resistance. On the other hand, tool steels could provide a combination of outstanding corrosion and wear resistance. They can play an important role in cutting and wear applications and manufacturing plastic extrusion and food processing components. Near-net shape manufacturing using powder metallurgy (PM) and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) can serve as an efficient manufacturing process to produce these alloys. This technology can successfully tackle conventional manufacturing challenges of highly alloyed materials i.e. segregation during the casting process or cracks during hot working processes of Ni-based superalloys, and carbide segregation and formation of large and irregularly shaped carbides in wrought and hot rolled tool steels. However, the presence of precipitates on prior particle boundaries (PPBs) in Ni-based superalloys, and metallurgical defects like non-metallic inclusions in both Ni-based superalloys and tool steels may affect the fatigue performance of these PM-HIPed products. This licentiate thesis aims to investigate the microstructure and fatigue behavior of two PM-HIPed alloys i.e. Inconel 625 and high-nitrogen tool steel. The results confirm precipitation along PPBs in PM-HIPed Inconel 625; however, no effect was detected in the fractography studies of the high cycle fatigue samples, and tensile properties were comparable with wrought materials reported in the literature. On the other hand, the microstructure of PM-HIPed high-nitrogen tool steel displayed dispersed precipitates and no traces of PPBs. Moreover, in both cases, i.e. very high cycle fatigue of PM-HIPed high-nitrogen tool steel and high cycle fatigue of PM-HIPed Inconel 625, fatigue crack initiation was attributed to the presence of non-metallic inclusions, either individually or agglomerated with precipitates. This underscores the significance of the manufacturing process in fatigue performance. / Near-net shape manufacturing using powder metallurgy (PM) and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) can serve as an efficient manufacturing process to produce high-performance alloys. Among the variety of engineering alloys, Nickel-based superalloys and tool steels stand out as well-known high-performance alloys, widely employed across diverse industries. PM-HIP technology can successfully address conventional manufacturing challenges associated with highly alloyed materials, such as segregation during the casting process or cracks during hot working processes of Ni-based superalloys, and carbide segregation and the formation of large and irregularly shaped carbides in wrought and hot rolled tool steels. However, the presence of precipitates on prior particle boundaries in Ni-based superalloys, and metallurgical defects like non-metallic inclusions in both alloys, may affect the fatigue performance of these PM-HIPed products. The present study aims to assess two PM-HIPed alloys, namely Inconel 625 and high-nitrogen tool steel, with a comprehensive examination of their microstructure and fatigue properties. The objectives include examining the microstructural features introduced by the PM-HIP process and understanding how they influence fatigue failure mechanisms in these alloys.