Additive manufacturing brings versatility and new degree of freedom for part design and manufacturing possibilities. Binder jetting is powder bed printing technique that does not require direct energy transfer rather binding powder metal particles through mechanical entanglement by use of the organic binder. The polymer chains in the solution hardens when heated thus creating a green part. Green parts are sintered in high temperature to adhere metal powder particles together creating a solid body. Binder jetting still developing to its full potential in scalability and material portfolio. This thesis aims to contribute know how in process and material development of H13 tool steel in very fine particle size distributions from -16 µm to -10µm. Process parameters as well as sintering cycle developed specifically for H13 fine powders. With 52 samples printed, sintered in four different temperatures and analyzed material properties such as density and hardness to evaluate how particle size distributions affect printing process, densification and shrinkage in the sintering. Density of the green body has been evaluated through measurements of dimensions and weight, sintered density was analyzed by Archimedes method and light optical metallography. Trials for the processing and evaluation of the powders concluded that it is possible to use ultra-fine PSDs in binder jetting process with good results, this opens up opportunity for increased sustainability and profitability for powder manufacturing industry. Particle size distribution of -10 µm has outperformed the -16 µm in areas of relative density of the green body, sintered density and hardness. Although superior performance, the -10 µm requires higher ultrasonic intensity and lower spreading speed to achieve homogeneous powder bed. For the -16 µm powder it is worth noting that it is possible to bring up green density with further process development. Although materials presented high hardness in as printed state compared to that of PIM manufactured parts, achieved hardness is not satisfactory for the applications of the alloy and requires heat treatment corresponding to customer requirements.

Tooling reliability is critical to welding success in friction stir welding, but tooling fatigue is not well understood because it occurs in conditions that are often unique to friction stir welding. A fatigue study was conducted on a commonly used tooling material, H13 tool steel, using constant stress loading at temperatures between 300°C and 600°C, and the results are presented. A model is proposed accounting for temperature and stress effects on fatigue life, utilizing a two-region Arrhenius temperature model. A transition in temperature effect on fatigue life is identified. Implications of the temperature effect for friction stir welding suggest that tooling fatigue life dramatically decreases above 500°C and accelerated testing should be conducted below 500°C.

This work focused on laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of H13 tool steel to examine microstructure and melt pool morphology. Experiments were conducted with varying laser power (P) in the range of 90-180 W and scan speed (v) in the range of 500-1000 mm/s. layer thickness (l) and hatch spacing (h) were kept constant. Volumetric energy density (γ) was calculated using the above process parameters. In order to find a relation between the recorded density and top surface roughness with changing process parameters, set of equations were derived using the non-dimensional analysis. For any chosen values of laser power, scan speed, hatch spacing and layer thickness, these equations help to predict top surface roughness and density of LPBF processed H13 tool steel. To confirm the universal relation for these equations, data of In718 and SS316L processed in LPBF was input which gave a R-square of >94% for top surface roughness and >99% for density. A closed box approach, response surface model, was also used to predict the density and surface roughness which allows only in the parametric range. Material microstructures were examined to identify the melting modes such as keyhole, transition and conduction modes. X-ray diffraction data revealed that there was a presence of retained austinite in all the H13 printed samples. Elongated and equiaxed cellular structure were observed in higher magnifications due to solidification rate and thermal gradient.

Modern manufacturing processes are under a never ending evolvement. Lowered manufacturing costs, higher part quality, shorter lead times and lower environmental impact are some important drivers for this development. Aluminum die casting is an effective and attractive process when producing components for e.g. the automotive sector. Die casting process development, and hot work tool steel development for the die casting dies has led to the state of the art of die casting today. However, with the disruptive emergence of Additive Manufacturing (AM) of hot work steel alloys, new interesting features such as improved conformal cooling channels inside die casting molds can be produced. The new way to manufacture die casting dies, need basic investigating of the AM produced hot work tool steel properties, and their applicability in this demanding hot work segment. Die casting dies face several detrimental wear mechanisms during use in production, three of which has been isolated and used for testing three AM produced steel alloys and one conventional premium hot work tool steel. The wear mechanisms simulated are; thermal fatigue, static soldering and agitated soldering. The aim is to study the AM produced steels applicability in the die casting process. The tested materials are; Premium AISI H13 grade Uddeholm Orvar Supreme, AM 1.2709, AM UAB1 and AM H13. Based on current investigations the conclusion that can be made is that with right chemistry, and right AM processing, conventional material Uddeholm Orvar Supreme still is better than AM H13. This also complies with the literature study results, showing that conventional material still is better than AM material in general. / Våra moderna tillverkningsprocesser är under ständig utveckling. Drivande motiv är minskade tillverkningskostnader, högre tillverkningskvalitet, kortade ledtider samt minskad miljöpåfrestning. Pressgjutning av aluminium är en effektiv och attraktiv tillverkningsprocess ofta använd inom till exempel fordonsindustrin. Utvecklingen av pressgjutningsteknologin har gått hand i hand med utvecklingen av det varmarbets-verktygsstål som används i gjutformarna (pressgjutningsverktyget). Den utvecklingen har lett till dagens processnivå och branschstandard. Men med den revolutionerande additiva tillverkningsteknologins (AM) intåg, och möjlighet att producera komponenter av varmarbetsstål, kommer nya intressanta möjligheter att integrera komplex geometri så som yt-parallella kylkanaler i verktyget utan att tillverkningskostnaden blir för hög etc. Det nya sättet att producera pressgjutningsverktyg ger upphov till behovet av grundläggande materialundersökningar av sådant AM-material, samt hur tillförlitligt det är i pressgjutningsverktyg med pressgjutningens krävande materialegenskapsprofil. Pressgjutningsverktyg utsätts för många förslitningsmekanismer och för höga laster, tre av dessa mekanismer har isolerats för kontrollerade tester av ett konventionellt material och tre AM materials responser. Förslitningsmekanismerna som efterliknats är; termisk utmattning, statisk soldering och agiterad soldering. Målet med undersökningarna är att studera AM producerade materials lämplighet i pressgjutningsprocessen. De material som testats är konventionella premium varmarbetsstålet Uddeholm Orvar Supreme av typ AISI H13, AM 1.2709, AM UAB1 och AM H13. Undersökningarnas slutsats är att med rätt kemisk sammansättning, och med rätt AM printing parametrar, är konventionellt material fortfarande mer applicerbart i pressgjutning än AM producerat. Den slutsatsen faller väl I samklang med resultaten från mekanisk provning som återspeglas i litteraturstudien, som visade visar att konventionellt material är generellt bättre än AM material.

No description available.

The use of ultrafast lasers in material surface engineering has gained pre-eminence in recent years. This is due to optimal utility arising from their versatility, better process control, repeatability and high precision fabrication, without need for post processing. Reported in this thesis are experimental results on the use of picosecond laser to produce micro-patterns on cyclone components and their effects on flow characteristics. Results show that micro- dimples achieved reduction in dust accumulation within a multi-cyclone system considered, up to 78%. These micro-dimples when applied on the cyclone roof effected a 3% reduction in inlet velocity and 5% reduction on the dynamic pressure across the cyclone, without dust introduction. Results support the possibility for energy savings, without compromise on cyclone overall separation efficiency. Findings further demonstrated the effects of micro-riblets on cyclonic airflow at the wall boundary. Research outcomes supported the view that surface roughness of the cyclone roof could contribute on its dust separation capacity. Injection moulding was used to produce bumps on ABS plastic materials utilising picosecond laser machined micro-dimples on H13 tool steel. A statistical model detailing the interactions between the critical factors involved with picosecond laser interaction with H13 for micro-patterning was proposed. Critical factors identified were laser fluence, scanning speed and number of laser scans. In addition, results demonstrated the suitability of predicting depth of 40 - 100 µm for H13 tool steel, with 96% accuracy. The findings in this research could be explored to develop embedded micro/nano-wires within riblets through injection moulding, to effect electrically biased charging within the internal walls of a cyclone to aid dust separation processes.

Submitted by Automa??o e Estat?stica (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2017-03-20T19:29:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 WendelAndersonDantasTeixeira_DISSERT.pdf: 3957759 bytes, checksum: cc4a46d4569b9607cedd8a5a5758b525 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2017-03-21T22:40:07Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 WendelAndersonDantasTeixeira_DISSERT.pdf: 3957759 bytes, checksum: cc4a46d4569b9607cedd8a5a5758b525 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-21T22:40:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 WendelAndersonDantasTeixeira_DISSERT.pdf: 3957759 bytes, checksum: cc4a46d4569b9607cedd8a5a5758b525 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-30 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior (CAPES) / Interfaces Metal-WC-Co est?o presentes em opera??es de perfura??o de po?os de petr?leo, onde se utilizam brocas tric?nicas de insertos cer?micos duros. A a??o combinada de corte, esmagamento e desagrega??o de rochas causa a degrada??o das brocas de perfura??o. A degrada??o est? relacionada com o desgaste, fratura total ou parcial do corpo da broca ou dos insertos, choque t?rmico e corros?o. Tamb?m o deficiente encaixe mec?nico dos insertos cer?micos nos cones da broca pode originar o seu destacamento provocando uma s?rie de danos ? broca. O aprimoramento no processo de produ??o de interfaces metal-cer?mica pode eliminar ou minimizar algumas das falhas acima mencionadas nas brocas tric?nicas, otimizando o seu tempo de vida ?til, e portanto, reduzindo o custo m?trico de perfura??o. A brasagem ? uma t?cnica extensivamente utilizada para uni?o de metais e cer?micos, podendo ser uma excelente alternativa ao processo comum de encaixe mec?nico de ?pressfitting? dos insertos cer?micos no corpo de a?o da broca. A metaliza??o das superf?cies WC-Co ? utilizada para melhorar a molhabilidade e ades?o de sistemas M/C. Neste trabalho, pretendeu-se avaliar o efeito da temperatura de brasagem em uni?es de insertos WC-6Co com a?o H13 utilizando ligas de adi??o com base no eut?tico 72Ag28Cu, em um forno com uma condi??o de alto v?cuo. A caracteriza??o mec?nica, microestrutural e morfol?gica das uni?es geradas foi avaliada em ensaios de flex?o de 3 pontos, MEV-EDS e DRX. Os melhores resultados de resist?ncia mec?nica foram encontrados para os sistemas brasados a 880?C com liga de adi??o eut?tica AgCu. / Metal-WC-Co interfaces are present in oil well drilling operations, where tricone drill bits with hard ceramic inserts play an important role. The combination of cutting, crushing and breaking up of rocks results in the degradation of tricone drill bits by wear, total or partial rupture of the drill bit body or the ceramic inserts, thermal shock and corrosion. In addition, the improper pressfitting of the ceramic inserts on the bit body may cause its total detachment, and promote serious damages to the drill bit. The improvement on the production process of metal-ceramic interfaces can eliminate or minimize some of above-mentioned failures presented in tricone drill bits, optimizing their lifetime and so reducing drilling metric cost. Brazing is a widely established technique to join metal-ceramic materials, and may be an excellent alternative to the common mechanical press fitting process of hard ceramic inserts on the steel bit body for tricone drill bit. The metallization of WC-Co surfaces is used to improve the wetting and adhesion of the M/C system, when a liquid phase is present during the brazing process. In this work, the effect of brazing temperature was studied on WC-6Co and H13 steel couples, using 72Ag28Cu eutectic based brazing alloys inside a furnace under high vacuum. Mechanical and microstructure caracterization of the interfaces produced was analysed by 3 point flexural tests, SEM-EDX and XRD techinques.d, and the interfaces produced were analysed by SEM-EDX. Better results for mechanical strenght were found for the systems brazed at 880?C using AgCu eutectic braze alloy.

No description available.

As light-weighting becomes a priority for the automotive industry, refill friction stir spot welding emerges with enormous potential to supplement or replace conventional spot joining processes. This thesis addresses the limitations of current tooling options by examining materials beyond steel for use in RFSSW. Contained herein is an analysis of weld quality as a function of tool material, a production evaluation of RFSSW using various tool materials, and an assessment of long-term performance of a tungsten carbide tool. Over the course of this research, tungsten carbide emerged as a viable candidate for long-lasting RFSSW tooling.

Over the last decade, the application of ultra-high strength steel as safety components and structural reinforcements in automobile applications has increased due to their favourable high-strength-to-weight ratio. The complex shaped components are widely produced using hot stamping. However, this process encounters problems such as galling and increased wear of the tools due to harsh operating conditions associated to the elevated temperatures. Moreover, quenching is a critical step that affects the hot formed components. Slow cooling rates results in inhomogeneous mechanical properties and increased cycle time. Therefore, fast and homogeneous quenching of the formed components in combination with reduction of wear rates during hot forming are important targets to ensure the quality and efficiency of the process. The use of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies opens up potential solutions for novel tooling concepts. The manufacturing of complex shape cooling channels and integration of high-performance alloys at the surface could benefit the tribological performance in the forming operation. However, the research into high temperature tribological behaviour of AM materials in hot forming applications is very limited. The aim of this work is to study the tribological performance of additively manufactured materials. Two steels were used – a maraging steel and modified H13 tool steel. The hot work tool steel H13 is commonly applied for dies in metal forming processes. In this thesis it was used to study additive manufacturing as the processing route instead of conventional casting. The choice of a maraging steel is motivated by a possible application of high-performance alloys as a top layer on dies. The materials were post-machined and studied in milled, ground and shot-blasted conditions. The different post-machining operations were applied to study the effect of surface finish on the tribological behaviour and also to evaluate different methods of post-machining an AM surface. As fabricated dies are usually manufactured with milled surface. During its use, the dies undergo refurbishment after certain number of cycles and the surface condition is changed to a ground surface. These surface finishes are commonly tested for hot forming applications. The shot blasted operation was chosen as alternative surface finish. The process allows to prepare large sized tools easily and the surface has beneficial compressive stresses. The tribological behaviour of AM steels was studied using a hot strip drawing tribometer during sliding against a conventional Al-Si coated 22MnB5 steel. The workpiece temperature during the tests was 600 and 700°C. The results of the tribological performance of AM materials were compared to conventionally cast tool steel QRO90.The results have shown that the friction behaviour of both maraging and H13 steels at 600°C was stable and similar whereas at 700°C the COF was more unstable and resulted in an earlier failure of the tests due to increased material transfer of Al-Si coating from the workpiece surface.The main wear mechanisms for AM materials were galling and abrasion at both temperatures. Abrasion is more severe for the AM steels in comparison to cast tool steel QRO90. The galling formation on milled and ground surfaces showed similar behaviour to cast steel and it increased with higher workpiece temperatures. The shot-blasted surfaces showed less build-up of transferred material on the surface but folding of asperities and entrapment of Al-Si particles within surface defects generated during shot-blasting.