Surface patterns of bead defects such as humping, gouged and rippling after solidification during laser and electron processing and different welding processes are systematically and quantitatively studied in this project. These defects usually accompanying with porosity, undercut, segregation, stress concentration, etc. seriously reduce the properties and strength of the surface heat treatment and weld joint. In order to improve quality, assure mass production and repeatability and reduce costs, it is necessary to understand their mechanisms. Although the defects have been extensively studied in the past, systematical, penetrative and quantitative understanding of their formation from thermal, physics, and pattern selection viewpoints are limited.The study include thermocapillary force, evaporation, and phase changes between solid-liquid and liquid-gas phases by introducing energy equation and interfacial and kinematic boundary conditions to simulate realistic processes.

The damage and deformation behaviour of particle reinforced aluminum matrix composites can be highly sensitive to local variations in spatial distribution of reinforcement particles, which markedly depend on melt processing and solidification stages during production. The present study is aimed at understanding the mechanisms responsible for clustering of SiC particles in an Al-Si-Mg (A356) alloy composite during solidification process and establishing a model to predict the risk of cluster formation as a function of local solidification rate in a cast component. Special emphasis has been given to spatial characterization methods in terms of their suitability to characterize composite microstructures. Result indicate that methods that present a summary statistics on the global level of heterogeneity have limited application in quantitative analysis of discontinuously reinforced composites since the mechanical response of such materials are highly sensitive to dimensions, locations and spatial connectivities of clusters. The local density statistics, on the other hand, was observed to provide a satisfactory description of the microstructure, in terms of localization and quantification of clusters. A macrotransport - solidification kinetics model has been employed to simulate solidification microstructures for estimation of cluster formation tendency. Results show that the distribution of SiC particles is determined by the scale of secondary dendrite arms (SDAS). In order to attain the lowest amount of particle clustering, the arm spacings should be kept within the limit of 2dSiC &gt / SDAS &gt / dSiC, where dSiC is the average particle diameter.

In Diesel engine blocks properties such as tensile strength, heat conductivity, sound damping, engine vibration and noise are strongly influenced by graphite shape and volume percent in the matrix microstructure. In this study, the engine blocks were produced at ELBA Basin&ccedil / li D&ouml / k&uuml / m Od&ouml / ksan Cast iron foundry in Osmaneli Turkey by performing casting into furan resin sand and preparing cast iron liquid alloy in induction furnace that were treated with Mg by using ladle method. The main purpose of this study is to achive 0 &ndash / 25% volume nodularity and remaining is compacted graphite in the produced engine blocks. The shape and volume percent of graphite particles were characterized by an image analyze system. In the first part of this work, after the diesel engine blocks were produced at ELBA Basin&ccedil / li D&ouml / k&uuml / m Od&ouml / ksan Cast iron foundry in Osmaneli Turkey, the blocks were cut and samples were obtained from 14 different thicknesses of diesel engine blocks. Afterwards, the samples were examined under optical microscope, Soif XJP-6A. The nodularity and compacted graphite values were obtained numerically with the help of Materials Plus image analyzer systems, which is attached to the optical microscope. v In the second part of the study, the diesel engine blocks which are produced at Od&ouml / ksan were examined by ultrasonic test that was done by using USM 35 flaw detector test machine. Solidification &ndash / time and temperature &ndash / time simulations were also done by using NovaCast NovaFlow simulation code. Finally mathematical formulas for 13 different thickness of diesel engine blocks were obtained by using excel linest code. The compacted graphite volume percent observed at different sections of the diesel engine blocks were found to be a function of cooling rate and chemical composition. Best results were obtained when chemical Mg/S ratio was approximately 1 and C.E.V. was between 4.40 &ndash / 4.50.

In dieser Arbeit wurde der Einfluss der Schmelzkonvektion auf das erstarrende Gefüge von peritektischen Nd-Fe-B – und TiAl-Legierungen mit Hilfe neuartiger Methoden untersucht. Da die magnetischen und mechanischen Eigenschaften dieser technisch relevanten Legierungen stark vom Gefüge und insbesondere vom Volumenanteil der properitektischen Phase abhängen, sind diese Untersuchungen von großem Interesse. Auf der Basis der numerischen Simulationen der Schmelzkonvektionsmoden und des elektromagnetischen Problems in einer induktiv beheizten Schmelze, die am Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf durchgeführt wurden, wurden am IFW Dresden neuartige Versuchsaufbauten entwickelt, die die Modifizierung der Konvektion in einer Metallschmelze ermöglichen. Dies sind ein Aufbau zur erzwungenen Schmelzrotation in einem Tiegel und eine modifizierte Floating-Zone-Anlage. Die erzwungene Schmelzrotation, bei der der Schmelztiegel mit einer definierten Frequenz rotiert, führt in Übereinstimmung mit der Simulation zu einer starken Reduzierung der Konvektion in Abhängigkeit von der Frequenz. Diese Methode wurde auf Nd-Fe-B-Legierungen angewendet mit dem Ziel, die Bildung der unerwünschten weichmagnetischen Eisenphase zu unterdrücken bzw. deren Volumenanteil zu reduzieren. Im Ergebnis konnte der Volumenanteil der properitektischen Phase mit diesem Verfahren um 38.5 % reduziert werden. Das dendritische Gefüge wurde einer ausführlichen statistischen Analyse unterzogen, bei der die Abstände der sekundären Dendritenarme (SDAS) gemessen wurden. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass die SDAS sich mit steigender Frequenz der Tiegelrotation, was einer reduzierten Schmelzkonvektion entspricht, verringern. Die Verringerung des Volumenanteils der properitektischen Eisenphase und der SDAS wird mit dem reduzierten konvektiven Massentransport unter reduzierter Schmelzkonvektion erklärt. Starke interdendritische Strömung reduziert die Dicke der Diffusionsgrenzschicht um die properitektische Phase. Dadurch wird der Stofftransport durch die Grenzschicht erleichtert. Kleinere Dendritenarme werden in die Schmelze zurückgeschmolzen, wodurch sich der Abstand zwischen den verbleibenden Dendritenarmen vergrößert. Eine Floating-Zone-Anlage, die das tiegelfreie Prozessieren von Metallschmelzen erlaubt wurde so modifiziert, dass mit Hilfe eines Doppelspulensystems eine zusätzliche wohl definierte elektromagnetische Kraft eingebracht wird, über die eine sehr intensive (Zweiphasenrührer in Parallelschaltung) bzw. stark verringerte Strömung (Doppelspule in Reihenschaltung) in der Schmelze eingestellt werden kann. Die experimentellen Ergebnisse der Untersuchungen am Nd-Fe-B-System mit der Doppelspule in Reihenschaltung zeigten, dass sich bei einem optimalen Spulenabstand von 5,1 mm die geringste Schmelzkonvektion ergab, wobei der Anteil des a-Eisen-Volumenanteils weiter verringert werden konnte. Im Gegensatz dazu wurde mit dem Zweiphasenrührer in Parallelschaltung eine sehr starke Schmelzkonvektion mit einem maximalen Volumenanteil der a-Eisen-Phase eingestellt, wobei durch die starke Rührung ein Wechsel der Morphologie von dendritisch zu globular zu beobachten war. Die Untersuchungen zum Einfluss der starken Schmelzkonvektion wurden auf ein weiteres peritektisch erstarrendes System ausgedehnt, um eine generalisierte Aussage zum Einfluss der Konvektion auf Gefüge und Eigenschaften peritektisch erstarrender Legierungen zu erhalten. Die ausgewählte Ti45Al55 - Legierung erstarrte unter starker Schmelzkonvektion ebenfalls globulitisch, wobei Reste dendritisch erstarrter properitektischer Phase gefunden wurden. Der Volumenanteil der properitektischen Phase steigt dabei mit zunehmender Rührwirkung an. Der Wechsel der Morphologie von dendritisch zu globular/dendritisch kann mit sphärischem Wachstum oder Fragmentierung der Dendritenarme erklärt werden. Die mechanischen Eigenschaften unter unterschiedlicher Schmelzkonvektion erstarrter Ti45Al55 – Legierung wurden bei Druckversuchen untersucht. Es wurde eine signifikant höhere plastische Verformbarkeit an der unter starker Schmelzkonvektion erstarrten Ti45Al55 – Legierung gefunden. Dies wird der isotropen spherischen Morphologie der lamellaren a2/g-Phase zugeordnet, während die anisotrope Orientierung der dendritisch- lamellaren Phase unerwünschte plastische Eigenschaften zeigt. Die Untersuchungen des Einflusses der Schmelzkonvektion auf das Gefüge peritektisch erstarrender Legierungen zeigten, dass ein maßgeschneidertes Gefüge durch optimale Wahl der Schmelzkonvektion möglich ist und damit magnetische bzw. mechanische Eigenschaften verbessert werden können. Die Kontrolle der Schmelzkonvektion ist daher ein geeignetes Mittel gewünschte Gefüge und Eigenschaften in Abhängigkeit von den Prozessabläufen einzustellen. / In this work, the effect of melt convection on the microstructure evolution of peritectic Nd-Fe-B and Ti-Al alloy systems was studied using novel techniques. The microstructural formation including the change in volume fraction and morphology of the properitectic phase influences the magnetic and mechanical properties for the Nd-Fe-B and Ti-Al alloy systems, respectively. On the basis of numerical simulations by the research group of Dr. Gunter Gerbeth from Department of Magnetohydrodynamics, Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, two types of specially designed facilities were developed where melt convection can be altered by changing a number of parameters. These are: forced rotation facility and modified floating zone facility. According to the numerical simulation, an additional crucible rotation suppresses the internal melt motion significantly during forced rotation experiments, where the molten alloy is rotated at a well-defined frequency. This method was applied during the solidification of Nd-Fe-B alloys with the aim to suppress the volume fraction of undesired soft magnetic a-Fe phase. As a result, the volume fraction of properitectic phase with this method can be reduced up to 38 %. A detailed statistical analysis of secondary dendritic arm spacing (SDAS) measurements of a-Fe showed that the SDAS decreases as the rotational frequency increases and melt convection decreases. The reduction in the phase fraction and SDAS of properitectic phase is attributed to the reduced convective mass transfer under reduced melt motion. At high fluid velocity and low rotational frequency, the stronger interdendritic flow reduces the solute boundary layer and increases the transfer of solute through the interface. The smaller dendrite arms dissolve into the melt and thus the SDAS becomes higher than that of the samples solidified at higher rotational frequencies with reduced melt convection. Floating zone facility, which allows contactless heating without any contamination for highly reactive melts, was modified with a double coil system so that an additional electromagnetic force is introduced inside the melt. This induces either very intensive (two-phase stirrer in parallel connection coil system) or very reduced flow (series connection coil system) inside the melt The experimental results of series connection coil system showed that a reduced melt convection state is achieved near 5.1 mm coil distance where a-Fe volume fraction becomes minimum. On the contrary, the parallel coil system experiments showed that a-Fe volume fraction becomes maximum when the phase shift between the coils is close to 90°. The morphology of the a-Fe becomes globular due to spherical growth under strong convection. The study on the effect of strong stirring was extended to another alloy to get a generalized idea about the influence of melt convection on the microstructure development and resulting properties of peritectic alloys. Peritectic Ti45Al55 alloys were investigated by the two-phase stirrer using the coils connected in parallel to study the effect of enhanced melt convection. The increase in the properitectic phase fraction together with a strong change in the morphology from dendritic to spherical were observed in the stirred samples. The increase in the properitectic phase fraction occurs due to the enhanced effective mass transfer under strong melt convection. The change in morphology of the properitectic phase is attributed to spherical growth or fragmentation of dendrite arms under strong convection. The mechanical properties of Ti45Al55 alloys, which are solidified at different convection states, were studied. There was a significantly higher plastic deformability of stirred samples compared to unstirred samples. The coarse anisotropic orientation of the dendritic lamellar phase is detrimental for the plastic deformability, which is absent in the stirred samples due to the spherical and discrete morphology of the properitectic phase. This study indicates that tailored microstructure can be obtained either by decreasing (e.g. for Nd-Fe-B alloy) or increasing (e.g. for Ti-Al alloy) the convection state using effective techniques inside the melt to improve the magnetic and mechanical properties, respectively. Thus, controlling convection is a useful way to get favorable microstructure according to the process need.

No description available.

<p>This thesis explores the formation of segregation and inclusions during solidification of steel and cast iron. A better understanding of the formation mechanism should result in decreasing fraction of defects during solidification of ingot and strand material.</p><p>Density driven macrosegregation was studied both experimentally and theoretically to see the effect of channel segregation on the total segregation. Formation of these pencil-like segregations is due to natural convection in the solidifying metal caused by liquid enrichment of elements with lower density compared to the bulk. It is suggested to change the composition to compensate for this density difference.</p><p>Inclusion precipitation can be finite by limitations in segregation. Saturated liquid is found in the last solidified areas, often between dendrites. Here the enrichment of the liquid is possible due to microsegregation. Meanwhile crystals form and solidify the elements with low solubility in the solid is pushed out in the remaining liquid. Soon the liquid is saturated to the level where spontaneous formation of inclusions occurs. Microstructure studies by aid of SEM and micro-probe measurements are analysed to find at what point during solidification process the inclusions start to form. In steel making this formation has a detrimental effect on the mechanical properties in contrary to the production of nodular cast iron where the inclusions have a beneficial effect on the graphite formation.</p><p>Inoculation of cast iron aims at reaching higher number density of graphite nodules, nodule morphology modification and control of nodule distribution during solidification. Late precipitation of nucleation sites has shown to have a positive impact on preventing chill. To find the most potent inoculation agent different additives were tested. Special effort has been made to analyse the effect of oxides and sulphides as nucleation sites.</p>

Aluminium alloys, including both foundry and wrought alloys, have been extensively used for light-weight structural and functional applications. A grain refined as-cast microstructure is generally highly desirable for either subsequent processing ability or mechanical properties of the finished components. In this thesis, the grain refined microstructures in Al alloys have been achieved by intensive melt shearing using the melt conditioning by advanced shearing technology (MCAST) without deliberate grain refiner additions. Such grain refinement has been attributed to the enhanced heterogeneous nucleation on the dispersed oxide particles. It has been established that the naturally occurring oxides in molten Al alloys normally have a good crystallographic match with the a-Al phase, indicating the high potency of oxide particles as the nucleation sites of the a-Al phase. The governing factors for these oxide particles to be effective grain refiners in Al alloys have been proposed, including the achievement of good wetting between oxide particles and liquid aluminium, a sufficient number density and uniform spatial distribution of the dispersed oxide particles, and near equilibrium kinetic conditions in liquid alloys. In the present study, near equilibrium kinetic conditions can be achieved by intensive melt shearing using a twin screw mechanism, which has been confirmed by the observed equilibrium a-AlFeSi phase in a cast Al alloy and the transformation from g- to a-Al2O3 at 740±20oC under intensive shearing. For different alloy systems, depending on the alloy system, and melting conditions, due to the particular types of oxide formed and its crystallographic and chemical characteristics, the nucleation site of the nucleated phase is different. Specifically, MgAl2O4 relative to MgO, and a-Al2O3 relative to g-Al2O3, have higher potency as heterogeneous nucleation sites of a-Al phase in Al alloys. In future, the modification of the crystallographic match, and of the other surface characteristics related to the interfacial energy between the specific oxides and nucleated phase by trace alloying addition through segregation to the interface between oxides and nucleated phases combined with physical melt processing (such as intensive shearing in the present study) should be investigated in more detail.

To assess the long-term performance of soil-cement materials used in source-control remediation methods (i.e. cement-based solidification/stabilization), procedures to measure or estimate contaminant migration parameters are essential. Previous research indicates that diffusion may be an important mechanism in contaminant transport through soil-cement materials. However, there is a paucity of information regarding the diffusion of contaminants through these materials. The development of a single-reservoir diffusion apparatus and methodology to assess the effective diffusion coefficient (De) and effective porosity (ne) of dissolved, conservative, inorganic chemicals for saturated, cured, monolithic soil-cement specimens is discussed. This is the only study known to investigate these parameters for these materials. The results of tritiated water diffusion tests on 14 different soil-cement mixtures are presented and the influence of curing time and mixture properties such as water-to-cement ratio, cement content, and grain-size distribution are examined. Results suggest that, to determine reasonable assessments of the longer-term parameters, soil-cement samples should be cured for a minimum of 70 days before commencing diffusion testing. Values of ne (0.21 to 0.41) and De (2.50×10-10 m2/s to 7.0×10-10 m2/s) determined are similar to those previously determined for a number other low-hydraulic conductivity materials (i.e. saturated inactive clays). The water content of the initial mixture is shown to have a substantial effect on the diffusive properties as the results indicate that both the total porosity (n) and the effective porosity, ne, generally increase with increasing initial water content. For the range of soils used in this investigation, grain-size distribution did not have a substantial effect on the values of ne or De determined from diffusion testing. The adaptation of a double-reservoir diffusion testing apparatus and methodology to evaluate the distribution coefficient (Kd) and De of organic contaminants is also presented. This apparatus is used to evaluate Kd and De of benzene, ethylbenzene, naphthalene, and trichloroethylene for three soil-cement mixtures. Values of Kd (0 to 2.5 cm3/g depending on the compound and soil-cement mixture tested) determined from diffusion testing, batch testing, and theoretical estimates from the literature were in general agreement. Values of De for the organic compounds ranged from 1.50×10-10 to 3.0×10-10 m2/s.

No description available.

No description available.