Cold Gas Spraying of Solution-Hardened 316L Grade Stainless Steel Powder

Austenitic steels are characterized by their outstanding corrosion resistance. They are therefore suitable for a wide range of surface protection requirements. The application potential of these stainless steels is often limited by their poor wear resistance. In the field of wrought alloys, interstitial surface hardening has become established for simultaneously acting surface stresses. This approach also offers great potential for improvement in the field of coating technology. The hardening of powder feedstock materials promises an advantage in the treatment of large components and also as a repair technology. In this work, the surface hardening of AISI 316L powder and its processing by thermal spraying is presented. A partial formation of the metastable expanded austenitic phase was observed for the powder particles by low-temperature gas nitrocarburizing. The successful deposition was demonstrated by cold gas spraying. The amount of expanded austenitic phase within the coating structure strongly depends on the processing conditions. Microstructure, corrosion and wear behavior were studied. Process diagnostic methods were used to validate the results.

Structure and Mechanical Properties of Shipbuilding Steel Obtained by Direct Laser Deposition and Cold Rolling

The study of the formation of microstructural features of low-alloy bainite-martensitic steel 09CrNi2MoCu are of particular interest in additive technologies. In this paper, we present a study of cold-rolled samples after direct laser deposition (DLD). We investigated deposited samples after cold plastic deformation with different degrees of deformation compression (50, 60 and 70%) of samples from steel 09CrNi2MoCu. The microstructure and mechanical properties of samples in the initial state and after heat treatment (HT) were analyzed and compared with the samples obtained after cold rolling. The effect on static tensile strength and impact toughness at −40 °C in the initial state and after cold rolling was investigated. The mechanical properties and characteristics of fracture in different directions were determined. Optimal modes and the degree of cold rolling deformation compression required to obtain balanced mechanical properties of samples obtained by additive method were determined. The influence of structural components and martensitic-austenitic phase on the microhardness and mechanical properties of the obtained samples was determined.

Time-Resolved Neutron Bragg-Edge Imaging: A Case Study by Observing Martensitic Phase Formation in Low Temperature Transformation (LTT) Steel during GTAW

Polychromatic and wavelength-selective neutron transmission radiography were applied during bead-on-plate welding on 5 mm thick sheets on the face side of martensitic low transformation temperature (LTT) steel plates using gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). The in situ visualization of austenitization upon welding and subsequent α’-martensite formation during cooling could be achieved with a temporal resolution of 2 s for monochromatic imaging using a single neutron wavelength and of 0.5 s for polychromatic imaging using the full spectrum of the beam (white beam). The spatial resolution achieved in the experiments was approximately 200 µm. The transmitted monochromatic neutron beam intensity at a wavelength of λ = 0.395 nm was significantly reduced during cooling below the martensitic start temperature Ms since the emerging martensitic phase has a ~10% higher attenuation coefficient than the austenitic phase. Neutron imaging was significantly influenced by coherent neutron scattering caused by the thermal motion of the crystal lattice (Debye–Waller factor), resulting in a reduction in the neutron transmission by approx. 15% for monochromatic and by approx. 4% for polychromatic imaging.

Thermomechanical training and structural tests for adaptive SMA bumps with two-way shape memory effect

In this paper, shape memory alloy (SMA) bumps with two-way shape memory effect (TWSME) are trained by simple but effective training approaches, which provides a new idea for the actuations of the shock control bump (SCB) on airfoil. Two different configurations of bump structures (2D and 3D SMA bumps) are designed and fabricated. The bumps are required to exhibit TWSME so that it can change its shape by heating and cooling between two stable states at austenitic phase and martensitic phase, respectively. To obtain the TWSME, the material is trained in the range of martensitic finish temperature and austenitic finish temperature whilst a displacement boundary condition is imposed. A set of fixtures, which can be assembled to the universal testing machine (UTM), are designed to achieve the clamped boundary condition during thermal cycles of the training process. After training, SMA bumps with the TWSME, that bulge at low-temperature and become flat at high, are obtained. Structural tests and deformation control are then carried out afterwards to show the deformation performance of the trained SMA bumps.

Influence of Carbon on the Microstructure Evolution and Hardness of Fe–13Cr–xC (x = 0–0.7 wt.%) Stainless Steel

The influence of carbon on the phase transformation behavior of stainless steels with the base chemical composition Fe–13Cr (wt.%), and carbon concentrations in the range of 0–0.7 wt.%, was studied at temperatures between −196 °C and liquidus temperature. Based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements, the solidification mode changed from ferritic to ferritic–austenitic as the carbon concentration increased. The DSC results were in fair agreement with the thermodynamic equilibrium calculation results. In contrast to alloys containing nearly 0% C and 0.1% C, alloys containing 0.2–0.7% C exhibited a fully austenitic phase stability range without delta ferrite at high temperatures. Quenching to room temperature (RT) after heat treatment in the austenite range resulted in the partial transformation to martensite. Due to the decrease in the martensite start temperature, the fraction of retained austenite increased with the carbon concentration. The austenite fraction was reduced by cooling to −196 °C. The variation in hardness with carbon concentration for as-quenched steels with martensitic–austenitic microstructures indicated a maximum at intermediate carbon concentrations. Given the steady increase in the tetragonality of martensite at higher carbon concentrations, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction measurements, the variation in hardness with carbon concentration is governed by the amount and stability of austenite.

MICROSTRUCTURE AND OXIDATION BEHAVIOR OF THE OXIDE DISPERSION STRENGTHENED STAINLESS STEEL 316L WITH ZIRCONIA DISPERSION

Synthesis of the oxide dispersion sODS steels was performed by dispersing 0.5 wt % zirconia to the stainless steel SS 316L by the powder metallurgy method. The ball milling process was carried out for pre-alloying the elements continued with the consolidation performed by the compaction and sintering process using the APS (Arc Plasma Sintering). Analysis of microstructure was performed by observing the morphology, identify the phase and evaluate the oxide distribution. An oxidation test was carried out at 700oC for 8 hours using the MSB (Magnetic Suspension Balanced) apparatus to evaluate the primary oxidation curve. The same grain fineness consists of 2 dominant phases, so the presence of an austenitic phase and a ferritic phase has been analyzed from the X-Ray Diffraction pattern. The homogeneous distribution of zirconia was observed, followed by improvements in mechanical properties, which could be identified by hardness testing. The parabolic phenomenon oxidation curve was explained by the excellent high-temperature oxidation behaviour of the ODS steel, followed by the formation of ZrO2 oxide protective thin layer.

Long- and short-range order in the Ni52Co2Fe20Ga26 ferromagnetic Heusler alloy

The crystalline structure and Fe local environment in a Co-doped Ni–Fe–Ga Heusler alloy, prepared by the melt-spinning technique, were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and EXAFS at room and low temperatures. The characteristic temperatures of the austenite–martensite phase transitions were determined by differential scanning calorimetry via cooling and heating cycles of the alloy ribbons. As shown by room-temperature XRD, the austenitic phase of the alloy has the chemically ordered L21 Heusler structure. This was confirmed by EXAFS, although this technique was not able to conclusively distinguish between the L21 and B2 structures of the austenite for the analyzed alloy. The low-temperature martensitic phase and its structural evolution towards austenite with increasing temperature were studied by high-energy X-ray diffraction, which evinced the martensite modulation. However, the Fe environment could be fitted by EXAFS with the tetragonal L10 structure of the non-modulated martensite. This proves that the martensite modulation has structural effects on a long-range scale, without significant changes in the short-range order around the atoms. The changes in the local structure around iron on martensitic transformation were correlated with changes in the electronic structure, described by XANES spectroscopy at the Fe K edge.

In Situ Measurement of Poisson’s Ratio of Steel Plates During Thermal Processes Using Resonant Modes

We demonstrate the determination of the Poisson’s ratio of steel plates during thermal processing based on contact free laser ultrasound measurements. Our method utilizes resonant elastic waves sustained by the plate, provides high amplitudes, and requires only a moderate detection bandwidth. For the analysis, the thickness of the samples does not need to be known. The trend of the measured Poisson’s ratio reveals a phase transformation in dual-phase steel samples. While previous approaches based on the measurement of the longitudinal sound velocity cannot distinguish between the ferritic and austenitic phase above 770°C, the shown method can. If the thickness of the samples is known, the method also provides both sound velocities of the material. The gained complementary information could be used to analyze phase composition of steel from low temperatures up to its melting point.

Fatigue performance of surface ground and wire electrical discharge machined TiNi shape memory alloy

Fatigue performance is a major consideration for critical aerospace components. The influence of surface grinding and rough/finish wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) on the high cycle fatigue performance of a binary Ti50.8-Ni49.2 shape memory alloy was assessed. The effect of machined workpiece surface integrity in terms of surface roughness and subsurface microhardness on the fatigue results was also evaluated, in addition to fractography analysis. Testing was performed using a tensile-tensile regime at an elevated temperature of 150°C with specimens in the austenitic phase. Ground samples showed the highest fatigue strength of 390 MPa at run-out of 1.2 × 107 cycles, while finish and rough WEDM specimens were 21% and 57% lower respectively, despite the finish WEDM surfaces having significantly lower roughness. This was likely due to the presence of tensile residual stresses following WEDM. All of the S-N curves however exhibited a relatively flat response with no clear indication of endurance limits. This implies that the different machining processes/conditions affected the fatigue strength of the material, but not the overall trend/shape of the fatigue curves.

The Effect of Heat Treatment on Mechanical Properties of J4 Series Stainless Steel Metals

J4 series stainless steel (SS) is austenitic alloy steel containing chromium and mangan, which has moderate strength and corrosion resistance. However, austenitic SS alloys generally undergo a sensitization process during heat treatment that decreases metal mechanical properties. The investigation of mechanical properties effect on J4 series SS toward the various temperature of metal was carried out at the temperature range of 600oC – 1050oC. The decrease of tensile strength, yield strength, and hardness are followed by increasing toughness and elongation in an increasing metal temperature up to 1050oC. This behavior of mechanical properties is caused by the transformation of α’-martensite phase to the austenitic phase with increasing heating temperature. On the other side, a significant decrease in toughness, yield strength, and elongation at the temperature of 700oC indicate a sensitization process on J4 stainless steel. The process of sensitization will correspond to the susceptibility of stress corrosion cracking on stainless steel.