Effect of Destabilisation and Tempering Heat Treatments on Hardness and Corrosion Behavior of 28 wt.%Cr Cast Irons with Mo Addition

The effects of destabilisation and tempering heat treatments on hardness and corrosion behavior in 28 wt.%Cr-2.6 wt.%C cast irons with up to 6 wt.%Mo addition were studied. The irons were destabilised at 1025 °C for 4 h and air cooled. Tempering was carried out at 450 °C for 4 h. Phase identification and microstructure were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), light microscope (LM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Vickers macro-hardness was measured. A potentiodynamic technique was used to indicate aqueous corrosion resistance. The results revealed that the as-cast microstructure of 28 wt.%Cr iron consisted of primary austenite dendrites with eutectic M7C3 carbides. In the irons with 6 wt.%Mo addition, eutectic carbides including M7C3, M23C6 and M6C were found. After destabilisation, the microstructure contained secondary carbide precipitates within an essentially martensitic matrix. Vickers macro-hardness of the as-cast and destabilised irons increased from 500 HV30 and 736 HV30 in the 28 wt.%Cr iron up to 570 HV30 and 870 HV30 in the iron with 6 wt.%Mo addition. Tempering slightly increased the macro-hardness. The as-cast 28 wt.%Cr iron had the lowest values for critical current density and passive current density. The destabilised + tempered treatment gave the lowest corrosion resistance.

Novel Super-Elastic Materials for Advanced Bearing Applications

Tribological surfaces of mechanical components encounter harsh conditions in terrestrial, marine and aerospace environments. Brinell denting, abrasive wear and fatigue often lead to life-limiting bearing and gear failures. Novel superelastic materials based upon Nickel-Titanium (NiTi) alloys are an emerging solution. NiTi alloys are intermetallic materials that possess characteristics of both metals and ceramics. NiTi alloys have intrinsically good aqueous corrosion resistance (they cannot rust), high hardness, relatively low elastic modulus, are chemically inert and readily lubricated. NiTi alloys also belong to the family of superelastics and, despite high hardness, are able to withstand large strains without suffering permanent plastic deformation. In this paper, the use of a hard, resilient NiTi alloy for corrosion-proof, shockproof bearing and gear applications is presented. Through a series of bearing and gear development projects, it is demonstrated that NiTi’s unique blend of material properties lead to significantly improved load capacity, reduced weight and intrinsic corrosion resistance not found in any other bearing materials. NiTi thus represents a new materials solution to demanding tribological applications.

Aqueous Corrosion Characteristics of Iron Aluminides

Aqueous corrosion behaviors of Fe3Al-based iron aluminides were investigated. From the result of cyclic anodic polarization tests conducted in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution at 25, 48, 72 and 95°C, as the temperature increased, the resistance to pitting corrosion decreased significantly, especially over the range of 25~48°C. From the result of crevice corrosion tests, no crevice corrosion occurred on FAL-Mo in the lower chloride-containing solution (200 ppm Cl-), however, FAL-Mo did not perform as well as the 304L SS in the higher chloride-containing solution (3.5 wt.% NaCl). From the result of anodic polarization tests performed in sulfur-compound solutions, additions of Cr and Mo to the Fe3Al-based iron aluminides tend to improve the aqueous corrosion resistance. Aqueous corrosion behaviors with different Al content evaluated by cyclic anodic polarization test in the chloride-containing solution exhibited the more stable passive behavior and the higher pitting resistance as Al contents increased.

Fabrication and Evaluation of β-SiAlON Nanoceramics

β-SiAlON nanoceramics were fabricated from β-SiAlON nano powder using the spark-plasma sintering (SPS) technique. The β-SiAlON nanopowder (Si4Al2O2N6) was synthesized from a mixture of SiO2 (QS-102, Tokuyama Co., Japan), AlOOH (Tomita, Japan) and C (Mitsubishi Chemical, Japan) using the carbothermal reduction nitridation (CRN) method. The heating rate for SPS was 50/min. The β-SiAlON nanoceramics had high strength (500 MPa). TEM observation showed that the intergranular glassy phase was scarcely present at the grain boundary of the β-SiAlON nanoceramics. Aqueous corrosion resistance was evaluated by measuring the weight loss after soaking in 5 and 35 wt.% H2SO4aq. and 5 wt.% HNO3aq. at 80 for 100 h. It was found that β-SiAlON nanoceramics have much higher corrosion resistance than commercialized silicon nitride ceramics in acid solutions. Commercialized Si3N4 ceramics have an intergranular glassy phase created as a result of the sintering aids in them. Thus, they are easily corroded by acid solutions because the intergranular glassy phase is easily corroded under such conditions. The excellent corrosion resistance of the β-SiAlON nanoceramics stems from their glass-free grain boundaries, since the β-SiAlON nanoceramics were produced without using a sintering aid.