Creating movable interfaces by micro-powder injection moulding

This paper presents a novel in situ technique to produce articulated components with high-precision, micro-scale movable interfaces by micro-powder injection moulding (μPIM). The presented process route is based on the use of micro-scale sacrificial layer between the movable subcomponents which is eliminated during the debinding step, creating a dimensionally-controlled, micro-scale mobile interface. The fabrication technique combines the advantages of micro-powder overmoulding, catalytic debinding and sintering. The demonstrated example was a finger bone prosthesis joint consisting of two sub-components with an interface between components of 200 μm in size. The geometries of the sub-components were designed such that they are inseparable throughout the process whilst allowing them to move relative to each other after the debinding stage. The components produced showed the feasibility of the process route to produce readily-assembled meso-, and potentially micro-, scale articulated system

Tribo-corrosion properties of cobalt-based medical implant alloys in simulated biological environments

Tribological problems and corrosion degradation have been recognized as essential risks for total joint replacements, especially for all-metal arthroplasty. Few studies have focused on the interactions between tribology and corrosion (tribocorrosion) for implant materials. This paper addresses the importance of understanding tribocorrosion and the evaluation of such materials in simulated biological environments. Due to the complex effect of proteins on tribocorrosion, which has been demonstrated in previous studies, this study focuses towards understanding the effects of amino acids as aspects of material degradation. Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM) is a cell culture solution. It contains comparable amount and types of amino acids to normal synovial fluid in human joints. 0.36% NaCl solution was employed to isolate the biological species. Three materials were tested; High carbon (HC) CoCrMo (contains 0.19% carbon), low carbon (LC) CoCrMo (widely used materials for total joint replacement) and stainless steel UNS S31603 (316L). Integrated electrochemical tests supported by measurement of friction and near surface chemical analysis were carried out to enable their tribocorrosion behaviour to be fully characterized. As a general conclusion, amino acids were found to react with materials under tribological contacts and form complex organometallic/oxides which lubricate the metallic sample surface. Tribocorrosion plays a very important role in material degradation in the studied environments. HC CoCrMo shows superior wear, corrosion and tribocorrosion resistance – the material characteristics and their effect on the different tribocorrosion processes are discussed

Layer Formation Studies in Selective Laser Melting of Steel Powders

This paper advances the findings of the selective laser melting (SLM) of tool steel and stainless steel powders. The distinguishing feature is the melting of single layers in deep powder beds by a continuous CO2 laser. First, effect of process parameters on the surface roughness for each material is investigated. Based on these results combined with visual observation of the solidified tracks, the question is then discussed as how the processability of various type of steels is changed. The results show that surface morphology of layers is affected strongly by scan spacing, thereby giving a lower average roughness at reduced scan spacing. The effect of scan speed is also remarkable. In addition, other roughness parameters such as the peak height and skewness are found to be useful tools for evaluation of laser melted surfaces.Mechanical Engineerin

High cycle fatigue and ratcheting interaction of laser powder bed fusion stainless steel 316L:Fracture behaviour and stress-based modelling

Variations in the physical and mechanical properties of parts made by laser power bed fusion (L-PBF) could be affected by the choice of processing or post-processing strategies. This work examined the influence of build orientation and post-processing treatments (annealing or hot isostatic pressing) on the fatigue and fracture behaviours of L-PBF stainless steel 316L in the high cycle fatigue region, i.e. 104 – 106 cycles. Experimental results show that both factors introduce significant changes in the plastic deformation properties, which affect fatigue strength via the mechanism of fatigue-ratcheting interaction. Cyclic plasticity is characterised by hardening, which promotes mean stress insensitivity and improved fatigue resistance. Fatigue activities, involving the initiation of crack at defects and microstructural heterogeneities, are of greater relevance to the longer life region where the global deformation mode is elastic. As the simultaneous actions of ratcheting and fatigue generate complex nonlinear interactions between the alternating stress amplitude and mean stress, the fatigue properties could not be effectively predicted using traditional stress-based models. A modification to the Goodman relation was proposed to account for the added effects of cyclic plasticity and was demonstrated to produce good agreement with experimental results for both cyclic hardening and softening materials.EDB (Economic Devt. Board, S’pore)Accepted versio

Mechanical and electrochemical properties of multiple-layer diode laser cladding of 316L stainless steel

In the present investigation, a detailed mechanical and electrochemical properties of multiple-layer laser clad 316L stainless steel (from the powders produced by gas atomized route) has been carried out. Multiple-layer laser cladding of 316L stainless steel has been conducted using a diode laser. The mechanical property (rmcrohardness) of the fabricated product has been evaluated using a microhardness testing machine and correlated with the process parameters. The electrochemical property, mainly pitting corrosion resistance of the fabricated layer corresponding to maximum microhardness (in a 3.56% NaCl solution) has been evaluated using standard potentiodynamic polarization testing. The microhardness of the laser assisted fabricated layers was found to vary from 170 to 278 VHN, increased with decrease in applied power density and increase in scan speed and was higher than that of conventionally processed 316L (155 VHN). The superior microhardness value is attributed to grain refinement associated with laser melting and rapid solidification. The critical potential to pit formation (E-PP1) was measured to be 550 mV saturated calomel electrode (SCE) and superior to the conventionally processed 316L stainless steel (445 mV (SCE)). (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Influence of Laser Processing Parameters on the Corrosion Behavior in 316L Stainless Steel Laser Powder Depositions

Mechanical Engineerin

Residual stress measurement round robin on an electron beam welded joint between austenitic stainless steel 316L(N) and ferritic steel P91

This paper is a research output of DMW-Creep project which is part of a national UK programme through the RCUK Energy programme and India's Department of Atomic Energy. The research is focussed on understanding the characteristics of welded joints between austenitic stainless steel and ferritic steel that are widely used in many nuclear power generating plants and petrochemical industries as well as conventional coal and gas-fired power systems. The members of the DMW-Creep project have under- taken parallel round robin activities measuring the residual stresses generated by a dissimilar metal weld (DMW) between AISI 316L(N) austenitic stainless steel and P91 ferritic-martensitic steel. Electron beam (EB) welding was employed to produce a single bead weld on a plate specimen and an additional smoothing pass (known cosmetic pass) was then introduced using a defocused beam. The welding re- sidual stresses have been measured by five experimental methods including (I) neutron diffraction (ND), (II) X-Ray diffraction (XRD), (III) contour method (CM), (IV) incremental deep hole drilling (iDHD) and (V) incremental centre hole drilling (iCHD). The round robin measurements of weld residual stresses are compared in order to characterise surface and sub-surface residual stresses comprehensively

Effect of the semi-conductive properties of the passive layer on the current provided by stainless steel microbial cathodes

Geobacter sulfur reducens biofilms were formed under constant polarisation at −0.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl on stainless steel cathodes to catalyse the reduction of fumarate. The time-evolution of the current strongly depended on the quality of the inoculum. Inoculating with young cells significantly shortened the initial lag-phase and using the same inoculum improved the reproducibility of the current–time curves. The whole set of experiments showed that 254SMO stainless steel provided higher current densities (on average 14.1 A/m2) than biofilms formed on 316L stainless steel (on average 4.5 A/m2). Biofilm coverage assessed by epifluorescent microscopy showed that coverage ratios were generally higher for 316L than for 254SMO. It must be concluded that 254SMO is more efficient in transferring electrons to bacterial cells than 316L. Mott–Schottky diagrams recorded on both materials under conditions of electrolysis in the absence of microorganisms showed that the surface oxide layers had similar n-type semi-conductive behaviour for potential values higher than the flat band potential. In contrast, 316L exhibited slight p-type behaviour at potential lower than the flat band potential, while 254SMO did not. The higher electrochemical performances of biocathodes formed on 254SMO are explained by semi-conductive properties of its passive layer, which prevented the p-type behaviour occurring in cathodic electrolysis conditions

Influence of electrical potential on the crystallization and adhesion of potassium hydrogen tartrate crystals

Interfacial interactions between a hydroalcoholic solution of potassium hydrogen tartrate (KHT) and a stainless steel surface are studied, when an electrical potential is applied to the metal substrate. The capacitive domain of the metal–solution interface is determined by cyclic voltammetry. In order to study the influence of the potential on KHT nucleation and crystal adhesion, the solid–liquid interfacial energy is assessed from contact angle and capillary rise measurements. Experimentally, the contact angle between a NaF solution and a stainless steel vs. the potential has a parabolic behaviour. The metal topography has no apparent influence on physicochemical properties of the interface when ethanol is present in a KHT solution. The metal substrate promotes the formation of KHT crystals, which is improved by the application of an anodic potential. The adhesion of crystals becomes more effective when wires of 25 μm diameter are used in comparison with those of 250 μm

High resolution observations of friction-induced oxide and its interaction with the worn surface

A detailed transmission electron microscopy study of oxide and oxygen-containing phase formation during the sliding wear of metals, composites and coatings is provided. A wide range of different materials types are reported in order to compare and contrast their oxidational wear behaviour: a low carbon stainless steel, a H21 tool steel containing 7%TiC particles, a 17%Cr white iron,an Al–Si/30%SiC composite, an Al–alloy (6092)–15%Ni3Al composite and finally a 3rd generation TiAlN/CrN ‘superhard’ multilayer coating. For the ferrous alloys, nanoscale oxides and oxygen-containing phases were formed that exhibited excellent adhesion to the substrate. In all cases, an increase in oxide coverage of the surface was associated with a decrease in Lancaster wear coefficient. The oxide at the surface of the 316L and H21+7%TiC was found to deform with the substrate, forming a mechanically mixed layer that enhanced surface wear resistance. Evidence of oxidational wear is presented for the wear of the Al–Si–30%SiC composite, but this did not give a beneficial effect in wear, a result of the brittle nature of the oxide that resulted in detachment of fine (150nm) thick fragments. The worn surface of the Al–alloy (6092)–15%Ni3Al and TiAlN/CrN coating was characterized by reaction with the counterface and subsequent oxidation, the product of which enhanced wear resistance. The observations are related to the classical theory of oxidational wear