Influence of the Heating Rate on the Foaming Behavior of Various Aluminium Alloys

Powders of metallurgically prepared precursors expand to a foam differently depending on how fast they are heated to their foaming temperature. The foaming behavior of four alloys was studied with heating rates varying from 0.1 K/s to 18 K/s. It was found that each alloy shows its own non-linear behavior of expansion values. Alloys not containing magnesium exhibit a maximum at intermediate heating rates, whereas Mg-containing alloys tend to expand more for higher heating rates

An X-ray tomographic study of rechargeable Zn/MnO2 batteries

We present non-destructive and non-invasive in operando X-ray tomographic investigations of the charge and discharge behavior of rechargeable alkaline-manganese (RAM) batteries (Zn-MnO2 batteries). Changes in the three-dimensional structure of the zinc anode and the MnO2 cathode material after several charge/discharge cycles were analyzed. Battery discharge leads to a decrease in the zinc particle sizes, revealing a layer-by-layer dissolving behavior. During charging, the particles grow again to almost their initial size and shape. After several cycles, the particles sizes slowly decrease until most of the particles become smaller than the spatial resolution of the tomography. Furthermore, the number of cracks in the MnO2 bulk continuously increases and the separator changes its shape. The results are compared to the behavior of a conventional primary cell that was also charged and discharged several times.DFG, 325093850, Open Access Publizieren 2017 - 2018 / Technische Universität Berli

The Influence of Alloy Composition and Liquid Phase on Foaming of Al−Si−Mg Alloys

The foaming behaviour of aluminium alloys processed by the powder compaction technique depends crucially on the exact alloy composition. The AlSi8Mg4 alloy has been in use for a decade now, and it has been claimed that this composition lies in an “island of good foaming”. We investigated the reasons for this by systematically studying alloys around this composition by varying the Mg and Si content by a few percent. We applied in situ X-ray 2D and 3D imaging experiments combined with a quantitative nucleation number and expansion analysis, X-ray tomography of solid foams to assess the pore structure and pore size distribution, and in situ diffraction experiments to quantify the melt fraction at any moment. We found a correlation between melt fraction and expansion height and verified that the “island of good foaming” actually exists, and foams outside a preferred range for the liquid fraction—just above TS and between 40–60%—show a poorer expansion performance than the reference alloy AlSi8Mg4. A very slight increase of Si and decrease of Mg content might further improve this foam

Suitability of various complex hydrides for foaming aluminum alloys

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Some hydrides that could replace TiH2 as the hitherto most suitable blowing agent for foaming aluminum alloys were investigated. Hydrides taken from the group MBH4 (M = Li, Na, K) and LiAlH4 were selected since these have not been studied in the past although their decomposition characteristics appear to be suitable. Foamable precursors of alloy AlSi8Mg4 were manufactured by pressing blends of metal and blowing agent powders. Powders, precursors and precursor filings were studied by mass spectrometry to obtain the hydrogen desorption profile. Foaming experiments were conducted with simultaneous x-ray radiographic monitoring. Two Li-containing blowing agents were found to perform well and can be considered alternatives to TiH2

Particle-stabilised foams: structure and aging

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.We show that aqueous foams stabilised by nanoparticles can be easily imaged using an X-ray laboratory source. We have used hydrophobically modified silica nanoparticles that confer to the foam a remarkable stability. The X-ray tomography observations were compared with the information obtained using a multiple light scattering technique. Both techniques confirm that provided the concentration of particles in bulk water is high enough, the bubble size evolves little with time. X-Ray tomography revealed the presence of two populations of bubbles, small bubbles which size tends to decrease with time and large bubbles which number tends to increase with time. This behaviour could arise from an arrested coarsening process. The results demonstrate the great potential of the two techniques and of their combination for foam studies

Motion of liquid and stabilising particles in individual liquid aluminium alloy films

Liquid metallic films are the constituting elements of metallic foams and are governed by a complex interplay between the liquid here aluminium alloys , the film stabilising solid particles contained in the melt, and the gas phase. We use synchrotron X ray radioscopy to study particle dynamics and analyse particle motions by applying novel image processing techniques. We find that particles move alone and as clusters. They may move permanently with the melt or can be trapped by the film surface and subsequently even de trapped again. The aim of this work is to observe interactions between particles or particle clusters and the film surfaces, and to understand how liquid flow in films is reduced and film stability increased by such particle

Slow crystallisation of a monodisperse foam stabilised against coarsening

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.The evolution of a three-dimensional monodisperse foam was investigated using X-ray tomography over the course of seven days. The coarsening of the sample was inhibited through the use of perfluorohexane gas. The internal configuration of bubbles is seen to change markedly, evolving from a disordered arrangement towards a more ordered state. We chart this ordering process through the use of the coordination number, the bond orientational order parameter (BOOP) and the translational order parameter

Classification of FIB/SEM-tomography images for highly porous multiphase materials using random forest classifiers

FIB/SEM tomography represents an indispensable tool for the characterization of three-dimensional nanostructures in battery research and many other fields. However, contrast and 3D classification/reconstruction problems occur in many cases, which strongly limits the applicability of the technique especially on porous materials, like those used for electrode materials in batteries or fuel cells. Distinguishing the different components like active Li storage particles and carbon/binder materials is difficult and often prevents a reliable quantitative analysis of image data, or may even lead to wrong conclusions about structure-property relationships. In this contribution, we present a novel approach for data classification in three-dimensional image data obtained by FIB/SEM tomography and its applications to NMC battery electrode materials. We use two different image signals, namely the signal of the angled SE2 chamber detector and the Inlens detector signal, combine both signals and train a random forest, i.e. a particular machine learning algorithm. We demonstrate that this approach can overcome current limitations of existing techniques suitable for multi-phase measurements and that it allows for quantitative data reconstruction even where current state-of the art techniques fail, or demand for large training sets. This approach may yield as guideline for future research using FIB/SEM tomography