Fatigue testing and properties of hardmetals in the gigacycle range

Hardmetal products are frequently fatigue loaded in service, such as e.g. cutting tools for milling or percussion drills. In the present work, the fatigue behaviour of hardmetals was investigated into the gigacycle range using ultrasonic resonance fatigue testing at 20 kHz in push-pull mode at R = - 1. Liquid cooling was afforded using water with addition of a corrosion inhibitor. Hourglass shaped specimens were prepared, the surface being ground and polished with subsequent stress-relieving anneal to remove the high compressive residual stresses introduced during grinding. S-N curves with fairly low scatter were obtained, which indicates microstructure-controlled and not defect-controlled failure. Low binder content as well as fine WC grains were found to improve the fatigue endurance strength. In no case, however, a horizontal branch of the S-N curve was observed, i.e. there is no fatigue “limit” at least up to 1010 cycles. The initiation sites were in part difficult to identify; in such cases when the site was clearly visible, decohesion of the binder from large WC grains seems to have caused crack initiation. This further corroborates that microstructural features and not singular defects as e.g. inclusions are the initiation sites, which underlines the high purity of the hardmetal grades used. Based on fracture mechanical consideration a damage diagram was determined allowing to deduce critical defect sizes.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Scaling Behaviour of Si-alloyed Steel Slabs under Reheating Conditions

Reheating of steel slabs for further processing such as hot rolling usually takes place in gas-fired pusher furnaces. Temperatures well above 1000°C, combined with an atmosphere containing H2O, CO2, and O2, lead to substantial oxidation of most steel grades. Newly developed advanced steels often contain significant amounts of Si. This element plays a dominant role in the scaling behaviour near the steel-scale-interface, since fayalite (Fe2SiO4) forms a eutectic with wuestite (Fe1–xO) that melts as low as 1177°C.To better understand the high temperature oxidation behaviour, lab-scale trials were performed with different steel grades containing up to 3 wt.% Si. Possible interactions of Si with other alloying elements present in the samples such as Cr, Mn and Al were also of interest. The atmosphere contained 20% H2O, 7% CO2, and 3% O2, resembling reheating conditions in pusher furnaces, and temperatures ranged from 1100 to 1240°C. For metallographic investigation, the oxidised samples were cold mounted under vacuum using taper section angles. After preparation, the sections were examined through light microscopy, SEM/EDS, XRD, and TEM. The local distribution of the alloying elements could be mapped efficiently, and phase identification was successful in most parts. Under the applied experimental conditions, the elements of interest were present in their oxidic form either as pure or as mixed oxides. Higher Si-contents led to an increased build-up of eutectic melting phase at the steel-scale-interface at temperatures above 1177°C, which in turn further accelerated the oxidation

Effect of nanoparticle size on the near-surface pH-distribution in aqueous and carbonate buffered solutions

An analytical solution for the effect of particle size on the current density and near-surface ion distribution around spherical nanoparticles is presented in this work. With the long-term aim to support predictions on corrosion reactions in the human body, the spherical diffusion equation was solved for a set of differential equations and algebraic relations for pure unbuffered and carbonate buffered solutions. It was shown that current densities increase significantly with a decrease in particle size, suggesting this will lead to an increased dissolution rate. Near-surface ion distributions show the formation of a steep pH-gradient near the nanoparticle surface (\u3c6 μm) which is further enhanced in the presence of a carbonate buffer (\u3c2 μm). Results suggest that nanoparticles in pure electrolytes not only dissolve faster than bigger particles but that local pH-gradients may influence interactions with the biological environment, which should be considered in future studies

New Alloying Systems for Sintered Steels: Critical Aspects of Sintering Behavior

Oxygen-sensitive alloying elements such as Mn, Si, and Cr have a high potential for improving the properties of low alloyed sintered steels while reducing the alloying cost. However, it is necessary to find a way for avoiding, or at least minimizing, the oxidation of these elements especially during the early stages of the sintering cycle. In this study Mn, Si, and Cr were introduced in the form of a master alloy powder designed to be mixed with the iron base powder and provide the final composition of the steel during the sintering process. The reduction/oxidation phenomena taking place during the heating stage were studied by thermogravimetry, dilatometry, and mass spectroscopy, using either reducing (H2) or inert (Ar) atmospheres. The results show how the difference in chemical activity between base iron powder and master alloy causes the so called "internal-getter" effect, by which the reduction of less stable iron oxides leads to oxidation of the elements with higher affinity for oxygen. This effect can be somehow minimized when sintering in H2, since the iron oxides are reduced at lower temperatures at which the reactivity of the elements in the master alloy is lower. However, H2 concentration in the processing atmosphere needs to be carefully adapted to the specific composition of the materials being processed in order to minimize decarburization by methane formation during sintering.Höganäs AB Sweden, financial support provided through the Höganäs Chair IVPublicad

Degradation of alumina refractory bricks by sintering Mn low-alloy steels

The economic importance of the corrosion and wear of refractory materials is indisputable because these processes determine the viability of any high-temperature liner used in metallurgical processes. The degradation mechanism of lining materials (refractory bricks) in contact with corrosive gases can be studied by examining the penetration rate or the chemical corrosion that results from the circulation of the atmosphere over the refractory material (by diffusional and convective transport). During the sintering of steel containing Mn the high vapour pressure of Mn enables its sublimation during thermal cycling; therefore, Mn is incorporated into the sintering atmosphere. Although the diffusion of Mn in steel samples is beneficial, the presence of Mn in a sintering atmosphere can modify the composition of refractory components. As a result of atmosphere-refractory interactions, a new phase is formed. In this study, the changes in refractory materials as a function of exposure time to atmospheres containing Mn-(g)) at the most common sintering temperature, 1120 degrees C, were investigated. The microstructural changes in the refractory materials and the consequences of the presence of Mn-(g) were analysed using optical microscopy, electron microscopy with X-ray (EDS) microanalysis, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray fluorescence (XRF)

Liquid phases tailored for introducing oxidation-sensitive elements through the master alloy route

Introducing alloying elements through Master Alloy (MA) additions provides the unique opportunity of designing their composition to enhance sintering by forming a liquid phase. However, working with liquid phases poses important challenges like maintaining a proper dimensional control and minimizing the effect of secondary porosity on the final performance of the steel. The critical parameters for designing low melting point compositions are analyzed in this work by combining the use of thermodynamic software tools, wetting angle/infiltration experiments, and advanced thermal analysis techniques. Due to their low ability to dissolve iron, Cu-based liquids present remarkable infiltration properties that provide homogeneous distribution of the alloying elements. Dissolutive liquids, on the other hand, tend to render more heterogeneous microstructures, rapidly solidifying in contact with the matrix. As a consequence of their lower infiltration capacity, dimensional changes upon liquid formation are significantly lowered. When using master alloys with high content in oxidation-sensitive alloying elements, the differences in oxygen affinity cause an oxygen transfer from the surface of the iron base particles to the surface of the master alloys. The change in the surface chemistry modifies the wetting capability of the liquid, and the dimensional stability becomes increasingly sensitive to the processing atmosphere.This work has been carried out under the frame of a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship program for Career Development (Grant agreement PIEF-GA-2013-625556). The support from the European Research Commission through the People work program FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF is very gratefully acknowledged. Part of the work was performed within the frame of the International Project Höganäs Chair in PM, in the IV and V editions. The financial and logistic support given by Höganäs AB Sweden as well as fruitful discussions with all the members of the project is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also wish to thank Dr. Capdevila, for his help with dilatometry studies. The authors would like to thank Taylor & Francis (www.tandfonline.com) for their permission to reproduce some content from the article "Tailoring master alloys for liquid phase sintering: Effect of introducing oxidation-sensitive elements" published in Powder Metallurgy (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00325899.2016.1148897)

High-resolution topochemical analysis and thermochemical simulations of oxides and nitrides at grain boundaries and within the grains of a low alloy Mn-Cr hot-rolled steel sheet

The selective oxidation underneath the scale layer of an industrially hot rolled Fe-1.8Mn-0.8Cr steel at temperatures between 600-700∘C has been investigated. The spatial distribution and composition of formed precipitates has been studied by high-resolution topochemical analysis via TEM-EELS and NanoSIMS and revealed heterogeneities in chemical composition, especially along grain boundaries. It could be shown that grain boundary oxides are predominantly composed of aluminium, chromium or silicon oxides/nitrides, surrounded by manganese-rich oxides. Experimental results of phase stability have been compared to numerical simulations, considering the distribution of more than 40 potentially stable oxide-, nitride- and carbide phases and differences are critically discussed

Internal oxidation and formation of Si/Al-enriched oxide bands in the scale of electrical steel grades

Oxidation during steel hot rolling is responsible for various surface defects. Local enrichments of oxygen-affine alloying elements such as silicon or aluminium can cause such defects by complicating oxide scale removal. In this paper, correlations between the temperature profile during oxidation and enrichment formation in electrical steels are investigated. Diffusion and reaction simulations using the numerical Crank-Nicolson-scheme are evaluated by comparing them to laboratory-scale oxidized samples. Furthermore, analytical approximations (spectral methods) are investigated as an alternative approach, focusing on trade-offs between accuracy and calculation times. A link between heating periods during oxidation and Si/Al-rich bands in the scale was established

Effect of nanoparticle size on the near-surface pH-distribution in aqueous and carbonate buffered solutions

An analytical solution for the effect of particle size on the current density and near-surface ion distribution around spherical nanoparticles is presented in this work. With the long-term aim to support predictions on corrosion reactions in the human body, the spherical diffusion equation was solved for a set of differential equations and algebraic relations for pure unbuffered and carbonate buffered solutions. It was shown that current densities increase significantly with a decrease in particle size, suggesting this will lead to an increased dissolution rate. Near-surface ion distributions show the formation of a steep pH-gradient near the nanoparticle surface (<6 m) which is further enhanced in the presence of a carbonate buffer (<2 m). Results suggest that nanoparticles in pure electrolytes not only dissolve faster than bigger particles but that local pH-gradients may influence interactions with the biological environment, which should be considered in future studies

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13