Characterization of functionally graded commercially pure titanium (CPTI) and titanium carbide (TiC) powders

Functionally Graded Materials (FGM) are advanced materials fabricated using additive manufacturing techniques. It belongs to a class of advanced material characterization in which the properties of the material composition is varied. The resulting property of the composite is always different from the properties of the individual material employed in the formation of the composite. They are known to also exhibit good mechanical and chemical properties and as such, are used for different industrial applications. One of the techniques employed in the fabrication of FGMs is called Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) technique. It uses laser beam to melt powder material on a substrate forming a melt pool that solidifies upon cooling. This paper reports on the material characterization of functionally graded Titanium and Titanium Carbide (TiC) powders deposited on Titanium substrate by laser metal deposition approach. The formed deposits were fabricated by varying the processing parameters such as laser power, scanning speed and the powder flow rate. From the result obtained, the microstructures showed that the laser power has much influence on the grain growth of the material. In addition, with the SEM analysis of the microstructure since the percentages of the titanium and titanium carbide were varied, it was observed that the sharp boundaries of the Titanium Carbide were reduced greatly and this resulting effect can be attributed to the thermal effect of the laser. The microstructures further revealed that as the percentage of TiC decreases, it becomes more difficult to see the TiC as a different material in the composite, emphasizing this as one of the best characteristics of functionally graded materials, which is the elimination of sharp interfaces and layers. Furthermore, it was observed that the laser power has great influence on the evolving hardness of the material compared to the TiC content

Friction stir welding of dissimilar materials – statistical analysis of the weld data

This paper reports the results of statistical analysis conducted on the weld data obtained from friction stir welding of aluminium and copper. The welds were produced by varying the process parameters; the rotational speed was varied between 600 to 1200 rpm and the welding speed varied between 50 and 300 mm/min. The Statistica (version 9.0) statistical analysis software package was used to generate the scatter and surface plots relative to the experimental results obtained from the tensile testing and the FSW data. Regression analysis was also done on the weld data. It was found that the downward vertical force has a significant effect on the Ultimate Tensile Strength of the weld and a strong relationship exist between the heat input into the welds and the measured electrical resistivities of the welds

Friction stir welding of aluminium and copper : fracture surface characterizations

Butt welds of aluminium alloy and copper alloy were produced by Friction Stir Welding by varying the feed rate and keeping all other parameters constant. The final weld matrix was composed of welds produced by a constant rotational speed of 600 rpm and the feed rate varied between 50 and 300mm/min. The microstructure and fracture surfaces of the joint interfaces were investigated. The results revealed that the joint interface was characterised with mixed layers of both materials joined. The strongest weld was produced at the highest feed rate employed at 300 mm/min. The fracture surfaces were characterised with thin layers of intermetallic compounds and can be considered fit for practical applications

Experimental investigation of laser beam forming of titanium and statistical analysis of the effects of parameters on curvature

Laser beam forming, a non-contact manufacturing process has become a viable manufacturing process for shaping metallic components. The capability of laser beam forming and bending demands more experimental studies to identify an optimized parameter setting and the likely parameters influencing the formed curvature. This paper investigates experimental laser beam forming of Ti6Al4V titanium alloy using a 4.4 kW Nd: YAG laser and studied the effects of the process parameters on the formed curvature. It was established that an increase in both the laser beam power and the number of scan tracks reduces the radius of curvature in the formed sheets having a more dome shape. The scan speed on the other hand, achieved the same good curvature at a slower or reduced scan speed to allow enough laser – material interaction. Furthermore, both the ANOVA and the regression analysis confirmed the repeatability of the experimental data. A simple regression model was developed based on the known active parameters to determine approximate curvatures instead of running a series of experiments

Effect of punch stroke on deformation during sheet forming through finite element

Abstract: Forming is one of the traditional methods of making shapes, bends and curvature in metallic components during a fabrication process. Mechanical forming, in particular, employs the use of a punch, which is pressed against the sheet material to be deformed into a die by the application of an external force. This study reports on the finite element analysis of the effects of punch stroke on the resulting sheet deformation, which is directly a function of the structural integrity of the formed components for possible application in the automotive industry. The results show that punch stroke is directly proportional to the resulting bend angle of the formed components. It was further revealed that the developed plastic strain increases as the punch stroke increases

Designs of temperature measuring device for a re-configured milling machine

The design of temperature measuring approach for a re-configured milling machine to produce friction stir welds is reported in this paper. The product design specifications for the redesigning of a milling machine were first outlined and the ranking criteria were determined. Three different concepts were generated for the temperature measurement on the reconfigured system and the preferred or the best concept was selected based on the set design ranking criteria. Further simulation and performance analysis was then conducted on the concept. The Infrared Thermography (IRT) concept was selected for the temperature measurement among other concepts generated because it is an ideal and most effective system of measurement in this regard

Fracture location characterizations of dissimilar friction stir welds.

This paper reports the tensile fracture location characterizations of dissimilar friction stir welds between 5754 aluminium alloy and C11000 copper. The welds were produced using three shoulder diameter tools; namely, 15, 18 and 25 mm by varying the process parameters. The rotational speeds considered were 600, 950 and 1200 rpm while the feed rates employed were 50, 150 and 300 mm/min to represent the low, medium and high settings respectively. The tensile fracture locations were evaluated using the optical microscope to identify the fracture locations and were characterized. It was observed that 70% of the tensile samples failed in the Thermo Mechanically Affected Zone (TMAZ) of copper at the weld joints. Further evaluation of the fracture surfaces of the pulled tensile samples revealed that welds with low Ultimate Tensile Strength either have defects or intermetallics present at their joint interfaces

Microstructural development during mechanical forming of steel sheets

Metal forming is used synonymously with deformation, a process during which an object gets changed due to the applied force. These changes can either be reversible or irreversible depending on the type of material; size and geometry of the object and the magnitude of the applied force to the object. This paper reports the microstructural development after mechanical forming of steel sheet material by varying the applied loads. The microstructural evaluations showed that the applied loads employed caused an increase in the magnitude of the grain sizes in each loaded specimen. Furthermore, the increase in the grain size of the microstructure was observed to be directly proportional to the loads applied. In addition, the microhardness values of the cross sections investigated were found to increase with the applied loads. Hence, the grain size growth and the hardness were linearly dependent on the applied loads, and this implies that there is a correlation between the applied loads and the resulting microstructure of the material and the hardness of the material

Effects of processing parameters on the corrosion properties of dissimilar friction stir welds of aluminium and copper

The influence of friction stir welding processing parameters on dissimilar joints conducted between aluminium alloy (AA5754) and commercially pure copper (C11000) was studied. The welds were produced by varying the rotational speed from 600 to 1200 r/min and the feed rate from 50 to 300 mm/min. The resulting microstructure and the corrosion properties of the welds produced were studied. It was found that the joint interfacial regions of the welds were characterized by interlayers of aluminium and copper. The corrosion tests revealed that the corrosion resistance of the welds was improved as the rotational speed was increased. The corrosion rates of the welds compared to the base metals were improved compared with Cu and decreased slightly compared with the aluminium alloy. The lowest corrosion rate was obtained at welds produced at rotational speed of 950 r/min and feed rate of 300 mm/min which corresponds to a weld produced at a low heat input