Synthesis and Characterization of Mechanical Properties of AA8014 + Si3N4/ ZrO2 Hybrid Composites by Stir Casting Process

Lightweight materials are extremely needed for the manufacturing of industrial parts and are used in aerospace, automobile body shops, biomedical instruments, etc. Aluminium alloy is one of the light-weight materials, and it fulfills the industrial demands based on their natural strength/stiffness, enhanced temperature permanence, superior wear, and corrosion resistance. This experimental work considered aluminium alloy (AA8014) with reinforced particles of silicon nitride (Si3N4) and zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) for preparing aluminium hybrid composites. Hybrid composites are prepared by a stir casting process involving different process parameters. L27 orthogonal array is used for optimizing the stir casting parameters with the assistance of the statistical Taguchi approach. Stir casting parameters are the percentage of reinforcement (4%, 6%, and 8%), stir speed (400 rpm, 500 rpm, and 600 rpm), stir time (20 min, 25 min, and 30 min), and molten temperature (700 oC, 800 oC, and 900 oC). Mechanical performance such as wear and microhardness of the hybrid composites is evaluated. Minimum wear and higher microhardness are encountered at a percentage of reinforcement = 6%, stir speed = 400 rpm, stir time = 30 min, and molten temperature = 900°C. In wear analysis, the percentage of reinforcement highly influences the wear properties (7.06% contribution). In microhardness analysis, molten temperature parameter is the extreme influencer (11.15% contribution).

A Brief Introduction on the Development of Ti-Based Metallic Glasses

Ti-based metallic glasses (MGs) possess high specific strength, low elastic modulus, high elasticity, high wear and corrosion resistance, and excellent biocompatibility, which make them highly attractive as lightweight high-strength materials as well as biomaterials. However, the glass forming ability (GFA) of Ti-based MGs, particularly those bearing no toxic, noble, or heavy metals, that is, Be, Pd, or Cu alike, largely sets back their wide applications for the restricted critical glass forming size of these Ti-based MGs. In this review, the outlines in developing Ti-based MGs are delineated in order to provide an overall view on the efforts ever made to fabricate bulk size Ti-based MGs. The state of the art in the knowledge on the GFA of Ti-based MGs is briefly introduced, and possible directions for fabricating bulk size toxic and noble element free Ti-based MGs are discussed.

Effects of Graphene on the Wear and Corrosion Resistance of Micro-Arc Oxidation Coating on a Titanium Alloy

In order to improve the wear and corrosion resistance of micro-arc oxidation (MAO) coating on a Ti-5Al-1V-1Sn-1Zr-0.8Mo alloy, 0–0.20 g/L graphene was added to the electrolyte to prepare micro-arc oxidation coating. The thickness, roughness, micro-morphology, and composition of the MAO coating were characterized, and the wear and corrosion resistance of the coating was tested and analyzed. The results show that with 0.05 g/L of graphene in the electrolyte, the roughness of the coating decreased from 56.76 μm to 31.81 μm. With the increase in the addition of graphene, the microstructure of the coating became more compact, the diameter of micro-holes and micro-cracks decreased, and the corrosion resistance of the coating improved. The wear tests showed that the mass loss of the coating at the early wear stage (0~100 revolutions) was greater than that at the later stage (100~250 revolutions), and the wear resistance of the coating obtained by the addition of 0.10 g/L of graphene was the highest. With 0.10 g/L of graphene, the adhesion force between the coating and the substrate alloy is the largest, reaching 57.1 N, which is 9.98 N higher than that without graphene. After salt spray corrosion for 480 h, the coating with graphene has better corrosion resistance than that of a graphene-free coating.

Increasing wear and corrosion resistance of steel products by combined laser thermomechanical treatment

A technique is presented for hardening metal products, in particular, the main tools (hammers) and cases of core drilling bits made of steel 30HGSA, using thermomechanical surface treatment according to a separate scheme. The method of combined laser thermomechanical hardening used in the study consists in the use of shot peening followed by laser heat treatment. Its use makes it possible to increase the operational properties of steel products, in particular, their wear and corrosion resistance. Based on the results of theoretical and experimental studies, the paper substantiates the features of dynamic surface plastic deformation for the analysis of impact during shot peening. The advantages of using laser hardening without surface melting are presented. Experimental research methods are proposed for determining the structural-phase composition, structure of the surface layer, hardness and microhardness of the hardened zones of steel 30HGSA. The range of rational modes of impact shot peening and thermal laser treatment has been determined. A device for testing samples for wear resistance has been developed. Methods of testing for wear and corrosion resistance of the surface of samples are proposed for assessing the tribological properties and contact interaction of materials under quasi-static and dynamic loading conditions. It is concluded that rational technological modes of hardening tools made of steel 30HGSA using combined laser thermomechanical treatment allow increasing the depth of the hardened layer by ~1.5 times compared to laser heat treatment. In addition, they provide the microhardness of the surface layer of ~5400 MPa, which is ~2.5 times higher than the microhardness of the base material

Increasing the wear and corrosion resistance of steel parts by methods of complex boronikeling and borovolframing

The paper presents ways to increase the wear and corrosion resistance of steel parts by chemical and thermal treatment methods. Comprehensive studies of the structure and properties of St3 steel samples were carried out after simultaneous complex saturation with boron and nickel, boron and tungsten from saturating coatings based on boron carbide. Both compounds of these elements (oxides, carbides, borides) and pure metals were used as suppliers of nickel and tungsten. Studies have shown that multicomponent saturation processes make it possible to form a multiphase structure of a surface layer with a complex of useful properties. Moreover, by chemical-thermal treatment it is possible to obtain such a combination of properties of the hardened product, which cannot be obtained by other methods.

Deposition, Microstructure and Nanoindentation of Multilayer Zr Nitride and Carbonitride Nanostructured Coatings

Nitrides, carbides, and carbonitrides of transition metal elements like Zr, W, Ti, etc. are generally employed to produce hard coatings. Zirconium-based hard coatings have shown useful applications in the areas of tribology, biomedicine and electrical due to their high thermal stability, hardness, biocompatibility, good erosion, wear, and corrosion resistance. In this study, we created homogeneous and tenacious nanostructured hard coatings based on Zr with good mechanical properties. The magnetron sputter deposition technique was utilized to coat stainless steel 316L substrates with multilayers of Zr/ZrN and ZrN/ZrCN with individual layer thicknesses of 250 and 500 nm for each coating composition. The deposition conditions were adjusted to create two different coating thicknesses of 2 and 3 µm. The thickness of the coating was confirmed using Calotest and the coatings’ morphology and elemental composition were determined utilizing the atomic force microscope and scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer. Coating thickness and adhesion were measured using cross-sectional samples and XRD was utilized to analyze the coatings structure. Nanoindenter was employed to determine the instrumental nanoindentation hardness and elastic modulus. The influence of coating thickness on tribological behavior was further investigated using the ratio of nanohardness-to-elastic modulus (H/E). No evidence of decohesion was observed at the substrate/coatings interface, and the grains of all the coatings were observed to show columnar growth which were homogeneous, compact and dense. The grains of the ZrN/ZrCN coatings were observed to be denser, finer and more compact compared to those of the Zr/ZrN coatings. Correspondingly, higher hardness, modulus and H/E values were exhibited by ZrN/ZrCN than Zr/ZrN coatings. This suggests that the ZrN/ZrCN coatings are capable of exhibiting better wear resistance and fracture toughness. The coatings developed in this investigation are anticipated to be suitable for applications in tribology due to their excellent hardness and H/E properties.

In Situ Synthesis of (M:Nb,Ta)C/Ni35 Composite Coating Cladded on 40Cr Steel

To improve the wear and corrosion resistance of the pump barrel material (40Cr steel), a (M:Nb,Ta)C/Ni35 composite cladding coating by in situ synthesis of composite carbides was conducted. The effects of ceramic micro-particles content on the phase composition, microstructure of the coating, structural characteristics of (M:Nb,Ta)C and the tribology and electrochemical corrosion behavior were systematically studied. The increase of ceramic micro-particles changed the morphology of (M:Nb,Ta)C with the size from sub-micron to micron. The (M:Nb,Ta)C dispersed along the grain boundary inhibits the growth of the grains. During friction, the spherical structure exhibited a rolling lubrication effect and the petal structure provided a stronger attachment ability to resist the shear. The corrosion occurred at the grains, exhibiting corrosion pits, in which the high content ceramic micro-particles were relatively shallow. Moreover, a few dot corrosion pits were distributed along the grain boundaries without (M:Nb,Ta)C. Therefore, to improve the corrosion resistance, a thin composite carbide coating with good wear and corrosion resistance was prepared.