Iranian Journal of Materials science and Engineering
Volume:6 Issue: 3, Sep 2009

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were coated with MgO nano particles using simple precipitationmethod. The growth of Mg(OH)2particles was controlled by adjusting the alkaline concentration, salt concentrationand feed rate in simple precipitation method. The nanometer-sized Mg(OH)2particles were precipitated on the surfaceof functionalized MWCNTs by reaction between MgSO4 solution and NH4OH. The samples have been characterizedby scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, X-ray diffraction and thermal gravimetricanalysis. The results showed a nominally complete MgO coating over the entire outer surface of MWCNTs resulting inimprovement of their oxidation durability.

Abstract:In this study, an effort has been made to determine the influence of rotational speed of tool on themicrostructure and hardness values of friction stir welded 2024-T851 aluminum alloy. The microstructure of stir zonein the joints has been investigated. It was found that the particles such as Al6(CuFeMn) particles are broken up duringfriction stir welding, and the degree of break up of these particles in the stir zone increases with increasing rotationalspeed. Since the break up of these particles and the recrystallization of new grains happen simultaneously, the brokenparticles would be placed in the grain boundaries. Moreover, the hardness value in the stir zone increases withincreasing rotational speed

Abstract: Guinier-Preston (GP) zone formation and precipitation behavior of T1 (Al2CuLi) phase during the ageingof an Al-Cu-Li-Zr alloy was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique and electrical resistancemeasurement of the samples. Results show that endothermic effects in the thermograms of the alloy between 180°Cand 240°C can be related to the enthalpy of GPzones dissolution. Formation of GPzones in the structure increasedhardness, tensile strength and electrical resistance of the Al-Cu-Li-Zr alloy. Furthermore, precipitation of T1 phaseoccurred in temperature range of 250ºC to 300ºC whereas its dissolution occurred within the temperature of 450-530ºC. Activation energies for precipitation and dissolution of T1 phase which were determined for the first time inthis research, were 122.1(kJ/mol) and 130.3(kJ/mol) respectively. Results of electrical resistance measurementsshowed that an increase in the aging time resulted in the reduction of electrical resistance of the aged samples.

Abstract: In this research, the oxidation behaviour of high Aluminum heat resistant steel (%25Cr,%20Ni,%8Al) hasbeen evaluated at the temperature range of (1000-1300ºC).The results showed that there was no countinous healinglayer on the surface of the alloy when Al increased up to %5.5 and the oxidation resistance of steel decreased due toformation of spinel oxides on the surface.By increasing the aluminum amount to %8, only Al oxide formed due to decreasing carbon potential of thealloy,homogenity of elemental concentration in matrix and no diffusion of oxygen through oxide–metalinterface,therefore it has superior oxidation resistance. Meanwhile,oxidation tests showed that the weight gain of thesteel at high temperature oxidation even at 1300ºC was too low.

In this paper‚ the physical and mechanical properties of Al nanocomposite reinforced with CNTs wereinvestigated. High purity Al powder and Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) with different percentage were mixed by ballmilling method and the composite was fabricated by cold pressing followed by sintering technique. The variation ofdensity and hardness of composite with CNTcontent was investigated. The microstructure of composite was evaluatedby SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) and XRD (X -Ray Diffraction). The results show that the density and hardnessincrease with CNTpercentage.

Optimization of specimen geometry before subjecting it to hot torsion test (HTT) is essential for minimizingnon-uniform temperature distribution and obtaining uniform microstructure thought the specimen.In the present study, a nonlinear transient analysis was performed for a number of different geometries andtemperatures using the commercial finite element (FE) package ANSYSTM. FE thermal results then were applied tooptimize HTTspecimen produced from API-X 70 microalloyed steel taking into account the microstructurehomogeneity. The thermodynamic software Thermo-calcTM was also used to analysis solubility of microalloyingelements and their precipitates that may exist at different equilibrium conditions. In addition the behavior of austenitegrain size during reheating was investigated. The results show high temperature gradient occurred in long specimens.This could lead to non homogeneous initial austenite grain size and alloying element or precipitates within the gaugesection of the specimen. The proposed optimization procedure can in general be used for other materials and reheatingscenarios to reduce temperature. This then creates more homogeneous initial microstructure prior to deformation andreduces errors in post processing of the HTTresults

Localized corrosion of aluminum alloys is often triggered by intermetallic particles, IMP’s. To understandthe role of IMP’s in corrosion initiation of EN AW-3003, efforts were made to combine nano-scale ex-situ analysis ofthe IMP’s by SEM-EDS, SKPFM and in-situ AFM monitoring of the localized attack in chloride containing solution.The results showed that two distinct types of eutectically-formed constituent IMP’s exist; the -Al(Mn,Fe)Si and theAl(Mn,Fe) phases. However, the exact chemical composition of the IMP’s varies with the particles size. Volta potentialdifference of surface constituents revealed that IMP’s have a higher Volta potential compared to the matrix, indicatingthe cathodic characteristic of the IMP’s. Noticeably, the boundary regions between the matrix and IMP’s exhibited aminimum Volta potential probably the sites for corrosion initiation. Localized corrosion attack monitored by in-situAFM clearly showed the trench formation occurrence around the large elongated IMP’s in the rolling direction.