Iranian Journal of Materials science and Engineering
Volume:6 Issue: 4, Dec 2009

Recovery and recrystallization phenomena and effects of microalloying elements on these phenomena are of great importance in designing thermomechanical processes of microalloyed steels. Thus, understanding and modeling of microstructure evolution during hot deformation leads to optimize the processing conditions and to improve the product properties. In this study, finite element method was utilized to simulate thermomechanical parameters during hot deformation processes. FEM results then were integrated with physically based state variable models of static recovery and recrystallization combined with a realistic microstructural geometry. The thermodynamic software Thermo-calc was also used to predict present microalloying elements at equilibrium conditions. The model performance was validated using stress relaxation tests. Parametric studies were carried out to evaluate the effects of deformation process parameters on the microstructure development following hot deformation of the API-X70 steel

The effect of mechanical activation using an attrition mill on the particle size of an ilmenite concentrate and its effect on the ability of the concentrate for Iron separation during hydrochloric acid leaching and the kinetics of the dissolution process have been investigated. It was observed that mechanical activation in an attritor significantly enhances the dissolution of iron in hydrochloric acid while have a slight effect on dissolution of titanium. With the mechanically activated ilmenite using an attrition mill, leaching conversion at 90 oC reached to 80%. The kinetic data of leaching of mechanically activated ilmenite was found to follow shrinking core model. Mechanically activating ilmenite using the attrition mill was found to cause the activation energy of leaching to be decrease from 43.69, found for samples leached without mechanically activated, to 18.23.

The aims of this research were to investigate the effects of semisolid metal (SSM) processing parameters (i.e., shear rates –times – temperatures combinations) on the primary solidification products and isothermal holding duration, subsequent to cessation of stirring on the secondary solidification of Al-Si (A356) alloy. The dendrite fragmentation was found to be the governing mechanism of the primary dendritic to non-dendritic transformation, via rosette to final pseudo-spherical shapes during the primary solidification The secondary solidification of the liquid in the slurry was not only a growth phenomenon but also promoted by 1) fresh heterogeneous nucleation and growth of dendrites and 2) the dendritic growth of the primary solidification products in the remaining liquid. Upon cessation of stirring and gradual disappearance of the prior shear force, the slurry relaxed, and the secondary solidification products pertained to conventional solidification condition

In this research plasma nitriding of pure aluminium and effect of iron elemental alloy on the formation and growth of aluminium nitride was investigated. Also corrosion properties of formed AlN were investigated. After preparation, the samples were plasma nitrided at 550oC, for 6, 9 and 12 h and a gas mixture of 25%H2-75%N2. The microstructure and phases analysis were investigated using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. Moreover corrosion resistance of samples was investigated using polarization techniques. The results showed that only a compound layer was formed on the surface of samples and no diffusion zone was detected. Dominant phase in compound layer was AlN. Scanning electron microscopy results showed that nitride layer has particulate structure. These nitrided particles have grown columnar and perpendicular to the surface. It was also observed that the existence of iron in the samples increases the nitrogen diffusion, thus growth rate of iron containing nitrides are higher than the others. Corrosion tests results showed that formation of an aluminium nitride layer on the surface of aluminium decreases the corrosion resistance of aluminium significantly. This is due to elimination of surface oxide layer and propagation of cracks in the formed nitride layer

Equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) is a promising technique for production of ultra fine-grain (UFG) materials of few hundred nanometers size. In this research, the grain refinement of aluminium strip is accelerated by sandwiching it between two copper strips and then subjecting the three strips to ECAE process simultaneously. The loosely packed copper-aluminium-copper laminated billet was passed through ECAE die up to 8 passes using the Bc route. Then, tensile properties and some microstructural characteristics of the aluminium layer were evaluated. The scanning and transmission electron microscopes, and X-ray diffraction were used to characterize the microstructure. The results show that the yield stress of middle layer (Al) is increased significantly by about four times after application of ECAE throughout the four consecutive passes and then it is slightly decreased when more ECAE passes are applied. An ultra fine grain within the range of 500 to 600 nm was obtained in the Al layer by increasing the thickness of the copper layers. It was observed that the reduction of grain size in the aluminium layer is nearly 55% more than that of a ECA-extruded single layer aluminium billet, i.e. extruding a single aluminium strip or a billet without any clad for the same amount of deformation. This behaviour was attributed to the higher rates of dislocations interaction and cell formation and texture development during the ECAE of the laminated composite compared to those of a single billet

The purpose of this study is to produce scarf joint through explosive welding process (EXW). The scarf weld is a process in which the final bond interface is oblique. With applying the explosive welding technique, this joint can create a metallic bond between similar or dissimilar metals. In this study, chamfered end of aluminum and copper plates were joined explosively and named scarf joint, employing changes in chamfered angle at different stand-off distance and explosive loading. The geometry of scarf joint enables consideration of both flyer and base plate thickness and explosive loading and the effects on mechanical properties of interface such as bond shear strength and micro-hardness can be investigated. Mathematical models developed for the interface properties of scarf joint to make relationship between the bond shear strength and explosive loading ratio. To check the adequacy of developed models, mechanical properties of interface, such as bond shear strength, predicted and compared with actual values in explosive cladding process. The results show reasonable agreement with theoretical predictions. Consequently, mathematical model which is based on scarf joints, can predict bond shear strength of cladding metals under desired explosive loading and flyer plate thickness

point of view. In this study, a shaking-table was used for concentrating a manganese ore sample from the Ghasem Abad area in Kerman, Iran. Experiments were designed by using L The influence of each variable and their interactions on the operation of the device was studied. The variables under investigation were: table slope, table frequency, water flowrate, feed rate, and particle size. The manganese concentrate grade, recovery, and separation efficiency were used as response variables. It was shown that water flowrate, table slope, feed rate, and particle size are the significant variable on concentrate grade; while, all the variables influence manganese recovery. Also, water flowrate, table slope, and table frequency have an important effect on manganese separation efficiency. Finally, three mathematical models were presented to predict the values of each response variables. Among all gravity concentration methods, the shaking-table is the most effective one from the metallurgical8 Taguchi design with five variables, each in two levels.