Anna Sycheva

The effect of rotating magnetic field on the solidified structure of Sn-Cd peritectic alloys

The peritectic alloys, such as some types of steel, Ni-Al, Fe-Ni, Ti-Al, Cu-Sn, are commercially important. In contrast to other types of alloys, many unique structures (e.g. banded or island ones) can form when peritectic alloys are directionally solidified under various solidification conditions. It can be observed in the course of the directional solidification experiments performed in a rotating magnetic field (RMF) that the melt flow has a significant effect on the solidified structure of Sn-Cd alloys. This effect was investigated experimentally for the case of Sn1.6 wt% Cd peritectic alloy. For this purpose, a Bridgman-type gradient furnace was equipped with an inductor, which generates a rotating magnetic field in order to induce a flow in the melt. As a result, the forced melt flow substantially changes the solidified cellular microstructure. The cell size and the volume fraction of the primary tin phase were measured by an image analyzer on the longitudinal polished sections along the entire length of the samples. The microstructure was investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS).

Phase Transformation and Morphology Evolution of Ti50Cu25Ni20Sn5 during Mechanical Milling

Nanocrystalline/amorphous powder was produced by ball milling of Ti50Cu25Ni20Sn5 (at.%) master alloy. Both laser diffraction particle size analyzer and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to monitor the changes in the particle size as well as in the shape of particles as a function of milling time. During ball milling, the average particle size decreased with milling time from >320 µm to ~38 µm after 180 min of milling. The deformation-induced hardening and phase transformation caused the hardness value to increase from 506 to 779 HV. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was used to observe the changes in the phases/amorphous content as a function of milling time. The amount of amorphous fraction increased continuously until 120 min milling (36 wt % amorphous content). The interval of crystallite size was between 1 and 10 nm after 180 min of milling with 25 wt % amorphous fractions. Cubic Cu(Ni,Cu)Ti2 structure was transformed into the orthorhombic structure owing to the shear/stress, dislocations, and Cu substitution during the milling process.

Studying Pressure Induced Whiskers Formation from Sn-Rich Surfaces

Whiskers formed on the lead-free tin surfaces pose a serious risk to small electronic devices causing a short circuit and leading to the component/device failure. The present research was focused on the investigation of tin whisker formation on a motor control unit sockets made of tin coated copper, applying to the specimen mechanical load alone or together with heat treatment/electric current. Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) imaging was applied in order to study the microstructure of tin whiskers obtained, their length and number at the boundary of each imprint. If the mechanical stress increases from 1000 to 5000 MPa, the average number of whiskers and possible formation spots also increase from 570 to 1300. The length of whiskers varied from 3 μm after 0.5 h to 5.5 μm after 3 hours of exposition. It has been found that heat treatment at 150°C for 1 hour significantly reduces the number of whiskers (on average 6 times as few) formed. Therefore, the threat of failure of the electronic equipment is reduced.

Amorphization of CuZr Based Alloy Powders by Mechanical Milling

The effect of nickel addition was studied in the CuZr system creating alloys with near eutectic composition. Nickel and aluminum have been regarded as useful elements to improve the plasticity, thermal stability of the CuZr-based amorphous alloys. Cu49Zr45Al6 and (Cu49Zr45Al6)95Ni5 were selected because of the good glass-forming ability. After 15 h of milling the structure of the powders was amorphous based on the XRD analysis. By adding nickel, the crystallization temperature (Tx) shifted to higher temperatures compared to CuZrAl alloy. The value of supercooled liquid region was 64 K, which means CuZrAl has a comparatively high glass forming ability.

Characterization of the Solidifying Microstructure in Ti60(NixCu40-x)40 Alloys

Ti60(NixCu40-x)40 x = 5 - 40 at% ternary alloys were prepared by arc-melting followed by a centrifugal casting into a wedge-shaped copper mould in order to examine glass forming of these compositions. Microstructure of the master alloys and wedge-shaped samples were studied. Among the master alloys, which solidified under non-equilibrium conditions, the sample with 15 at% Ni content displayed clear eutectic structure and its wedge-shaped sample had the finest structure but still crystalline. Microstructure of the other compositions was far from amorphous state.