J.X. Zou

Nanostructure formations and improvement in corrosion resistance of steels by means of pulsed electron beam surface treatment

The corrosion of steels has long been the topic for materials scientists. It is established that surface treatment is an efficient way to improve the corrosion resistance of steels without changing the bulk properties and with low costs. In the present paper, different kinds of surface treatment techniques for steels are briefly reviewed. In particular, the surface modification involving nanostructure formations of steels by using a low energy high pulsed electron beam (LEHCPEB) treatment is lightened in the case of an AISI 316L stainless steel and D2 steel. The overall results demonstrate the high potential of the LEHCPEB technique for improving the corrosion performance of steels.

Low energy high current pulsed electron beam treatment for improving surface microstructure and properties

Low energy high current pulsed electron beam (LEHCPEB) is a fairly new technique for surface modifications authorizing improvement in wear and corrosion properties as well as texture changes and hardening. This contribution highlights some microstructure modifications encountered at the surface of HCPEB treated steels and bulk metallic glasses taking into account the effects of surface melting and the effects of the induced stress.

Analysis of Metals Surface Structure Modifications Induced by High Current Pulsed Electron Beam (HCPEB) under the “Heating” and “Melting” Modes

High current pulsed electron beam (HCPEB) is a fairly new technique for surface modifications, including hardening, alloying and formation of metastable phases. The present contribution gives some new insights on the microstructure modifications encountered at the top surface of HCPEB treated metals. In particular, the potential of the technique for structure modifications associated with the use of the pulsed electron beam under “heating” and “melting” conditions are highlighted.

Formation of surface nano- and textured austenite induced by pulsed electron beam irradiation under melting mode

We report in this paper an interesting phenomenon associated with low-energy high-current pulsed electron beam (LEHCPEB) treatment: surface nanograined and textured austenite formation under the melting treatment mode. The treatment induces superfast heating and melting followed by a rapid solidification and cooling of the material surfaces. As a result, nano-structured surface layers can be achieved quite easily. Examples of nanoaustenite formation with special texture state in the modified surface layer of AISI D2 steel and NiTi alloy will show the potential for surface nanocrystallization of materials with improved properties by LEHCPEB technique.

Microstructure, Texture and Residual Stresses Induced by Surface Thermo-Mechanical Treatments

This paper reviews some recent results concerning surface integrity of materials processed with two important developing techniques: high speed machining (HSM) – here applied to the difficult case of Ti alloys – and low energy high current pulsed electron beam (LEHCPEB) surface treatment of steels. The effect of the processing parameters on the development of microstructure, texture and residual stresses is detailed for modifications occurring both at the surfaces and sub-surfaces.