Ke Han

Studies of electrical resistivity of an annealed Cu-Fe composite

Cu-15 vol. % Fe composites produced by cold deformation were annealed at various temperatures for 1u2009h. The electrical resistivity, tensile strength, and microstructure were investigated by four-probe technique, electronic universal testing machine, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The Fe solubility in Cu-matrix was estimated from the saturation magnetization of the composites. The results reveal that the resistivity of impurity scattering ρimp is the main contributor to the resistivity of the Cu-Fe composites if the phonon and dislocation scattering contributions to the electrical resistivity are considered to be constants. At annealing temperatures below 500u2009°C, an increase of filament spacing and reduction of interface area in unit volume result in a marginal decrease of the resistivity with temperatures. Above 500u2009°C, the Fe solubility in Cu-matrix rapidly increases with temperature, which directly causes the increase of composites resistivity.

Effects of heat treatment and Re-content on the TCP-phase in two Ni-Mo-Cr-Re superalloys

The volume fraction and morphology of the TCP-phase formed in two kinds of Ni-Mo-Cr-Re superalloys under different heat treatment conditions were investigated in this paper. In Re-5% alloy, with increasing of the heat treatment temperature and prolonging the holding time, the volume fraction of TCP-phase decreased and the TCP-phase size increased. At relatively lower temperature, the TCP-phase prefers to present in the dendrite cores. In Re-10% alloy, the volume fraction and size have the same change tendency as that of in Re-5% alloy, but the morphology will change from needle-like and block-like to sphere when the temperature increases. The TCP-phases formed in these two Ni-Mo-Cr-Re alloys are sigma and P phase.

Strength of Cu-28 Wt%Ag Composite Solidified Under High Magnetic Field Followed by Cold Drawing

Cu-Ag composite is one of the best conductors for high-field magnets. Increasing its strength is crucial for designing newer high-field magnets. Cu-28 wt%Ag samples were solidified with and without a 12-T high magnetic field (HMF), and then cold-drawn. We investigated the influence of HMF on microstructure, hardness and strength of Cu-Ag samples both before and after cold-drawing. The introduction of external HMF during solidification increased both the dendrite arm spacing and the dissolved Ag in Cu, and it reduced the spacing between both the Ag precipitates in proeutectic Cu and the eutectic lamellae. The transversal microstructure after cold-drawing inherited the network solidification structure, but at a refined scale. The Cu dendrite spacing in the 12-T HMF samples at all deformation strain was larger than that without HMF. HMF slightly increased the intensity of <111> fiber texture of Cu, which strengthened proeutectic Cu at the level of 3.5 deformation strain. In samples deformed to strain of 3.5, refined Ag precipitation spacing, increased Ag solubility in Cu matrix, and refined eutectic lamellar spacing by 12-T HMF increased the strength by 5% in the sample compared with that without HMF.

A Thermal Simulation Method for Solidification Process of Steel Slab in Continuous Casting

Eighty years after the invention of continuous cast of steels, reproducibility from few mm3 samples in the laboratory to m3 product in plants is still a challenge. We have engineered a thermal simulation method to simulate the continuous casting process. The temperature gradient (GL) and dendritic growth rate (v) of the slab were reproduced by controlling temperature and cooling intensity at hot and chill end, respectively, in our simulation samples. To verify that our samples can simulate the cast slab in continuous casting process, the heat transfer, solidification structure, and macrosegregation of the simulating sample were compared to those of a much larger continuous casting slab. The morphology of solid/liquid interface, solidified shell thickness, and dendritic growth rate were also investigated by in situ quenching the solidifying sample. Shell thickness (δ) determined by our quenching experiment was related to solidification time (τ) by equation: δxa0=xa04.27xa0×xa0τ0.38. The results indicated that our method closely simulated the solidification process of continuous casting.

Microstructural Evolution and Performance of In-situ Ag-Ni Composite after Solidification under Electromagnetic Stirring and Deformation

The effect of electromagnetic stirring (EMS) on microstructure and performance of Ag-8 mass% Ni composite was investigated under both solidified and deformed conditions. Without EMS, the Ag matrix formed short, thick dendrites in the ingot; whereas with EMS, dendrites were long and slim. Ni phase mainly formed particles or ribbons, distributed along boundaries between dendrite arms. Cold drawing of the solidified Ag-Ni ingots, both with and without EMS, produced high strength in-situ metal-matrix composite (MMC) consisting of Ag matrix reinforced by Ni ribbons. EMS improved the ductility of the composite, consequently enhancing its drawability and strength. EMS also increased the electrical conductivity in both solidified ingots and deformed in-situ composite wires. In both cases, hardness and tensile strength remained high. A model based on a combination of the modified linear rule of mixtures and the Hall-Petch relationship was used to rationalize the tensile strength and hardness with respect to its fabrication parameters and the microstructure of Ag-Ni in-situ composite.

Influence of Fe addition on microstructure and properties of Cu-Ag composite

We investigated the effects of Fe content on microstructure and properties in as-cast and as-drawn Cu-(5.1-x) vol%Ag-x vol%Fe alloys. In microscale, increasing Fe content first refined and then coarsened Cu dendrites. In nanoscale, the size and length of Ag precipitates in Fe-doped alloys were smaller than the size and length of Ag precipitates in Fe-free alloy, and the γ-Fe precipitates in Cu-2.9 vol%Ag-2.4 vol%Fe alloy were finer than the γ-Fe precipitates in Cu-5.1 vol%Fe alloy. The maximum hardness in as-cast Cu-Ag-Fe alloys was found in the Cu-2.9 vol%Ag-2.4 vol%Fe alloy. With increasing drawing strain, both ultimate tensile strength and hardness of Cu-Ag-Fe composites were increased. Simulation data among the relative volume fractions of Fe, hardness and electrical conductivity showed that, as the relative value approached 40%, the Cu-Ag-Fe composite displayed greater hardness than other samples. As a small amount of Ag was replaced by Fe, the electrical conductivity decreased significantly with a descending slope of approximately 3%IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard) per vol% Fe. As 47 vol%Ag was replaced by Fe, however, the electrical conductivity decreased by 51% and remained almost invariable with further increasing Fe content. After annealing at 450 °C for 4 h, the electrical conductivity of the Cu-2.9 vol%Ag-2.4 vol%Fe composite was elevated up to 68.3%IACS from 38.5%IACS.

Improving the Solidified Structure by Optimization of Coil Configuration in Pulsed Magneto-Oscillation

Using both numerical and experimental methods, we studied the effect of coil configuration of pulsed magneto-oscillation (PMO) on distribution of electromagnetic field, flow field and solidification structure with the same pulse current parameters in Al ingots. We designed and constructed three types of coils: surface pulsed magneto-oscillation, hot-top pulsed magneto-oscillation (HPMO) and combined pulsed magneto-oscillation (CPMO). PMO treatment refined the solidification structure in all the ingots. The configuration of the PMO, however, introduced differences in magnetic field intensity, electromagnetic force, Joule heat, flow field, equiaxed grain zone, grain size and growth direction of columnar grains. The largest equiaxed grain zone was found in CPMO treated ingot, and the smallest grain size was found in both HPMO and CPMO treated ingots. Numerical simulation indicated that difference in electromagnetic field and flow field resulted in differences in solidification structure. HPMO is more advantageous over others for large ingot production.

Effect of High Magnetic Fields on Annealing of Nanostructured Multilayers

Metallic nano-multilayers have been paid more attention for their nanostructure and high strength. We have fabricated several kinds of multilayers by Accumulative Roll-Bonding (ARB), with average layer thickness between 20 and 100 nm. The multilayers were either made of two immiscible elements, or by two elements that can generate intermetallic compounds. The multilayers were annealed in an external high magnetic field and their microstructure and performance were investigated. The results show that the coarsening of nanocrystallines and the formation of compounds are obviously suppressed as the high magnetic field is parallel to their rolling interfaces, which eventually contributes to their higher performance.