Yun-Soo Lee

Coupled thermal-fluid-mechanics analysis of twin roll casting of A7075 aluminum alloy

Better understanding of temperature distribution and roll separation force during twin roll casting of aluminum alloys is critical to successfully fabricate good quality of aluminum strips. Therefore, the simulation techniques are widely applied to understand the twin roll casting process in a comprehensive way and to reduce the experimental time and cost of trial and error. However, most of the conventional approaches are considered thermally coupled flow, or thermally coupled mechanical behaviors. In this study, a fully coupled thermal-fluid-mechanical analysis of twin roll casting of A7075 aluminum strips was carried out using the finite element method. Temperature profile, liquid fraction and metal flow of aluminum strips with different thickness were predicted. Roll separation force and roll temperatures were experimentally obtained from a pilot-scale twin roll caster, and those results were compared with model predictions. Coupling the fluid of the liquid melt to the thermal and mechanical modeling reasonably predicted roll temperature distribution and roll separation force during twin roll casting.

Antibacterial Characteristics of Lotus-Type Porous Copper

Lotus-type porous copper with long cylindrical pores aligned parallel to the solidification direction was studied for use as an antibacterial material. The antibacterial performance of lotus-type porous copper samples with different specific surface areas against Escherichia coli was investigated. The results confirmed that the antibacterial effect gradually increased with specific surface area. The correlation between the pore structure of lotus-type porous metals and their antibacterial effect was also analyzed in detail. Our research proposes a new application of these metals in the water purifying system.

Mechanical Properties of Forged Nimonic 80A Superalloy Fabricated by Vacuum Spray Casting

This study investigates the effect of heat treatment on the mechanical properties of a forged Nibased superalloy called Nimonic 80A. Nimonic 80A ingot samples were fabricated by vacuum spray casting to achieve a fine and homogenized microstructure. The ingot samples were subsequently hot-forged with the diameter of 220 mm at 1373 K. From the center to the surface of the forged Nimonic 80A, its average grain size decreased and its micro-Vickers hardness increased slightly. Solution treatment was carried out at 1353 K with 8 hours of air cooling followed by aging treatment, which was carried out in the range of 8731073 K with various times from 0.5 to 256 hours. To set the optimum aging conditions, micro-Vickers hardness tests were performed. The maximum hardness value of 388.0 Hv was obtained by aging at 973 K for 32 hours. Also, tensile tests were performed for optimum aging conditions at room temperature and 873 K. The results can be used effectively to perform reasonable heat treatment of Nimonic 80A superalloy. (Received October 10, 2011)

Bake-hardening Properties of Al-0.6Mg-1.2Si Alloy Sheets Fabricated by Twin Roll Casting

The effect of pre-aging treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-0.6Mg-1.2Si aluminum alloy sheets fabricated by twin roll casting (TRC) was investigated. It was observed that two kinds of nanoclusters, Cluster(1) and Cluster(2), play an important role in the bake-hardening properties of Al-Mg-Si aluminum alloy. The hardness of the TRC Al-0.6Mg-1.2Si alloy sheets was continuously increased up to 48 h by natural-aging, and the highest yield strength value was about 146 MPa. The yield strength was 280 MPa after bake-hardening at 180 °C for 30 min immediately after quenching, whereas the yield strength was 172 MPa when natural-aging proceeded for about 1 week before bake-hardening. This result is due to fact that cluster(1) is formed during natural-aging at room temperature and has detrimental effects on bake-hardening. On the other hand, when pre-aged at 150 °C for 10 min, cluster(2) predominantly formed and promoted the precipitation of β′′ phase. The yield strength was 256 MPa after bake-hardening, which indicated that the pre-aging treatment is an effective method, and also depressed the negative effects of natural-aging and promoted β′′ precipitation. The Al-Mg-Si aluminum alloy sheets fabricated by twin roll casting method exhibited mechanical properties equal to or higher than that of the direct-chill (DC) casting sheets despite the simplified manufacturing process. †(Received July 10, 2017; Accepted September 15, 2017)