Microstructure and hardness of Ni-xSi alloys

The microstructure and hardness of conventionally solidified Ni-xSi (x = 21.4%, 22%, 24%, 26%) alloys were investigated. The solidification microstructures of different Ni-Si alloys were observed by optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the phase composition was indentified under the help of energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. The macro- and micro-hardness of the Ni-Si alloys at room temperature were also examined. The experimental results indicated that both the microstructure and hardness closely depended on the Si content. Due to the vast formation of primary ??-Ni₃₁Si₁₂ phase, the hardness of Ni-26.0%Si alloy was significantly improved compared with that of Ni-21.4%Si eutectic alloy. However, the fracture toughness was greatly weakened simultaneously. The (?? ₁-Ni₃Si+??-Ni₃₁Si₁₂) lamellar eutectoid structure formed in the primary ??-Ni₃₁Si₁₂ phase exhibited better ductility than single ??-Ni₃₁Si₁₂ phase at the cost of relatively small hardness reduction.     

Catalytic Combustion of Lean Methane Assisted by Electric Field over Pd/Co<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript> Catalysts at Low Temperature

A series of Pd/Co₃O₄ catalysts were prepared by Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis (SHS) method in this study, and electric field was applied for catalytic combustion of lean methane over Pd/Co₃O₄ catalysts at low temperature. When electric field was applied, the catalytic combustion performance of Pd/Co₃O₄ catalysts was greatly improved, and the application of electric field could reduce the load of active element Pd to some extent while maintaining the same efficiency. Based on experimental tests and the analysis results of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), H₂-temperature-programmed reduction (H₂-TPR) and in-situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (in-situ DRIFTS), the mechanism of catalytic oxidation of CH₄ over Pd/Co₃O₄ catalysts in electric field was proposed. The catalytic combustion of CH₄ occurs only when the temperature is higher than 250 °C normally, but when electric field was applied, the whole process of CH₄ oxidation was promoted significantly and the reaction temperature was reduced. Electric field could promote the reduction of the support Co₃O₄ to release the lattice oxygen, resulting in the increase of PdO_x and the surface chemisorbed oxygen, which could provide more active sites for the low-temperature oxidation of CH₄. Furthermore, electric field could accelerate the dehydroxylation of CoOOH to further enhance the activity of the catalysts.     

First-principle investigation of the structural stability and electronic property of precipitates on the Cu-rich side of Cu-Ni-Si alloys

The energetic and electronic structures of precipitates on the Cu-rich side of Cu-Ni-Si alloys were investigated by using the first-principle calculations based on plane-wave pseudopotential method. The negative formation heats and the cohesive energies of these precipitates were estimated with electronic structure calculations, and their structural stability was also analyzed. The results show that δ-Ni₂Si, γ-Ni₅Si₂ and β-Ni₃Si precipitates all have great alloying ability and structural stability, which, after comparing their density of states (DOS), is found attributed to the pseudogap effect near the Fermi level (E _F) and strong hybridization between the Ni-3d and Si-3p states. Compared with the other two precipitates, the δ-Ni₂Si precipitate has the greatest structural stability, which is resulted from its lower DOS at E _F and the main bonding peaks slightly moving to the low energy region.     

Calculation on the solid solution forming enthalpies of Re-Mo-Ti gradient alloy in thermodynamics

The idea about preparation of Re-Mo-Ti alloy is put forward because of applications of Re and Mo-Re alloys in aerospace. Basing on the thermodynamics theory, the feasibility of developing a new high temperature alloy Re-Mo-Ti is investigated. The solid solution forming enthalpies of binary alloys Re-Ti, Mo-Ti and Mo-Re are calculated with the Miedema thermodynamics theory. The Miedema theory of binary alloy can be used in ternary alloy through Kohler model or Toop model. The calculated results show that the forming enthalpies of binary alloys Re-Ti, Ti-Mo and Re-Mo are negative, which indicates that binary alloys Re-Ti, Ti-Mo and Re-Mo can form solid solution in wider component area. The forming enthalpies of Re-Mo-Ti ternary alloy are still negative and smaller than those of binary alloys Re-Ti, Ti-Mo or Re-Mo, which indicates it is possible to form large solid solution graph area among ternary alloys of Ti, Mo, Re elements. It is feasible to develop a new high temperature material in thermodynamics, in this material Re-Mo-Ti solid solution as base phase, and the Ti₅Re₂₄ intermetallic compounds or interphase ω (Ti₄Mo₃) as strengthening phase.     

Thermodynamic analyse on equilibrium precipitation phases and composition design of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys

The solidification paths of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys and its precipitation behavior are analyzed using software package JMatPro 6.0 for material property simulation of Al-base alloys. The microstructures of the experimental alloys are analyzed; the experimental results of microstructural analysis are in agreement with the thermodynamic prediction. Through orthogonal experimental method, this paper designs the composition of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys by studying the variation of ?? (MgZn₂) phase, S (Al₂CuMg) phase, T (AlZnMgCu) phase amount and precipitation temperatures with different Zn, Mg and Cu contents. It is found that with the optimum mass fraction of Zn of 6.7%, Mg of 2.2%?C2.5% and Cu of 1.6%?C2.0%, the mass fraction of ?? phase can be up to 8.7%?C9.22% and that of S phase and T phase can be lower than 0.5%.     

Monte Carlo simulation of B2-L2<Subscript>1</Subscript> ordering transitions in Au-Cu-Al alloy systems

The B2-L2₁ ordering transitions in Au-Cu-Al shape-memory alloys are studied by the Monte Carlo exchange simulations, where a set of the first, the second and the third nearest-neighbor mixing potentials for Cu-Al in the Au-Cu-Al alloys are calculated from first principals using the Connolly-Williams methods. To ensure the phase stability of the β-Au-Cu-Al, the investigation includes the range of compositions Au₂Cu_1−x Al_1+x (−0.15 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.15). The B2-L2₁ transition temperatures are predicted, and are in agreement with the experimental results. The atomic ordering around vacancy of the L2₁ structure is further discussed.     

Modeling, identification and simulation of DC resistance spot welding process for aluminum alloy 5182

Currently the aluminum alloy resistance spot welding(AA-RSW) has been extensively used for light weight automotive body-in-white manufacturing.However the aluminum alloys such as AA5182 have inferior weldability for forming the joint due to their high reflectiveness to heat and light.Therefore it is necessary to further develop the high performance control strategy and the set-up of a new welding schedule.The welding process identification is the essential issue where the difficulty arises from the fact that the AA-RSW is a nonlinear time-varying uncertain process which couples the thermal,electrical,mechanical and metallurgical dynamics.To understand this complicated physical phenomenon a novel dual-phase M-series pseudo-random electrical pattern is adopted to excite the AA-RSW electrical-thermal process and the thermal response is recorded according to the welding power outputs.Based on the experimental information,the transfer function of an AA-RSW electrical- thermal mechanism is identified,and the optimum model order and parameters are determined.Subsequently a control-oriented DC AA-RSW model is established to explore the welding power control algorithm.The simulated results of the control model show agreement with the experimental data,which validates its feasibility for the corresponding welding control.     

Improvements of elevated temperature strength and creep resistance of Mg-12Zn-4Al based alloy with calcium addition

A series of Mg-12Zn-4Al-0.3Mn (ZA124) based alloys with additions of calcium have been prepared and their microstructure and properties have been investigated. The results show that Mg-12Zn-4Al-0.3Mn alloy consists of the ??-Mg matrix and block quasicrystal and exhibits excellent creep resistance compared to commonly used AZ91 alloy. A small amount of calcium addition to the ZA124 based alloys increased the yield strenghth at both ambient and elevated temperatures as well as creep resistance, although the ductility decreased slightly. Microanalysis indicated that the addition of calcium decreased the quasicrystalline phase and caused the formation of some lamellar precipitates of Al₂Mg₅Zn₂ with orthorhombic crystal structure. This Ca-containing Al₂Mg₅Zn₂ phase with high stability straddled the grain boundaries and strengthened grain boundaries by inhibiting crack propagation during creep tests at elevated temperature.     

Grain refining mechanism of carbon inoculation on Mg-Al alloy

The processing parameters and refining mechanism of Mg-Al alloy treated with a newly developed carbon inoculant under different conditions were investigated experimentally in this work. Results show that the finest ??-Mg grain in AZ91D alloy can be obtained after processing at about 740°C, and the average grain size of ??-Mg grain decreases from about 180.4 to 85.6 ??m by adding mass fraction w _in = 1% inoculant into melt. However, no evident refinement was achieved with excessive inoculant for Mn-free Mg-9Al alloy. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) photo, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis on the Mn-contained intermediate phase and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results indicate that Mn element plays an important role in the heterogeneous nucleation of ??-Mg grain. In the early stage of solidification, Al-Mn-C compound particles formed on the surface of Al₄C₃ nano-particles should be the potential nuclei for primary ??-Mg and probably responsible for the grain refinement achieved in the carbon inoculation process.     

Electronic structures and magneto-transport properties of co-based Heusler alloy based magneto-resistance junctions

A direct link between band structure and the ballistic transport property of full-Heusler alloys based Co₂ YZ/Al/Co₂ YZ trilayers (Y = Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn and Fe; Z = Al, Si and Ge) has been studied by firstprinciples calculations. It is found that the transport efficiency is determined primarily by three factors related to band structure: the shape of the band crossing Fermi energy E _F, the distance d of the two intersection points of Co₂ YZ and Al at E _F, and the absolute maximum of the energy lying in the E _F-crossing band, |E_max|. The transmission coefficient distribution patterns imply that the affected factor of magneto-resistance (MR) ratio is attributed to the band features around E _F. In general, an intuitively illustrated diagram is proposed to clarify the relationship between the probability of electron transition and the current magnitude.     

Evolving mechanism of eutectic carbide in as-cast AISI M2 high-speed steel at elevated temperature

AbstractThe evolution in type,size and shape of carbides in as-cast American Iron and Steel Institute(AISI) M2 high-speed steel before and after annealing were investigated.The micromechanism which was responsible for those changes was also analyzed and discussed.At the initial stage of reheating,metastable M2C-type carbide decomposed continuously.M6C-type carbide nucleated at the interface of M2C/γfirstly and grow from surface to center.Then MC-type carbide nucleated at both surface of M6C/M6C and inner of M6C.With the increasing decomposition of the metastable M2C-type carbide,the rod-shaped construction of eutectic carbide began necking,fracturing and spheroidizing gradually.Held enough time or reheated at higher temperature,particle-shaped product aggregated and grew up apparently,while secondary carbide precipitated in cell and grew up less sig- nificantly than the former.Based on the above microstructural observation,the thermodynamic mechanism for decomposition of M2C carbide,for spheroidization of products,and for the growth of particles were analyzed.The rate equations of carbides evolution were derived,too.It shows that the evolving rate is controlled by diffusion coefficients of alloy atoms,morphology of eutectic carbides and heating temperature.     

Safety Evaluation for Freeway Exit Ramp Based on Speed Consistency

Speed differential has direct relationship with road safety. Conventional speed consistency measures draw sample data from independent population that follows a normal distribution. These methods may fall into ecological fallacy and overestimate the safety level of road elements. After deducing the relationship between the difference in operating speed ΔV₈₅ and85(ΔV), the 85^th percentile value of individual speed reduction, this paper recommends 85(ΔV) and speed reduction rate 85(ΔV)R is used to evaluate ramp safety. Point speeds of individual vehicle at freeway diverge area, upper ramp, and lower ramp are collected by radar guns. Safety performance of 37 exit ramps are appraised using three different measures, namely, ΔV₈₅, 85(ΔV), and 85(ΔV)R. The results show that 85(ΔV) is 1.42 to 2.02 times of ΔV₈₅, and that the evaluation result of 85(ΔV)R is between the other two. The measure 85(ΔV)R considers not only individual speed but also the base speed on upstream element, which avoid the pitfalls of ecological fallacy and overestimation possessed by conventional measures. It is a safer and reasonable measure that should be adopted in practice.     

Combustion optimization model for NO<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> reduction with an improved particle swarm optimization

Abstract: This paper focuses on the combustion optimization to cut down NO _x emission with a new strategy. Firstly, orthogonal experimental design (OED) and chaotic sequences are introduced to improve the performance of particle swarm optimization (PSO). Then, a predicting model for NO _x emission is established on support vector machine (SVM) whose parameters are optimized by the improved PSO. Afterwards, a new optimization model considering coal quantity and air quantity along with the traditional optimization variables is established. At last, the operating parameters are optimized by the improved PSO to cut down the NO _x emission. An application on 600MW unit shows that the new optimization model can cut down NO _x emission effectively and maintain the load balance well. The NO _x emission optimized by the improved PSO is lowest among some state-of-the-art intelligent algorithms. This study can provide important guides for the low NO _x combustion in the power plant.     

Effect of La addition on electrochemical properties of amorphous LaMg11Zr+200Ni alloy

The effect of La addition on the structure and electrochemical properties of amorphous LaMg₁₁Zr+200Ni (LaMg₁₁Zr: Ni = 1: 2, m: m) hydrogen storage alloy prepared by mechanical alloying was investigated systematically. The results show that the alloys have an amorphous structure after 20 h ball-milling and the particles are significantly refined with the addition of La. The electrochemical tests indicate that the charging resistance of the alloy electrodes decreases with the addition of La. The maximum discharge capacity of the alloy electrodes increases with the increase of La addition, while the cyclic stability and high-rate discharge performance increase firstly and then decrease as the La content increases. When the mass fraction of La is up to 5%, the maximum discharge capacity after charging/discharging of 30 cycles of the alloy electrode is increased from 576.2 to 597.5 mA· h/g, and the capacity retention rate and high-rate dischargeability (HRD) of the alloy electrode are increased by 20.5% and 29.4% respectively compared with those of the alloy electrode without the La addition, exhibiting the best comprehensive electrochemical performances.     

First-principles prediction of ductility in β-type Ti-Mo binary alloys

Recent studies suggest that the ratio of the shear modulus (G) to the bulk modulus (B) and the Poisson’s ratio (ν) are good indicators of ductility. Using the method of supercell and the first-principles pseudopotential plane-wave method, the G/B and ν of the β-type Ti-Mo binary alloys with Mo molar fraction (x _Mo) ranging from 6.25% to 37.5% are calculated. The results show that the ductility of β-type Ti-Mo binary alloys first increases with increasing x _Mo and reaches the maximum when x _Mo is about 25%, and then reduces with more increasing x _Mo. The charge density difference calculations suggest that the x _Mo dependence of the ductility can be ascribed to the change of bonding characteristics between Ti and Mo atoms in the [111] direction.     

直接乙醇燃料电池阳极催化剂Pt-Rh-SnO2/C的制备与表征

用交替微波法制备了SnO2/C复合材料,以该材料为载体制备了不同Pt∶Rh比例的Pt-Rh-SnO2/C催化剂,应用透射电镜（TEM）及X射线衍射（XRD）方法对所制备催化剂的微观结构进行了表征,通过循环伏安法和计时电流法测试了催化剂对乙醇的催化氧化性能.结果表明,微波辅助多元醇法利用SnO2/C作为催化剂载体可以制备具有良好分散度的Pt-Rh-SnO2/C催化剂,不同比例的Pt-Rh-SnO2/C催化剂金属粒子的平均粒径都小于4nm,且粒径分布较窄;该系列催化剂中Pt具有面心立方结构,随着Pt含量不断增加,粒径逐渐增加.当Pt∶Rh比例为3∶1时,对乙醇的催化氧化具有最好的稳定性和活性.     

Durability of concrete made with manganese slag as supplementary cementitious materials

This paper discusses mineral composition and pore microstructure characteristics of water-cooled manganese slag and its effects on durability of concrete. The Mn slag has an alveolate pore structure, and the ground Mn slag is characterized by multiangular shape which consists of α′-C₂S, C₃MS₂, CaO·MnO·2SiO₂ and C₂AS. Experimental results show that the Mn slag has potential hydraulic reactivity. Concrete made with Mn slag as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) exhibits very low strength loss and weight loss in the synthetic seawater corrosion and freezing-thawing cycle tests. The research provides useful reference for knowing about Mn slag and for applying Mn slag to improve the durability of concrete.     

Effect of Cu Co-doping on the magnetism of Zn0.95Co0.05O films

Zn_0.95?x Co_0.05Cu _x O (atomic ratio, x = 0?C8%) thin films are fabricated on Si(111) substrate by reactive magnetron sputtering method. Detailed characterizations indicate that the doped Cu ions substitute the Zn²⁺ ions in ZnO lattice. The doped Cu ions are in +1 and +2 mixture valent state. The ferromagnetism of the Zn_0.95?x Co_0.05Cu _x O film increases gradually with the increase of the Cu⁺ ion concentration till x = 6%, but decreases for higher Cu concentration. Experimental results indicate that the increase of ferromagnetism is not owing to the magnetic contribution of Cu⁺ ions themselves, but owing to the enhancement of magnetic interaction between Co²⁺ ions, which suggests that p-type doping of Cu⁺ ions plays an important role in mediating the ferromagnetic coupling between Co ions.     

Recycling of aluminum from fibre metal laminates

Recycling of aluminum alloy scrap obtained from delaminated fibre metal laminates (FMLs) was studied through high temperature refining in the presence of a salt flux. The aluminum alloy scrap contains approximately mass fraction w(Cu) = 4.4%, w(Mg) = 1.1% and w(Mn) = 0.6% (2024 aluminum alloy). The main objective of this research is to obtain a high metal yield, while maintaining its original alloy compositions. The work focuses on the metal yield and quality of recycled Al alloy under different refining conditions. The NaCl-KCl salt system was selected as the major components of flux in the Al alloy recycling. Two different flux compositions were employed at NaCl to KCl mass ratios of 44:56 and 70:30 respectively, based on either the eutectic composition, or the European preference. Different additives were introduced into the NaCl-KCl system to study the effect of flux component on recycling result. Although burning and oxidation loss of the alloying elements during re-melting and refining take place as the drawbacks of conventional refining process, the problems can be solved to a large extent by using an appropriate salt flux. Experimental results indicate that Mg in the alloy gets lost when adding cryolite in the NaCl-KCl salt system, though the metal yield can reach as high as 98%. However, by adding w(MgF₂) = 5% into the NaCl-KCl salt system (instead of using cryolite) all alloying elements were well controlled to its original composition with a metal yield of almost 98%.     

Effect of LaNiO3 interlayer on the dielectric properties of Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thin film on Si substrate

In this study, (100)-oriented growth of Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ (BST) /LaNiO₃ (LNO) stacks was obtained on Pt(111)/SiO₂/Si substrates by r.f. magnetron sputtering. The orientation of the subsequently deposited Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ thin film was strongly affected by the LNO under layer, and the BST thin film deposited on the (100)LNO-coated Si substrate was also found to have a significant (100)-oriented texture. Effects of LNO interlayer on the dielectric properties of BST thin films were investigated. As a result, the tunability of BST thin film was greatly improved with the insertion of (100)-oriented LNO under layer with proper thickness. Foundation item: the National Key Lab of Nano/Micro Fabrication Technology (No. 9140C 790310060C79) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 60701012)