Iranian Journal of Materials Science and Engineering

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The effect of precipitation of ?.qss. and gahnite phases during heat treatment of glass frits in the ZnO-Al2O3-SiO2 system on the mechanical property of resulting glass-ceramic specimens were investigated. It was shown that gahnite glass-ceramics had higher bend strength and toughness values than ?.qss. ones. The results are attributed to the higher modulus of elasticity as well as higher thermal expansion coefficient of gahnite relative to the residual glass phase.

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Being brittle and having low thermal conductivity, refractories suffer damage and sometimes fail in service as a result of thermal shock. While the approach of those making fine-grained technical ceramics is to make their products sufficiently strong to withstand thermal stresses the refractory technologist is more cunning. He uses, often little known, devices to provide resistance to thermal shock that minimise but do not eliminate damage to the component. In this paper the basic equations of thermal conduction and elasticity are presented and followed by some immediate results that should guide the designer of components subject to severe thermal environments. The influence of size and shape of the refractory components is then discussed along with ways in which refractory producers can engineer the thermal and mechanical properties. In particular, the methods used to tailor fracture behavior to optimize the thermal shock resistance are treated in some detail.

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In this research the influence of Ti contents on the amounts of inclusions formation and mechanical properties of a high alloy high strength steel, C300, has been investigated. For this purpose several bars were casted under the same solidification conditions, but different amounts of Ti element. All the seven casted bars were homogenized at 1200°C for a period of 2 hours. Then, they were immediately hot rolled after homogenization so that the out rolling temperature was kept in the range of 1000-1200° C. The specimens were then solution annealed at 820°C for hour and finally they were aged for a period of 3 hours at 500°C. The samples were subjected to tensile, impact and hardness tests in order to relate the variation in volume percent of inclusions due to different amount of Ti, to mechanical properties. The results showed that by increasing the amount of Ti a serious decline in toughness properties of the alloy due to increase in inclusion population occurred. So this research provides a very useful information about the relation between volume fraction of inclusions and mechanical properties of a C300 high strength steel.

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Although the flash smelting technologies use different furnace designs, the refractory linings are exposed to very similar aggressive environments and, as a result, the corrosion analysis results on one type of furnace could be generally applied to other furnaces of similar high temperature processes. Particularities regarding the different chemistries of the pyrometallurgical process and operating parameters of these furnaces could also bring particular aspects to be considered when analyzing the refractory ware and final failure in use. This paper presents a review of the existent experimental. data of corrosion analyses on refractory linings used in two particular flash furnaces for zinc-lead and respectively nickel-copper smelting. Although various modern water cooling systems are generally used to protect the refractory wall linings against corrosion by molten slag and matte, the performance of the refractory roof lining, usually used without water cooling, represents a permanent concern and the object of research studies to extend their life in service. The failure mechanisms analysed in this study are based on postmortem analyses and laboratory corrosion experiments with magnesite-chrome bricks of different chemical and mineralogical compositions. The gaseous atmosphere, usually rich in SO2 and/or CO and various metal fumes, produces irreversible microstructural changes which could shorten the life in service of the refractory lining. The experimental data proved that thermal cycling in SO2/SO3 atmospheres could bring more damage than a continuous use at relatively constant temperature, due to the magnesium and calcium sulphate formation. The laboratory experiments and postmortem analyses showed that that metal fumes at various partial pressure of oxygen would condense as oxides and react inside the pores and at the grain boundaries, contributing to the continuous deterioration of the ceramic matrix of the refractory brick lining. The mechanisms of corrosion, discussed based on laboratory experiments, were confirmed by the postmortem analyses on brick samples used in the industrial flash smelting furnaces.

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Abstract: Horizontal continuous casting is widely used to produce semi-finished and finished metallic products. Homogeneity in metallurgical characteristics and mechanical properties in such products is of importance. In the present work microstructure and mechanical properties of a horizontal continuous cast pipe have been studied. Microstructural features were investigated by an optical microscope equipped with image analyzer and SEM was used to characterize precipitates. Tensile behavior, impact strength and hardness variations were the mechanical properties which were studied. Results showed that microstructure and mechanical properties had diversities in different parts of the pipe and distinct differences were observed between upper and lower parts of the pipe. A meaningful correlation was found in microstructure and mechanical properties in different parts of the component.

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Abstract:

properties of AA6082 aluminum alloy. Considering that aging phenomenon affects the distribution of alloying element

in matrix, and the fact that different distribution of alloying elements has different impediments to dislocation

movement, a material model based on microstructure, has been developed in this research. A relative volume fraction

or mean radius of precipitations is introduced into the flow stress by using the appropriate relationships. The GA-based

optimization technique is used to evaluate the material constants within the equations from the uni-axial tensile test

data of AA6082 alloy. Finally, using the proposed model with optimized constants, the flow behavior of the alloy at

different conditions of heat treatment is predicted. The results predicted by the model showed a good agreement with

experimental data, indicating the capability of the model in prediction of the material flow behavior after different heat

treatment cycles. Also, the calculated flow stress was used for determination of the material property in Abaqus

Software to analyze the uniaxial compression test. The force- displacement curves of the analysis were compared to

the experimental data obtained in the same condition, and a good agreement was found between the two sets of results.

A novel constitutive equation has been proposed to predict the effect of aging treatment on mechanical

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Abstract:

mechanical properties of AISIH 13 hot-work tool steel have been studied. Cast samples made of the modified new steel were homogenized and austenitized at different conditions, followed by tempering at the specified temperature ranges. Hardness, red hardness, three point bending test and Charpy impact test were carried out to evaluate the mechanical properties together with characterizing the microstructure of the modified steel using scanning electron microscope. The results show that niobium addition modifies the cast structure of Nb–alloyed steel, and increases its maximum hardness. It was found that bending strength bending strain, impact strength, and red hardness of the modified cast steel are also higher than those of the cast H13 steel, and lower than those of the wrought H13 steel.

In this research, the effects of partially replacing of vanadium and molybdenum with niobium on the

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The effects of lower bainite volume fraction on tensile and impact properties of D6AC ultrahigh strength steel were studied in the current work. To obtain mixed microstructures containing martensite and different volume fractions of the lower bainite, specimens were austenitized at 910° C, then quenched in a salt bath of 330°C for different holding times, finally quenched in oil. In order to obtain fully martensitic and bainitic microstructures, direct oil quenching and isothermal transformation heat treatment for 24 hours were used respectively. All specimens were double tempered at 200°C for 2 hours per tempered. Microstructures were examined by optical and scanning electron microscopes. Fracture morphologies were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results showed that both yield and ultimate tensile strength generally decreased with an increase in volume fraction of lower bainite. However, a few exceptions were observed in the mixed microstructures containing 12% lower bainite, showing a higher strength than the fully martensitic microstructure. This can be explained on the basis of two factors. The first is an increase in the strength of martensite due to the partitioning of the prior austenite grains by lower bainite resulting in the refinement of martensite substructures. The second is a plastic constraint effect leading to an enhanced strength of lower bainite by the surrounding relatively rigid martensite. Charpy V-notch impact energy and ductility is improved with increasing the volume fraction of lower bainite.

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Abstract: Composite specimens were prepared by dispersion of various amounts of nano-sized Al2O3 fillers in a monomer system containing 60% Bis-GMA and 40% TEGDMA. For comparative purposes, composite samples containing micrometer size Al2O3 fillers were also prepared following the same procedure. The mechanical properties of the light- cured samples were assessed by three-point flexural strength, diametral tensile strength, and microhardness tests. The results indicated a more than hundred percent increase in the flexural strength and nearly an eighty percent increase in the diametral tensile strength values in the samples containing nano-size Al2O3 filler particles. It is interesting to note that, this improvement was observed at a much lower nano-size filler content. Fracture surfaces analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, indicated a brittle type of fracture in both sets of specimens.

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Abstract: This study presents the research results of effect that refining process has on porosity and mechanical properties of high pressure die castings made of AlSi12S alloy. The operation of refining was carried out in a melting furnace with the use of an FDU Mini Degasser. Mechanical properties (UTS, YS, Elongation, Brinell Hardness) were assessed on samples taken from high pressure die castings. The effect of molten metal transfer operation and the time elapsing from completion of the refining process on the alloy mechanical properties was determined.

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In this study, porous titanium composites containing 5, 10 and 15 wt. % nanobioglass were fabricated by space holder sintering process. The pore morphology and phase constituents of the porous samples were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mechanical properties were determined by compression test. The porosity of the sintered samples showed an upward trend with an increase in bioglass content. As the bioglass content was increased, the compressive strength was first increased and then decreased. The results obtained in this work suggest that the fabricated porous compact with 10 wt. % bioglass with compressive strength value of about 76.7 MPa, high porosity and good biocompatibility has the potential application for bone tissue engineering.

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Creep age forming (CAF) is one of the novel methods in aerospace industry that has been used to manufacture components of panels with improved mechanical properties and reduced fabrication cost. CAF is a combined age-hardening and stress-relaxation that are responsible for strengthening and forming, respectively. This paper deals with the experimental investigations of mechanical and springback properties of Al-Zn-Mg Al alloy in creep forming process. Creep forming experiments have been performed at temperatures of 120◦C and 180◦C for 6–72 h. Results indicated that yield stress and hardness of creep age formed specimens increased with increasing forming time and temperature,  simultaneously induced deflection by stress-relaxation increased. Incorporating spring back and mechanical properties, it can be found that the appropriate forming cycle was 180 ◦C/24 h among all forming conditions. CAF Time increase to a certain extent increased mechanical properties. This can be attributed to presence of stress in CAF that causes the precipitates be finer because of creation more nucleation sites. Therefor the growth of precipitates, takes place at long time and postpones the decreasing of the yield stress

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Different volume fractions (1.3, 2.6, and 7.6 Vol.%) of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were dispersed within 8Y-TZP nanopowders. Mixed powder specimens were subsequently processed by spark plasma sintering (SPS) and effects of CNTs on the sintering process of 8Y-TZP/CNT composites was studied. Maintenance of CNTs through the SPS process was confirmed using TEM and Raman Spectroscopy. Studies on the sintering profile of zirconia-CNT composites (Z-xC composites) could, to some extent, clarify the effect of CNTs’ volume fraction on the densification rates of Z-xC composites. The specimen with the highest content of CNT (Z-7.6C) showed the lowest sintering rate while it was unable to reach full density.

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In this study, carbon nano fibers (CNFs) were mixed into epoxy resin through a magnetic stirrer and again mixed using ultra sonicator. Using hand layup technique, biaxial braided fiber composites were prepared with unfilled, 0.2, 0.5 and 1 wt% CNF. Tensile test and shear test was performed to identify the tensile strength and shear strength of the composites. Fractured surface of the tensile specimens were examined by scanning electron microscopy to identify morphologies of nanoparticles. A discrete three layer model was developed for prediction of the tensile modulus and shear modulus of biaxial braided fiber composites. Theoretical and experimental values were compared. The experimental and theoretical results show that the addition of CNF in the epoxy matrix had significant influences on the mechanical properties of biaxial carbon braided fiber composites. CNF inclusion with braided composite promoted the tensile modulus, tensile strength, shear modulus and shear strength up to 0.5wt% of the biaxial carbon braided fiber composites.

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In this paper, cyclic flaring and sinking (CFS) as a new severe plastic deformation (SPD) method was employed to produce the ultrafine grain (UFG) copper tubes. The extra friction has eliminated in the CFS method that provided the possibility for production of longer UFG tubes compared to the other SPD methods. This process was done periodically to apply more strain and consequently finer grain size and better mechanical properties. The CFS was performed successfully on pure copper tubes up to eleven cycles. Mechanical properties of the initial and processed tubes were extracted from tensile tests in the different cycles. The remarkable increase in strength and decrease in ductility take placed in the CFS-ed tubes. The material flow behavior during CFS processing was analyzed by optical microscopy (OM), and a model was presented for grain refinement mechanism of pure copper based on multiplication and migration of dislocations (MMD). This mechanism caused that the initial grains converts to elongated dislocation cells (subgrains) and then to equiaxed ultrafine grains in the higher cycles. The CFS method refined the microstructure to fine grains with the mean grain size of 1200nm from initial coarse grain size of 40µm

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Material selection is a main purpose in design process and plays an important role in desired performance of the products for diverse engineering applications. In order to solve material selection problem, multi criteria decision making (MCDM) methods can be used as an applicable tool. Bumper beam is one of the most important components of bumper system in absorbing energy. Therefore, selecting the best material that has the highest degree of satisfaction is necessary. In the present study, six polymeric nanocomposite materials were injection molded and considered as material alternatives. Criteria weighting was carried out through analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and Entropy methods. Selecting the most appropriate material was applied using technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and the multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA) methods respect to the considered criteria. Criteria weighting results illustrated that impact and tensile strengths are the most important criteria using AHP and Entropy methods, respectively. Results of ranking alternatives indicated that polycarbonate containing 0.5 wt% nano Al₂O₃ is the most appropriate material for automotive bumper beam due to its high impact and tensile strengths in addition to its low cost of raw material. Also, the sensitivity analysis was performed to verify the selection criteria and the results as well.

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In industry, the cost of production is an important factor and it is preferred to use conventional and low cost procedures for producing the parts. Heat treatment cycles and alloying additions are the key factors affecting the microstructure and mechanical properties of the cast steels. In this study an attempt was made to evaluate the influence of minor Mo addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of conventionally heat treated cast micro-alloyed steels. The results of Jominy and dilatometry tests and also microstructural examinations revealed that Mo could effectively increase the hardenability of the investigated steel and change the microstructure features of the air-cooled samples. Acicular microstructure was the consequence of increasing the hardenability in Mo-added steel. Besides, it was found that Mo could greatly affect the isothermal bainitic transformation and higher fraction of martensite after cooling (from isothermal temperature) was due to the Mo addition. The results of impact test indicated that the microstructure obtained in air-cooled Mo-added steel led to better impact toughness (28J) in comparison with the base steel (23J). Moreover, Mo-added steel possessed higher hardness (291HV), yield (524MPa) and tensile (1108MPa) strengths compared to the base one.

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Polypropylene (PP) has been one of the most widely used polymers due to the versatility and cost benefits obtained with this material. In this work, composites of PP modified with nanostructured ZSM-5 zeolite were prepared and their thermal and mechanical properties were evaluated. Zeolites were synthetized by hydrothermal method and the crystallization time was modified to evaluate the effect of that parameter on zeolites properties. Scanning electron microscopy, thermal analyses, x-ray analysis, among others, were used to analyse the nanostructured particles. Composites were prepared by melt mixing in a torque rheometer and compression moulding. After obtaining the composites, mechanical and thermal properties were evaluated. The results showed that some properties (surface area, and crystallinity) of zeolites depend on the crystallization time. Young’s modulus and elongation at rupture of composites were modified when the zeolites were added to the polymer matrix. No significant modifications were found on thermal properties.