The effect of milling time on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4Fe alloys
(2021)
Replacement of toxic and expensive vanadium (V) in medical grade titanium alloys with cheaper and non-toxic elements such as iron (Fe) or niobium (Nb), is an important step forward in developing safer and less expensive biomaterials. Evaluating the effect of different process parameters such as the milling time on the properties of these newly developed alloys helps in understanding and controlling their behavior. Hence, in this study, the influence of ball-milling duration (2, 6, 8, 12 and 18 h) on crystalline structure, phase evolution, densification, and mechanical characteristics of biomedical nanocrystalline Ti-6Al-4Fe (wt. %) alloys is investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed that after 6 h of milling, aluminum (Al) and Fe completely dissolved into Ti matrix to form a solid solution of Ti (Al, Fe). XRD further revealed that the crystallite size decreased from 56 to 30 nm and the micro-strain increased with an increase in milling time. A decrease in porosity along with an increase in density is also observed for the alloys with increasing milling time. Moreover, the values of porosity obtained for the developed Ti-6Al-4Fe alloys ranged from 1 to 12 %, which is comparable to the porosity of one of the cortical bones making it a potential candidate for bone replacements. Microhardness measurements showed that the hardness of the Ti-6Al-4Fe alloys was greater than the hardness of the conventional Ti-6Al-4V alloys. It was observed that the Ti-6Al-4Fe alloy fabricated with the powders milled for 2 h showed the lowest value of Young’s Modulus. Milling time also had a significant effect on the surface roughness of the alloy samples, which showed a decreasing trend with increasing milling times.
Chromium carbonitride coatings were deposited by cathodic arc physical vapor deposition technology at a temperature of 300 °C, as were used the reactive gasses CH4 and N2. The structural analysis of the CrN coating showed a polycrystalline structure with mixed CrN and Cr2N phases. All studied coatings, including the CrC exhibits fcc structure. The phases were confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements where a surface oxidation was also detected. The increase of the CH4 gas flow during the deposition process leads to a parabolic trend with the highest hardness of 33.5 GPa for the coating deposited at CH4 / N2 = 0.53. At the same time the lowest coefficient of friction for both counterparts Al2O3 and ZrO2 (0.28 and 0.26, respectively) were measured at CH4 / N2 = 1.86. The tribological tests reveal that the wear of the coatings increases with an increasing CH4 flow rate, whereas the coefficient of friction decreases. This observed contradiction is explained by a phenomenon described as the effect of Rebinder.
Knowledge of the properties of dissimilar welds is of great significance for the development of multi-material lightweight structures. In this study, stainless steel (1.4301) and aluminum alloy (6082-T6) sheets were welded in overlap configuration in keyhole mode. The resulting weld metals were investigated with respect to their mechanical properties. Several samples were cut out of different locations along the welds and their cross-sections were subjected to indentation testing and energy dispersive X-ray (EDS) analysis. Young's modulus E, yield stress σy, and strain hardening exponent n, were determined by means of reverse analysis of the indentation load (P) – depth (h) curves, allowing construction of true stress – true strain relations. An essential increase in yield stress in comparison to the one of the base alloys was observed inside the weld metal. In contrary, Young's modulus and strain hardening exponent of the welds were almost identical to corresponding values of the base steel metal. Due to the sensitivity of yield stress to the aluminum content, slight variations of the welding parameters lead to significant changes in elastic-plastic behavior of the weld metal.
Coatings like TiAlN (titanium content more than 50 %) or AlTiN (aluminium content more than 50 %) are well established as hard and wear resistant tool coatings, often prepared by physical vapour deposition (PVD) like arc evaporation or direct current magnetron sputtering (dcMS). With increasing challenges of operating conditions, a constant need in improvement of mechanical properties is required to withstand extreme loading conditions. This can be obtained by a higher amount of ionized sputtered metal atoms during the deposition process. To increase the metal-ion flux a high-power pulse magnetron sputtering (HPPMS) was developed. In order to understand the relation between HPPMS process parameters and mechanical properties of the AlTiN coatings, the present study discusses how different pulse frequencies (for a constant pulse length) influence AlTiN coating structure growth and their mechanical properties. In addition, film deposition rate and phase formation are influenced by altering process parameters like pulse length and frequency. Hence, different pulse-frequencies produce specific coatings with corresponding properties for functional requirements. Based on the established findings, answers to new scientific queries along with the demand to further optimize these coatings for tool applications are required.