The effects of a eutectic modifier on microstructure and surface corrosion behavior of Al-Si hypoeutectic alloys

Hypoeutectic aluminum–silicon alloys can have significant improvements in mechanical properties by inducing structural modification in the normally occurring eutectic. The eutectic modification may affect not only the mechanical properties but also the corrosion resistance of such alloys. It is well known that structural parameters such as grain size and interdendritic spacing can significantly affect corrosion resistance of alloys. However, to date, few researches have been performed to experimentally evaluate the effects of an effective modification of eutectic morphology on surface corrosion behavior of Al–Si alloys. In the present study, modified and unmodified samples of an Al 9 wt.% Si alloy were solidified under similar solidification conditions, and after metallographic procedures, the corrosion resistance was analyzed by both the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique and the Tafel extrapolation method carried out in a 0.5 M NaCl test solution at 25 °C. The impedance parameters and corrosion rate were obtained from an equivalent circuit analysis. It was found that the Al-9 wt.% Si alloy casting in the modified condition tends to have its corrosion resistance decreased when compared to the unmodified alloy.     

Microstructural properties of sintered Al–Cu–Mg–Sn alloys

A non-commercial Al4Cu0.5Mg alloy has been used for investigating the effects of the elemental Sn additions. Uniaxial die compaction response of the alloys in terms of green density was examined, and the results showed that Sn addition has no effect when compacting conducted under high pressures. In total, 93–95% green density was achieved with an applied pressure of 400 MPa. Thermal events occurring during the sintering of the emerging alloys were studied by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). First thermal event on the DSC analysis of the Al4Cu0.5Mg1Sn alloy is the melting of elemental Sn, whereas for Al4Cu0.5Mg alloy, it is the formation of Al–Mg liquid nearly at 450 °C. Also it is clearly seen on the DSC analysis that Sn addition led to an increase in the formation enthalpy of Al–Mg liquid phase. High Sn content and high sintering temperature (620 °C), therefore high liquid-phase content, caused decrease on the mechanical properties due to thick intergranular phases and grain coarsening. Highest transverse rupture strength and hardness values were obtained from Al4Cu0.5Mg0.1Sn alloy sintered at 600 °C and measured as 390 MPa and 73 HB, respectively.     

Corrosion resistance of molybdenum silicides in aqueous solutions

The corrosion performance of Mo-22Si and Mo-25Si alloys in 0.5 M sodium chloride (NaCl) and 0.5 M sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solutions, at room temperature, was evaluated using electrochemical techniques. In 0.5 M NaCl, additionally, the effect of solution pH (3, 7 and 10) and concentration (0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 M) was studied using techniques such as potentiodynamic polarization curves, linear polarization resistance and electrochemical noise in current. The alloy contained either -Mo or Mo₅Si₃ phases in a Mo₃Si matrix. Polarization results showed that only the alloys containing 22Si developed a passive film in 0.5 M NaOH solution, whereas the alloy containing 25Si was passivated only in 0.5 M NaCl, pH 10 solution. In 0.5 M NaCl, pH 7 and 0.5 M NaOH solutions, the alloy with 25Si was the one with the highest corrosion rate, whereas the one containing 22Si was the most corrosion resistant. In NaCl solutions, the alloys exhibited a localized type of corrosion, but not in NaOH solutions. Alkaline NaCl solutions increased the corrosion rate of the 75Mo-25Si alloy with respect to acidic or neutral solutions, whereas diluted (0.1 M) or concentrated (1.0 M) NaCl solutions produced lower corrosion rates than the 0.5 M NaCl solution. Some localized type of corrosion occurred in the NaCl solutions, due to a selective corrosion of the -Mo and Mo₅Si₃ phases with respect to the Mo₃Si matrix.     

富镧混合稀土变质的A357合金

采用富镧混合稀土对Al-Si-Mg系A357合金进行了变质处理，研究了稀土变质对合金铸态、热处理态的组织、力学性质及含氢量的影响，并与锶变质处理进行了比较，富镧混合稀土比锶有更强的变质A357合金中共晶硅的能力，更好的除氢效果和综合力学性能，稀土变质可获得高强韧性的Al-Si-Mg合金。     

A new method for studying crystallization of amorphous alloys

Experiments on the crystallization of amorphous Fe?Si?B alloys were carried out by thermogravimetric analysis (TG). This new method gives us some important information about the magnetic phase transformation of amorphous alloys, especially the magnetic volume change in crystallization beside the energy change obtained by the traditional DSC and DTA methods. Crystallization activation energies of Fe?Si?B amorphous alloy are calculated from both TG and DTA curves. The experiment also showed that the addition of Nb, Cu and Mo would influence the crystallization transition temperature of amorphous Fe?Si?B alloys greatly.     

杂质及铈作用下铝锂合金的应力集中敏感性

建立了评价铝锂合金应力集中敏感性的缺口敏感因子,通过测定薄板法拉伸性能,求出了不同元素及杂质含量的铝锂合金缺口敏感因子,Fe,Si,Na,K杂质均明显地增加2090及8090合金的应力集中敏感性,铈能够在一定程度上降低具有较高强度水平的合金应力集中敏感性,但在塑性水平较高的1420合金中,铈添加量超过一定限度后,反而会显著提高材料的应力集中敏感性,相对于普通铝合金,铝锂合金的应力集中敏感性一般处于较高水平,这个问题在此对类合金的实际研究中应给予充分注意。     

A nuclear microprobe method for the simultaneous determination of silicon and nitrogen profiles in metals

A nuclear microprobe method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of silicon and nitrogen concentration profiles in metals. The method was based on the reactions²⁸Si(d, p₀)²⁹Si and¹⁴N(d, p₀)¹⁵N plus¹⁴N(d, β₀)¹²C with measurement of emitted charged particles during irradiation with 1.9 MeV deuterons. The nitrogen sensitivity was ten times that for silicon and the minimum concentrations detected were 0.002% and 0.03% respectively. The method was successfully applied to the measurement of silicon and nitrogen profiles in alloys contacted with silicon nitride at high temperature.     

Interaction of Ca,P trace elements and Sr modification in AlSi5Cu1Mg alloys

Thermal and microscopy analyses were carried out to investigate the interaction of Sr modification with Ca and P trace elements in high-purity and commercial-purity Al–5Si–1Cu–Mg alloys. The results show how the addition of Sr to commercial-purity alloy induces significant changes in the nucleation and growth temperatures of eutectic Si since pre-eutectic Al₂Si₂(CaSr) intermetallics tend to poison AlP particles, making them inactive as nucleation sites for eutectic Si. In contrast, the addition of Sr to high-purity alloy shows no apparent influence on the characteristic temperatures of Al–Si eutectic reaction, even though the microstructural investigations reveal flake-to-fibrous transition in the eutectic Si structure. This indicates that the eutectic growth temperature, commonly used to predict eutectic modification level, is not a key feature of Sr modification, but it is indirectly caused due to the presence of additional impurities in commercial-purity alloys which affect the nucleation kinetics of eutectic Si.     

Evolution of surface characteristics of two industrial 7xxx aluminium alloys exposed to humidity at moderate temperature

This study analyses the evolution of surface characteristics of two industrial high-strength 7xxx aluminium alloys with a focus on alloy composition and environmental parameters. Based on storage and transport conditions of as-machined products, the effect of humidity—as liquid and vapour phase—on the natural oxide layer has been studied. The evolution of the natural oxide layer has been analysed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The growth behaviour of the surface layer is dominated by environmental conditions, while microgalvanic activity depends mainly on the alloys' chemical composition and differs significantly for tested alloys. Scanning transmission electron microscopy images demonstrated that the long-term exposure at moderate temperatures affects the microstructure near the surface, which differs for the analysed alloy compositions. An anomalous precipitation of zinc-rich particles at the surface and along the precipitate-free zone is observed for the alloy with higher Zn/Mg ratio and lower Cu content.     

等离子体增强磁控溅射沉积碳化硅薄膜的化学结构与成膜机理

以CH4和Ar为工作气体,单晶硅为溅射靶,通过微波电子回旋共振(MW-ECR)等离子体增强非平衡磁控溅射方法在不同的CH4流量和沉积温度下制备了a-Si1-xCx∶H薄膜.利用傅里叶变换红外(FT-IR)光谱,X光电子能谱(XPS)和纳米硬度仪等表征方法研究不同沉积参数下薄膜的化学结构、化学配比和硬度的变化.结果表明:室温(25℃)下随CH4流量由5cm·3min-1增加到45cm3·min-1(标准状态)时,薄膜中Si—CH2键,C—H键含量逐渐增加,Si—H键变化不明显;膜中C原子百分比由28%增至76%,Si原子百分比由62%降至19%.当CH4流量为15cm3·min-1时,随沉积温度的升高,薄膜中Si和C原子百分比含量分别为52%和43%,且基本保持不变;膜中Si—H键和C—H键转化为Si—C键,薄膜的显微硬度显著提高,在沉积温度为600℃时达到29.7GPa.根据分析结果,提出了室温和高温下a-Si1-xCx:H薄膜生长模型.     

The importance of the film structure during self-powered ibuprofen salicylate drug release from polypyrrole electrodeposited on AZ31 Mg

Therapeutic drugs uploaded into conjugated conductive polymer matrices deposited on active magnesium alloys serve as controlled-dose, self-powered drug-delivery systems. Preferentially, drugs are added into polymer films in the largest amount possible, mostly to prevent long-term treatments. However, added drugs can interact with the polymer matrix affecting either the structure or the final mechanical properties of the polymer film. In this work, polypyrrole films (PPy) electrodeposited on an AZ31 Mg alloy in ibuprofen and salicylate-containing solutions are investigated in terms of their uploading capacity, surface morphology and mechanical properties. The techniques used to investigate the uploaded PPy films include cyclic voltammetry (CV), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDS, and depth-sensing indentation (DSI). A maximum ibuprofen concentration of 440 ± 40 μg cm^?2 was obtained in PPy films in the presence of sodium salicylate. The release fraction of ibuprofen as a function of time is fitted to Avrami’s equation. The hardness and reduced modulus decreased by 54 and 40 %, respectively, when the PPy films are prepared in the presence of sodium ibuprofen compared with those prepared in sodium salicylate only, indicating a more plastic film with ibuprofen.     

Non-Destructive Determination of Silicon in Steel and Steel-Related Samples by INAA Using the 29Si(n,p)29Al reaction

A non-destructive method has been developed for the determination of silicon in steel alloys by reactor fast neutron activation analysis using the ²⁹Si(n,p) ²⁹Al reaction. An iron sample and a comparator of pure metallic silicon powder are irradiated in a cadmium case. In order to obtain the net counting rate of the 1273.4 keV peak from ²⁹Al, background activities are corrected carefully to avoid peaks of 1268.0 keV from ²⁸Al single-escape and 1266.2 keV from ³¹Si. The present method is superior to the method using the ²⁸Si(n,p) ²⁸Al reaction.     

Olivine thermal diffusivity influencing factors

Titanium and its alloys are used in production of implants such as knee and hip prostheses due to their superior properties. Ti–Nb–Zr ternary alloys are preferred over other metallic implant materials due to the presence of non-toxic elements, high corrosion resistance, good biocompatibility, and proper mechanical properties. The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of zirconium addition on α → β phase transformation, microstructure, and mechanical behavior of Ti–16Nb alloy. In doing so, Ti–16Nb–xZr (x: 0, 5, 10, 15 mass%) alloys are produced by powder injection molding, which offers advantages such as low cost, net shape, and easy production of complicated parts for implant fabrication. X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscope images showed that zirconium behaves as a β stabilizer and according to differential thermal analysis, and it decreases α to β transition temperature approximately 30 °C. It is also revealed that increasing zirconium content caused finer microstructure and hardness of the alloy was raised from 336 HV_0.5 to 412 HV_0.5 while elastic modulus remains approximately steady between 103 and 110 GPa. It is concluded that Ti–Nb–Zr alloys have been found to be a good alternative to known metallic implant materials.     

Theoretical study of the Si–H group as potential hydrogen bond donor

The ability of the Si–H group as hydrogen bond (HB) donor has been studied theoretically. Most of the selected molecules include the Si–H group in a polar environment that could produce an electron deficiency on the hydrogen atom. In addition, analogous derivatives where the silicon atom has been replaced by a carbon atom have been considered. In all cases, ammonia has been used as HB acceptor. The calculations have been carried out at the MP2/6‐311++G** computational level. The electron density of the complexes has been characterized within the atoms in molecules (AIM) framework. A search in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) has been carried out to verify the existence of this kind of interactions in solid phase. The results of the theoretical study on these HB complexes between ammonia and the silicon derivatives provides long HB distances (2.4 to 3.2 Å) and small interaction energies (?2.4 to ?0.2 kcal/mol). In all cases, the HBs of the corresponding carbon analogs show shorter interaction distances corresponding to stronger complexes. The CSD search provides a small number of short interactions between Si and other heavy atoms in agreement with the small stabilizing energy of the Si–H?N HB and the lack of SiH bond in polar environment within the database. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2001     

Étude par analyse thermique différentielle des transformations ordre-désordre dans des alliages dentaires á base d'or et de cuivre

Two phase transformations have been detected by differential thermal analysis of two dental gold alloys between 25 and 500°C. The upper temperature transformations has been identified as an order-disorder change by means of hardness measurements. The thermal effect is proportional to the copper content of the alloy.     

Si(3)AlP: A New Promising Material for Solar Cell Absorber

First-principles calculations were performed to study the structural and optoelectronic properties of the newly synthesized nonisovalent and lattice-matched (Si(2))(0.6)(AlP)(0.4) alloy (Watkins, T.; et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc.2011, 133, 16212). We found that the most stable structure of Si(3)AlP is a superlattice along the ?111? direction with separated AlP and Si layers, which has a similar optical absorption spectrum to silicon. The ordered C1c1-Si(3)AlP is found to be the most stable one among all structures with a basic unit of one P atom surrounded by three Si atoms and one Al atom, in agreement with experimental suggestions. (1) We predict that C1c1-Si(3)AlP has good optical properties, i.e., it has a larger fundamental band gap and a smaller direct band gap than Si; thus, it has much higher absorption in the visible light region. The calculated properties of Si(3)AlP suggest that it is a promising candidate for improving the performance of the existing Si-based solar cells. The understanding on the stability and band structure engineering obtained in this study is general and can be applied for future study of other nonisovalent and lattice-matched semiconductor alloys.     

Determination of silicon in products and dust from a magnesite processing industry

INAA with 14 MeV neutrons is used for the determination of silicon in products of the magnesite plant and in the emitted dust. The products contain 1.3–1.7% Si. The average concentration in flue-dust is 2.5% Si.     

稀土化合物增强ZA—27合金耐磨性的研究

对稀土化合物增强ＺＡ－２７合金的组织及耐磨性做了研究。试验发现,由于在ＺＡ－２７合金中加入一定量的ＥＲ和Ｓｉ元素,组织中出现一些颗粒状第二相;这些物相分布在晶界及枝晶间,阻止了晶粒长大。通过航向电镜能谱分析发现,该物相是一种含有Ｚｎ、Ａｌ、Ｓｉ及ＲＥ元素的复杂化合物。经测试,这种物相的显微硬度要比基体高得多。耐磨性等性能试验结果表明,这种合金的耐磨性要比ＺＡ－２７合金高４倍,比Ｓｉ相增强合金也高,     

Antihypertensive drugs as an inhibitors for corrosion of aluminum and aluminum silicon alloys in aqueous solutions

The corrosion behavior of aluminum and three aluminum–silicon alloys in different concentrations of HCl solutions and its inhibition by antihypertensive drugs was studied using potentiostatic polarization measurements. As the acid concentration increases, the rate of corrosion increases. Aluminum is less susceptible to corrosion than any of Al–Si alloys. The inhibition efficiency of the drug compounds increases with their concentration up to a critical value. At higher additive concentrations the inhibition efficiency starts to decrease. The inhibitive action of these compounds is due to their formation of insoluble complex adsorbed on the metal surface. The adsorption follows Langmuir adsorption isotherms. It was found that the drugs compounds provide protection to Al and Al–Si alloys against pitting corrosion by shifting the pitting potential to more positive direction until critical drug concentrations (250 ppm). After this critical concentration the inhibition against to pitting corrosion starts to decrease.     

Calorimetric investigation of order–disorder transition in Cu0.6Pd0.4 and Cu0.85Pd0.15 alloys

Order–disorder phase transitions in Cu_0.6Pd_0.4 and Cu_0.85Pd_0.15 alloys have been investigated using differential scanning calorimetry and drop calorimetry. The differential scanning calorimetry measurements show that the transition in both these alloys are reversible in nature and the enthalpy increment measurements reveal that these transitions are first order in nature. The transition temperature of first-order phase transition in Cu_0.6Pd_0.4 and Cu_0.85Pd_0.15 alloys have been evaluated to be 884(±2) and 799(±2) K, respectively, from drop calorimetric measurements. The latent heat of first-order phase transition in Cu_0.6Pd_0.4 alloy were evaluated to be 31.2(±0.6) and 28.9(±0.5) J g^?1, by enthalpy increment and differential scanning calorimetry measurements, respectively. Similarly, the latent heat of first-order phase transition in Cu_0.85Pd_0.15 alloy were evaluated to be 23.1(±0.6) and 21.3(±0.5) J g^?1, by enthalpy increment and differential scanning calorimetry measurements, respectively. The solidus temperatures of Cu_0.6Pd_0.4 and Cu_0.85Pd_0.15 alloys were found to be 1,457(±2) and 1,360 K, respectively.