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High Performance Alloy and Its Nanocomposites

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Metals and Alloys".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 January 2024) | Viewed by 10999

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Dr. Hongyu Yang

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Department of Materials Processing Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, China
Interests: alloy strengthening; metal-matrix composites; nanoparticle reinforcement
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Dear Colleagues,

High-performance alloys provide both high performance and metal characteristics, and are synthesized using two or more kinds of metal and a metal or nonmetal, e.g., Al, Ti, Fe, NiAl, NiTi, TiAl, etc. These nanocomposites are materials based on high-performance alloys that are reinforced with a dispersed nan phase. The dispersed phase refers to inorganic or organic compounds. The inorganic compounds are usually ceramics, metals, etc.; the organic compounds are usually organic polymer materials. Because of their designability, high-performance alloys and their nanocomposites have desirable properties, such as high modulus, high strength, and good toughness. Hence, high-performance alloys and their nanocomposites have been developed into new types of material, which have been widely applied in many fields, such as military, aerospace, and automotive.

Thus, we welcome studies about the fabrication, characterization, and testing of high-performance alloys and metal–matrix composites reinforced with different nanophases (e.g., fibers, particles, or whiskers) to be submitted for publication in this Special Issue. Furthermore, studies on the manufacturing process of high-performance alloys and nanocomposites, and analyses of their strengthening mechanism will also be considered. We expect this Special Issue to offer guidance on the fabrication, investigation, and application of high-performance alloys and their nanocomposites.

It is my pleasure to invite you to submit manuscripts to this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Dr. Hongyu Yang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

high-performance alloys
nanocomposites
mechanical properties
strengthening mechanism
microstructure characterization
nanoparticle reinforcement
fiber reinforcement

Related Special Issue

Nanocomposite High Performance Alloys in Materials

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 31251 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Mo and Cr on the Microstructure and Properties of Low-Alloy Wear-Resistant Steels

by Tian Xia, Yuxi Ma, Yunshuang Zhang, Jialiang Li and Hao Xu

Materials 2024, 17(10), 2408; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17102408 - 17 May 2024

Viewed by 307

Abstract

Low-alloy wear-resistant steel often requires the addition of trace alloy elements to enhance its performance while also considering the cost-effectiveness of production. In order to comparatively analyze the strengthening mechanisms of Mo and Cr elements and further explore economically feasible production processes, we designed two types of low-alloy wear-resistant steels, based on C-Mn series wear-resistant steels, with individually added Mo and Cr elements, comparing and investigating the roles of the alloying elements Mo and Cr in low-alloy wear-resistant steels. Utilizing JMatPro software to calculate Continuous Cooling Transformation (CCT) curves, conducting thermal simulation quenching experiments using a Gleeble-3800 thermal simulator, and employing equipment such as a metallographic microscope, transmission electron microscope, and tensile testing machine, this study comparatively investigated the influence of Mo and Cr on the microstructural transformation and mechanical properties of low-alloy wear-resistant steels under different cooling rates. The results indicate that the addition of the Mo element in low-alloy wear-resistant steel can effectively suppress the transformation of ferrite and pearlite, reduce the martensitic transformation temperature, and lower the critical cooling rate for complete martensitic transformation, thereby promoting martensitic transformation. Adding Cr elements can reduce the austenite transformation zone, decrease the rate of austenite formation, and promote the occurrence of low-temperature phase transformation. Additionally, Mo has a better effect on improving the toughness of low-temperature impact, and Cr has a more significant improvement in strength and hardness. The critical cooling rates of C-Mn-Mo steel and C-Mn-Cr steel for complete martensitic transition are 13 °C/s and 24 °C/s, respectively. With the increase in the cooling rate, the martensitic tissues of the two experimental steels gradually refined, and the characteristics of the slats gradually appeared. In comparison, the C-Mn-Mo steel displays a higher dislocation density, accompanied by dislocation entanglement phenomena, and contains a small amount of residual austenite, while granular ε-carbides are clearly precipitated in the C-Mn-Cr steel. The C-Mn-Mo steel achieves its best performance at a cooling rate of 25 °C/s, whereas the C-Mn-Cr steel only needs to increase the cooling rate to 35 °C/s to attain a similar comprehensive performance to the C-Mn-Mo steel. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Performance Alloy and Its Nanocomposites)

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24 pages, 6274 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Study on the Comparison between Network Microstructure Titanium Matrix Composites and Ti6Al4V on EDM Milling

by Leheng Zhang, Yizhou Hu, Sirui Gong and Zhenlong Wang

Materials 2024, 17(10), 2282; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17102282 - 11 May 2024

Viewed by 461

Abstract

Network microstructure titanium matrix composites (NMTMCs), featuring Ti6Al4V as the matrix and network-distributed TiB whiskers (TiBw) as reinforcement, exhibit remarkable potential for diverse applications due to their superior physical properties. Due to the difficulty in machining titanium matrix composites, electrical discharge machining (EDM) stands as one of the preferred machining techniques for NMTMCs. Nevertheless, the compromised surface quality and the recast layer significantly impact the performance of the workpiece machined by EDM. Therefore, for the purpose of enhancing the surface quality and restraining the defects of NMTMCs, this study conducted comparative EDM milling experiments between NMTMCs and Ti6Al4V to analyze the effects of discharge capacitance, charging current, and pulse interval on the surface roughness, recast layer thickness, recast layer uniformity, and surface microcrack density of both materials. The results indicated that machining energy significantly influences workpiece surface quality. Furthermore, comparative experiments exploring the influence of network reinforcement on EDM milling revealed that NMTMCs have a higher melting point, leading to an accumulation phenomenon in low-energy machining where the reinforcement could not be completely removed. The residual reinforcement in the recasting layer had an adsorption effect on molten metal affecting the thermal conductivity and uniformity within the recasting layer. Finally, specific guidelines are put forward for optimizing the material’s surface roughness, recast layer thickness, and uniformity, along with minimizing microcrack density, which attain a processing effect that features a roughness of Ra 0.9 μm, an average recast layer thickness of 6 μm with a range of 8 μm, and a surface microcrack density of 0.08 μm⁻¹. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Performance Alloy and Its Nanocomposites)

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14 pages, 4914 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhancing Wear Resistance in Functionally Graded Metallic Components: Insights from Nanoindentation and Mechanical Analysis

by Osamu Furukimi, Hitoshi Kabasawa, Masayuki Yamamoto, Roonie Protasius and Masaki Tanaka

Materials 2024, 17(7), 1567; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17071567 - 29 Mar 2024

Viewed by 469

Abstract

To manufacture metallic components with high wear resistance, treatments such as nitriding and carburising followed by quenching and tempering (NQT and CQT, respectively) are applied to various types of steel to increase the hardness (H) of the friction surface. However, the wear mechanism of the resulting functionally graded materials has not been fully understood. In this study, specimens of industrial 99.82% pure iron treated with NQT at 913 and 1033 K, and CQT at 1203 K, as well as hot-rolled sheets without heat treatment were examined by performing nanoindentation tests to measure changes in their H, reduced Young’s moduli (E_r), elastic deformation energies (W_e), and plastic deformation energies (W_p) along the depth direction. The relationship between W_p/W_e and the elastic strain resistance (H/E_r) can be expressed for all specimens via the equation W_p/W_e = −1.0 + 0.16 (H/E_r)⁻¹. Furthermore, the obtained H/E_r av measured at 5 µm intervals based on the specimen profile and wear volume has a good correlation depending to the sliding distance, as confirmed by the results of the ring-on-plate sliding tests conducted for the carbon-treated, nitrogen-treated, and hot-rolled specimens. This study provides a new approach, using H/E_r parameters to identify the dominant factors affecting wear resistance at the initial stage of wear that may contribute to the development of wear-resistant materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Performance Alloy and Its Nanocomposites)

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19 pages, 9411 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Numerical Simulation and Experimental Study of Cold and Hot Composite Forming of Sharp-Edged High-Strength Steel Sections

by Wenqiu Yao, Chunjing Wu and Jingtao Han

Materials 2023, 16(21), 6993; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16216993 - 31 Oct 2023

Viewed by 712

Abstract

This paper describes the use of cold and hot composite forming technology to produce pointed curtain wall profiles. An electromagnetic–temperature coupling model was constructed using ANSYS to study the temperature and electromagnetic field distribution during the forming process. Numerical simulation was used to optimize the process parameters to obtain the optimum heating parameters with a current of 4000 A, a frequency of 35 kHz, and a duration of 2 s. The accuracy of the model was also verified through experiments. The simulation results show that the use of a conductive magnet can improve the induction heating efficiency, increasing the heating frequency and the temperature peak; however, it also increases the temperature difference. Sharp-corner curtain wall profiles were successfully produced using the optimized process parameters. The temperature of the heating zone was measured using an infrared thermal imager, and the relative errors between the maximum heating temperature obtained from the simulation and the actual measured values were 5.37% and 5.02%, respectively, indicating that the finite element model performs well in terms of prediction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Performance Alloy and Its Nanocomposites)

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17 pages, 5159 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Formation of Metal-Oxide Nanocomposites with Highly Dispersed Co Particles from a Co-Zr Powder Blend by Mechanical Alloying and Hydrogen Treatment

by Ilya Yakovlev, Serguei Tikhov, Evgeny Gerasimov, Tatiana Kardash, Konstantin Valeev, Aleksei Salanov, Yurii Chesalov, Olga Lapina, Oleg Lomovskii and Dina Dudina

Materials 2023, 16(3), 1074; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16031074 - 26 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1373

Abstract

The use of metal powders produced by mechanical treatment in various fields, such as catalysis or gas absorption, is often limited by the low specific surface area of the resulting particles. One of the possible solutions for increasing the particle fineness is hydrogen treatment; however, its effect on the structure of mechanically treated powders remains unexplored. In this work, for the first time, a metal-oxide nanocomposite powder was produced by mechanical alloying (MA) in a high-energy planetary ball mill from commercial powders of Zr and Co in the atomic ratio Co:Zr = 53:47 in an inert atmosphere, followed by high-pressure hydrogenation at room temperature. The initial powders and products of alloying and hydrogenation were studied by XRD, ⁵⁹Co Internal Field NMR, SEM, and HRTEM microscopy with EDX mapping, as well as Raman spectroscopy. MA resulted in significant amorphization of the powders, as well as extensive oxidation of zirconium by water according to the so-called “Fukushima effect”. Moreover, an increase in hcp Co sites was observed. ⁵⁹Co IF NMR spectra revealed the formation of magnetically single-domain cobalt particles after hydrogenation. The crystallite sizes remained unchanged, which was not observed earlier. The pulverization of Co and an increase in hcp Co sites made this nanocomposite suitable for the synthesis of promising Fischer–Tropsch catalysts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Performance Alloy and Its Nanocomposites)

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11 pages, 2641 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hard Wear-Resistant Ti-Si-C Coatings for Cu-Cr Electrical Contacts

by Ph. Kiryukhantsev-Korneev, A. Sytchenko, D. Moskovskikh, K. Kuskov, L. Volkova, M. Poliakov, Y. Pogozhev, S. Yudin, E. Yakushko and A. Nepapushev

Materials 2023, 16(3), 936; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16030936 - 19 Jan 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1579

Abstract

In this study, hard wear-resistant Ti-Si-C coatings were deposited on Cu-Cr materials to improve their performance as sliding electrical contact materials. A ceramic disk composed of Ti₃SiC₂ and TiC phases was used as a target for DC magnetron sputtering to deposit the coatings. The influence of the power supplied to the magnetron on the chemical composition, structure, and friction coefficient of the coatings was examined. The coatings demonstrated high hardness (23–25 GPa), low wear rate (1–3 × 10⁻⁵ mm³/N/m) and electrical resistance (300 μOhm·cm), and fair resistance to electroerosion. The coating deposited at 450 W for 30 min displayed optimal properties for protecting the Cu-Cr alloy from the arc effect. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Performance Alloy and Its Nanocomposites)

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13 pages, 24276 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Microstructural Evolution and Surface Mechanical Properties of the Titanium Alloy Ti-13Nb-13Zr Subjected to Laser Shock Processing

by Jiajun Wu, Xingze Lin, Hongchao Qiao, Jibin Zhao, Wangwang Ding and Ran Zhu

Materials 2023, 16(1), 238; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16010238 - 27 Dec 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1232

Abstract

As a progressive surface-hardening technology, laser shock processing (LSP) can enhance the mechanical properties and extend fatigue life for metallic components through laser-generated high-pressure plasma shock waves. In this work, LSP was used to treat titanium alloy Ti-13Nb-13Zr experimental coupons, and the microstructural response and surface mechanical properties of the Ti-13Nb-13Zr experimental coupons were investigated. After the LSP treatment, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks were shifted without any new phase formation. The surface roughness of the experimental coupons increased, which can be explained by the LSP-induced severe plastic deformation. The LSP treatment effectively enhanced the surface compressive residual stress of Ti-13Nb-13Zr. Meanwhile, the microhardness of the Ti-13Nb-13Zr was also obviously increased after the LSP treatment. The experimental results also showed that the number of shocks times is an important factor in the improvement of surface mechanical properties. LSP treatment with multiple shocks can lead to more severe plastic deformation. The surface roughness, surface compressive residual stress and microhardness of the Ti-13Nb-13Zr experimental coupons shocked three times are higher than those after one shock. What is more, grain refinement accounts for the mechanical properties’ enhancements after the LSP treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Performance Alloy and Its Nanocomposites)

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14 pages, 12949 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Dy and Ho on the Phase Composition of the Ti-Al System Obtained by ‘Hydride Technology’

by Natalia Karakchieva, Alina Artemenko, Sergei Sokolov, Ivan Amelichkin, Alexey Knyazev, Alexander Vorozhtsov, Yuri Abzaev, Victor Sachkov and Irina Kurzina

Materials 2022, 15(23), 8584; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15238584 - 1 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1023

Abstract

The manuscript describes the phase composition, microstructure, some physical and mechanical properties of the Ti-Al system with addition of 2 at. % Dy (TAD) and Ho (TAH) obtained by “hydride technology”. Phase diagrams for Ti-Al-Dy and Ti-Al-Ho at a temperature of 1150 °C and basic properties for ternary phases Dy₆Ti₄Al₄₃ and Ho₆Ti₄Al₄₃ were calculated. A crystallographic database of stable and quasistable structures of the known elemental composition was created in the USPEX-SIESTA software by means of an evolutionary code. The calculations show that adding REM leads to a significant stabilizing effect in each Ti-Al-Me (Me = Dy, Ho) system without exception. It has been established that the lattice energies of AlTi₃Ho and AlTi₃Dy are, respectively, equal to: EAl₄Ti₁₂Dy₃ = −32,877.825 eV and EAl₄Ti₁₂Dy₃ = −31,227.561 eV. In the synthesized Ti₄₉Al₄₉Ho₂ compound, the main phases include Al-Ti, Al₃Ti₃ and Al₄Ti₁₂Ho₃ and the contributions to the theoretical intensity are equal to 44.83, 44.43 and 5.55%, respectively. Ti₄₉Al₄₉Dy₂ is dominated by the Al-Ti, Al₃Ti₃ and Al₄Ti₁₂Dy phases, whose contributions are equal to 65.04, 16.88 and 11.2%, respectively. The microhardness of TAD and TAN specimens is 1.61 ± 0.08 and 1.47 ± 0.07 GPa, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Performance Alloy and Its Nanocomposites)

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12 pages, 2588 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental and Theoretical Study of Ultra-Hard AlMgB₁₄-TiB₂ Composites: Structure, Hardness and Self-Lubricity

by Pavel Nikitin, Ilya Zhukov, Dmitrii Tkachev, Yurii Abzaev, Ekaterina Marchenko and Alexander Vorozhtsov

Materials 2022, 15(23), 8450; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15238450 - 27 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1305

Abstract

It is known that the presence of oxygen phases in hard materials leads to an undesirable decrease in the mechanical properties. In materials based on AlMgB₁₄, the main oxygen impurity is spinel MgAl₂O₄; it significantly reduces the hardness of AlMgB₁₄ and its formation during sintering is inevitable. In this work, the ultra-hard spark plasma sintered (SPSed) AlMgB₁₄-TiB₂ composite material was fabricated from the AlMgB₁₄-TiB₂ precursor obtained by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS). Due to the high synthesis temperatures, the main oxygen phase in the obtained composite was Al₄B₂O₉ instead of spinel MgAl₂O₄. It was found that the obtained composite has excellent mechanical properties. The maximum hardness of the sample is 44.1 GPa. The presence of oxygen in the form of the Al₄B₂O₉ phase led to unexpected results: the friction coefficient of the obtained AlMgB₁₄-TiB₂ composite under dry conditions against the Al₂O₃ counter-specimen is approximately four times lower than the friction coefficient of pure ceramic AlMgB₁₄ (0.18 against 0.7, respectively). Based on the observed results, it was found that the Al₄B₂O₉ particles formed during the SHS are responsible for the low friction coefficient. The quantum chemical calculations showed that the elastic moduli of Al₄B₂O₉ are significantly smaller than the elastic moduli of AlMgB₁₄ and TiB₂. Thus, during sliding, Al₄B₂O₉ particles are squeezed out onto the composite surface, form the lubricating layer and reduce the friction coefficient. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Performance Alloy and Its Nanocomposites)

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15 pages, 6715 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Phase Composition, Microstructure, Multiple Shape Memory Effect of TiNi_50−xV_x (x = 1; 2; 4 at.%) System Alloys

by Ekaterina Marchenko, Alexander Monogenov, Anatoly Klopotov, Gulsharat Baigonakova, Ekaterina Chudinova, Alexander Vorozhtsov and Sergei Sokolov

Materials 2022, 15(23), 8359; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15238359 - 24 Nov 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1188

Abstract

The phase composition, microstructure, and multiple shape memory effect of TiNi_50−xV_x alloys were studied in this work. The phase composition of the TiNi_50−xV_x system is the TiNi matrix, spherical particles of TiNiV, the secondary phase Ti₂Ni(V). Doping of TiNi alloys with vanadium atoms leads to an increase in the stability of high-temperature B2 and rhombohedral R-phases. An increase in the atomic volume with an increase in the concentration of the alloying element V from 1 to 4 at.% was established. Vanadium doping of the Ti–Ni–V system alloys leads to an increase in the temperature interval for the manifestation of the multiple shape memory effect. It has been established that the value of the reversible deformation of the multiple shape memory effect both during heating and during cooling increases linearly from 2 to 4% with an increase in the vanadium concentration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Performance Alloy and Its Nanocomposites)

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Review

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36 pages, 11021 KiB

Open AccessReview

Nano-Enhanced Phase Reinforced Magnesium Matrix Composites: A Review of the Matrix, Reinforcement, Interface Design, Properties and Potential Applications

by Jiao-Yi Ren, Guan-Cheng Ji, Hao-Rui Guo, Yu-Meng Zhou, Xin Tan, Wen-Fang Zheng, Qian Xing, Jia-Yi Zhang, Jing-Ran Sun, Hong-Yu Yang, Feng Qiu and Qi-Chuan Jiang

Materials 2024, 17(10), 2454; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17102454 - 19 May 2024

Viewed by 612

Abstract

Magnesium matrix composites are essential lightweight metal matrix composites, following aluminum matrix composites, with outstanding application prospects in automotive, aerospace lightweight and biomedical materials because of their high specific strength, low density and specific stiffness, good casting performance and rich resources. However, the inherent low plasticity and poor fatigue resistance of magnesium hamper its further application to a certain extent. Many researchers have tried many strengthening methods to improve the properties of magnesium alloys, while the relationship between wear resistance and plasticity still needs to be further improved. The nanoparticles added exhibit a good strengthening effect, especially the ceramic nanoparticles. Nanoparticle-reinforced magnesium matrix composites not only exhibit a high impact toughness, but also maintain the high strength and wear resistance of ceramic materials, effectively balancing the restriction between the strength and toughness. Therefore, this work aims to provide a review of the state of the art of research on the matrix, reinforcement, design, properties and potential applications of nano-reinforced phase-reinforced magnesium matrix composites (especially ceramic nanoparticle-reinforced ones). The conventional and potential matrices for the fabrication of magnesium matrix composites are introduced. The classification and influence of ceramic reinforcements are assessed, and the factors influencing interface bonding strength between reinforcements and matrix, regulation and design, performance and application are analyzed. Finally, the scope of future research in this field is discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Performance Alloy and Its Nanocomposites)

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