This paper presents the characterization of a secondary cone crusher concave liner made of Hadfield steel used in Chilean mining after crushing copper minerals during all service life. During use, a cone crusher concave liner suffers indentation (cold working) and abrasion; this combination provides the concave with a layer that constantly renews itself, maintaining a surface highly resistant to abrasive wear. The results presented here were obtained using optical microscopy, microhardness test, measuring abrasion using the dry sand/rubber wheel apparatus, and x-ray diffraction peaks analysis through the classic Williamson–Hall method. After analysis of results, two hardened surfaces have been found—one a product of heat treatment and the other due to deformation during use. This work proposes ways to explain them; the first one uses a thermodynamic model to calculate stacking fault energy, and the second compares the liner with cold-rolled samples.

The effect of the application of forced convection during the continuous solidification of Al-Si alloys has been presented in this work. The investigation has been made on the hypothesis that as an alloy solidifies under the action of a rotating magnetic field, a nondendritic casting structure would be obtained. The Al-Si alloy has been studied in its three different states (original, modified, and modified with a grain refiner), using a magnetic stirring equipment with permanent magnets, a device that has allowed the study of the effect of the rotational speed (degree of stirring) on the micro- and macro- solidification structure, as well as on the material’s mechanical properties. With the purpose of validating the hypothesis, different analyses and tests have been carried out, such as thermal analysis of the solidification process, micro- and macrostructural analysis, and hardness measurements for the different process conditions studied. The results have shown that magnetic stirring affects the cooling curves, expanding the solidification range. A microstructural evolution of the alloys has also been observed, from a 100% dendritic structure to a mature rosette type structure, in addition to a notable decreasing of grain size, which results in the improvement of the material’s mechanical behavior.

This article investigated the influence of copper (Cu) and nickel (Ni) on atmospheric corrosion in gray cast iron under simulated marine conditions. The goal was to compare the effect of Cu and Ni addition in castings with weathering steels. Selected alloys were cast, cut, prepared, and heat-treated for microstructure homogenization. Accelerated corrosion tests were conducted using a salt spray chamber. Corroded samples were analyzed for corrosion thickness and deposits using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electrochemical techniques. The results indicate that alloying elements significantly affect corrosion processes. In the long-term, Cu had a greater impact on the corrosion mechanisms than Ni. Both Cu and Ni exhibited similar effects on the corrosion mechanisms in gray cast iron and weathering steels. In the initial and final stages, the behavior was comparable to that of weathering steels, but in the intermediate stage, it differed from the literature, suggesting the presence of an additional mechanism between these stages.

Durante la realización de este trabajo se aunaron las fuerzas de dos empresas, una siderúrgica que es la proveedora del alambrón y la segunda es la que fabrica la soldadura en rollos continuos AWS 70S-6, fabricado básicamente en dos etapas trefilación en seco, que consta de 9 hileras aplicando reducciones desde los 6 mm hasta los 1.73 mm y en húmedo (10 hileras) desde los 1.73 mm hasta 0.8 mm, sin tratamiento térmico intermedio. La motivación es de poder utilizar la capacidad instalada de la planta que es de 1000 Ton/mes, previo a este trabajo la productividad es cercana a 600ton/mes. Esta baja en la productividad se atribuye principalmente a los cortes que ocurren durante el proceso de trefilado en húmedo que entorpecen la continuidad de la operación. Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo, la disminución de cortes en la etapa de trefilación en húmedo, mediante la modificación de la distribución de las tasas de reducción en trefilado en seco, minimizando los esfuerzos de trefilación y obteniendo un alambre trefilado en seco con menor límite de fluencia, esto debe repercutir en una disminución en los cortes por trefilación en el trefilado en húmedo y en consecuencia aumentar la productividad de la planta. Tras la propuesta de modificación en la distribución, se realizó una prueba industrial en la que se observó una disminución en los cortes por trefilación en húmedo y un aumento de la productividad de la planta, sumado a una disminución del consumo de hileras.

Debido a los extensos tiempos que conllevan los estudios relativos a resistencia a la corrosión atmosférica, estos datos son escasos. Uno de estos, es el realizado por Southwell et al., en el que se estudió el efecto de la corrosión durante 16 años para una fundición gris en una diversidad de ambientes.