A flake is a crack that is induced by trapped hydrogen within steel. To study its formation mechanism, previous studies mostly focused on the formation process and magnitude of hydrogen pressure in hydrogen traps such as cavities and cracks. However, according to recent studies, the hydrogen leads to the decline of the mechanical properties of steel, which is known as hydrogen embrittlement, is another reason for flake formation. In addition, the phenomenon of stress induced hydrogen uphill diffusion should not be neglected. All of the three behaviors are at work simultaneously. In order to further explore the formation mechanism of flakes in steel, the process of flake initiation and growth were studied with the following three coupling factors: trap hydrogen pressure, hydrogen embrittlement, and stress induced hydrogen re-distribution. The analysis model was established using the finite element method, and a crack whose radius is 0.5 mm was set in its center. The cohesive method and Bilinear Traction Separate Law (BTSL) were used to address the coupling effect. The results show that trap hydrogen pressure is the main driving force for flake formation. After the high hydrogen pressure was generated around the trap, a stress field formed. In addition, the trap is the center of stress concentration. Then, hydrogen is concentrated in a distribution around this trap, and most of the steel mechanical properties are reduced. The trap size is a key factor for defining the critical hydrogen content for flake formation and propagation. However, when the trap size exceeds the specified value, the critical hydrogen content does not change any more. As for the crack whose radius is 0.5 mm, the critical hydrogen content of Cr5VMo steel is 2.2 ppm, which is much closer to the maximum safe hydrogen concentration of 2.0 ppm used in China. The work presented in this article increases our understanding of flake formation and propagation mechanisms in steel.

Vibrating flip-flow screens (VFFSs) provide an effective solution for deeply screening moist and fine-grained minerals, and an accurate dynamic model of VFFSs is critical for its dynamic analysis and optimization, thereby improving the vibration stability and symmetry of VFFSs. In this paper, uniaxial tension, uniaxial compression, plane tension, and shear stress relaxation experiments were conducted on screen panel samples to illustrate that the third-order Ogden model and the generalized Maxwell model can accurately describe the hyperelasticity and viscoelasticity of screen panels. Then, the coupling method of finite element and discrete element was adopted to establish the simulation model of the screen panel and material group coupling system, and the dynamics of the coupling system under different loading conditions were explored. Finally, the dynamic model of the coupling system of VFFSs mass, screen panel, and material group was proposed, and the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II was applied to optimize the system’s dynamic response. The results reveal that the use of optimized shear springs can reduce the relative amplitude change rate of the main and floating screen frame by 44.30% while maintaining the periodic motion of the VFFSs under operation conditions, greatly enhancing the stability of the VFFSs system.

A novel upsetting method, called Cone End Billet Upsetting (CEBU), is proposed in this paper to control bulging during the upsetting of large height-to-diameter ratio (LHDR) billets. This new upsetting method is mainly characterized by prefabricating a conical shape at the billet end, which aims to reduce the friction effect between the billet end and the anvil. In order to validate CEBU, the metal flow characteristics during upsetting of LHDR billets with traditional upsetting (TU) and CEBU were analyzed and compared by the finite element method. Experiments were also carried out to examine the deformation characteristics and microstructure of pure copper samples. The results show that, compared with TU, CEBU has a great advantage in restraining bulging and enhancing the compaction effect of upsetting. Meanwhile, bulging can be eliminated in CEBU with a 50% reduction ratio. In addition, aided by the cone end, the metal flow is no longer sensitive to the friction effect at the billet end. From the point of view of restraining bulging, a small taper angle is necessary prior to use. Furthermore, to avoid instability deformation, the height-to-diameter ratio of the billet should be below 3.0. CEBU is effective in suppressing the generation of bulging, but it also increases the pre-forming process for the end of the billet. The study on CEBU in this article is under laboratory conditions, and exploring the industrial application of CEBU will be the focus of our future research.