Inconel 625 is a nickel-based alloy that is mainly used in high-temperature applications. Inconel 625 exhibits an unstable plastic flow at elevated temperatures characterized by serrated yielding, well-known as the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect. The evaluation of the mechanical properties of Inconel 625 at high temperatures is the aim of this work. The tensile tests were executed in temperatures ranging from room temperature to 1000 °C with strain rates of 2 × 10−4 to 2 × 10−3 s−1. The creep tests were executed in the temperature range of 600–700 °C and in the stress range of 500–600 MPa in a constant load mode. The optical and scanning electron microscopes were used for surface fracture observation. In the curves obtained at 200–700 °C the serrated stress-strain behavior was observed, which was related to the dynamic strain aging effect. The yield strength and the elongation values show anomalous behavior as a function of the test temperature. An intergranular cracking was observed for a specimen tensile tested at 500 °C that can be attributed to the decohesion of the carbides along the grain boundaries. The fracture surface of the specimen tensile tested at 700 °C showed the predominance of transgranular cracking with tear dimples with a parabolic shape.
1 November 2020 in Journal of Materials Research and Technology
This work aimed to enhance the creep resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy treated by plasma nitriding. The nitriding was performed on specimens with a Widmanstätten microstructure for four hours at 690 °C under a gas atmosphere containing Ar:N2:H2 (0.455:0.455:0.090). X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the ε-Ti2N and δ-TiN formed on the nitrided sample, in addition to the α-Ti and β-Ti matrix phases. The layer thickness of this sample was about 1 µm. Hot tensile tests were performed in the temperature range of 500 to 700 °C on nitrided and non-nitrided samples, which indicated an increased strength of the nitrided samples. The same temperature range was used for the creep tests in a stress range of 125 to 319 MPa. The plasma-nitrided samples exhibited better creep resistance when compared to the untreated samples. This result was demonstrated by the decreased secondary creep rate and the increased final creep time. This improvement in the creep resistance appeared to be associated with the formation of the nitrided layer, which worked as a barrier to oxygen diffusion into the material and due to the formation of a surface residual compressive stress.
The Ti-6Al-4V alloy is widely used in the manufacture of components that must have low density and high corrosion resistance and fatigue strength. The fatigue strength can be improved by surface modification. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of plasma nitriding on the fatigue behavior of a Ti-6Al-4V alloy with a lamellar microstructure (Widmanstätten type). Nitriding was executed at 720 °C for 4 h in an atmosphere with N2, Ar, and H2. Microstructure characterization of the samples was carried out by X-ray diffraction analysis, optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The average roughness of the specimens was determined, and fatigue tests were executed in a bending–rotating machine with reverse tension cycles (R = −1). X-ray diffraction analysis of the nitrided alloy revealed the following matrix phases: α, β, ε-Ti2N, and δ-TiN. A nitrogen diffusion layer was formed between the substrate and the titanium nitrides. Plasma nitriding resulted in an increase in low-cycle fatigue strength, whereas at high cycles of 200 MPa, both conditions exhibited similar behaviors. The fracture surface of the fatigue-tested specimens clearly revealed the lamellar microstructure. The fracture mechanism in the non-nitrided specimens appears to be due to cracking at the interface of the α and β phases of the lamellar microstructure.
Aluminum beverage cans should have very specific crystallographic textures to increase productivity, reduce losses and reduce the amount of material. The present work seeks to add information on the crystallographic texture of aluminum alloy 3104 H-19 during the different manufacturing steps, which undergoes a flat sheet of metal for a cylindrical body. The work scope encompasses from the cup drawing to the final ironing operation and its objective is to add information on the texture evolution of the aluminum alloy undergoes in the intermediary steps. Crystallographic texture continues to change from the drawn cup through the ironing stages. This rotation is assumed to be a grain alignment with the plastic flow of the material.