Non-ferrous Materials Research Articles

Ultrasonic Testing of Non-ferrous Materials in the Foundry Industry

Article deals with ultrasonic testing of the casting. It focuses on the problems that arise when testing of castings is made of non-ferrous metals. Theoretical introduction of article is dedicated to the most common types of casting defects and selecting technology for their reliable identification. The impact of the large anisotropic grain casting to propagate and attenuation of ultrasound it describes in theory. The examples of practical testing of Cu-alloy casting are presented in experimental part. Modern tools for simulation of ultrasound propagation in testing material were used for the correct setting techniques of UT testing as well as for the evaluation of the measurement results. Conventional direct contact ultrasound probe with frequencies of 5 MHz, 3.5 MHz and 2 MHz were used for all measurements. The results of experimental measurements referred in this article are recommendations for selecting equipment and accessories for casting testing made of non-ferrous metals.

Focus on microscopy and photonics

Focus on microscopy and photonics

Revisiting Arc, Metal Flow Behavior in Flux Activated Tungsten Inert Gas Welding

Tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding is commonly used for quality joining of ferrous and non-ferrous materials. But lower depth of penetration is one major shortcoming of TIG and more numbers of passes are required for thick plate joining. Use of activated flux layer on workpiece remarkably enhances penetration. In the present work, arc and metal flow behavior are studied to revisit and validate the presence and role of governing forces responsible for higher penetration in flux activated TIG (ATIG) welding. Arc behavior, material flow patterns are studied during conventional and activated TIG welding for AISI 304 stainless steel using four different activated fluxes by carrying out welding (when arc is moving) as well as keeping the arc halted (stationary arc) for all cases. Results clearly demonstrate the presence of electromagnetic Lorentz force and surface tension induced reverse Marangoni flow (strongly centripetal). These forces also push the metal flow downward near the center region of the molten pool and in many occasions penetration reaches beyond plate thickness in ATIG welding.

Effect of process parameters on toughness and metallurgical behaviour during uniaxial automatic gas metal arc welding of austenitic stainless steel AISI 316

Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) is extensively used for joining of different graded steels as well as aluminium and other nonferrous materials. GMAW offers clean welding with low defects without using flux and suitable for different positional welding. In the present work, a fabricated automatic movement setup is used for GMAW to study the influences of four different process parameters during joining of austenitic stainless steel AISI 316 using AISI 304 (ER304) filler wire. With this setup, welding is carried out maintaining a constant contact tube-to-workpiece (CTW) distance and uniform heat input. Experimental results and subsequent analysis show that the toughness is most significantly influenced by voltage followed by welding speed, gas flow rate, and current. Toughness reduces with the increase in shielding gas flow rate and welding speed as austenite and traces of retained delta ferrite may be present due to high solidification rate. Metallurgical observations by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy indicate that solidification mode is mainly characterized by formation of fully austenite or austenite and ferrite at cell and dendritic boundaries. XRD results revealed that higher toughness is observed due to minimum formation of carbides.

Clinching - An Innovative Trend in Joining of Combined Materials in Car Body Production

Various ferrous and non-ferrous materials and their combinations are used in car body production in automotive industry. The most commonly used method for joining the materials is resistance spot welding. Some materials or combinations of materials are very difficult or impossible to join by resistance spot welding. Therefore, car producers are seeking for alternative joining methods. One of the innovative joining alternatives is clinching. The paper presents the results of evaluation of clinched joint properties. The high-strength dual-phase steel sheet DP600 in combination with the drawing grade steel sheets DC06, DX53D+Z and DX51D+Z were used for experiments. The influence of position of the sheets relative to the punch and die of the tool on the carrying capacities of the clinched joints was observed as well. The tension test and metallographical analysis were used for the evaluation of clinched joint properties.

Automated Green Sorting Device for Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Material Wastes Using Eddy Current Technique

This project is to design an automated green sorting device that can be used to recognize, differentiate and separate between ferrous and non-ferrous materials, as well as to perform transferring of the mentioned materials. In particular, the technique of separation is using magnetic and Eddy-current concept. Eddy-current is generated on a conductor when the conductor is placed in a magnetic field. These Eddy-currents circulate such a way that they induce their own magnetic field and causing a repulsive force (Eddy force). The analysis done is to analyzed the maximum Eddy force generated to the non-ferrous materials when the materials coming close to the Eddy-current roller. The focused parameters in this analysis are a gap distance between magnet to magnet and a gap distance between magnet to material. The results show this sorting device is completely sort the mix materials (ferrous and non-ferrous materials) up to 90% of consistency.

Machining Performance Study of a New Palm Oil Based Bio-Product Industrial Wax

Machining can be performed on virtually all solid materials even though the term commonly applies to the cutting of metals, alloys, plastics and woods. Machining is a mechanical process where excess material from a work piece can be removed by cutting action to produce a part of specified geometrical shape and surface finish. In this research we will analyze and investigate whether there is a possibility to use the palm oil based bio wax material for machining applications. At the moment different ferrous, non-ferrous materials and industrial blue wax have been used for prototype models, training purpose by different industries, educational and training organizations. However the price of such material is very expensive. Hence an attempt is made to substitute these material by the palm oil based bio wax produced in Malaysia. With it, engineers can generate prototype to evaluate even minor design changes without breaking the budget. To the best of researcher’s knowledge, no previous work has been carried out nationally or worldwide on the use of palm oil based bio wax material in the manufacture of a strong industrial wax. This research work gives the approaches taken in this direction.

Characteristics of deposited boron doping diamond on tungsten carbide insert by MPECVD

Diamond-coated cutting tools are used primarily for machining non-ferrous materials such as aluminum–silicon alloys, copper alloys, fiber-reinforced polymers, green ceramics and graphite. Because the tool life of cemented carbide cutting tool is greatly improved by diamond coating, and typically more than 10 times of the tool life is obtained. However, research of boron-doped diamond (BDD) coating tool has not been fully researched yet. In this study, we have succeeded to make boron-doped microcrystalline and nanocrystalline diamond-coated Co -cemented tungsten carbide (WC– Co ) inserts. Microcrystalline BDD thin film is deposited on WC– Co insert by using microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MPECVD) method. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy are used to characterize the as-deposited diamond films.1,2

Investigation on Effect of Material Hardness in High Speed CNC End Milling Process

This research paper analyzes the effects of material properties on surface roughness, material removal rate, and tool wear on high speed CNC end milling process with various ferrous and nonferrous materials. The challenge of material specific decision on the process parameters of spindle speed, feed rate, depth of cut, coolant flow rate, cutting tool material, and type of coating for the cutting tool for required quality and quantity of production is addressed. Generally, decision made by the operator on floor is based on suggested values of the tool manufacturer or by trial and error method. This paper describes effect of various parameters on the surface roughness characteristics of the precision machining part. The prediction method suggested is based on various experimental analysis of parameters in different compositions of input conditions which would benefit the industry on standardization of high speed CNC end milling processes. The results show a basis for selection of parameters to get better results of surface roughness values as predicted by the case study results.

Laser Peening to Improve Fatigue Strength and Lifetime of Critical Components

Fatigue failure is typically driven by component geometric requirements that result in local areas of high tensile loading stress. Within this paper we discuss the deep protective stress generated by laser peening and show examples of using a newly developed finite element predictive strain and stress tool that accurately models laser peening. The analysis tool and robust process enable the accurate engineering of local compressive stress into critical areas of diverse/all(?) ferrous and non-ferrous materials in a well-defined manner that significantly improves fatigue life and strength. This capability opens the potential for advanced designs with increased performance, enhanced reliability and reduced system weight.

Gas Metal arc Pulse Welding with Alternating Current for Lightweight Materials

So-called heat-reduced arc welding processes dominate the joining technology in the automotive sector today. They offer the advantage to reduce deformation of thin walled plates. Also, metallurgy and material properties are affected decisively. Based on the present state of the art in power-controlled gas metal arc welding (GMAW) this paper present the developing of a welding process, that allows a quasi-decoupling of the energy input between filler metal and base material. This is being realized by a polarity reversal. In conjunction with pulse control and the specific adjustment of the pulse a significant improvement of the arc stability can be achieved. This applies particularly to non-ferrous materials tending to concentrate oxygen on its surface like aluminum, magnesium and their combinations, respectively. Especially it is possible to control the deposition rate, welding formation and bonding conditions between base material and filler metal. Furthermore spatter can be reduced and manufacturing time can be saved. The present investigation includes the comparison between various modern GMAW processes, such as ColdMIG®, CMT® and short arc, with the pulsed GMAW using alternating current (AC) for welding aluminum. Thereby, mainly the penetration depending on the heat input is taken into account. It can be noted that the AC pulsed GMAW process produces weld seams of the same quality as well-known processes in matters of height and width of the joint. The generated welds have low notches at the edge of the seam and a uniform weld scaling. Visual imperfections on the surface have not been detected.

An experimental investigation of rapid castings produced by ZCast direct metal casting process using the Taguchi method

ZCast direct metal casting is one of the potential rapid casting solutions developed by using additive manufacturing technology. Based on three dimensional printing, ZCast process is used for the production of pattern-less shell moulds for casting of non-ferrous materials directly from the CAD data. This paper presents a statistical analysis of ZCast process in order to experimentally investigate (using Taguchi's method) the contribution of factors such as volume of casting, pouring temperature of different materials and shell wall thickness on the dimensional accuracy (deviation in outer diameter) of the obtained castings. The results were analysed using signal-to-noise ratio and analysis of variance. It was found that only one factor (pouring temperature of different materials) has a significant effect on the deviation in outer diameter of the casting and its percentage of contribution was found to be 73.06%. The factors such as volume of the component and shell wall thickness were found insignificant.

A study on the welding conditions that affect thermal deformation and mechanical property of Al 5083 non-ferrous alloy for eco-environmental leisure ships

As a considerable, experimental approach, an autocarriage type of CO₂ welding machine and a MIG(metal inert gas) welding robot in the inert gas atmosphere were utilized in order to realize Al 5083 welding to hull and relevant components of green leisure ships. This study aims at investigating the effect of welding conditions(current, voltage, welding speed, etc.) on thermal deformation that occurs as welding operation and tensile characteristics after welding, by using Al 5083, nonferrous material, applied to manufacturing of eco-environmental leisure ships. With respect to welding condition to minimize the thermal deformation, 150 A and 16 V at the wire-feed rate of 6 mm/sec were acquired in the process of welding Al 5083 through an auto carriage type of CO₂ welding feeder. As to tensile characteristics of Al 5083 welding through a MIG welding robot, most of tensile specimens showed the fracture behavior on HAZ(heat affected zone) located at the area joined with weld metal, except for some cases. Especially, for the case of the Al specimen with 5 mm thickness, 284.62 MPa of tensile strength and 11.41 % of elongation were obtained as an actual allowable tensile stress-strain value. Mostly, after acquiring the optimum welding condition, the relevant welding data and technical requirements might be provided for actual welding operation site and welding procedure specification (WPS).

Measurement of the loss factor and the Young’s modulus in acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and Polymethyl Methacrylate by using an acoustic wave generator

Loss factor and Young’s modulus are the fundamental mechanical properties of the materials used in vibration control. In conventional method, in order to determine the both quantities, an electromagnetic device was generally used to excite ferrous specimens. Therefore, nonferrous specimens should be attached to conductive materials to be excited, which give fundamental errors due to the mass adding effect. In this paper, for improving measurement accuracy of loss factor and Young’s modulus of nonferrous specimens, an alternative method using an acoustic wave generator has been proposed and realized. For feasibility test, an ABS and a PMMA specimen were chosen as measurement targets of nonferrous materials. They were measured successfully using the proposed method in the temperature ranges from −10°C to 60°C. The damping behaviors also could be observed; the rubber-like state for the ABS specimen and the transition-state for the PMMA specimen.

Study on Magnetic Abrasive Finishing of Brass Rods Using SiC-Based Abrasives

Magnetic Abrasive Finishing (MAF) process is one of the advanced machining processes for finishing non-ferrous materials, in which the cutting force is controlled by input current to the magnetic coils. MAF set-up was designed and mounted on the lathe machine for finishing CuZn37 brass rods. Effect of different process parameters (current, rotational speed and percentage composition of abrasives) is evaluated by using Taguchi experimental design and further the most critical parameter for finishing CuZn37 is determined by using MINITAB software. The results along with observations are discussed in detail in the present study. Based upon the results, circumferential speed of the workpiece is very useful parameter in improving the surface roughness. The change in surface roughness increases by increasing circumferential speed in magnetic abrasive finishing process

Mechanical Joining of Steel Sheets in Automotive Industry

Various ferrous and non-ferrous materials and their combinations are used in car body production in automotive industry. These materials need to fulfil several criteria before being approved. Some of the criteria are the results of regulation and legislation with the environmental and safety concerns and some are the requirements of the customers. In many occasions different factors are conflicting and therefore a successful design would only be possible through an optimized and balanced solution. The most commonly used method for joining the materials is resistance spot welding. Some materials or their combinations are very difficult or even impossible to join by resistance spot welding. Therefore, the car producers are seeking for alternative joining methods such as cold metal transfer, TOPTIG or mechanical joining. The paper deals with evaluation of properties of the joints made by two methods of mechanical joining - clinching and clinch-riveting. The steel sheets of DX51D+Z, H220PD and DC06 were used for experiments. The tensile test for observing the carrying capacity, metallographicall analysis and microhardness test were used for the evaluation of joints properties.

Analysis and Optimization of Process Parameters of Abrasive Flow Machining Process for Super Finishing of Non-Ferrous Material Nozzle

This paper deals with the improving lay of finish and the superfinishing of the nozzles which is used in plasma cutting operation. This is basically alternative solution to present finish obtained by turning, drilling and reaming of the profiled bores and orifices. The advance micromachining process were developed, known as Abrasive Flow Machining (AFM) which is capable to altering the orifice (nozzle of plasma cutting machines) so that present process is to be improved without altering the geometry of the component. The effects of different process parameters such as number of cycles, concentration of abrasive, abrasive mesh size and media flow speed, surface finish are studied here. The design of the experiments 16(24) provides two levels for each variable. These levels are taken into consideration for finding out the effect of variation of parameters on the surface roughness of the copper orifice. The objective of paper is to learn how each parameter is considered for Abrasive Flow Machining such as: abrasive concentration in media, number of cycles, abrasive mesh size and media flow speed affects the surface roughness of copper orifice also to find out the mathematical relationship between surface roughness value and process parameters. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for the experimental data has been carried out and optimizations of abrasive flow machining process parameters were done. Also Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) done here for selecting hierarchy process parameter .Capabilities of the machine ultimately improved with the new technology developed.

Adhesion of poly(m-, p-phenylene isophtalamide) coatings to metal substrates

Abstract The adhesive properties of wear-resistant poly(m-, p-phenylene isophtalamide) coatings to substrates of ferrous and non-ferrous metal materials which are the most common in mechanical engineering were investigated experimentally. The results of measurements of adhesive characteristics taken with the help of such methods as a cross cutting test, a quantitative peel test, a lap shear strength test, a contact angle test and a spreading radius test are discussed in terms of the three most common mechanisms of adhesion: mechanical coupling, molecular bonding, and thermodynamic adhesion. It was established that the adhesive properties of poly(m-, p-phenylene isophtalamide) coatings depend on the content of a ferrite component in the structure of carbon steel substrates.

An Analysis of Intermetallic Bonding between a Ring Carrier and an Aluminum Piston Alloy

This paper presents the results of an analysis of the formation of an intermetallic bond between a ring carrier and an aluminum piston alloy. The ring carrier is made of austenitic cast iron (NiResist) to increase the wear resistance of the first ring groove and is applied in highly loaded diesel engines. The most important thing is that the Ni-Resist (ferrous) must be bonded with a non-ferrous piston material during the casting of the piston. A metallographic investigation using an optical microscope in combination with the SEM/EDS analysis of the quality of the intermetallic bonding layer was done. The test results show that if the proper conditions are met, then the preparation of the ring carrier can be made successfully, as can the formation of the metal connection between the two materials of different qualities.

Characterization of sex-based differences in the mechanical properties of human finger glabrous tissue using a fiberoptic sensor

TAC-Cell is a custom-built somatosensory stimulator that delivers pneumatic cutaneous tactile inputs to virtually any skin target on the body and by virtue of its non-ferrous materials is compatible with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain scanners. In this study, we describe the method to measure apparent skin displacement induced by TAC-Cell stimulation of the glabrous surface of the distal phalanx of the index finger. Specifically, we studied the effect of four servo controller input voltages (0.4V–1.0V) on resultant skin displacement among eighteen, neurotypical adult male and female participants. A fiberoptic displacement sensor, commonly used in industrial applications, was coupled to the TAC-Cell to measure the glabrous skin׳s kinematic response to different stimulus amplitudes. Skin displacement was significantly dependent on stimulus amplitudes and sex (p<0.0001). Power spectrum and kinematic analysis of skin displacement showed that the pneumatic TAC-Cell stimulus consists of a spectrally rich, high velocity signal. In related work, we have shown that this dynamic pneumocutaneous stimulus is highly effective in evoking a cortical brain response for neurodiagnostic applications and somatosensory pathway analysis in health and disease.