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1. Microstructural impact on flank wear during turning of various Ti-6Al-4V alloys

   Dinh Nguyena, Di Kang (May 2017, Wear)

   Titanium alloys typically do not contain hard inclusion phases typically observed in other metallic alloys. However, the characteristic scoring marks and more distinctive micro- and/or macro-chippings are ubiquitously observed on the flank faces of cutting tools in machining titanium alloys, which is the direct evidence of abrasive wear (hard phase(s) in the microstructure abrading and damaging the flank surface). Thus, an important question lies with the nature of the hard phases present in the titanium microstructure. In this work, we present a comprehensive study that examines the microstructural impact on flank wear attained by turning various Ti-6Al- 4V bars having distinct microstructures with uncoated carbide inserts. In particular, four samples with elongated, mill-annealed, solution treated & annealed and fully-lamellar microstructures were selected for our turning experiments. After turning each sample, the flank surface of each insert was observed with confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and analyzed to determine the flank wear behavior in relation to each sample' distinct microstructures. To characterize the microstructure, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) together with Orientation imaging microstructure (OIM) was used to identify and distinguish the phases present in each sample and the content and topography of each phase was correlated to the behavior of flank wear. The flank wear is also affected by the interface conditions such as temperature and pressure, which were estimated using finite element analysis (FEA) models. The temperature dependent abrasion models enable us to estimate the flank wear rate for each microstructure, and are compared with the experimentally measured wear data. 

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2. Wear Performance Evaluation of Minimum Quantity Lubrication with Exfoliated Graphite Nanoplatelets in Turning Titanium Alloy

   Nguyen, D. (May 2019, Journal of manufacturing science and engineering)

   This paper evaluates the performances of dry, minimum quantity lubrication (MQL), and MQL with nanofluid conditions in turning of the most common titanium (Ti) alloy, Ti-6Al-4 V, in a solution treated and aged (STA) microstructure. In particular, the nanofluid evaluated here is vegetable (rapeseed) oil mixed with small concentrations of exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGnPs). This paper focuses on turning process that imposes a challenging condition to apply the oil or nanofluid droplets directly onto the tribological surfaces of a cutting tool due to the uninterrupted engagement between tool and work material during cutting. A series of turning experiments was conducted with uncoated carbide inserts, while measuring the cutting forces with a dynamometer under the dry, MQL and MQL with nanofluid conditions supplying oil droplets externally from our MQL device. The inserts are retrieved intermittently to measure the progress of flank and crater wear using a confocal microscopy. This preliminary experimental result shows that MQL and in particular MQL with the nanofluid significantly improve the machinability of Ti alloys even in turning process. However, to attain the best performance, the MQL conditions such as nozzle orientation and the concentration of xGnP must be optimized. 

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3. Hydroxyapatite reinforced Ti6Al4V composites for load-bearing implants

   https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2020.12.060  

   Avila, Jose; Stenberg, Kevin; Bose, Susmita; Bandyopadhyay, Amit (March 2021, Acta biomaterialia)

   null (Ed.)

   Titanium has been used in various biomedical applications; however, titanium exhibits poor wear resistance, and its bioinert surface slows osseointegration in vivo. In this study, directed energy deposition (DED)-based additive manufacturing (AM) was used to process hydroxyapatite (HA) reinforced Ti6Al4V (Ti64) composites to improve biocompatibility and wear resistance simultaneously. Electron micrographs of the composites revealed dense microstructures where HA is observed at the β-phase grain boundaries. Hardness was observed to increase by 57% and 71% for 2 and 3 wt.% HA in Ti64 composites, respectively. XRD analysis revealed no change in the present phases. Tribological studies revealed an increase in contact resistance due to in situ HA-based tribofilm formation, reduction in wear rate when testing in DMEM with a ZrO2 counter wear ball, ˂1% wear ball volume loss, and suppression of cohesive failure of the Ti matrix. Histomorphometric analysis from a rat distal femur study revealed an increase in the osteoid surface over the bone surface (OS/BS) for 3 wt.% HA composite over the control Ti64 from 9 ± 1% to 14 ± 1%. Shear modulus was also observed to increase from 17 ± 3 MPa for control Ti64 to 32 ± 5 MPa for the 3 wt.% HA composite after 5 weeks. Our study demonstrates that the addition of HA in Ti64 can simultaneously improve bone tissue-implant response and wear resistance. 

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4. Effect of γ forming element additions on the homogenization behavior and formation of hierarchical microstructures in Ni-based superalloys

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2023.172929  

   Huang, Mingshuai; Ma, Yiqin; Wu, Yuan; Zheng, Weiwei; Pavel, Michael J; Weaver, Mark L; Meng, Wenxing; Long, Yan; Ngai, Sieglind; Wang, Xiaojian; et al (February 2024, Journal of Alloys and Compounds)

   Here, we study the homogenization behavior and microstructure of seven Ni-Al-Ti alloys with quaternary additions of γ forming elements 4Cr, 4Co, 4Ru, 4Mo, 4Hf, 4 W and 2Re. To design a homogenization treatment, the as-cast microstructure is analyzed revealing the diffusion distances x between dendrite cores and interdendritic regions. The temperatures for homogenization are determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Thermo-Calc simulations, to be between 1150 and 1275 °C. The time to achieve homogenization is modelled based on the residual segregation index δ utilizing diffusion distance, homogenization temperature and diffusion data. Electron probe micro analyzer (EPMA) measurements show that our predictions match for the 4Cr, 4Co, 4Ru, 4 W and 2Re alloys while the 4Hf alloy shows insufficient homogenization. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveals a two-phase γ/γ’ microstructure after 750 °C / 24 h, whereby the 4Co and 4Ru alloys form hierarchical microstructures. We observe γ plates in the 4Co alloy and γ spheres in the 4Ru alloy. Ru in the 4Ru alloy is involved in stabilizing the morphology of γ spheres. We provide a straightforward method for the design of homogenization treatments of Ni-based superalloys and demonstrate an alloy design pathway for tailoring the phase stability of hierarchical microstructures. 

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5. Thermo-mechanical behavior of hypoeutectic Ni-Y-Zr alloys

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2024.108410  

   Sharma, Shruti; Sharma, Saurabh; Moehring, Samuel; Park, Jun-Sang; Solanki, Kiran; Peralta, Pedro (March 2024, Materials Today Communications)

   Microstructure refinement and optimized alloying can improve metallic alloy performance: stable nanocrystalline (NC) alloys with immiscible second phases, e.g., Cu-Ta, are stronger than unstable NC alloys and their coarse-grained (CG) counterparts, but higher melting point matrices are needed. Hypoeutectic, CG Ni-Y-Zr alloys were produced via arc-melting to explore their potential as high-performance materials. Microstructures were studied to determine phases present, local composition and length scales, while heat treatments allowed investigating microstructural stability. Alloys had a stable, hierarchical microstructure with ~250 nm ultrafine eutectic, ~10 µm dendritic arm spacing and ~1 mm grain size. Hardness and uniaxial compression tests revealed that mechanical properties of Ni-0.5Y-1.8Zr (in wt%) were comparable to Inconel 617 despite the small alloying additions, due to its hierarchical microstructure. Uniaxial compression at 600 °C showed that ternary alloys outperformed Ni-Zr and Ni-Y binary alloys in flow stress and hardening rates, which indicates that the Ni17Y2 phase was an effective reinforcement for the eutectic, which supplemented the matrix hardening due to increased solubility of Zr. Results suggest that ternary Ni-Y-Zr alloys hold significant promise for high temperature applications. 

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