Metallurgy Commons^™

Ijmc/Fef Student Research Competition: Understanding The Effect Of Boron On Graphite Nodularity And Distribution In Ductile Iron Castings, Chase Schroeder, Colleen Lehrer, Simon Lekakh, Laura Bartlett

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Ductile iron is renowned for its superior mechanical properties, higher strength, and ductility, combined with excellent castability and the economy of using a scrap melting process. The matrix structure as well as morphology and distribution of graphite nodules significantly influences mechanical properties of as-cast ductile iron. Boron contamination of the scrap supply has presented some difficulties in controlling the microstructure and mechanical properties of certain gray and ductile iron grades. In the current study, the effect of boron levels up to 95 ppm was determined on graphite nodularity and distribution in as-cast ductile iron castings as a function of section …

Mechanisms Of Dendritic Shorting In Lithium Metal Batteries With Li7la3zr2o12 Solid Electrolytes, Lukas Karapin-Springorum

Pomona Senior Theses

Energy storage will play a crucial role in efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. Lithium metal batteries using solid electrolytes like Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ have higher energy density than lithium-ion batteries, which may enable a more rapid and complete electrification of transportation. However, lithium metal batteries suffer from undesirable short-circuiting when metallic lithium deposits connect the two electrodes. It has been debated whether these lithium dendrites generally grow directionally from the anode or are generated by the reduction of lithium ions inside the solid electrolyte, …

B(C₆F₅)₃ Co-Catalyst Promotes Unconventional Halide Abstraction From Grubbs I To Enhance Reactivity And Limit Decomposition, Austin W. Medley, Diya Patel, Calvin Utne, Trandon A. Bender

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Ruthenium based Grubbs metathesis has become a commonplace reaction for synthetic chemists. Development of new generations of catalysts evolving from Grubbs I (GI) have led to greater stability, functional group compatibility, and superior reactivities. However, these advancements lead to increased costs. To this end, we report here how the addition of the commercially available tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane Lewis acid, which has become a common place catalyst in its own right, leads to enhanced reactivity of GI. Moreover, the increased reactivity arises via halide abstraction rather than traditional phosphine dissociation, providing ring-opening metathesis polymerization products that are divergent from those synthesized without the …

The Characterization And Nanomechanical Properties Of Microstructurally Complex Systems, Kerry Ann Baker

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Since the dawn of civilization, the use of metals has played an integral role in the evolution of human society. Over the years, and with the introduction of new engineering and science, we have learned how to combine metals to create new metallic systems. We have expanded our understanding of dealloying and chemical reactions, and, in doing so, we created nanoporous metals. Our use of metals has evolved from basic alloys such as bronze and steel to more complex alloys such as multi-principal element alloys. Nanoporous gold is an advanced metallic system that can be created through the dealloying process. …

Advancing Combinatorial Screening Of Refractory High Entropy Alloys Through Intrinsic Ductility Assessment Via Thin Film Fragmentation Testing, Taohid Bin Nur Tuhser

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

High Entropy Alloys (HEAs), also known as Multiprincipal Element Alloys (MPEAs), represent a paradigm shift in alloy design. Unlike traditional practices that limit compositions to the edges of phase diagrams, HEAs exploit equiatomic mixing of five or more elements at the center of phase diagrams to maximize configurational entropy. This unconventional approach exponentially expands the spectrum of potential alloy compositions, rendering conventional experimental methods inadequate for exploring this extensive compositional space.

In response to these challenges, the scientific community has shown a growing interest in high-throughput techniques, encompassing both computational and experimental domains. Particularly, Refractory High Entropy Alloys (RHEAs) have …

Microstructural Investigation Of The Influence Of Geometry On The Mechanical Reliability Of Additively Manufactured Metals, Tracy Connor Varney

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

The adoption of additive manufacturing across a wide range of fields is ever-increasing, allowing for solutions that were previously impossible to achieve. This dissertation demonstrates the wide range of macro- and micro- characterization techniques used to investigate several precipitation strengthened AM alloy systems. While AM allows for nearly unlimited design freedom, this brings along its own issues as the interplay between scan strategy and part geometry is less well known. In this work, a novel thin-wall dogbone geometry was utilized to study one type of complex geometry observed in a large portion of AM focused designs. The mechanical behavior of …

Fatigue Resistant Cast Steel Railcar Couplers Produced By Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing (Waam), Samuel Vellequette

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Every year, approximately 90,000 cast steel railcar coupler knuckles are replaced preemptively to avoid fatigue failure. The coupler geometry has been in service since the early 1930s, so geometry changes are restricted to maintain compatibility with the existing fleet. Defects from the casting process, decarburization during heat treatment, and in-service exposure to corrosive environments combine to promote fatigue crack nucleation in high-stress regions of the knuckle. Wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), which uses traditional welding techniques to build material to near-net shapes, was employed to deposit higher-strength materials in critical regions. By replacing the cast steel in the high-stress region of …

Calculation Of Elastic Constants Of Bulk Metallic Glasses From Indentation Tests, Zhitong Xu, Ming Liu, Fuqian Yang

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

One of the challenges in the applications of instrumented indentation is to simultaneously measure elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio of homogeneous, isotropic materials. This work proposes empirical equations for simultaneous calculation of elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio of bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) from the ratio of the short diagonal length to the long diagonal length and the area of the Knoop imprint. The parameters pre- sented in the empirical equations are determined first by Knoop microhardness tests of 24 BMGs, whose elastic moduli and Poisson’s ratios are measured by resonant ultrasound spectroscopy. These empirical equations are further validated by the …

F-Temper Vs O-Temper Brazing Of 3003 Aluminum Return Bends, Mieka R. Clark

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

As-extruded (F-temper) 3003 return bends can provide cost savings over annealed (O-temper) return bends in aluminum heat exchangers. To assess if F-temper return bends are an alternative to the baseline O-temper bends, the grain structure, bending performance, and melting behavior were assessed through:

• Quantifying the effect of dispersoids on recrystallization
• Tracking bending behavior through grain morphology and surface texture
• Measuring the number and volume fraction of the α-Al(Mn,Fe)Si intermetallic
• Inducing incipient melting through high temperature thermal exposure.

When homogenized at 620°C and 630°C, the F-temper bends had no orange peel texture, the grain size was equivalent to the annealed product, …

Improving Cast Steel Rail Coupler Fatigue Resistance Through Local Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing, Andrew M. Bunge

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Every year, thousands of cast-steel railcar couplers suffer from corrosion-initiated fatigue cracking in similar areas of the coupler’s knuckle; between 2015 and 2018 about 90,000 knuckles were replaced, otherwise these couplers would have been at risk for unexpected failures. These types of couplers have been common in industrial use as early as 1932, hence it is desirable for a countermeasure to the fatigue cracking that does not involve significantly altering the geometry or casting process. Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAM) is a developing technology which boasts the ability to produce complex near-net-shape components; however, less attention has been paid to …

High Temperature Strength Reduces Soldering In Aluminum High Pressure Die Casting, Jacob A. Belke

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Die soldering, an adhesion defect in high pressure die casting (HPDC), is a symptom of localized sticking where a localized portion of the cast material is adhered to the tooling surface causing build up over time. This requires the tooling to be serviced which incurs additional costs to the process that gets passed on to the parts. Historically, soldering has been mitigated using lubricants, coatings, and alloy chemistry modifications but solder persists.

The Tresca friction thermomechanical model suggests soldering occurs when the local interfacial shear stress between the casting and die surface exceeds the local shear strength of the casting. …

Effects Of Ac Interference On Pipelines Under Cathodic Protection And Cathodic Disbondment Of Pipeline Coatings, Tanner Laughorn

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project is split into two parts. The first revolves around AC interference on pipeline steel under cathodic protection. The corrosion rate of steel samples will be measured after they are exposed to varying levels of AC interference and cathodic protection. The results will be used to help develop new guidelines for appropriate cathodic protection of steel pipelines. The second part of this project revolves around the cathodic disbondment of pipeline coatings while under cathodic protection. The disbondment distance, electrolyte pH, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy will be tested for multiple industry standard coatings under various conditions. The results will be …

Causational Analysis And Rectification Of Issues Concerning Scale Formation On Hot-Rolled Straight Bar Product And Its Effects On Ultrasonic Testing, Riley Mattix

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

At Charter Steel's NDT Processing Plant located in Cleveland, Ohio, a concern has arisen regarding the recently implemented bar straightening and UT (Ultrasonic Testing) equipment. A substantial amount of mill scale, which is typically removed during the straightening process, is persisting on the bar’s surface throughout most of the NDT procedure. This lingering scale has been observed to flake off once inside the UT equipment, introducing unwanted noise and phantom peaks into the UT readings. Additionally, thick mill scale has been identified as a source of background interference in the received data. In contrast, bars that have been subjected to …

Corrosion Inhibitors: Mitigating The Degradation Of Rebar, Jake R. Hughes

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Our conjecture was twofold: first, that two compounds historically used as food preservatives could act as environmentally friendly inhibitors against rebar corrosion, and second, that molecular properties have a quantifiable influence on inhibition efficiency (%IE). To evaluate the two compounds, cyclic potentiodynamic polarization was used to determine corrosion current density (i_corr) and %IE. The “green” inhibitor candidates included sodium metabisulfite and ascorbic acid, which yielded maximum %IE values of -123900% and 91%, respectively. Results indicated that sodium metabisulfite is not a suitable inhibitor, while ascorbic acid showed potential to extend reinforced concrete’s design life without posing health or …

Application Of Conductivity Techniques For Interlayer Discontinuity Detection In Additively Manufactured Metal Materials, Joshua D. Newell, Riley R. Myers

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Additive manufacturing is becoming increasingly more popular and efficient. One drawback is the possibility of interlayer discontinuities forming in the material. A non-destructive technique utilizing the changing resistivity of the material as discontinuities appear was used to detect those discontinuities and was verified through additional testing of manually added through-thickness discontinuities. This technique has been proven to be useful in understanding fatigue crack growth of conventional metal and composite structures. Experimental investigation of fatigue in steel with an edge notch has been performed using these techniques to understand source and location of crack formation and growth in conventional material. Application …

Nickel Superalloy Composition And Process Optimization For Weldability, Cost, And Strength, Sophie A. Mehl

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

To advance sustainability efforts, electric power plants have reduced specific carbon dioxide emissions by increasing operating temperatures and pressures to improve power generation efficiency. The latest improvements are utilized in advanced ultra-supercritical power generation. To meet these operating conditions, nickel superalloys are used in the highest temperature components; however, they are expensive and present weldability challenges. This project aims to experimentally optimize a nickel superalloy to improve material weldability and decrease cost without compromising strength. Three optimized compositions were developed, and their microstructures and mechanical properties were compared to Nimonic 263, a common nickel superalloy in electric power plants. The …

Anaerobic Reductive Bioleaching Of Manganese Ores, Neha Sharma

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Manganese extraction by biological methods is a green and economical way to produce manganese from low as well as high grade manganese ores. This is especially important for US ores, which are primarily either small in extent, low-grade with a high iron content, or both. They are therefore not suitable for conventional mining, which is very capital-intensive and requires a large up-front investment and are therefore imported at high costs. The goal is therefore to develop a process that can be applied at small scales, with minimal startup costs, and low equipment and labor requirements. It is also critical to …

Using Tensile And Compressive Stress Superposition During Incremental Forming To Manipulate Martensitic Transformation In Ss304, Elizabeth M. Mamros, Fabian Maaß, A. Erman Tekkaya, Brad L. Kinsey, Jinjin Ha

Faculty Conference Papers and Presentations

Single point incremental forming (SPIF) is a flexible manufacturing process that has applications in industries ranging from biomedical to automotive. In addition to rapid prototyping, which requires easy adaptations in geometry or material for design changes, control of the final part properties is desired. One strategy that can be implemented is stress superposition, which is the application of additional stresses during an existing manufacturing process. Tensile and compressive stresses applied during SPIF showed significant effects on the resulting microstructure in stainless steel 304 truncated square pyramids. Specifically, the amount of martensitic transformation was increased through stress superposed incremental forming. Finite …

Change Of Metal Oxidation State At High Temperature, Impact Of Temperature And Reactive Gases, Yegor Nikitin

Dissertations and Theses

The fundamental understanding of gas-solid reactions enables a wide range of applications to be developed and improved. Specifically, the use of metal-based materials is critical to ensuring robust, safe, and long-term operations. For example, in power systems where boilers are used to generate steam for heat or electricity generation the use of stainless metal alloys is critical to allow high quality steam to be produced in a very harsh environment. Alternatively, in catalysis, the use of metal doped heterogeneous catalysts are essential in achieving selectivity and conversion performance for chemical synthesis to emissions abatement. Typically, these metal alloys must withstand …

Thermomechanical Process Simulation And Quantification Of Nanoscale Precipitation Influencing Ductility And Strength During Alloy Processing, Alyssa Stubbers

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Experimental process simulation and quantification of microstructure development during processing are challenging due to limitations with machinery temperature capability, inadequate resolution and sampling volume of currently available characterization techniques, and difficulty characterizing material microstructures as close to processing-relevant conditions as possible. This dissertation addresses how process simulation can be performed using Gleeble thermomechanical technologies and how microstructure development during these processing simulations can be quantified both in-situ and ex-situ.

The first portion of this dissertation demonstrates how Gleeble technologies can be applied to simulate complex material processing conditions in order to produce process-property profiles that can be used to inform …