Influence of grain boundary on melting

The temperature behaviour of an Al bicrystal with surfaces consisting of (110) and (111) crystals is simulated using molecular dynamics. The result shows that the (110) crystal losses its crystalline order at 820K, whereas the disorder does not propagate through the (111) crystal at this temperature. Instead, some disordered atoms are recrystallized into the (111) crystal and the initial grain boundary changes into a stable order-disorder interface. Thus, it was discovered that at a temperature near its melting point, the (111) crystal grew and obstructed the propagation of disorder. Such an obstruction is helpful for understanding melting.

Numerical Simulation of Transient Thermal Field and Residual Stress in Laser Melting Process

以激光熔凝表面强韧化处理为背景,应用空间弹塑性有限单元和高精度数值算法同时考虑材料组织性能的变化模拟工件的温度场及残余应力,研究激光熔凝加工中瞬时温度场及残余应力数值模拟,同时考虑相变潜热及相变塑性的影响,用算例验证了模型的正确性,给出了不同时刻温度场分布及残余应力分布。

Influence of the Processing Conditions on the Characteristics of the Clad Layers Produced with Laminar Plasma Technology

Laminar plasma technology was used to produce ceramic hardened layers of Al2O3-40% mass Ni composite powders on stainless steel substrates. In order to investigate the influences of processing conditions on the morphologies of the surface modified layers, two different powder-feeding methods were tested, one with carrier gas called the powder injection method, and the other without carrier gas called powder transfers method. The microscopic investigations demonstrate that the cross-section of the clad layers consists of two distinct microstructural regions, in which the Al2O3 phases exhibit different growth mechanisms. When the powder transfers method is adopted, the number density and volume fraction of the Al2O3 particles increase considerably and their distributions exhibit zonal periodical characteristics. When the powder-feeding rate increases, the microstructure of the Al2O3 phases changes from a small globular to a long needle shape. Finite element simulations show that the transient thermo-physical features of the pool substances, such as solidification rate and cooling rate, influence strongly the mechanisms of the nucleation and the directional growth of the Al2O3 phases in the thermal processing.

Determination of Proper Processing Conditions of Material Surface Heat Treatment Through Finite Element Method

A two-dimensional model has been developed based on the experimental results of stainless steel remelting with the laminar plasma technology to investigate the transient thermo-physical characteristics of the melt pool liquids. The influence of the temperature field, temperature gradient, solidification rate and cooling rate on the processing conditions has been investigated numerically. Not only have the appropriate processing conditions been determined according to the calculations, but also they have been predicted with a criterion established based on the concept of equivalent temperature area density (ETAD) that is actually a function of the processing parameters and material properties. The comparison between the resulting conditions shows that the ETAD method can better predict the optimum condition.

Concentration distribution in solution crystal growth: effect of moving interface conditions

The linear diffusion-reaction theory with finite interface kinetics is employed to describe the dissolution and the growth processes. The results show that it is imperative to consider the effect of the moving interfaces on the concentration distribution at the growth interface for some cases. For small aspect ratio and small gravity magnitude, the dissolution and the growth interfaces must be treated as the moving boundaries within an angle range of 0 degrees < gamma < 50 degrees in this work. For large aspect ratio or large gravity magnitude, the effect of the moving interfaces on the concentration distribution at the growth interface can be neglected except for gamma < - 50 degrees.

Three-Dimensional Modeling of Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow in Laminar-Plasma Material Re-Melting Processing

Modeling study is performed concerning the heat transfer and fluid flow for a laminar argon plasma jet impinging normally upon a flat workpiece exposed to the ambient air. The diffusion of the air into the plasma jet is handled by using the combined-diffusion-coefficient approach. The heat flux density and jet shear stress distributions at the workpiece surface obtained from the plasma jet modeling are then used to study the re-melting process of a carbon steel workpiece. Besides the heat conduction within the workpiece, the effects of the plasma-jet inlet parameters (temperature and velocity), workpiece moving speed, Marangoni convection, natural convection etc. on the re-melting process are considered. The modeling results demonstrate that the shapes and sizes of the molten pool in the workpiece are influenced appreciably by the plasma-jet inlet parameters, workpiece moving speed and Marangoni convection. The jet shear stress manifests its effect at higher plasma-jet inlet velocities, while the natural convection effect can be ignored. The modeling results of the molten pool sizes agree reasonably with available experimental data.

Experimental study on two-phase gas-liquid flow patterns at normal and reduced gravity conditions

Experimental studies have been performed for horizontal two-phase air-water flows at normal and reduced gravity conditions in a square cross-section channel. The experiments at reduced gravity are conducted on board the Russian IL-76 reduced gravity airplane. Four flow patterns, namely bubble, slug, slug-annular transition and annular flows, are observed depending on the liquid and gas superficial velocities at both conditions. Semi-theoretical Weber number model is developed to include the shape influence on the slug-annular transition. It is shown that its prediction is in reasonable agreement with the experimental slug-annular transition under both conditions. For the case of two-phase gas-liquid flow with large value of the Froude number, the drift-flux model can predict well the observed boundary between bubble and slug flows.

A Lennard-Jones Embedded-Atom Potential and Its Application to the Study of Melting

The nearest-neighbour Lennard-Jones potential from the embedded-atom method is extended to a form that includes more than nearest neighbours. The model has been applied to study melting with molecular dynamics. The calculated melting point, fractional volume change on melting, heat of fusion and linear coefficients of thermal expansion are in good agreement with experimental data. We have found that the second and third neighbours influence the melting point distinctly.

Numerical Simulation of Transient Thermal Field in Laser Melting Process

Numerical simulation of thermal field was studied in laser processing. The 3-D finite element model of transient thermal calculation is given by thermal conductive equation. The effects of phase transformation latent are considered. Numerical example is given to verify the model. Finally the real example of transient thermal field is given.

Melting and Crystallization of Nd60Al10Fe20Co10 Bulk Metallic Glass under High Pressure

Crystallization, melting and structural evolution upon crystallization in Nd60Al10Fe20Co10 bulk metallic glass (BMG) are in situ investigated by x-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation under high pressure. It is found that the crystallization is pressure promoted, while themelting is inhibited. The crystallization and melting process are also changed under high pressure. The features of the crystallization and melting under high pressure are discussed.

Damage analysis of tetragonal perovskite structure ceramics implicated by asymptotic field solutions and boundary conditions

Cracking of ceramics with tetragonal perovskite grain structure is known to appear at different sites and scale level. The multiscale character of damage depends on the combined effects of electromechanical coupling, prevailing physical parameters and boundary conditions. These detail features are exhibited by application of the energy density criterion with judicious use of the mode I asymptotic and full field solution in the range of r/a = 10(-4) to 10(-2) where r and a are, respectively, the distance to the crack tip and half crack length. Very close to the stationary crack tip, bifurcation is predicted resembling the dislocation emission behavior invoked in the molecular dynamics model. At the macroscopic scale, crack growth is predicted to occur straight ahead with two yield zones to the sides. A multiscale feature of crack tip damage is provided for the first time. Numerical values of the relative distances and bifurcation angles are reported for the PZT-4 ceramic subjected to different electric field to applied stress ratio and boundary conditions that consist of the specification of electric field/mechanical stress, electric displacement/mechanical strain, and mixed conditions. To be emphasized is that the multiscale character of damage in piezoceramics does not appear in general. It occurs only for specific combinations of the external and internal field parameters, elastic/piezoelectric/dielectric constants and specified boundary conditions. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

Surface-induced melting of metal nanoclusters

We investigate the size effect on melting of metal nanoclusters by molecular dynamics simulation and thermo dynamic theory based on Kofman's melt model. By the minimization of the free energy of metal nanoclusters with respect to the thickness of the surface liquid layer, it has been found that the nanoclusters of the same metal have the same premelting temperature T-pre = T-0 - T-0(gamma(su) - gamma(lv) - gamma(sl))/(rhoLxi) (T-0 is the melting point of bulk metal, gamma(sv) the solid-vapour interfacial free energy, gamma(sl) the liquid-vapour interfacial free energy, gamma(sl),l the solid-liquid interfacial free energy, p the density of metal, L the latent heat of bulk metal, and xi the characteristic length of surface-interface interaction) to be independent of the size of nanoclusters, so that the characteristic length of a metal can be obtained easily by T-pre, which can be obtained by experiments or molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The premelting temperature T-pre of Cu is obtained by AID simulations, then xi is obtained. The melting point T-cm is further predicted by free energy analysis and is in good agreement with the result of our MD simulations. We also predict the maximum premelting-liquid width of Cu nanoclusters with various sizes and the critical size, below which there is no premelting.

Effects of entry conditions on cracked kerosene-fueled supersonic combustor performance

Supersonic combustion of thermally cracked kerosene was experimentally investigated in two model supersonic combustors with different entry cross-section areas. Effects of entry static pressure, entry Mach number, combustor entry geometry, and injection scheme on combustor performance were systematically investigated and discussed based on the measured static pressure distribution and specific thrust increment due to combustion. In addition, the methodology for characterizing flow rate and composition of cracked kerosene was detailed. Using a pulsed Schlieren system, the interaction of supercritical and cracked kerosene jet plumes with a Mach 2.5 crossflow was also visualized at different injection temperatures. The present experimental results suggest that the use of a higher combustor entry Mach number as well as a larger combustor duct height would suppress the boundary layer separation near the combustor entrance and avoid the problem of inlet un- start.