Studies of interfaces in Al-65 Cu20Fe15

The study of interfaces in quasicrystalline alloys is relatively new. Apart From the change in orientation, symmetry and chemistry which can occur across homophase and heterophase boundaries in crystalline materials, we have the additional, exciting possibility of an interface between quasicrystalline and its rational approximant. High resolution electron microscopy is a powerful technique to study the structural details of such interfaces. We report the results of a HREM study of the interface between the icosahedral phase and the related Al13Fe4 type monoclinic phase in melt spun and annealed Al65Cu20Fe15 alloy.

Studies on adsorption of guar gum onto biotite mica

The interaction of guar gum with biotite mica has been investigated through adsorption, flotation and electrokinetic measurements. The adsorption densities of guar gum increase with increase of pH and the isotherms exhibit Langmuirian behaviour. Pretreatment of mica with a complexing agent such as EDTA results in a decrease in the adsorption density, highlighting the contribution of metal ions to the adsorption process. An increase in the surface face-to-edge ratio lends to an increase in the adsorption density. The flotation recoveries decrease as a function of pH, complementing the adsorption results. However, polymer depressant ability is reduced in the case of EDTA treated mica, consequent to reduction of metallic sites. Electrokinetic measurements portray conformational rearrangements of macromolecules with the loading, resulting in the shift of the shear plane, further away from the interface. Dissolution experiments indicate release of metal ions from mica, while co-precipitation tests confirm polymer-metal ion interaction in the bulk solution. The adsorption process is governed by hydrogen bonding as well as chemical interaction between guar gum and the surface metal hydroxide groups of mica. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

Studies on age-hardening characteristics of ceramic particle/matrix interfaces in Al-Cu-SiCp composites using ultra low-load-dynamic microhardness measurements

Ultra low-load-dynamic microhardness testing facilitates the hardness measurements in a very low volume of the material and thus is suited for characterization of the interfaces in MMC's. This paper details the studies on age-hardening behavior of the interfaces in Al-Cu-5SiC(p) composites characterized using this technique. Results of hardness studies have been further substantiated by TEM observations. In the solution-treated condition, hardness is maximum at the particle/matrix interface and decreases with increasing distance from the interface. This could be attributed to the presence of maximum dislocation density at the interface which decreases with increasing distance from the interface. In the case of composites subjected to high temperature aging, hardening at the interface is found to be faster than the bulk matrix and the aging kinetics becomes progressively slower with increasing distance from the interface. This is attributed to the dislocation density gradient at the interface, leading to enhanced nucleation and growth of precipitates at the interface compared to the bulk matrix. TEM observations reveal that the sizes of the precipitates decrease with increasing distance from the interface and thus confirms the retardation in aging kinetics with increasing distance from the interface.

Surface modification and biobeneficiation of some oxide minerals using Bacillus polymyxa

The interaction of Bacillus polymyxa and minerals such as hematite, corundum and quartz resulted in significant surface chemical changes, both on the cell surfaces and on the interacted oxide minerals. After such treatment, quartz was rendered relatively more hydrophobic, while hematite and corundum were rendered more hydrophilic. Biopretreatment was observed to be beneficial in the separation of silica from hematite and alumina by both selective flocculation and flotation. The possible role of bacterial adhesion and metabilites in the biobeneficiation process is illustrated.

Synthesis and properties of nanodispersed granular materials

Nanometric granular materials represent a new class of materials with significant promise. We shall discuss in this paper two phase granular materials where one of the phases having nanometric dimension is embedded in a matrix of larger dimension. These materials show many interesting properties which include structural, magnetic and transport properties, The phase transformation of the embedded particles shows distinctive behavior and yields new insight. We shall first highlight the strategy of synthesis of these materials through rapid solidification. This will be followed by three examples where the nanoscale dimension of the embedded particles play a unique role. These are melting and solidification of the nanodispersed embedded particles and the superconducting transition. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.

Synthesis of nanodispersed phases during rapid solidification and crystallization of glasses in Ti75Ni25 alloys

The formation of the metallic glass and crystalline phases and related microstructures and the decomposition behavior of rapidly solidified Ti75Ni25 alloys obtained under different processing conditions have been investigated in detail. The competition between glass transition and nucleation of beta-Ti during rapid solidification leads to the possibility of synthesizing the nanocomposites of beta-Ti and glass. Additionally, it is shown that the presence of a small amount of Si also promotes simultaneous nucleation of fine Ti2Ni intermetallic compound. Thermodynamic calculation of the metastable phase diagram indicates the presence of a metastable eutectic reaction between alpha-Ti and Ti2Ni. Evidence of this reaction at lower cooling rates has been presented. On heating, the glass decomposes through this reaction. Finally, on the basis of understanding of the microstructural evolution during decomposition, a new approach has been adopted to synthesize a nanodispersed composite of alpha-Ti in the crystalline Ti2Ni matrix with a narrow size distribution by controlling the devitrification heat treatment of the metallic glass.

Synthesis of nanostructured titanium alloys

The synthesis of nanostructured materials is a critical step in the development elf these novel materials. The basic principles involved in the production of nanocrystals and nanocomposites by rapid solidification are dealt with. An analysis of the various factors influencing the final grain size of the nanocrystals achieved during mechanical alloying has been presented. The devitrification of amorphous phase formed during rapid solidification processing and mechanical alloying provides an alternative and attractive route. Examples of the synthesis of nanostructured materials using these three different routes are drawn from our work on titanium alloys.

The effect of constituent metal ions on the electrokinetics of chalcopyrite

Chalcopyrite in contact with water is thermodynamically unstable in the presence of oxygen. Oxidation of chalcopyrite may take place due to various factors, e.g., geological environment, mining/comminution, and storage. In this work oxidation of chalcopyrite has been investigated through interfacial electrokinetics. The characteristics of samples obtained from different geological locations as well as the effects of ageing and laboratory oxidation have been delineated. Variation of the solid-liquid ratio was found to have a significant effect on the zeta-potential characteristics of chalcopyrite. The role of constituent metal ions, namely copper and iron, has been studied in the absence and presence of externally added metal ions. The results indicated that the ratio of Cu/Fe on the surface of oxidized chalcopyrite determines the Stern layer potential and under appropriate solution chemistry conditions influences charge reversals. The mineral surfaces, thus, could be either copper-rich or iron-rich as reflected by a shift in pH(iep),,(s). The observed charge reversals have been explained on the basis of a model proposed by James and Healy. (C) 1997 Academic Press.

The effect of temperature on the surface tension and adsorption functions of the Fe-S-O melts - an analysis based on interaction parameters

The present investigation analyses the thermodynamic behaviour of the surfaces and adsorption as a function of temperature and composition in the Fe-S-O melts based on the Butler's equations. The calculated-values of the surface tensions exhibit an elevation or depression depending on the type of the added solute at a concentration which coincides with that already present in the system. Generally, the desorption of the solutes as a function of temperature results in an initial increase followed by a decrease in the values of the surface tension. The observations are analyzed based on the surface interaction parameters which are derived in the present research.

Thermodynamic constraints along isograms in ternary systems: application to three-phase equilibria

Thermodynamic constraints on component chemical potentials in three-phase fields introduced by the various isograms suggested in the literature are derived for a ternary system containing compounds. When compositions of two compounds lie on an isogram, it is associated with specific characteristics which can be used to obtain further understanding of the interplay of thermodynamic factors that determine phase equilibria. When two compounds are shared by adjacent three-phase fields, the constraints are dictated by binary compositions generated by the intersection of a line passing through the shared compounds with the sides of the ternary triangle. Generalized expressions for an arbitrary line through the triangle are presented. These are consistent with special relations obtained along Kohler, Colinet and Jacob isograms. Five axioms are introduced and proved. They provide valuable tools for checking consistency of thermodynamic measurements and for deriving thermodynamic properties from phase diagrams. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.

The role of the interface in foam-bearing glass-epoxy composites subjected to impact loading

foam, either stacked together as three layers (MC) or inserted at three different positions (3L) while arranging the stacking sequence during the fabrication of glass fiber-epoxy composites, form the subject of investigation. This stacking variation resulted in a different interfacial area between these foam materials and the glass-epoxy regions in the laminates. This area in designed to be maximum for the 3L variety. The energy of impact being high enough to cause development of the crack in the samples, how the change in interfacial area affects the traverse of the crack front and the failure feature of the laminated composite are reported in the form of photomacrographs in this work. The results point to significant changes for the impact data, like for instance the peak load attained by the different samples, through thickness crack propagation and tensile fracture features on the non-impacted end for the plain variety, separation about the mid-zone for the MC laminates and two or more layer separations for the 3L variety. The separation for the foam-bearing systems occur invariably at the interface and here again one of the (two identical) interfaces only is chosen for the separation.

Triply-periodic balance surfaces

The list of possible G-H symmetries for triply-periodic balance surfaces, given by Koch and Fischer, is studied with a view to finding new types. It is found that balance surfaces exist for all the cases that were labelled as undecided in the work of Koch and Fischer. For some of these, new minimal surfaces have been found, with the aid of Brakke's 'Surface Evolver'. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.

Unstable flow during hot deformation of Ti-24Al-20Nb alloy

Unstable flow during hot deformation of an alpha(2) titanium aluminide alloy Ti-24Al-20Nb alloy was analysed using two criteria, one of which was developed by Jonas and the other by Kalyankumar. Workability maps were constructed using the alpha parameter as suggested by Semiatin and Lahoti and instability maps were constructed based on the stability parameter xi(epsilon) as suggested by Kalyankumar. Microstructural study was carried out on deformed specimens to validate the two criteria. The results of the two criteria were compared. The particular case of highly negative alpha values has been discussed in detail and it is shown that these correspond to regions of unstable flow.

Influence of foam/glass-epoxy interface on the macroscopic compressive failure features

The effect on the macroscopic compressive failure features of introduction of two flexible foam layers, either together at mid-region or separately at two locations that are away from the midregion, into a glass-epoxy (G-E) system is studied in this work. In this experimental approach an attempt to look at the possible influence the foam/G-E interface region has on the way the materials respond to compressive loading is made by involving an analyses of macrofractographic features. While foam-free samples fail by extensive ear formation and separation nearer to the mid-region, the foam bearing ones display pronounced interface separation. The positioning of the foam sheet(s) has a bearing on the failure features.