Carbon-coated iron nanopowder as a sintering aid for water-atomized iron powder

The paper examines the influence of carbon coating on iron nanopowder used as a sintering aid for water-atomized iron powder. Iron nanopowder without such a coating was used as a reference sintering aid to isolate the influence of the carbon coating. Both nanopowder variants were characterised using XPS and HRTEM. The results showed a core–shell structure for both variants. The iron nanopowder is covered by a 3–4 nm thick iron oxide layer, while the carbon-coated iron nanopowder is encapsulated with several nanometric carbon layers. Thermogravimetry conducted in a pure hydrogen environment shows a multipeak behaviour for the carbon-coated iron nanopowder, while a single peak behaviour is observed for the iron nanopowder. Two types of micro/nanobimodal powders were obtained by mixing the nanopowder with water-atomized iron powder. Improved linear shrinkage was observed during sintering when the carbon-coated iron nanopowder was added. This can be explained by the reduction in surface diffusion in the nanopowder caused by the carbon coating, which allows the nanopowder to sinter at higher temperatures and improves densification. Carbon and oxygen analysis, density measurements, optical microscopy and JMatPro calculations were also performed.

Effect of Powder Recycling on the Fracture Behavior of Electron Beam Melted Alloy 718

Understanding the effect of powder feedstock alterations during multicycle additive manufacturing on the quality of built components is crucial to meet the requirements on critical parts for aerospace engine applications. In this study, powder recycling of Alloy 718 during electron beam melting was studied to understand its influence on fracture behavior of Charpy impact test bars. High resolution scanning electron microscopy was employed for fracture surface analysis on test bars produced from virgin and recycled powder. For all investigated samples, an intergranular type of fracture, initiated by non-metallic phases and bonding defects, was typically observed in the regions close to or within the contour zone. The fracture mode in the bulk of the samples was mainly moderately ductile dimple fracture. The results show a clear correlation between powder degradation during multi-cycle powder reuse and the amount of damage relevant defects observed on the fracture surfaces. In particular, samples produced from recycled powder show a significant amount of aluminum-rich oxide defects, originating from aluminum-rich oxide particulates on the surface of the recycled powder.

In situ Studies and Simulations of Mould Filling with a Model System for PIM

The processing conditions and the mould design are important parts of the powder injection moulding (PIM) process. In the present work, the mould filling phase of the process has been studied in situ with a special mould equipped with a sight glass using a high speed camera. Effects of features such as the mould temperature, the melt temperature, the surface roughness of the mould cavity, the gate dimensions, the mould design and the flow rate on the filling behaviour were demonstrated. In particular it was noted that a rougher mould surface to some extent facilitated the filling of the mould. The mould temperature, the nominal melt temperature and the flow rate affected the position of weld lines via the cooling of the feedstock and the corresponding change of the melt viscosity. The experimentally determined weld-line positions were compared with predictions from numerical simulations performed with the commercial software Moldex3D. The agreement between the experiment and the prediction was in most cases quite fair or good. The in situ observation of the mould filling also provided the possibility to study how the gate dimensions and the flow rate influenced the jetting behaviour.

Rheological and Thermal Properties of a Model System for PIM

Powder injection moulding (PIM) is an important and accepted industrial technique for net shaping of precision components which can have a rather complex geometry. In order to meet the imposed, often rather strict, requirements with regard to dimensional accuracy, it is important to have an adequate knowledge and control of the rheological behaviour and the related processing properties of the powder/polymer melt (feedstock). Such a knowledge is furthermore of crucial importance in numerical simulations of the PIM-process. In the present work, a model system, consisting of steel powder, poly(ethylene glycol) and wax, is used in order to illustrate how the viscometric properties as well as thermal properties, such as the conductivity and the specific heat, of the system can be related to the corresponding properties of the polymeric binder system. In a similar way, the pvT (pressure-volume-temperature)-behaviour of the model system is analysed and discussed. The pvT-behaviour, which has not been extensively reported on for PIM-feedstocks, is considered to be of significant relevance for controlling the outcome of the injection moulding process.

On the surface elemental composition of non-corroded and corroded dental ceramic materials in vitro

Dental ceramics are traditionally looked upon as inert materials. As many are glass phased, it may be hypothesized that they will be subjected to glass corrosion in aqueous environments. The aim of the study was therefore to analyze the surface elemental composition of glass-phased and all-crystalline ceramics, before and after low- and high-intensity, in vitro corrosion (milli-Q-water at 37+/-2 degrees C for 18 h and 4% acetic acid at 80+/-2 degrees C for 18 h, respectively). The analysis of the surface elemental composition was performed using ESCA. The hypothesis was confirmed. After high-intensity corrosion, the complete wash out of alkali ions, alkaline-earth ions and elemental alumina was found, leaving behind a surface totally dominated by silica. The all-crystalline ceramics, densely sintered alumina and yttria-partially stabilized tetragonal zirconia, displayed only minor surface changes, even after high-intensity corrosion. In comparison to the corrosion testing in acid, the corrosion process in milli-Q-water did not produce different results in principle, except for the lower magnitude of the depletion of alkali ions and the virtually unchanged level of elemental alumina. Unexpectedly, no substantial difference in surface degradation was found between the glass ceramic and the ordinary porcelain-fused-to-metal ceramic or between ceramics of higher sintering temperature and those of low or ultra-low sintering temperature. The composition and microstructure alone did not appear to provide a full explanation for the inter-individual differences in surface corrosion when exposed to comparable environmental conditions.

Calibration of the Ektachem Amylase method using human reference materials and the Phadebas Blue Starch method as an interim reference method

In a multilaboratory study a consensus was established to calibrate the Ektachem Amylase method to reproduce the results of the Phadebas Blue Starch method. The calibration graph has a slope = 3.39 and intercept = 25. For the Ektachem Amylase method the reaction-rate ratio between salivary and pancreatic amylase was calculated to be 0.89, relative to that of the Phadebas Blue Starch method. A calibration value for the Nordic Amylase Calibrator to be used on Ektachem analysers was determined to be close to 469 U l-1 for the current batch. However, since the difference from the stated value of 460 U l-1 is negligible, the authors recommend the use of the stated value for this and future batches of the Nordic Amylase Calibrator. An error of around 10% introduced by the presence of salivary amylase is comparable to the methods accepted by the Scandinavian Committee on Enzymes. Introduction of a consensus calibration reduced the interlaboratory variation by up to 40% at all levels.