This datasheet provides information on key alloy metallurgy, processing effects on physical and mechanical properties, and applications characteristics of Al-Si-Mg high-strength casting alloys 356.0 and A356.0. Figures illustrate the variation of Charpy impact energy in A356-T6 castings as a function of solution time; and room-temperature aging characteristics for aluminum alloy 356.0-T4. Growth and hardness curves for aluminum alloy 356.0-T4 are also presented.

This article summarizes a typical solution and aging heat treatments of 2xxx (Al-Cu), 6xxx (Al-Mg-Si), and 7xxx (Al-Zn-Mg) wrought alloys. It discusses the general aging characteristics and the effects of reheating of aluminum alloys. Typical examples of hardness and conductivity values for various aluminum alloy tempers are listed in a table. The article also describes the age hardening of Al-Cu (Mg) alloys, Al-Mg-Si alloys, and Zn-Mg-(Cu) aluminum alloys.

This article discusses the classification of wear based on the presence or absence of effective lubricants, namely, lubricated and nonlubricated wear. Variations in ambient temperature, atmosphere, load, and sliding speed, as well as variations in material bulk composition, microstructure, surface treatment, and surface finish of steel are also considered. The article discusses the types, wear testing, wear evaluation, and hardness evaluation of abrasive wear. It describes the selection criteria of steels for wear resistance. The article also describes the importance of hardness and microstructure as factors in resistance to wear. It provides a discussion on the resistance of various materials to wear in specific applications. The wear resistance of austenitic manganese steels is also discussed. The article discusses the applications of phosphate coatings, wear-resistant coatings, and ion implantation. It concludes with information on interaction of wear and corrosion.

Independent verification of coating system performance can be based on laboratory testing and/or field exposure. Qualification testing is a critical component to coating system selection. This article focuses on performance evaluations that are used to prequalify coating systems, namely, facility-specific, industry-specific, coating-type-specific, or a combination of these. It describes the standard laboratory tests used to generate performance data, namely, physical, compositional, chemical exposure, and application characteristics tests. The pros and cons of using manufacturer-generated data versus independently generated data are discussed. The article provides information on accelerated corrosion/weathering testing and nuclear level 1/level 2 service coatings qualification. It also describes the procedures for establishing minimum performance requirements and for determining when requalification testing may be required.

Hardness testing equipment is important as all results from the induction equipment are graded by the hardness testing equipment. This article includes maintenance tips and points to consider regarding hardness test equipment, power supplies, controls, programmable logic controllers, computer systems, water cooling systems, fixtures and machines, air-operated or pneumatic devices, coils, and quench systems. It also presents simple rules that need to be applied while moving the equipment from one location to another.

Inspection involves two types of testing, namely, destructive and non-destructive. This article provides an overview of the various inspection plans, such as first-article inspection and periodic tests done by destructive metallurgical testing and the final inspection done by the application of non-destructive technology. It describes the processes involved in destructive methods, such as surface hardness measurement, induction hardening pattern and heat-affected zone inspection, and the examination of microstructure before and after induction hardening. It also discusses non-destructive evaluation techniques for defect detection and microstructure characterization as well as non-destructive evaluation for real-time monitoring of induction process.

Induction hardening of steel components is the most common application of induction heat treatment of steel. This article provides a detailed account of electromagnetic and thermal aspects of metallurgy of induction hardening of steels. It describes induction hardening techniques, namely, scan hardening, progressive hardening, single-shot hardening, and static hardening. The article discusses the techniques used to control the heat pattern, and provides a brief review of quenching techniques used in the induction hardening. It provides guidelines for selecting the frequency and power for induction hardening, and describes common methods for measuring case depth, such as optical and microhardness, and surface hardness. It provides information on some complications and ambiguities associated with these measurements. The article also discusses the commonly used non-destructive testing methods, namely, magnetic particle testing, ultrasonic testing, and eddy current testing to evaluate induction-hardened components.

This article presents the different hardness test methods used to measure the effectiveness of surface carbon control in carburized parts of steel. Common test methods include Rockwell hardness measurements, superficial Rockwell 15N testing, and microhardness testing. The article provides information on the microscopic method used to detect smaller variations in carbon content, and reviews consecutive cuts analysis and spectrographic analysis that are used to accurately evaluate the carbon concentration profile of carburized parts. It describes procedures of and precautions to be undertaken during shim stock analysis, which is used to measure the atmosphere carbon potential. The article includes a discussion on the electromagnetic nondestructive tests that are used to evaluate the case depth of case-hardened parts.

Carbonitriding is a modified form of carburizing that involves the introduction and diffusion of atomic nitrogen into the surface steel during carburization. This article discusses the composition, depth, and hardenability of a carburized case, and demonstrates how to control atmosphere in batch and continuous furnaces. It discusses the most important considerations in the selection of carbonitriding temperature. The article also describes the processing factors for minimizing retained austenite in the carbonitrided case. Hardness testing and carbonitriding of powder metallurgy parts, quenching and tempering of carbonitrided steel parts, and applications of carbonitriding are also covered in the article.

This article provides an overview of key abradable thermal spray coating systems based on predominant function and key design criteria. It describes two families of coatings which have evolved for use at higher temperature: flame (combustion)-sprayed abradable powders and atmospheric plasma-sprayed abradable powders. Three classic examples of flame spray abradables are nickel-graphite powders, NiCrAl-bentonite powders, and NiCrFeAl-boron nitride powders. The article provides information on various abradable coating testing procedures, namely, abradable incursion testing; aging, corrosion, thermal cycle and thermal shock testing; hardness testing; and erosion resistance testing.

This article describes the two commonly used standardized tests for determining the mechanical properties of thermal spray coatings: hardness testing and tensile adhesion testing. It discusses the destructive and non-destructive methods of residual-stress measurement. Electrochemical testing methodologies include two distinctly different methods: direct and alternating current impedance techniques for assessing the corrosion resistance of coating attributes. The article also reviews the testing methods for determining thermomechanical and environmental stability of thermal barrier coatings. It discusses the wear testing methodologies that are standardized by ASTM, including the pin-on-disk, block-on-ring, dry sand/rubber wheel, erosion, metallographic apparatus abrasion, fretting wear, cavitation, reciprocating ball-on-flat, impact, and rolling contact fatigue test. The article concludes with a discussion on the methods of testing abradability and erosion resistance in abradable coatings.

The ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM) process consists of building up solid metal objects by ultrasonically welding successive layers of metal tape into a three-dimensional shape with periodic machining operations to create detailed features of the resultant object. This article provides information on the materials, welding parameters, process consumables, procedures, and applications of the UAM. It describes the methods for determining metallurgical and mechanical properties of solid metal parts to assess the range of materials and applications for which the process is suited. These methods include peel testing, push-pin testing, and microhardness/nanohardness testing. The article also reviews the issues to be addressed in maintaining UAM fabrication quality.

This article discusses a number of workability tests that are especially applicable to the forging process. The primary tests for workability are those for which the stress state is well known and controlled. The article provides information on the tension test, torsion test, compression test, and bend test. It examines specialized tests including plane-strain compression test, partial-width indentation test, secondary-tension test, and ring compression test. The article explains that workability is determined by two main factors: the ability to deform without fracture and the stress state and friction conditions present in the bulk deformation process. These two factors are described and brought together in an experimental workability analysis.

This article focuses on the factors that determine the extent of deformation a metal can withstand before cracking or fracture occurs. It informs that workability depends on the local conditions of stress, strain, strain rate, and temperature in combination with material factors. The article discusses the common testing techniques and process variables for workability prediction. It illustrates the simple and most widely used fracture criterion proposed by Cockcroft and Latham and provides a workability analysis using the fracture limit line. The article describes various workability tests, such as the tension test, ring compression test, plane-strain compression test, bend test, indentation test, and forgeability test. It concludes with information on the role of the finite-element modeling software used in workability analysis.

This article focuses on the life assessment methods for elevated-temperature failure mechanisms and metallurgical instabilities that reduce life or cause loss of function or operating time of high-temperature components, namely, gas turbine blade, and power plant piping and tubing. The article discusses metallurgical instabilities of steel-based alloys and nickel-base superalloys. It provides information on several life assessment methods, namely, the life fraction rule, parameter-based assessments, the thermal-mechanical fatigue, coating evaluations, hardness testing, microstructural evaluations, the creep cavitation damage assessment, the oxide-scale-based life prediction, and high-temperature crack growth methods.

Hardness testing is perhaps the simplest and the least expensive method of mechanically characterizing a material. This article provides an overview of the principles of hardness testing. It compares Brinell with Meyer hardness testing and hardness testing of fully cold worked metals with fully annealed metals. The article discusses the plastic deformation of ideal plastic metals under an indenter, by a flat punch, and by spherical indenters. The classification of the hardness tests using various criteria, including type of measurement, magnitude of indentation load, and nature of the test, is also provided.

This article describes the principal methods for macroindentation hardness testing by the Brinell, Vickers, and Rockwell methods. For each method, the test types and indenters, scale limitations, testing machines, calibration, indenter selection and geometry, load selection and impression size, testing methodology, and testing of specific materials are also discussed.

This article describes a method for determining the dynamic indentation response of metals and ceramics. This method, based on split Hopkinson pressure bar testing, can determine rate-dependent characteristics of metals and ceramics at moderate strain rates. For example, dynamic indentation testing reveals a significant effect of loading rates on the hardness and the induced plastic zone size in metals and on the hardness and induced crack sizes of brittle materials. The article also explains the rebound and pendulum methods for dynamic hardness testing.

This article provides a discussion on the equipment used and specimen preparation for microindentation hardness testing (MHT) such as the Vickers hardness test and the Knoop hardness test. It describes the important test considerations to be considered during MHT. The article also discusses the most common hardness conversions and the applications of MHT.