Search Results for physical metallurgy

This article introduces basic physical metallurgy concepts that may be useful for understanding and interpreting variations in metallographic features and how processing affects microstructure. It presents some basic concepts in structure-property relationships. The article describes the use of equilibrium binary phase diagrams as a tool in the interpretation of microstructures. It reviews an account of the two types of solid-state phase transformations: isothermal and athermal. The article discusses isothermal transformation and continuous cooling transformation diagrams which are useful in determining the conditions for proper heat treatment (solid-state transformation) of metals and alloys. The influence of the mechanisms of phase nucleation and growth on the morphology, size, and distribution of grains and second phases is also described.

The physical and mechanical properties of aluminum alloy can be improved by strengthening mechanisms such as strain hardening used for non-heat treatable aluminum alloy and precipitation hardening used for heat treatable aluminum alloy. This article focuses on the effect of strengthening mechanisms on the physical and mechanical properties of non-heat treatable and heat treatable aluminum alloys. It describes the use of the aluminum alloy phase diagram in determining the melting temperature, solidification path, equilibrium phases, and explains the effect of alloying element in phase formation.

This article provides a thorough review of the physical metallurgy of aluminum alloys and its role in determining the properties and from a design and manufacturing perspective. And its role in include the effects of composition, mechanical working, and/or heat treatment on structure and properties. This article focuses on the effects of alloying and the metallurgical factors on phase constituents, structure, and properties of aluminum alloys. Effects from different combinations of alloying elements are described in terms of relevant alloy phase diagrams. The article addresses the underlying alloying and structural aspects that affect the properties and possible processing routes of aluminum alloys. It provides information on the heat treatment effects on the physical properties of aluminum alloys and the microstructural effects on the fatigue and fracture of aluminum alloys. The important alloying elements and impurities are listed alphabetically as a concise review of major effects.

Grain boundaries are interfaces between crystallites of the same phase but different crystallographic orientation. They can be characterized as being low angle or high angle. This article discusses the measurements of grain-boundary energy with a brief summary of different schemes for measuring grain-boundary surface tension. The atomistic simulations of grain-boundary energy, measurement of grain-boundary migration and the techniques used to monitor grain-boundary migration are reviewed. Several considerations and effects influencing the computation of grain-boundary mobility are also discussed.

This article focuses on the physical metallurgy and weldability of four families of titanium-base alloys, namely, near-alpha alloy, alpha-beta alloy, near-beta, or metastable-beta alloy, and titanium based intermetallics that include alpha-2, gamma, and orthorhombic systems.

Aluminum-lithium alloys have been developed primarily to reduce the weight of aircraft and aerospace structures. This article commences with a discussion on the physical metallurgy and development of aluminum-lithium alloys. It focuses on major commercial aluminum-lithium alloys, including alloy 2090, alloy 2091, alloy 8090, alloy CP276, and Weldalite 049. The article also lists the chemical compositions, physical properties, fabrication characteristics, corrosion performance, and general applications of these alloys. A comparison of alloy properties is represented graphically.

Addition of beryllium, up to about 2 wt″, produces dramatic effects in copper, nickel, aluminum, magnesium, gold, zinc, and other base metal alloys. This article provides information on the chemical composition, microstructure, heat treatment, fabrication characteristics, production steps and physical metallurgy of beryllium-copper, beryllium-nickel, and beryllium-aluminum alloy, and tabulates their mechanical, electrical and physical properties, and temper designations. It describes the important features of this alloy group, including information on safe handling. Additionally, the article presents examples of the beneficial properties of beryllium-copper alloys and quantifies some of the major reasons for their selection for particular applications.

Nickel in elemental form or alloyed with other metals and materials has made significant contributions to our present-day society and promises to continue to supply materials for a demanding future. This article provides a historical overview and physical metallurgy of nickel and nickel alloys. It lists and describes the compositions, mechanical and physical properties, and applications of commercial nickel and its alloys. The article briefly explains the forms of corrosion resulting from the exposure of nickel alloys to aqueous environments. It provides valuable information on the commercial forms of nickel alloys, namely, nickel-copper alloys, nickel-chromium and nickel-chromium-iron series, iron-nickel-chromium alloys, controlled-expansion alloys, nickel-iron low-expansion alloys, soft magnetic alloys, and welding alloys.

Stainless steels are used for medical implants and surgical tools due to the excellent combination of properties, such as cost, strength, corrosion resistance, and ease of cleaning. This article describes the classifications of stainless steels, such as austenitic stainless steels, martensitic stainless steels, ferritic stainless steels, precipitation-hardening stainless steels, and duplex stainless steels. It contains a table that lists common medical device applications for stainless steels. The article discusses the physical metallurgy and physical and mechanical properties of stainless steels. Medical device considerations for stainless steels, such as fatigue strength, corrosion resistance, and passivation techniques, are reviewed. The article explains the process features of implant-grade stainless steels, including type 316L, type 316LVM, nitrogen-strengthened, ASTM F1314, ASTM F1586, ASTM F2229, and ASTM F2581 stainless steels.

This article focuses on the specific aspects of nitinol that are of interest to medical device designers. It describes the physical metallurgy, physical properties, and tensile properties of the nitinol. The article discusses the factors influencing superelastic shape memory effects, fatigue, and corrosion in medical device design. It reviews the biocompatibility of nitinol based on corrosion behavior. The article explains the general principles, potential pitfalls, and key properties for manufacturing, heat treatment, and processing of nitinol.

This article discusses the physical metallurgy of cast cobalt alloys with an emphasis on the crystallography, compositions, phases and microstructure, and properties. Cobalt alloys are cast by several different foundry methods. The article describes the argon-oxygen decarburization and continuous casting process. It provides information on castability and quality of the casted alloys. The article details the postcasting treatment, including heat treatment, hot isostatic pressing, and coatings. It summarizes the applications of cast cobalt alloys.

Low-temperature surface hardening is mostly applied to austenitic stainless steels when a combination of excellent corrosion performance and wear performance is required. This article provides a brief history of low-temperature surface hardening of stainless steel, followed by a discussion on physical metallurgy, including crystallographic identity, thermal stability and decomposition, nitrogen and carbon solubility in expanded austenite, and diffusion kinetics of interstitials. It provides a description of low-temperature nitriding and nitrocarburizing processes for primarily austenitic and, to a lesser extent, other types of stainless steels along with practical examples and industrial applications of these steels.

This article discusses the principles of physical metallurgy and metallography of depleted uranium. It describes the techniques involved in the preparation of thin foils for transmission electron microscopy and illustrates the resulting microstructure of uranium and uranium alloys, with the aid of black and white images. The article also provides information on the applications of etching and examination of uranium alloys, at both macro and micro scales, in characterizing the grain structures, segregation patterns, inclusions, and the metal flow geometries produced by solidification and mechanical working processes.

This article discusses the general characteristics, primary and secondary fabrication methods, product forms, and corrosion resistance of zirconium and hafnium. It describes the physical metallurgy of zirconium and its alloys, providing details on allotropic transformation and anisotropy that profoundly influences the engineering properties of zirconium and its alloys. Tables listing the values for chemical composition and tensile properties for nuclear and nonnuclear grades of zirconium are also provided.

This article focuses on the physical metallurgy of nonferrous high-temperature materials that affects weldability on the precipitates used for age hardening (strain-age cracking). Those precipitates associated with solidification and solidification segregation, primarily Laves and carbides (heat-affected zone grain boundaries cracking), are also discussed. The article examines the parameters that affect heat-affected zone liquation cracking and presents a solution for each problem.

This article emphasizes the physical metallurgy of titanium and titanium alloys along with their microstructural response to fusion welding condition. The titanium alloys are classified into unalloyed or commercially pure titanium, alpha and near-alpha alloys, alpha-beta alloys, and metastable beta alloys. The article further discusses the weld microstructure for alpha-beta and metastable beta alloys and describes welding defects observed in titanium alloys. The influence of macro- and microstructural characteristics of titanium weldment on mechanical properties is also discussed. The article concludes with a discussion on the different welding processes used in the welding of titanium and titanium alloys.

This article discusses fracture, fatigue, and creep of nickel-base superalloys with additional emphasis on directionally solidified and single-crystal applications. It analyzes the physical metallurgy of these alloys. The effects of grain boundary and grain size on failure are summarized. The article also discusses the effects of microstructure and extrinsic parameters on fatigue crack propagation (FCP). It details the modeling of FCP rates and creep and creep-fatigue crack growth rates.

Steels are among the most versatile materials in modifying their microstructure and properties by heat treatment. This article outlines the basic concepts of physical metallurgy relating to the heat treatment of steel. It considers the phases and microstructures of steel together with the transformations observed and critical temperatures during heat treatment. Additionally, the different types of steels, heat treatments, and their purposes are also discussed.

This article presents a detailed discussion on the microstructures, physical metallurgy, classification, deformation behavior, and fracture modes of titanium alloys. It illustrates the effect of microstructure and texture on the fracture topography and fracture behavior of titanium alloys with a variety of relevant examples.