In this study, anti-tarnishing and corrosion characteristics of a single 𝛽1' and Bangjja Yugi alloy in the Cl^- ion environment before and after potentiostatic electrolysis treatment were compared. Stable and uniform SnO₂ oxide film with several nanometer thickness is formed after potentiostatic electrolysis treatment. In the case of Bangjja Yugi prior to potentiostatic electrolysis (PE) treatment for exposure in Cl^- environment, tarnishing occurs rapidly within 0.5hr, whereas PE treated Bangjja Yugi indicates stable surface without tarnishing up to 3hr. Especially, it is noticeable that anti-tarnishing and corrosion characteristic of PE treated single 𝛽1', which were significantly improved by 3 times and 15 times, respectively, compared to conventional Bangja Yugi.

The influence of acetylene flow rates on the carburizing behavior of an AISI 4115 steel in 1 ton-class mass production-type vacuum carburizing furnace has been studied through microstructure, carbon concentration, hardness analyses. The AISI 4115 steels were carburized with various flow rates (20, 32.7, 60 l/min) and locations in the furnace (top, center, bottom) at 950℃. The acetylene flow rate played an important role in controlling the carburizing properties of carburized samples, such as effective case depth and uniformity carburizing according to location in the furnace. At an acetylene flow rate of 20 l/min, the carburized samples had a shallow average hardened layer (0.645 mm) compared to the target hardening depth (1 mm) due to low carbon flux and spatial uniformity of carburization (17.8%) in the furnace. At a flow rate of 60 l/min, the carburized samples showed an average hardened layer (1.449 mm) deeper than the target hardening depth and had the spatial uniformity of carburization (98.8%). In particular, at a flow rate of 32.7 l/min, the carburized samples had an average hardened layer (1.13 mm) close to the target hardening depth and had the highest carburizing uniformity (99.1%). As a result, an appropriate flow rate of 32.7 l/min was derived to satisfy the target hardening depth and to have spatial uniform hardened layer in the furnace.

Arc ion plating (AIP), laser cladding, and nitriding are methods that can prevent mold damage or repair and create cracks and breakages on the die surface. The dissolution and soldering behavior of coated SKD61 by using arc ion plating, laser cladding, and nitriding was investigated. The structure of the coating was investigated as a function of deposition conditions by X-ray diffraction and the crystallographic orientation was determined using the texture factor. The TiAlN film deposited with AIP showed excellent corrosion resistance in the molten aluminum alloy at 680℃. In this paper, we have detailed the corrosion and mass loss phenomena associated with these steel-cast metal interactions.

This study was intended to investigate the influence of Al content on hardness and microstructural characteristics of discontinuous precipitates (DPs) formed by isothermal aging in Mg-8.7%Al and Mg-10%Al alloys. In order to obtain large amount of DPs in the microstructure, the alloy specimens were solution-treated at 688K for 24 h followed by water quenching, and then aged at 418K for 48h. The Mg-Al alloy with higher Al content was characterized by higher volume fraction of DPs at the same aging condition, lower interlamellar spacing of the DPs, thinner β phase layer and higher β phase content in the DPs. This is closely related to the higher velocity of discontinuous precipitation process resulting from the higher Al supersaturation in the α-(Mg) matrix. The Mg-10%Al alloy showed higher hardness of the DPs and greater difference in hardness between as-cast state and DPs than the Mg-8.7%Al alloy.

In the present study, we investigate the effects of long-term heat treatment at elevated temperatures on the mechanical softening of the Mn-Mo-Ni low-alloy steel. The influence of long-term heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical strength was evaluated. To simulate the long-term material degradation, heat treatment test was interrupted at several stages up to 10,000 hours in an electric furnace. The Mn-Mo-Ni low-alloy steel shows a typical bainitic phase, which consists of a well-developed lath substructure with fine precipitates along the lath boundaries. However, these fine precipitates were redissolved into the matrix with long-term heat treatment, and then the lath substructures were recovered. Consequently, ultimate tensile strength and yield strength decreased during long-term heat treatment showing a mechanical softening phenomenon.

The aim of this study was to investigate the dependence of the hardness and thermal conductivity on the volume fraction of discontinuous precipitates (DPs) in the Mg-9.3%Al alloy with (α-(Mg)+DPs) dual phase structure. In order to obtain various DPs volume fractions, the alloy was solution-treated at 688 K for 24 h and then aged at 418 K for up to 144 h. The volume fraction of DPs increased from 0% to 63% with an increase in the aging time up to 72 h, over which, continuous precipitation was observed within the α-(Mg) grains. It is noticeable that the hardness and thermal conductivity of the alloy increased linearly with the volume fraction of DPs. The improved hardness and thermal conductivity with respect to volume fraction of DPs are closely associated with the higher hardness of the DPs with fine (α+β) lamellar structure and the lower Al concentration in the α phase layer of the DPs, respectively.

Due to the superior corrosion resistance and mechanical properties of TiAl alloy at high temperature, it has been utilized as a turbine wheel of a turbocharger. The dissimilar metallic bonding is usually applied to combine the TiAl turbine wheel with the SCM440 structural steel which is used as a driving shaft. In this study, the TiAl and SCM440 joint were fabricated by using a friction welding technique. During bonding process, to suppress the martensitic transformation and the formation of cracks, which might reduce a strength of the joints, Cu was used as an insert metal to relieve stress. As a result, the intermetallic compounds (IMCs) layer was observed at TiAl/Cu interface while no IMC formation was formed at SCM440/Cu interface. Since understanding of the IMCs effects on the mechanical performance of welded joint is also essential for ensuring the reliability and integrity of the turbocharger system, we estimated the nanohardness of welded joint region through nanoindentation. The relation between the microstructural feature and its mechanical property is discussed in detail.

In this study, we investigate the variation in microstruture and mechanical property of austenitic 316L stainless steel during long-term material degradation. To simulate the material degradation, the AISI 316 steel was exposed to accelerate under a temperature of 600℃ for up to 10000 hours at each predetermined heat treatment time. As the long-term material degradation time increase, the grain shape was changed from polygonal grains with annealing twins to circular grains. Most twins distributed uniformly interior of grains are recovered and disappered with long-term material degradation. Also, the δ ferrite along grain boundaries decomposed and transformed into the σ phase resulting in decrease of elongation of austenitic 316L stainless steel.