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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of a process interruption on the tensile properties of AlSi10Mg samples produced by selective laser melting (SLM). Design/methodology/approach Using identical processing parameters, cylindrical samples were produced in either a continuous or interrupted SLM build operation. The tensile properties and microstructure of the samples were determined as a function of process type as well as orientation. Findings All samples produced in this paper displayed superior tensile properties to those produced in high pressure die casting. In general, the samples produced in the continuous build process had higher strengths and microhardness than those produced in the interrupted process. However, while most samples displayed random failure locations, the vertical samples produced in the interrupted build process showed a strong tendency for localized failure in the vicinity of the stoppage plane. Originality/value This paper demonstrated that samples produced in an interrupted build process tend to have poorer mechanical properties than those produced in a continuous process. Together, these observations highlight the importance of a suitable technique for restarting and completing an interrupted build process to ensure the production of high quality components.

The mechanical behavior of AlSi10Mg produced by selective laser melting (SLM) and heat treated to T5 and T6 was investigated under uniaxial compressive, tensile and combined shear-compression loading for strain rates up to 2·103s−1 and different temperatures (23 °C/400 °C). AlSi10Mg-T5 possess lower strength but higher elongation to fracture, higher specific absorbed mechanical energy and higher strain rate sensitivity as the T6 condition. In addition, the material in the T6 state was found to be more prone to biaxial loading and elevated temperature than the T5 state. The microstructural and fractographical investigation reveal that these differences are mainly related to different sizes and species of precipitates. The study is complemented by a constitutive description of the flow stress as function of strain and strain rate for the whole range of strain rates. This model is based on the Orowan equation including dislocation drag mechanism in combination with the well-known Kocks-Meckin-Esrin approach. With this modelling it was shown that typical length scales, mobile/total dislocation densities and dislocation generation/annihilation significantly differ as function of strain.

Due to the continued interest in reducing weight in both automobile and aerospace structures, interest has grown in magnesium based alloys as a possible materials solution. Despite this interest, these alloys have not been widely utilized due to their relatively poor mechanical properties in comparison to other material systems. However, recent research has clearly indicated that improved mechanical properties can be achieved in these alloys through the use of severe plastic deformation processing methods. In this report, we examine the influence of equal channel angular pressing on the mechanical response of Elektron 675, a Mg–Gd–Y alloy. Results indicate that an appreciable increase in total elongation and absorbed energy can be obtained depending on the selected processing route. However, these improvements in elongation are somewhat offset by a slight reduction in tensile strength. The observed mechanical response is explained through microstructural analysis as well as texture measurements.

The mixed glass former systems 0.35Na(2)O + 0.65[xB(2)O(3) + (1 - x)P2O5] and 0.5Na(2)O + 0.5[xB(2)O(3) + (1 - x)P2O5] with x = 0-1 were investigated with neutron diffraction (ND) together with reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) modeling of 0.35Na(2)O + 0.65[xB(2)O(3) + (1 - x)P2O5]. The results show that the structure of both systems is reflected by an intermediate-range ordering, with a characteristic x-dependent length scale of about 4-6 angstrom and which contracts slightly with the increase of the Na concentration. Results obtained from RMC modeling of the 0.35Na(2)O + 0.65[xB(2)O(3) + (1 - x)P2O5] system, using both previously reported X-ray diffraction (XRD) data as well as the here obtained ND data as independent constraints in the modeling, show that the intermediate-range structural features, notably the Na coordination and volume fraction of the conducting pathways, are only weakly dependent on the choice of the constraints used. In particular, we observe that the volume fraction of the conducting pathways and the activation energy for ionic conduction are only weakly correlated to each other, as opposed to what is found for binary alkali borate and phosphate glasses.

Laser metal deposition (LMD) has been applied as a coating technology for many years. Today, the technologies capacity to produce 3D depositions leads to a new field of application as additive manufacturing method. In this paper, 3D laser metal deposition of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4 V is studied with special regard to the demands of additive manufacturing. Therefore, only the coaxial LMD powder nozzle is used to create the shielding gas atmosphere, which ensures high geometric flexibility. Furthermore, specimen with high aspect ratio and hundreds of layers are manufactured, which represent typical features in additive manufacturing. The presented study contains the following steps: First, cylindrical specimens are manufactured with a standard shell-core build-up strategy and mechanical properties as well as fracture mechanisms are determined. Based on the results, experiments are conducted to improve the build-up strategy and new tensile test specimens are built with the improved strategy. The improved strategy incorporates variable track overlap ratios to achieve a constant growth in the shell and core area. As blanks, lean cylinders comprising more than 240 layers and a height of more than 120 mm are manufactured. The specimens are analyzed by X-ray inspection for material defects. Fractured surfaces are observed via scanning electron microscopy and the composition of the surfaces is determined using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The tensile test results prove mechanical properties close to ASTM F1108 specification for wrought material.Laser metal deposition (LMD) has been applied as a coating technology for many years. Today, the technologies capacity to produce 3D depositions leads to a new field of application as additive manufacturing method. In this paper, 3D laser metal deposition of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4 V is studied with special regard to the demands of additive manufacturing. Therefore, only the coaxial LMD powder nozzle is used to create the shielding gas atmosphere, which ensures high geometric flexibility. Furthermore, specimen with high aspect ratio and hundreds of layers are manufactured, which represent typical features in additive manufacturing. The presented study contains the following steps: First, cylindrical specimens are manufactured with a standard shell-core build-up strategy and mechanical properties as well as fracture mechanisms are determined. Based on the results, experiments are conducted to improve the build-up strategy and new tensile test specimens are built with the improved strategy. The improved str...

We present new results for the Reverse Monte Carlo modeling of 0.35Na2O + 0.65[xB2O3 + (1 – x)P2O5] glasses based on previously reported X-ray diffraction (XRD) data. Structural models have been generated that accurately reproduce the pair correlation functions and structure factors determined by XRD while maintaining nearly perfect charge neutrality between the positively charged cations and the negatively charged phosphate and borate oxyanion groups and while maintaining appropriate bond distances between the various atom pairs. These models, however, are not successful in accounting for the concentrations of network forming units (NFUs), as predicted by recent theoretical modeling and by magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR) data for sodium borate glasses with similar stoichiometry. By a further refinement of the modeling, the NFU concentrations can be successfully reproduced as well. For the optimized structures, we investigate the question if the conductivity activation energy cor...

Mixing two types of glass formers in ion conducting glasses can be exploited to lower conductivity activation energy and thereby increasing the ionic conductivity, a phenomenon known as the mixed glass former effect (MGFE). We develop a model for this MGFE, where activation barriers for individual ion jumps get lowered in inhomogeneous environments containing both types of network forming units. Fits of the model to experimental data allow one to estimate the strength of the barrier reduction, and they indicate a spatial clustering of the two types of network formers. The model predicts a time-temperature superposition of conductivity spectra onto a common master curve independent of the mixing ratio.

The formation and behaviour of micelles of sodium dodecylsulfate in water by use of a static micro mixer were studied. Trisbipyridylruthenium(II) was applied as indicator dye, 9-methylanthracene was used for fluorescence quenching. All experiments were carried out by a micro fluid arrangement with three syringe pumps, a 2+1 two-step static micro mixer (IPHT Jena) and a on-line micro fluorimetry including a luminescence diode for excitation, a blue glass filter (BG 7, Linos), two edge filters (RG 630, Linos) and a photo counting module (MP 900, Perkin Elmer). It was possible to measure the fluorescence inside the PTFE tube (inner diameter 0.5 mm) directly. A linear dependence of fluorescence intensity from dye concentration was observed in absence of quencher and surfactant as expected. An aggregation number of about 62 was found in the flow rate range between 300 and 800 μL/min. The fluorescence intensity increases slightly, but significant with increasing flow rate, if no quencher is present. In the presence of quencher, the fluorescence intensity decreases with decreasing surfactant concentration and with enhanced flow rate. The strength of the flow rate effect on the fluorescence increases with decreasing surfactant concentration. The size of micelles was determined in micro channels by the micro fluorimetric method in analogy to the conventional system. The micelles extract the quencher from the solution and lower, this way, the quenching effect. The size of micelles was estimated and it could be shown, that the flow rate has only low effect on the aggregation number at the investigated flow rates. The effect of flow rate and surfactant concentration on the fluorescence in the presence of quencher was interpreted as a shift in the micelle concentration due to the shear forces. It is expected, that the fluorescence intensity is lowered, if more quencher molecules are molecular disperse distributed inside the solution. Obviously, the lowered fluorescence intensity at higher flow rates suggests a reduction of the micelle density causing an increase of quencher concentration outside the micelles.

A theoretical approach is presented for relating structural information to transport properties in ion conducting borophosphate glasses. It relies on the consideration of the different types of glass forming units and the charges associated with them. First it is shown how changes of the unit concentration with the overall glass composition can be understood. Then it is demonstrated how the changes in the unit concentrations upon borate–phosphate mixing lead to a re-distribution of Coulomb traps for the mobile ions and a subsequent change in long-range ionic mobilities. The theories are tested against experiments and yield good agreement with the measured data both for the unit concentrations and the variation of the activation energy.

We investigate the quality of structural models generated by the Reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) method in a typical application to glass systems. To this end we calculate diffraction data from a Li(2)O-SiO(2) molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and use it, in addition to minimal pair distances and coordination numbers of silicon (oxygen) to oxygen (silicon) ions, as input for RMC modeling. Then we compare partial radial distribution functions, coordination numbers, bond angles, and ring sizes predicted by the RMC models with those of the MD system. It is found that partial distribution functions and properties on small lengths scales, as distributions of coordination numbers and bond angles, are well reproduced by the RMC modeling. Properties in the medium-range order regime are, however, not well captured, as is demonstrated by comparison of ring size distributions. Due care therefore has to be exercised when extracting structural features from RMC models in this medium-range order regime. In particular we show that the occurrence of such features can be a mere consequence of the chosen starting configuration.