Additive manufacturing (AM) of metals, also known as metal 3D printing, typically leads to the formation of columnar grain structures along the build direction in most as-built metals and alloys. ...These long columnar grains can cause property anisotropy, which is usually detrimental to component qualification or targeted applications. Here, without changing alloy chemistry, we demonstrate an AM solidification-control solution to printing metallic alloys with an equiaxed grain structure and improved mechanical properties. Using the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V as a model alloy, we employ high-intensity ultrasound to achieve full transition from columnar grains to fine (~100 µm) equiaxed grains in AM Ti-6Al-4V samples by laser powder deposition. This results in a 12% improvement in both the yield stress and tensile strength compared with the conventional AM columnar Ti-6Al-4V. We further demonstrate the generality of our technique by achieving similar grain structure control results in the nickel-based superalloy Inconel 625, and expect that this method may be applicable to other metallic materials that exhibit columnar grain structures during AM.
The capabilities of metal additive manufacturing (AM) are evolving rapidly thanks to both increasing industry demand and improved scientific understanding of the process. This article provides an ...overview of AM of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy, which has essentially been used as a yardstick to gauge the capability of each metal AM process developed to date. It begins by summarizing the metal AM processes existing today. This is followed by a discussion of the macro- and microstructural characteristics, defects, and tensile and fatigue properties of AM Ti-6Al-4V by selective laser melting, laser metal deposition (both powder and wire), and selective electron-beam melting compared to non-AM Ti-6Al-4V. The tensile and fatigue properties of as-built AM Ti-6Al-4V (with machined or polished surfaces) can be made comparable, or even superior, to those of Ti-6Al-4V in the most commonly used mill-annealed condition. However, these properties can exhibit a large degree of scatter and are often anisotropic, affected by AM build orientations. Post-AM surface treatments or both the post-AM surface and heat treatments are necessary to ensure the minimum required properties and performance consistency. Future directions to further unlock the potential of AM of Ti-6Al-4V for superior and consistent mechanical properties are also discussed.
Confronted by compelling peer-reviewed scientific evidence of the harms of smoking, the tobacco industry, beginning in the 1950s, used sophisticated public relations approaches to undermine and ...distort the emerging science. The industry campaign worked to create a scientific controversy through a program that depended on the creation of industry-academic conflicts of interest. This strategy of producing scientific uncertainty undercut public health efforts and regulatory interventions designed to reduce the harms of smoking. A number of industries have subsequently followed this approach to disrupting normative science. Claims of scientific uncertainty and lack of proof also lead to the assertion of individual responsibility for industrially produced health risks.
The “Holy Grail” of metal additive manufacturing is to manufacture reliable high-performance metal parts with no or a minimal need of post processing. However, Ti-6Al-4V parts made by selective laser ...melting (SLM) often suffer from poor ductility and low toughness because of the predominant acicular α′ martensite contained in columnar prior-β grains. In practice, post heat treatment is necessary. To overcome this deficiency, we have explored designing innovative SLM processing routes to turn the unfavoured α′ martensite, via in-situ decomposition, into lamellar (α+β) microstructures with tuneable characteristic length scales. Such lamellar (α+β) microstructures lead to superior mechanical properties which markedly exceed ASTM standards and outperform the majority of Ti-6Al-4V fabricated by other additive manufacturing processes. Furthermore, we find that the lattice parameter of the β phase in the (α+β) lamellae falls into a specific range of 3.18–3.21 Å. Hence the lattice parameter of β phase can serve as an indicator to predict whether significant martensite decomposition has taken place in situ in Ti-6Al-4V made by SLM. This work marks an important step forward in the understanding of how to tailor microstructure in situ for the development of high-performance Ti-6Al-4V parts by SLM.
Display omitted
Crystallization by particle attachment (CPA) of amorphous precursors has been demonstrated in modern biomineralized skeletons across a broad phylogenetic range of animals. Precisely the same ...precursors, hydrated (ACC-H₂O) and anhydrous calcium carbonate (ACC), have been observed spectromicroscopically in echinoderms, mollusks, and cnidarians, phyla drawn from the 3 major clades of eumetazoans. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) here also shows evidence of CPA in tunicate chordates. This is surprising, as species in these clades have no common ancestor that formed a mineralized skeleton and appear to have evolved carbonate biomineralization independently millions of years after their late Neoproterozoic divergence. Here we correlate the occurrence of CPA from ACC precursor particles with nanoparticulate fabric and then use the latter to investigate the antiquity of the former. SEM images of early biominerals from Ediacaran and Cambrian shelly fossils show that these early calcifiers used attachment of ACC particles to form their biominerals. The convergent evolution of biomineral CPA may have been dictated by the same thermodynamics and kinetics as we observe today.
Chip formation during dry turning of Ti6Al4V alloy has been examined in association with dynamic cutting force measurements under different cutting speeds, feed rates and depths of cut. Both ...continuous and segmented chip formation processes were observed in one cut under conditions of low cutting speed and large feed rate. The slipping angle in the segmented chip was 55°, which was higher than that in the continuous chip (38°). A cyclic force was produced during the formation of segmented chips and the force frequency was the same as the chip segmentation frequency. The peak of the cyclic force when producing segmented chips was 1.18 times that producing the continuous chip.
The undeformed surface length in the segmented chip was found to increase linearly with the feed rate but was independent of cutting speed and depth of cut. The cyclic force frequency increased linearly with cutting speed and decreased inversely with feed rate. The cutting force increased with the feed rate and depth of cut at constant cutting speed due to the large volume of material being removed. The increase in cutting force with increasing cutting speed from 10 to 16 and 57 to 75
m/min was attributed to the strain rate hardening at low and high strain rates, respectively. The decrease in cutting force with increasing cutting speed outside these speed ranges was due to the thermal softening of the material. The amplitude variation of the high-frequency cyclic force associated with the segmented chip formation increased with increasing depth of cut and feed rate, and decreased with increasing cutting speed from 57
m/min except at the cutting speeds where harmonic vibration of the machine occurs.
A pair of conjugate observables, such as the quadrature amplitudes of harmonic motion, have fundamental fluctuations that are bound by the Heisenberg uncertainty relation. However, in a squeezed ...quantum state, fluctuations of a quantity can be reduced below the standard quantum limit, at the cost of increased fluctuations of the conjugate variable. Here we prepare a nearly macroscopic moving body, realized as a micromechanical resonator, in a squeezed quantum state. We obtain squeezing of one quadrature amplitude 1.1±0.4 dB below the standard quantum limit, thus achieving a long-standing goal of obtaining motional squeezing in a macroscopic object.
PDF
