FCD 400, FCD 450, FCD 500, FCD 600, FCD 700 Ductile Irons are named by [TJC STEEL]Japanese standard of JIS G5502, the ductile irons in this standard are with high tensile strength, meanwhile because of this characteristic, the welded process for these irons are not easy to proceed. 

Standards& Grades for Gray Cast Irons:

ISO -- JIS -- ASTM -- DIN -- AS
1083 -- JIS G 5502 -- A536-84 -- 1693   GGG-40 -- 1831
400-15,18 -- FCD 400 -- 60-40-18 -- -- 400-12
1083 -- JIS G 5502 -- A536-84 -- - -- -
450-10 -- FCD 450 -- 60-42-10 -- [TJC STEEL] --
1083 -- JIS G 5502 -- A536-84 -- 1693 -- 1831
500-7 -- FCD 500 -- 80-55-06 -- GGG-50 -- 500-7
1083 -- JIS G 5502 -- A536-84 -- 1693 -- 1831
600-3 -- FCD 600 -- 80-60-03 -- GGG-60 -- 600-3
1083 -- JIS G 5502 -- A536-84 -- 1693 -- 1831
700-2 -- FCD 700 -- 100-70-03 -- GGG-70 -- 700-2

Chemical Composition for Ductile Irons:

JIS -- CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
C -- Si -- Mn -- P -- S -- Ni -- Cr -- Mo -- V -- Other
% -- % -- % -- % -- % -- % -- % -- % -- % -- %
JIS G 5502 -- 3.5 -- 2 -- -- -- -- - -- - -- - -- - -- -
FCD 400 -- 4 -- 2.7 -- 0.30 max -- 0.05 max -- 0.02 max -- -- -- -- --
JIS G 5502 -- 3.5 -- 2 -- 0.30 max -- 0.06 max -- 0.02 max -- - -- - -- - -- - -- -
FCD 450 -- 4 -- 2.7 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
JIS G 5502 -- 3.5 -- 2 -- 0.4 -- 0.06 max -- 0.02 max -- - -- - -- - -- - -- -
FCD 500 -- 4 -- 2.5 -- 0.5 -- -- [TJC STEEL] -- -- -- -- --
JIS G 5502 -- 3.5 -- 2 -- 0.5 -- 0.06 max -- 0.02 max -- - -- - -- - -- - -- -
FCD 600 -- 4 -- 2.5 -- 0.8 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
JIS G 5502 -- 3.5 -- 2 -- 0.5 -- 0.06 max -- 0.02 max -- - -- - -- - -- - -- -
FCD 700 -- 4 -- 2.5 -- 0.9 -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Mechanical Properties for Gray Cast Irons

JIS -- MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
-- Tensile Strength N/mm2 -- Proof Stress N/mm2 -- Elongation % -- Hardness HB
--
JIS G 5502 -- 400 min -- 250 min -- 12 min -- 201 min
FCD 400 -- [TJC STEEL]
JIS G 5502 -- 450 min -- 280 min -- 10 min -- 143-217
FCD 450 --
JIS G 5502 -- 500 min -- 320 min -- 7 min -- 170-241
FCD 500 --
JIS G 5502 -- 600 min -- 370 min -- 3 min -- 192-269
FCD 600 --
JIS G 5502 -- 700 min -- 420 min -- 2 min -- 229-302
FCD 700 --
​

Nodular cast iron is a kind of high strength cast iron material developed in the 1950s. Its comprehensive performance is close to that of steel. Based on its excellent performance, it has been successfully used to cast some parts with complex [TJC STEEL]forces and high requirements for strength, toughness and wear resistance. Nodular cast iron has been rapidly developed into a very widely used cast iron material second only to gray cast iron. The so-called "iron instead of steel", mainly refers to nodular cast iron.
Nodular cast iron is obtained by spheroidization and inoculation treatment of spherical graphite, effectively improve the mechanical properties of cast[TJC STEEL] iron, especially improve the plasticity and toughness, so as to get higher strength than carbon steel.
 
Chemical Composition Introduction of Ductile Iron:
Cast iron is an iron-carbon alloy with carbon content greater than 2.11%. It is obtained by industrial pig iron, scrap steel and other steel and alloy materials through high-temperature melting and casting. In addition to Fe, it also contains carbon in other cast iron precipitated in the form of graphite. If the graphite precipitated is lamellar[TJC STEEL] cast iron called gray cast iron or gray cast iron, wormlike cast iron called vermicular cast iron, was flocculent cast iron called malleable cast iron or code iron, and was spherical cast iron called nodular cast iron.
 
In addition to iron, the chemical composition of nodular cast iron is usually 3.0 ~ 4.0% carbon content, 1.8 ~ 3.2% silicon content, the total content [TJC STEEL]of manganese, phosphorus, sulfur is not more than 3.0% and an appropriate amount of rare earth, magnesium and other spheroidal elements.
 
Main Pperformances for Ductile Iron:
Ductile iron castings have been used in almost all major industrial sectors, which require high strength, plasticity, toughness, wear resistance, severe thermal and mechanical impact resistance, high or low temperature resistance, corrosion[TJC STEEL] resistance and dimensional stability. To meet these variations in service conditions, nodular cast iron is available in many grades, offering a wide range of mechanical and physical properties.
 
Most nodular cast iron castings, as specified in ISO1083, are produced primarily in a non-alloying state. Obviously, this range includes high strength grades with tensile strength greater than 800 Newtons per square millimeter and elongation of [TJC STEEL]2%. At the other end of the spectrum are highly plastic grades with elongation greater than 17% and corresponding low strength (as low as 370 Newton/mm2). Strength and elongation are not the basis for designers to choose materials. Other important properties that are decisive include yield strength, modulus of elasticity, wear resistance and fatigue strength, hardness and impact properties. In addition, corrosion resistance and oxidation resistance as well as electromagnetic properties may be critical to the designer. To meet these special uses, a[TJC STEEL] group of austenitic nodules, usually called Ni Resis, is developed. These austenitic nodules are alloyed mainly with nickel, chromium and manganese and are included in international standards.
It is pearlescent ductile iron with medium and high strength, medium toughness and plasticity, high comprehensive performance, good wear resistance and vibration reduction, and good casting process performance. The properties can be changed by various heat treatments. Mainly used in various power machinery crankshaft, [TJC STEEL]camshaft, connecting shaft, connecting rod, gear, clutch plate, hydraulic cylinder and other parts.
 
Attention Points for Ductile Iron:
(1) Strict requirements on chemical composition, the carbon and silicon content of the original liquid iron is higher than that of gray cast iron, and the content of manganese, phosphorus and sulfur in nodular cast iron is reduced.
(2) the temperature of liquid iron is higher than that of gray cast iron to compensate for the loss of temperature of liquid iron during spheroidization and inoculation.
(3) spheroidizing treatment, that is, to add spheroidizing agent to liquid iron.
(4) Adding inoculant for inoculation treatment.
(5) The fluidity of ductile iron is poor, the [TJC STEEL]shrinkage is large, so the need for higher pouring temperature and larger pouring system size, reasonable application of riser, cold iron, the use of sequential solidification principle.
(6) Heat treatment.
① Annealing. To obtain ferrite matrix, improve plasticity, toughness, eliminate stress, improve cutting performance.
(2) normal fire. Obtain pearlite matrix, improve strength and wear resistance.
(3) Conditioning. Obtain the matrix structure of tempered soxite, and good comprehensive mechanical properties, such as spindle, crankshaft, connecting rod, etc.
④ isothermal quenching. The complex shape and high comprehensive performance requirements of the parts to obtain the lower bainite matrix structure, as well as high strength, high hardness, high toughness and other [TJC STEEL]comprehensive mechanical properties, to avoid heat treatment cracking, such as spindle, crankshaft, gear, etc.
 
 

Metal heat treatment is one of the important processes in mechanical manufacturing. Compared with other processing processes, heat treatment generally does not change the shape of the workpiece and the overall chemical[TJC STEEL] composition, but by changing the internal microstructure of the workpiece, or changing the chemical composition of the workpiece surface, giving or improving the performance of the workpiece. It is characterized by improving the intrinsic quality of the workpiece, which is generally not visible to the naked eye. As some people say, machining is surgery, heat treatment is internal medicine, representing the core competitiveness of a country's manufacturing industry.
 
Technological Process
Heat treatment process generally includes heating, insulation, cooling three processes, sometimes only heating and cooling two processes. These processes are interconnected and uninterruptible.
When the metal is heated, the workpiece is exposed to the air, and often occurs oxidation and decarbonization (that is, the carbon content on the surface of the steel parts is reduced), which has a very adverse effect on the surface performance of the parts after heat treatment. Therefore, the metal should usually be heated in a controlled or protective atmosphere, molten salt and vacuum, and can also be used for protective heating [TJC STEEL]by coating or packaging methods.
The heating temperature is one of the important process parameters of heat treatment technology. The selection and control of heating temperature is the main problem to ensure the quality of heat treatment. The heating temperature varies with the metal material being treated and the purpose of the heat treatment, but is generally heated above the phase transition temperature to obtain high temperature microstructure. In addition, the transformation needs a certain amount of time, so when the surface of the metal workpiece to meet the requirements of the heating temperature, also must be maintained at this temperature for a certain time, so that the internal and external temperature is consistent, so that the microstructure transformation is complete, this period of time is called insulation time.
When high energy density heating and surface heat treatment are used, the heating speed is very fast, and generally there is no holding time, while the[TJC STEEL] holding time of chemical heat treatment is often longer.
 
Process Classification
Metal heat treatment process can be divided into integral heat treatment, surface heat treatment and chemical heat treatment. According to the heating medium, heating temperature and cooling methods, each category can be divided into several different heat treatment processes. The same metal with different heat treatment process, can obtain different structure, thus has different properties. Steel is the most widely used metal in industry, and the microstructure of steel is also the most complex, so there are many[TJC STEEL] kinds of steel heat treatment processes.
Integral heat treatment is a metal heat treatment process in which the workpiece is heated as a whole and then cooled at an appropriate rate to obtain the required metallographic structure to change its overall mechanical properties. The overall heat treatment of steel has annealing, normalizing, quenching and tempering four[TJC STEEL] basic processes, that is, the "four fire" of heat treatment.
 
Quenching Process
The quenching of steel is to heat the steel to the critical temperature Ac3 (hypoeutectoid steel) or Ac1 (hypereutectoid steel) above the temperature, heat preservation for a period of time, so that all or part of the austenitizing, and then with more than the critical cooling speed to Ms below fast cold (or Ms near isothermal) martensitic (or bainite) transformation of heat treatment process.
Process: heating, insulation, cooling.
The essence of quenching: the transformation of supercooled austenite to martensite or bainite to obtain martensite or bainite structure.
The purpose of quenching: (1) greatly improve the rigidity, hardness, wear resistance, fatigue strength and toughness of steel, so as to meet the different requirements of various mechanical parts and tools; (2) Meet the ferromagnetic, corrosion resistance and other special physical and chemical properties of some special steels by[TJC STEEL] quenching.
Application: Quenching process is the most widely used, such as tools, measuring tools, molds, bearings, springs and automobiles, tractors, diesel engines, cutting machine tools, pneumatic tools, drilling machinery, agricultural machinery, petroleum machinery, chemical machinery, textile machinery, aircraft and other parts are using quenching process.
 
Quenching Medium
The medium used for workpiece quenching cooling is called quenching cooling medium (or quenching medium). The ideal quenching medium should have the condition that the workpiece can be quenched into martensite without causing too much quenching stress.
The commonly used quenching media are water, water solution, mineral oil, molten salt, molten alkali, etc.
 
● Water
Water is a quenching medium with strong cooling capacity.
Advantages: wide source, low price, stable composition is not easy to deteriorate.
Disadvantages: unstable cooling ability, easy to make the workpiece deformation or cracking. In the "nose" area of C curve (about 500 ~ 600℃), the water is in the steam film stage, cooling is not fast enough, will form a "soft spot"; And in the martensitic transition temperature zone (300 ~ 100℃), water is in the boiling stage, cooling too fast, easy to make the martensitic transition speed is too fast and produce great internal stress, resulting in workpiece deformation and even cracking. When the water temperature rises, [TJC STEEL]the water contains more gas or the water is mixed with insoluble impurities (such as oil, soap, mud, etc.), will significantly reduce its cooling capacity.
Application: It is suitable for quenching and cooling of carbon steel workpiece with small section size and simple shape.
 
 
● Salt Water and Lye Water
Add the appropriate amount of salt and alkali in the water, so that high temperature workpiece immersed in the cooling medium, in the steam film stage precipitation of salt and alkali crystals and immediately burst, the steam film is[TJC STEEL] destroyed, the workpiece surface of the oxide skin is also broken, so as to improve the cooling capacity of the medium in the high temperature zone, its disadvantage is the corrosion of the medium.
Application: Under normal circumstances, the concentration of salt water is 10%, caustic soda solution concentration is 10% ~ 15%. Can be used as the quenching medium of carbon steel and low alloy structural steel workpiece, the use temperature should not exceed 60℃, after quenching should be cleaned in time and rust prevention treatment.
 
● Oil
The cooling medium is usually mineral oil (mineral oil). Such as oil, transformer oil and diesel oil. Oil generally uses No. 10, No. 20, No. 30 oil, the larger the oil, the greater the viscosity, the higher the flash point, the lower the cooling capacity, [TJC STEEL]the use of temperature increases accordingly.
 
Quenching Mode
● Single liquid quenching
It is a quenching operation method in which austenitic chemical components are immersed in a quenching medium and cooled to room temperature. The single liquid quenching medium includes water, salt water, alkali water, oil and specially prepared quenching agent.
Advantages: Simple operation, conducive to mechanization and automation.
Disadvantages: The cooling rate is limited by the cooling characteristics of the medium and affects the quenching quality.
Application: Single liquid quenching for carbon steel is only suitable for simple shape of the workpiece.
 
● Double Liquid Quenching
Is the austenitic chemical parts first immersed in a kind of cooling ability of the medium, in the steel parts have not reached the quenching [TJC STEEL]medium temperature is removed, immediately immersed in another kind of cooling ability of the medium, such as first water after oil, first water after air, etc. Double liquid quenching reduces deformation and cracking tendency, it is difficult to master the operation, and has certain limitations in application.
 
● Martensite grading quenching
Is the austenitic chemical parts first immersed in the temperature slightly higher or slightly lower than the steel martensitic point of the liquid medium (salt bath or alkali bath), maintain the appropriate time, until the steel parts inside and outside reach the medium temperature after the air cooling, in order to obtain the quenching [TJC STEEL]process of martensitic structure, also known as fractional quenching.
Advantages: Fractional quenching can effectively reduce the phase change stress and thermal stress, and reduce the tendency of quenching deformation and cracking because of the air cooling after the fractional temperature stays to the same temperature inside and outside the workpiece.
Application: It is suitable for alloy steel and high [TJC STEEL]alloy steel workpiece with high deformation requirement. It can also be used for carbon steel workpiece with small section size and complex shape.
 
● Bainite Isothermal Quenching
It is the quenching process of austenitizing steel parts, making it fast cold to the bainite transition temperature range (260 ~ 400℃) and isothermal maintenance, so that austenite into bainite, sometimes also called isothermal quenching, the general holding time is 30 ~ 60min.
 
● Compound hardening
The workpiece was quenched below Ms to obtain 10%-20% martensite, and then isothermal in the lower bainite temperature zone. With this cooling method, M+B structure can be obtained in workpiece with large cross-section. The martensite formed during pre-quenching can promote bainite transformation, and temper martensite[TJC STEEL] at isotherm. Composite quenching for alloy tool steel workpiece can avoid the first type of tempering brittleness and reduce the residual Austenitic volume, namely the deformation and cracking tendency.
 
Tempering
Tempering Process
Tempering is a heat treatment process in which the quenched workpiece is reheated to an appropriate temperature below the lower critical temperature and then cooled to room temperature in air, water, oil and other media after holding it for a period of time.
The purpose of tempering is: (1) to eliminate the residual stress generated during quenching and prevent deformation and cracking; (2) Adjust the hardness, strength, plasticity and toughness of the workpiece to meet the performance requirements; (3) Stable structure and size to ensure accuracy; (4) Improve and enhance the processing performance.
 
Tempering Classification
● Low Temperature Tempering
Refers to the workpiece at 150~250℃ tempering.
Objective: To maintain high hardness and wear [TJC STEEL]resistance of quenched workpiece and reduce quenching residual stress and brittleness.
Tempered martensite is obtained after tempering, which refers to the microstructure obtained by tempering quenched martensite at low temperature.
Application: cutting tools, measuring tools, die, rolling bearing, carburizing and surface hardening parts, etc.
 
 
● Moderate heat
Refers to the workpiece between 350 ~ 500℃ tempering.
Objective: To obtain high elasticity and yield point, appropriate toughness. Tempered tretinite refers to a complex structure of extremely[TJC STEEL] fine spherical carbide (or cementite) distributed in the ferrite matrix formed during the tempering of martensite.
Application: spring, forging die, impact tool, etc.
 
● Tempering at high temperature
It refers to the tempering of the workpiece at more than 500℃.
Objective: To obtain comprehensive mechanical properties with good strength, plasticity and toughness.
Tempered soetensite refers to the complex phase structure of ferrite matrix formed during martensite tempering with fine spherical carbides (including cementite) distributed in the matrix.
Application: Widely used in a variety of[TJC STEEL] important mechanical structural parts, such as connecting rod, bolt, gear and shaft parts.
 
 
Normalizing
Normalizing Process
Normalizing is a metal heat treatment process in which steel parts are heated to 30-50℃ above the critical temperature (the temperature of complete austenitization) and taken out of the furnace in the air or cooled by water spray, spray or blow after holding for an appropriate time.
Objective: (1) To refine grain size and homogenize [TJC STEEL]carbide distribution; (2) Remove the internal stress of the material; (3) Increase the hardness of the material.
 
Material: Subeutectic Tinplate
Status: Normal
Structure: Graphite Brown, Martensite Light Yellow, Pearlite Green and Dark Yellow, Cementite Brown
 
Material: A-299
Status: Normal
Tissue: Brown ferrite yellow, blue, white pearlite brown
 
Material: 13MnNiMoNb
Status: Normal
Tissue: light brown pearlite grayish brown, ferrite red, yellow, blue
 
Material: 45# Steel
Status: normal
Structure: light blue ferrite, pearlite variety of colors
 
 
Advantages: (1) normalizing cooling rate is slightly faster than annealing cooling rate, so the obtained pearlite laminate spacing is smaller, normalizing structure is finer than annealing structure, so its hardness and strength is higher; (2)[TJC STEEL] The cooling outside the normal furnace does not occupy the equipment, and the productivity is higher.
Application: Only applicable to carbon steel and low and medium alloy steel, but not applicable to high alloy steel. Because the austenite of high alloy steel is very stable, cooling in air will also result in martensitic structure.
 
 
Specific Use
(1) For low carbon steel and low alloy steel, normalizing can increase its hardness to improve the machinability;
(2) For medium carbon steel, normalizing can replace tempering treatment, prepare the microstructure for high-frequency quenching, and reduce the deformation of steel parts and reduce the processing cost;
(3) For high carbon steel, normalizing can eliminate the mesh cementite structure and facilitate spheroidizing annealing;
(4) For large steel forgings or steel castings with sharp changes in section, normalizing can be used instead of quenching, in order to reduce the deformation and cracking tendency, or prepare the organization for quenching;
(5) For the quenching repair parts of steel, the [TJC STEEL]influence of overheating can be eliminated by normalizing, so as to be re-quenched;
(6) Used for cast iron to increase the pearlescent volume of matrix and improve the strength and wear resistance of castings.
 
Annealing
Annealing Process
Annealing is the process by which a metal or alloy is heated to a suitable temperature, held for a certain period of time, and then cooled slowly (usually with the furnace).
 
Purpose of Annealing:
(1) reduce the hardness of steel, improve plasticity, easy machining and cold deformation processing;
(2) To uniform the chemical composition and microstructure of steel, refine the grain, improve the performance of steel or prepare the microstructure for quenching;
(3) Eliminate internal stress and work hardening to [TJC STEEL]prevent deformation and cracking.
 
 
Annealing Method
1. Complete Annealing
Objective: To refine grain, homogenize microstructure, eliminate internal stress, reduce hardness and improve machinability of steel. The microstructure of fully annealed hypoeutectoid steel is F+P.
Application: Full annealing is mainly used for hypoeutectoid steel (wc=0.3~0.6%), generally medium carbon steel and low and medium carbon alloy steel castings, forgings and hot rolled profiles, and sometimes for their welding parts.
 
2. Incomplete Annealing
Process: The steel is heated to Ac1~Ac3(hypoeutectoid steel) or Ac1~Accm(hypoeutectoid steel) after insulation slowly cooling to obtain the heat [TJC STEEL]treatment process close to the equilibrium structure.
Application: Mainly used in eutectoid steel to obtain spherical pearlite structure, in order to eliminate internal stress, reduce hardness, improve machinability.
 
3, isothermal Annealing
Process: Heat treatment process in which steel is heated to a temperature higher than Ac3(or Ac1), and cooled to a certain temperature in the pearlite region quickly after holding for an appropriate time, and isothermal maintenance, so that austenite is transformed into pearlite, and then air cooled to room temperature.
Objective: Same as full annealing, the transition is easier to control.
Application: It is suitable for stable steel: high carbon steel (wc> 0.6%), alloy tool steel, high alloy steel (total alloying element > 10%). Isothermal annealing is also beneficial to obtain uniform microstructure and properties. But it is not suitable for large section steel and large quantities of charge, because it is not easy to make the workpiece internal or batch workpiece isothermal temperature.
 
4. Spheroidizing Annealing
Process: A heat treatment process to spheroidize carbide in steel and obtain granular pearlite. Heating to Ac1 above 20~30℃ temperature, holding[TJC STEEL] time should not be too long, generally 2~4h is appropriate, cooling method is usually used furnace cooling, or Ar1 below 20℃ isothermal for a long time.
Objective: To reduce hardness, uniform microstructure and improve machinability to prepare microstructure for quenching.
Application: Mainly used in eutectoid steel and eutectoid steel, such as carbon tool steel, alloy tool steel, bearing steel, etc. Spheroidization annealing to obtain spherical pearlite, in the spherical pearlite, cementite is spherical fine particles, dispersed on the ferritic matrix. Spherical pearlite compared with sheet pearlite, not only low hardness, easy to cut, and in quenching heating, austenite grain is not easy to coarse, cooling deformation and cracking tendency is small.
 
5. Diffusion Annealing (homogenizing annealing)
Process: Heat treatment process in which steel ingot, castings or forging billets are heated to a temperature slightly below the solid-phase line to hold them for a long time and then cooled slowly to eliminate chemical composition inhomogeneity.
Objective: To eliminate dendrite segregation and regional segregation during solidification of ingot and homogenize composition and structure.
Application: Used in some high quality alloy steel and alloy steel castings and ingot with severe segregation. The heating temperature of diffusion [TJC STEEL]annealing is very high, usually 100~200℃ above Ac3 or Accm. The specific temperature depends on the degree of segregation and steel type, and the holding time is generally 10~15 hours. After diffusion annealing, complete annealing and normalizing treatment are needed to refine the structure.
 
6, Stress Removal Annealing
Process: the steel parts are heated to a temperature lower than Ac1 (generally 500~650℃), insulation, and then cooled with the furnace.
The stress removal annealing temperature is lower than A1, so no microstructure change is caused by stress removal annealing.
Objective: To eliminate residual internal stress.
Application: Mainly used to eliminate the residual stress of castings, forgings, welding parts, hot rolled parts, cold drawn parts, etc. If these stresses are not eliminated, they will cause deformation or cracks in the steel parts after a certain time, or in the subsequent cutting process.
 
7. Recrystallization Annealing
Recrystallization annealing, also known as intermediate annealing, is a heat treatment process to heat the metal after cold deformation to the recrystallization temperature above the appropriate time, so that the deformed grains are transformed into uniform equiaxed grains and eliminate work hardening and residual stress.
The recrystallization phenomenon must first have a certain amount of cold plastic deformation, and then must be heated to a certain [TJC STEEL]temperature. The lowest temperature at which recrystallization occurs is called the lowest recrystallization temperature. The minimum recrystallization temperature of general metal materials is: T =0.4T.
The heating temperature of recrystallization annealing should be 100~200℃ higher than the minimum recrystallization temperature (the minimum recrystallization temperature of steel is about 450℃), and the temperature should be cooled slowly after appropriate insulation.
 
 
 
 

Nickel-Based alloy with other elements is called nickel alloy. Nickel has good mechanical, physical and chemical properties. Adding appropriate elements can improve its oxidation resistance, corrosion resistance, high temperature strength and some physical properties. Nickel alloy can be used as electronic tube material, precision alloy[TJC STEEL] (magnetic alloy, precision resistance alloy, electric heating alloy, etc.), nickel base superalloy and nickel base corrosion resistance alloy and shape memory alloy. In energy development, chemical, electronics, navigation, aviation and aerospace sectors, nickel alloys are widely used.
Nickel can form many alloys with copper, iron, manganese, chromium, silicon and magnesium. Nickel copper alloy is the famous Monel alloy, it has high strength, good plasticity, in the atmosphere below 750 degrees, stable chemical properties, widely used in electrical industry, vacuum tube, chemical industry, medical equipment and Marine industry.
 
A.Definition of Nickel-Based Alloys:
Nickel-based alloy is generally referred to as the alloy with Ni content of more than 30wt%, and the Ni content of common products is more than 50wt%. Due to its super high temperature mechanical strength and corrosion resistance, the[TJC STEEL] alloy combined with iron and cobalt alloy is called Superalloy. It is generally applied in the high temperature environment above 540℃, and according to its application occasions, Selection of different alloy design, mainly used in special corrosion resistance environment, high temperature corrosion environment, need to have high temperature mechanical strength equipment. It is often used in aerospace (aircraft engine, gas turbine, engine valve), energy (furnace parts, heat insulation, heat treatment industry, oil and gas industry), petrochemical industry (seawater desalination plant, petrochemical transmission pipeline), or special [TJC STEEL]electronic/photoelectric (battery shell parts, wire frame, computer monitor mesh cover) and other fields.
 
 
B.Origin and Development:
The nickel-based alloy was developed in the late 1930s. The first nickel-based alloy Nimonic75(Ni-20Cr-0.4Ti) was produced in Britain in 1941. Nimonic 80(Ni-20Cr-2.5Ti-1.3Al) was prepared by adding Al to improve the submersible strength. The United States in the mid-1940s, Russia in the late 1940s, China in the mid-1950s have also developed nickel-based alloys. The development of nickel base alloy includes two aspects, namely the improvement of alloy composition and the innovation of production technology.
For example, in the early 1950s, the development of vacuum smelting technology created conditions for the refining of nickel-based [TJC STEEL]alloys containing high Al and Ti, which led to a substantial increase in the strength and operating temperature of alloys. In the late 1950s, due to the increase in the working temperature of turbine blades, higher high-temperature strength of alloys was required. However, high strength of alloys made it difficult or even impossible to deform. Therefore, a series of casting alloys with good high-temperature strength were developed by adopting precision casting technology. In the mid-1960s, directional crystals and single crystal superalloys with better properties were developed, as well as powder metallurgy superalloys.
In order to meet the needs of ships and industrial gas turbines, a batch of high Cr nickel base alloys with good thermal corrosion resistance and stable microstructure have been developed since the 1960s. In a period of about 40 years from the early 1940s to the late 1970s, the operating temperature of the nickel-based alloy [TJC STEEL]increased by 1,100℃ from 700, an average increase of about 10℃ per year. Today, nickel-based alloys can be used at temperatures in excess of 1,100℃, from the initial Nimonic75 alloy with simple composition, to the recently developed MA6000 alloy with tensile strength of 2,220MPa and yield strength of 192MPa at 1,100℃. Its endurance strength at 1,100℃/137MPa is about 1,000 hours, which can be used in aero-engine blades.
 
C.Characteristics of Nickel-Based Alloys:
 
Nickel-based alloy is the most widely used and strongest material in superalloys. The name superalloy derives from the material characteristics.
Including:
(1) Excellent performance: it can maintain high strength at high temperature, and has excellent mechanical properties such as anti-creep and [TJC STEEL]anti-fatigue, as well as oxidation and corrosion resistance and good plasticity and weldability.
(2) Super complicated alloy addition: more than ten alloying elements are often added to nickel-based alloys to improve corrosion resistance in different environments; And solid solution strengthening or precipitation strengthening.
(3) Extremely harsh working environment: Nickel-based alloy is widely used in various harsh working conditions, such as the high-temperature and high-pressure part of the gas chamber of aerospace engine, the structural parts of nuclear energy, petroleum, Marine industry, corrosion resistant pipelines, etc.
 
 
D.Microstructure of Nickel-Based Alloys:
The crystal structure of nickel-based alloy is mainly high temperature stable face-centered cube (FCC) structure. In order to improve its heat resistance, a large number of alloy-elements are added. These elements will form various secondary phases and improve the high temperature strength of Nickel-based alloy. The secondary phase consists of Coherent metallitic compounds such as MC, M23C6, M6C, and M7C3 in various [TJC STEEL]forms, usually distributed in grain boundaries, and coherent Ordering such as γ' or γ'. The chemical composition of γ' and γ' phase is roughly Ni3(Al, Ti) or Ni3Nb. This ordered phase is very stable at high temperature, and excellent latent failure strength can be obtained through their strengthening.
With the increase of alloying degree, the microstructure of γ' phases has the following trend: the number of γ' phases increases gradually, the size increases gradually, and the γ' phases change from spherical to cubic, and the size and shape of different γ' phases appear in the same alloy. In addition, γ+γ' eutectic is formed in the solidification process, and discontinuous granular carbide precipitates from the grain boundary and is surrounded by γ' thin films. These micromicrostructure changes improve the [TJC STEEL]properties of the alloy. In addition, the chemical composition of modern nickel-based alloys is very complex, and the saturation of the alloys is very high, so it is necessary to control the content of each alloy element (especially the major strengthening elements). Otherwise, other harmful intermediate metal phases, such as σ and Laves, may be precipitated during use, which will damage the strength and toughness of the alloy.
 
 
 
E.Role and Brand of Alloying Elements:
Nickel-based alloy is one of the most widely used superalloys with the highest strength. The addition of a large amount of Ni is the stable element of Wastian iron phase, which makes the nickel-based alloy maintain FCC structure and can dissolve more other alloy elements, and also maintain good microstructure stability and plasticity of the material. While Cr, Mo and Al have oxidation and corrosion resistance, and have [TJC STEEL]a certain strengthening effect. The strengthening of nickel-based alloys can be divided into:
(1) Solid solution strengthening elements, such as W, Mo, Co, Cr and V, cause local lattice strain at the base of Ni-Fe by the difference between the atomic radius and the base material;
(2) The precipitation of strengthening elements, such as Al,Ti, Nb and Ta, can form integrated and ordered A3B intermetallic compounds, such as Ni3(Al,Ti) and other strengthening phases (γ '), so that the alloy can be strengthened effectively and obtain higher high-temperature strength than iron base superalloy and cobalt base alloy.
(3) Grain boundary strengthening elements, such as B, Zr, Mg and rare earth elements, can enhance the high temperature properties of the alloy. Generally, the brand of nickel base alloy is named by its development manufacturer, such as Ni-Cu alloy, also known as Monel alloy, common such as Monel 400, K-500 and so on. Ni-Cr alloy is commonly known as Inconel alloy, which is a common nickel-based heat-resistant alloy. It is mainly used in oxidizing medium conditions, such as Inconel 600, 625, etc. The Inconel alloy is not as hot as the nickel-based alloy, but it is also an inexpensive alternative to the Inconel alloy, which is used in the lower temperature components of jet engines and in petrochemical reactors, such as Incoloy 800H and 825. The Inconel and Incoloy Coloy are separated out [TJC STEEL]with enhanced elements, such as Ti, Al, and Nb, so that the alloy can maintain good mechanical strength and corrosion resistance at high temperatures. It is also widely used in jet engine components, such as Inconel 718 and Incoloy A-286. Ni-Cr-Mo(-W)(-Cu) alloy is known as Hastelloy corrosion resistant alloy, wherein Ni-Cr-Mo is mainly used in reducing medium corrosion conditions. Hastelloy is represented by brands such as C-276, C-2000, etc.
 
 
F.Properties of Nickel-Based Alloys:
1. High Temperature (Instantaneous) Intensity:
Nickel-based alloys have higher tensile strength at room temperature (TS= 1200-1,600; YS= 900-1,300 MPa), and has good ductility. It includes [TJC STEEL]the use of the above ionic and covalent bonded γ-γ 'or γ-γ' precipitates with high melting point and high strength at room temperature, coupled with a large number of slip systems and ductile Wastein iron phase base, the concept of composite materials to obtain excellent mechanical properties with both strength and plasticity.
 
2. Latent Strength:
Under the constant load at high temperature (T/Tm>0.5), the material alloy slowly produces plastic deformation phenomenon, because the material alloy has the best resistance to high temperature diving ability, and is widely used in a variety of high temperature environment, as a load bearing parts.
It can be divided into three stages. In the stage of Primary Creep, the deformation rate is relatively high, but it slows down with the increase of strain due to work hardening. When the deformation rate reaches a certain minimum value and is close to a constant, it is called Secondary or Steady-StateCreep, which is the result of balance between work hardening and dynamic recovery. The latent strain rate required in engineering material design is the strain rate at this stage. At the third stage (Tertiary Creep), the strain rate is increased exponentially with the increase in strain due to necking, and finally failure is achieved.
The relationship between stress and strain rate varies with the different mechanisms of submersion. Generally speaking, the increase of temperature or stress will increase the deformation rate of steady-state submersion and shorten the submersion lifetime. The mechanism of submersion can be divided into (1) differential displacement submersion: With the help of high temperature, the differential displacement may slip along the slip plane and then deformation occurs. (2) Diffusion Creep: Nabarro-Herring Creep, which is caused by atom movement and dispersed along grain, is the main mechanism at high temperature. Diffusion along grain boundaries, called Coble Creep, is the dominant mechanism at low temperatures. Therefore, the smaller the grain size, the more easily the diffusion latent occurs. (3) grain boundary slip: Because the grain boundary is weak at high temperature, the material is easy to slip along the grain boundary, resulting in intergranular cracks. Therefore, the smaller the grains at high temperature, the easier it is to produce grain boundary slip slip and intergranular cracks. The deformation of metals is often an interaction between differential displacement and grain boundary slip. Nickel base alloy can greatly inhibit differential displacement due to the precipitation of medimetallic phase, and carbide precipitated on grain boundary can help to resist the displacement caused by grain boundary slip, which makes nickel base alloy has better resistance to displacement than other metal materials.
 
In addition, when the traditional casting method is changed to unidirectional solidified long columnar crystal, the resistance to high temperature diving will be improved, and when it is further grown into single crystal, the resistance to high temperature diving will be greatly improved. Therefore, special technologies such as directional eutectic solidification, single crystal casting and powder metallurgy have been developed for nickel-based alloys, which further enhance the resistance to high temperature diving of nickel-based alloys.
 
3. Corrosion Resistance:
Corrosion control of materials has been regarded as the best way to practice material economy in industry. The selection of materials for industrial equipment at the design end is not just about the price of materials; issues such as the time required for replacement and maintenance, as well as the overall efficiency of use and, more importantly, safety, need to be more accurately considered in design and selection. Nickel-based alloys have good corrosion resistance in strong reducing corrosion environment, complex mixed acid environment, and solutions containing halogen ions. Nickel-based corrosion resistant alloys can be represented by Hastelloy alloy. As mentioned above, Ni elements can accommodate more alloys in crystallography to improve their ability to resist corrosion environment. Moreover, Ni itself has certain anti-rot properties, such as excellent resistance to stress corrosion and caustic corrosion of Cl ions. The addition of passivated elements in nickel-based alloy can form solid solution with the substrate phase, which improves the corrosion potential and thermodynamic stability of the material. For example, Cu, Cr and Mo are added to Ni to improve the corrosion resistance of the whole alloy.
 
In addition, alloying elements can promote the formation of dense corrosion product protective film on the alloy surface, such as the formation of Cr2O3, Al2O3 and other oxide layers, providing a protective layer for materials to resist various types of corrosion environment. Therefore, nickel-based corrosion resistant alloys usually contain Cr and Al one or both of these two elements, especially when the strength of the alloy is not the main requirement. Special attention should be paid to the high-temperature oxidation resistance and thermal corrosion resistance of the alloy. The oxidation resistance of the superalloy varies with the alloying element content. Although the high-temperature oxidation behavior of the superalloy is very complicated, the oxidation resistance of the superalloy is usually expressed by the oxidation kinetics and the composition of the oxide film.
 
Pure nickel materials such as Ni 200/201(UNS N02200/ UNS N02201) are commercial pure nickel (>99.0%). It has good mechanical properties and excellent corrosion resistance, and other useful physical properties, including its magnetic properties, magnetostrictivity, high thermal and electrical conductivity. Ni 200's resistance to corrosion makes it particularly useful in applications where purity is required, such as food products, man-made fibers, and caustic soda. It is also widely used in structural applications where corrosion resistance is a major consideration. Other uses include sky and missile parts. Nickel base corrosion resistant alloys include Hastelloy alloy and Ni-Cu alloy, the main alloy elements are Cr, Mo, Cu, etc., has good comprehensive performance, can withstand various acid corrosion and stress corrosion. Monel, the earliest application of Ni-Cu component; In addition, there are Ni-Cr alloy (nickel base heat resistant alloy, corrosion resistant alloy in corrosion resistant alloy), Ni-Mo alloy, Ni-Cr-Mo alloy (C series of Hastelloy alloy) and so on. In terms of corrosion resistance, Ni-Cu alloy has better corrosion resistance than Ni in reducing medium, and better corrosion resistance than Cu in oxidizing medium. Under the condition of no oxygen and oxidant, it is the best material to resist high temperature fluorine gas, hydrogen fluoride and hydrofluoric acid. Ni-Cr alloy is mainly used in oxidizing medium conditions. Can resist high temperature oxidation and corrosion containing sulfur, vanadium and other gases, Cr content in the alloy is greater than 13% to cause effective corrosion resistance, and the higher the Cr content, the better the corrosion resistance, but in the non-oxidizing medium such as hydrochloric acid, corrosion resistance is poor, this is because non-oxidizing acid is not easy to make the alloy oxide film, at the same time there is a dissolution effect on the oxide film.
 
The addition of elements containing Mo and Cu in the nickel base alloy can improve the corrosion resistance of the reducing acid of the protective layer. For example, Ni-Mo alloy is mainly used under the corrosion condition of reducing medium, and it is the best kind of alloy resistant to hydrochloric acid corrosion, but in the presence of oxygen and oxidant, the corrosion resistance will decrease significantly. Ni-cr-mo (-W) alloy has the properties of Ni-Cr and Ni-Mo alloy mentioned above, and is mainly used in mixed medium of oxidation and reduction. This kind of alloy has good corrosion resistance in high temperature hydrogen fluoride gas, hydrofluoric acid solution containing oxygen and oxidant, and wet chlorine gas at room temperature. The importance of Mo nickel-based corrosion resistant alloys is that they can resist both oxidizing and reducing acids. For example, titanium and stainless steel are only resistant to oxidizing acids. For example, Hastelloy C-276 or C-2000 alloy is a Ni-Cr-Mo alloy containing W.
 
Containing very low silicon and carbon, is generally considered to be universal corrosion resistant alloy, has in oxidation and reduction two atmosphere state, has excellent corrosion resistance to most corrosive media, as well as excellent corrosion resistance to pore corrosion, crack corrosion and stress cracking corrosion, such alloy because of the reduction of C, Si, so can control carbide precipitation, but also improve its corrosion resistance. Because of this kind of characteristics, so widely used as chemical equipment and other harsh environment application materials. In addition, Ni-Cr-Mo-Cu alloys have the ability to resist both nitric acid and sulfuric acid corrosion, and have good corrosion resistance in some oxidation-reducing mixed acids.
 
G.Production Technology of Nickel-Based Alloys:
The traditional production process of nickel-based alloy is nickel raw material → nickel alloy ingot (smelting)→ secondary refining → processing → finished product → downstream application.
Other special technologies such as directional solidification, single crystal casting and powder metallurgy have been developed to meet the special needs of aerospace applications. In this paper, the traditional key technologies for the production of nickel-based alloys, such as melting, hot working and heat treatment, are briefly introduced.
The composition of nickel base alloy is mainly Ni-Cr-Fe, and the addition of other elements such as Cu, Si, Mn, Al, Ti, Nb, W, C, etc. The effects of these elements on superalloying materials are generally known from the literature. However, in order to recombine or add new alloy components and understand their interactions in microstructures, recently available material property simulation software can be used to calculate the thermodynamics and dynamics of alloy systems, helping to provide cost-effective direction, which can improve the efficiency of alloy design. The realization of alloy design must be completed by melting technology. The smelting of nickel-based alloy is mainly divided into Electric Arc Furnace (EAF)+ Electro-Alag Remelting, EAR) and high grade Vacuum Induction Melting (VIM)+ electroslag remelting refined products. In order to obtain more pure and purified alloy steel liquid during smelting, reduce the content of gas and harmful elements; At the same time, due to the existence of easy oxidizing elements such as Al and Ti in some alloys, non-vacuum smelting is difficult to control; In order to obtain better thermoplasticity, nickel-based alloys are usually smelted by vacuum induction furnace, or even produced by vacuum induction melting and vacuum consumable furnace or electroslag furnace remelting.
The main purpose is to accurately hit 7-12 alloy components and remove impurity elements and harmful gases, and then maintain the compact structure without surface defects with the ingot solidification control technology. Because the alloy is smelted in the true space environment, the formation of non-metallic oxide inclusions can be limited, and the unnecessary trace elements and dissolved gases, such as oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, can be removed with high vapor pressure. To get an accurate and uniform alloy composition. The ingot from VIM smelting can be used as electrode of ESR for refining. The purpose of the ESR process (FIG. 10) is to obtain a purer ingot with low impurity. The slag/refining control technology is used to remove coarse intermediates, and the ingot solidification control technology is used to achieve the goal of pure composition, compact structure and uniform microstructure. Vacuum induction furnace is usually used for melting to ensure composition and control gas and impurity content, and vacuum remelting - precision casting technology is used to make parts. In the case of superalloy processing, the choice of smelting method will affect the impurity zone (i.e. the abnormal segregation of the composition). In general, the impurity and defects (such as pores) are related to the alloy composition and casting technique.
Nickel-based alloys are often processed by forging, rolling, etc., and for the alloy with poor thermoplasticity, even by extrusion after opening rolling or direct extrusion technology with mild steel (or stainless steel) sheath. The general purpose of deformation is to break the casting structure and optimize the microstructure. The high deformation impedance and the instability of thermal ductility of nickel-based alloys at high temperature increase the difficulty in the process of nickel-based alloys. Generally, nickel-based alloys have high strength and are not easy to work in cold and hot. Taking C-276 as an example, the deformation impedance at high temperature is about 2.4 times that of stainless steel. And the high hardening rate of cold working makes its strength up to 2 times of stainless steel. In addition to the high temperature deformation impedance, the occurrence of different deformation resistance of thermal ductility or inclusion zone at different temperatures should be considered in hot working, and the impure zone will harm the high temperature mechanical properties of the alloy.
The temperature range in which both resistance and thermal ductility of superalloy castings are allowed to be processed can be regarded as the working range of the hot working process. After processing or partial casting alloys need heat treatment. The purpose of solution heat treatment of nickel-based alloys is to control the grain size according to the requirements of product properties (such as toughness or creep), and to promote recrystallization and stress relief at high temperature, as well as to precipitate bad phases, such as M23C6, δ, η, etc., during the process before dissolution. For solid solution enhanced nickel-based alloys, the heat treatment procedures are as follows: (1) the temperature is raised to the point at which precipitates can dissolve, (2) the temperature is held to achieve the desired grain size, and (3) the cooling rate must be controlled to avoid precipitation such as sensitized phase M23C6.
Generally speaking, the mechanical properties of solid solution treatment are affected by the grain size and intergranular precipitates, and the temperature and time of solid solution treatment should be adjusted according to the alloy composition and the pre-process condition to achieve the desired properties. In addition, when the Ni-base alloy containing Cr reached 400~800oC, chromium carbide (M23C6) precipitated into the grain boundary, which made chromium deficiency Zone formed around the grain boundary, and thus reduced the corrosion resistance of this zone. It is called sensitization, which easily leads to intergranular erosion (IGA) and stress corrosion fracture (IGSCC). On the other hand, the heat treatment of the Wastian Fe-series precipitation enhanced nickel-base alloy includes (1) the solution stage at which the precipitation is raised to the temperature of resolution and (2) the aging stage at the temperature holding in the γ/ γ' two-phase region. The solid solution makes the precipitates dissolve back, the elements required for γ' precipitation in the base increase, and achieve the homogenization of the added elements, and control the grain size of the substrate γ phase; In the aging stage, the volume fraction, morphology, size and distribution of γ' can be controlled by holding temperature, time, cooling rate and multi-stage aging. The distribution and morphology of the main precipitates can affect the creep and corrosion resistance properties. Generally speaking, the intensification phase is usually on the nanoscale, which is not easy to be observed by ordinary metallographic methods. The morphology of precipitates is often determined by penetration electron microscopy (TEM) with high power.
 
 
In recent years, the global production of nickel-based alloys will continue to increase, especially for petrochemical EAF grade and energy/aerospace VIM grade nickel-based alloys. The Asian market is growing most rapidly, and their applications in aerospace and energy will increase significantly.