Refine
Document Type
- Article (8) (remove)
Language
- English (8) (remove)
Keywords
- Additive manufacturing (1)
- Aquaculture (1)
- Austenitic stainless steels (1)
- Corrosion resistance (1)
- Dynamic testing plant (1)
- Dynamic tests (1)
- Espanded austenite, Magnetic force microscopy, Low temperature carburisation, Ferrofluid (1)
- Expanded austenite (1)
- Functional materials (1)
- Low-temperature carburization (1)
Thermochemical surface hardening is used to overcome the weak mechanical performance of austenitic and duplex stainless steels. Both low-temperature carburizing and nitrocarburizing can improve the hardness, wear, galling, and cavitation resistance, while maintaining their good corrosion resistance. Therefore, it is crucial to not form chromium-rich precipitates during hardening as these can deteriorate the passivity of the alloy. The hardening parameters, the chemical composition of the steel, and the manufacturing route of a component determine whether precipitates are formed. This article gives an overview of suitable alloys for low-temperature surface hardening and the performance under corrosive loading.
In automotive a lot of electromagnetically, pyrotechnically or mechanically driven actuators are integrated to run comfort systems and to control safety systems in modern passenger cars. Using shape memory alloys (SMA) the existing systems could be simplified, performing the same function through new mechanisms with reduced size, weight, and costs. A drawback for the use of SMA in safety systems is the lack of materials knowledge concerning the durability of the switching function (long-time stability of the shape memory effect). Pedestrian safety systems play a significant role to reduce injuries and fatal casualties caused by accidents. One automotive safety system for pedestrian protection is the bonnet lifting system. Based on such an application, this article gives an introduction to existing bonnet lifting systems for pedestrian protection, describes the use of quick changing shape memory actuators and the results of the study concerning the long-time stability of the tested NiTi-wires. These wires were trained, exposed up to 4years at elevated temperatures (up to 140°C) and tested regarding their phase change temperatures, times, and strokes. For example, it was found that A P-temperature is shifted toward higher temperatures with longer exposing periods and higher temperatures. However, in the functional testing plant a delay in the switching time could not be detected. This article gives some answers concerning the long-time stability of NiTi-wires that were missing till now. With this knowledge, the number of future automotive applications using SMA can be increased. It can be concluded, that the use of quick changing shape memory actuators in safety systems could simplify the mechanism, reduce maintenance and manufacturing costs and should be insertable also for other automotive applications.
Investigation of magnetic effects on austenitic stainless steels after low temperature carburization
(2018)
This work aims at investigating the magnetic effects of austenitc stainless steels which can occur after a low temperature carburisation depending on the alloy. Samples were prepared of different alloys and subjected to a multiple low temperature carburisation to obtain different treatment conditions for each alloy. The layer characterisation was carried out by light microscope and also by hardening profiles and shows that the layer develops with each additional treatment cycle. A lattice expansion could be detected in all treated samples by X-ray diffraction. Magnetisability was measured using Feritscope and SQUID measurements. Not all alloys showed magnetisability after treatment. In addition to MFM measurements, experiments with Ferrofluid were also used to visualize the magnetic areas. These studies show that only about half of the formed layer becomes magnetisable and has a domain-like structure.
Ferromagnetism is of increasing importance in the growing field of electromobility and data storage. In stable austenitic steels, the occurrence of ferromagnetism is not expected and would also interfere with many applications. However, ferromagnetism in austenitic stainless steels after low-temperature nitriding has already been shown in the past. Herein, the presence of ferromagnetism in austenitic steels is discovered after low-temperature carburization (Kolsterizing), which represents a novel and unique finding. A zone of expanded austenite is established on various austenitic stainless steels by low-temperature carburization and the respective ferromagnetism is investigated in relation to the alloy composition. The ferromagnetism occurring is determined by means of a commercial magnetoinductive sensor (Feritscope). Ferromagnetic domains are visualized by magnetic force microscopy and a ferrofluid. X-ray diffraction measurements indicate a clear difference in the lattice expansion of the different alloys. Furthermore, a different appearance of the magnetizable microstructure regions (magnetic domain structure) is detected depending on the grain orientation determined by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Strongly pronounced magnetic domains show no linear lattice defects, whereas in small magnetizable areas linear lattice defects are detected by electron channeling contrast imaging and EBSD.
Thermal shape memory alloys show extraordinary material properties and can be used as actuators, dampers and sensors. Since their discovery in the middle of the last century they have been investigated and further developed. The majority of the industrial applications with the highest material sales can still be found in the medical industry, where they are used due to their superelastic and thermal shape memory effect, e.g. as stents or as guidewires and tools in the minimal invasive surgery. Particularly in recent years, more and more applications have been developed for other industrial fields, e.g. for the household goods, civil engineering and automotive sector. In this context it is worth mentioning that for the latter sector, million seller series applications have found their way into some European automobile manufacturers. The German VDI guideline for shape memory alloys introduced in 2017 will give the material a further boost in application. Last but not least the new production technologies of additive manufacturing with metal laser sintering plants open up additional applications for these multifunctional materials. This paper gives an overview of the extraordinary material properties of shape memory components, shows examples of different applications and discusses European trends against the background of the most recent standard and new production technologies.
The corrosion resistance of stainless steels is massively influenced by the condition of their surface. The surface quality includes the topography of the surface, the structure and composition of the passive layer, and the surface near structure of the base material. These factors are influenced by final physical/chemical surface treatments. The presented work shows significantly lower corrosion resistance for mechanical machined specimens than for etched specimens. It also turns out that the rougher the surface, the lower the corrosion resistance gets. However, there is no general finding which shows if blasted or grinded surfaces are more appropriate, but a dependency on process parameters and the characteristics on corrosive exposure in terms of corrosion behavior. The results show that not only the surface roughness Ra has an influence on corrosion behavior but also the shape of peaks and valleys which are evolved by surface treatments. Imperfections in the base material, like sulfidic inclusions lead to a weaker passive layer, respectively, to a decrease of the corrosion resistance. By using special passivating techniques the corrosion resistance of stainless steels can be increased to a higher level in comparison to common passivation.
The project aims for the development of a new material system from high tensile stainless steel wires as net material with environmentally compatible antifouling properties for off-shore fish farm cages. Therefore, current net materials from textiles (polyamide) shall be partially replaced by high strength stainless steel in order to have a more environmentally compatible system which meets the more severe mechanical loads (waves, storms, predators (sharks)). With a new antifouling strategy current issues like reduced ecological damage (e.g. due to copper disposal), lower maintenance costs (e.g. cleaning) and reduced durability shall be resolved.
Characterization of NiTi Shape Memory Damping Elements designed for Automotive Safety Systems
(2014)
Actuator elements made of NiTi shape memory material are more and more known in industry because of their unique properties. Due to the martensitic phase change, they can revert to their original shape by heating when subjected to an appropriate treatment. This thermal shape memory effect (SME) can show a significant shape change combined with a considerable force. Therefore such elements can be used to solve many technical tasks in the field of actuating elements and mechatronics and will play an increasing role in the next years, especially within the automotive technology, energy management, power, and mechanical engineering as well as medical technology. Beside this thermal SME, these materials also show a mechanical SME, characterized by a superelastic plateau with reversible elongations in the range of 8%. This behavior is based on the building of stress-induced martensite of loaded austenite material at constant temperature and facilitates a lot of applications especially in the medical field. Both SMEs are attended by energy dissipation during the martensitic phase change. This paper describes the first results obtained on different actuator and superelastic NiTi wires concerning their use as damping elements in automotive safety systems. In a first step, the damping behavior of small NiTi wires up to 0.5 mm diameter was examined at testing speeds varying between 0.1 and 50 mm/s upon an adapted tensile testing machine. In order to realize higher testing speeds, a drop impact testing machine was designed, which allows testing speeds up to 4000 mm/s. After introducing this new type of testing machine, the first results of vertical-shock tests of superelastic and electrically activated actuator wires are presented. The characterization of these high dynamic phase change parameters represents the basis for new applications for shape memory damping elements, especially in automotive safety systems.