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In the present study, the effect of the post weld heat treatment (PWHT) on mechanic and electrochemical behavior of weld overlay Inconel 182/AISI 4130 substrate using shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) process is investigated. The PWHT was carried out at 640°C for 3 hours under oxidant atmosphere. No apparent change was observed in the substrate microstructure after PWHT. Besides, the microstructure of the Inconel 182/AISI 4130 substrate interface was mainly composed of column Ni-γ grains that became coarser after PWHT. The energy dispersive X-ray (EDS) analysis showed that the diffusion gradient of Fe, Cr and Ni elements, from the melting limits toward the type II boundary near the interface, was more prominent after PWHT. Correspondingly, it was found that the adoption of PWHT was favorable to decrease the hardness mismatch between the Inconel 182 overlay and the AISI 4130 substrate. The effect of the PWHT on the tribological behavior of the Inconel 182 overlay was evaluated through a pin-on-disk test. The results showed an adhesive wear mechanism in both samples (as-welded and post-heat-treated) with severe plastic deformation, resulting in relatively higher volume loss in in both conditions. The electrochemical behavior of Inconel 182 overlay and the AISI 4130 substrate in H2SO4 solution revealed that the corrosion potential. (Ecorr), the current density (Icorr) and the corrosion rate were significantly enhanced after PWHT which considerably reduced the galvanic corrosion.

The presented article is focused on the evaluation of mechanical properties of stainless steel disintegrated using an ultrasonically modulated pulsating water jet. The experimental procedure was performed using a nozzle with a circular orifice with an equivalent diameter of 1.6 mm. The mechanical properties evaluation was based on indentation elasticity modulus Ep and nano hardness H, which were measured using nanoindentation technique. Influence of ultrasonic power and plunger pressure change on disintegrated material was evaluated. Changes in mechanical properties in dependence on distance from the disintegrated surface were evaluated. Elasticity modulus and nano hardness change were observed below and on the sides of the disintegrated surfaces. Measurements were performed until the distance of 930 μm. The indentation was carried in three series of 10 indents with 100 μm spacing located below the affected area, next to the affected area and in the unaffected material. Results of experimental testing show changes of nano hardness (generally an appreciable decrease) and elasticity modulus (limited increase) of material under and to the side of the newly created surface.

Four types of silicon carbide/carbon nanotubes composites were prepared with the main aim to develop ceramics with enhanced electrical conductivity. The SiC/CNT composites were prepared by in-situ growth of CNT on the SiC powder grains. Three types of SiC/CNT composites, where the precursor SiC/CNT powder mixture was prepared by Catalytic Chemical Vapour Deposition (CCVD) method and different amounts of Fe catalytic nanoparticles (2.5, 5, 10 wt% Fe), were designed. In addition, one reference material containing 2.5 wt% Fe catalytic nanoparticles but without CCVD application, i.e. without CNT, was prepared in order to correctly assess the role of CNT. The experimental materials were compacted by hot pressing (1850 °C/Ar/60 min/40 MPa). Mechanical properties such as hardness and elastic modulus of experimental materials were determined. Electrical conductivity as a function of CNT content was measured. The effect of the CNT addition on tribological properties (coefficient of friction, wear) of SiC/CNT composites was also observed. Hardness of the reference sample was relatively high (HV1 = 24 GPa) and it decreased down to HV1 = 17–19.8 GPa with presence of CNT. Similarly, the fracture toughness decreased with presence of CNT from 4.99 MPa.m1/2 for the reference sample down to 3.4–4 MPa.m1/2 for the SiC/CNT composites. Nanoindentation showed that hardness HIT of reference sample without CNT was around 26 GPa and with increasing amounts of CNT it decreased down to 21 GPa. The composites had similar modulus of elasticity (EIT = 337–348 GPa), while for the reference sample it was EIT = 434 GPa. Electrical conductivity increased with amount of CNT (1.76 S/m for the reference sample, 484.3 S/m for the composite with 2.5 wt% Fe, and up to 2873.6 S/m for the composite with 10 wt% Fe). Specific wear rate increased with presence of CNT from 7.7 × 10−7 mm3/Nm for the reference sample to 2.4–2.9 × 10−6 mm3/Nm for the composites. Complex wear behavior common for all types of experimental materials was observed: mainly abrasion, mechanical wear (micro-fractures) and tribochemical reactions with created SiO2 layer. In the reference sample the dominant wear mechanism was abrasion, in SiC/CNT composites formation of transferred films in wear tracks consisting of oxides and carbon phases formed by crushing the CNT were observed.

In this work, dissimilar rapid Rotary Friction Welding of WC-Co cermet to AISI 304 L austenitic stainless steel has been conducted using different friction times. The microstructural examination showed that the increase in friction time from 4s to 12s increases the grain size in both the heat affected zone and the thermo-mechanically affected zone and enlarges the extent of the fully dynamically recrystallized zone. EDS analysis revealed the existence of a Fe Cr W rich band along the WC-Co/AISI 304 L interface in the central region of the weld joint and its absence from the peripheral region. The formation of this band suggests the occurrence of a mutual inter-diffusion between the cermet and the steel which enhanced the metallurgical bonding of the interface. The mechanical behavior investigated by nano-indentation measurements and nano-scratch tests revealed that, regardless the friction time effect and considering the 304 L ASS side, the highest hardness (HIT) and the lowest Young's modulus (EIT) values were recorded in the fully dynamically recrystallized zone. Besides, the increase of friction time resulted in an increase of hardness and Young's modulus of each zone in the AISI 304 L steel side.

Si3N4/hBN composites were fabricated by hot isostatic pressing at 1700°C/3h with 1, 3 and 5 wt. % micro-sized or nano-sized hexagonal boron nitride particles added to silicon nitride matrix. An indentation quench test method was used for estimation of thermal shock resistance of monolithic Si3N4and Si3N4/hBN composites. Thermal shock resistance of the composites increased with the increase of size and volume of hBN particles. The critical temperature difference for the composites with micro-sized hBN was significantly higher (over 900°C) compared to the monolithic silicon nitride (580°C).

The aim of this work is indentation study of local mechanical properties of Cu-22Zn-4.6Al alloy, which has significant shape memory effect after quenching from dual α + β phase region. The study was carried out on the samples with thermoelastic and non-thermoelastic martensite in the structure, which were obtained by quenching from various temperatures. A different behavior concerning mechanical properties measurements of α phase and β phase transformed to martensite after quenching from various temperatures was found out. It was observed almost no change of mechanical properties of α phase, whereas indentation hardness HIT and indentation modulus EIT raised with increasing quenching temperature. Also some serious differences were observed at indentation test of thermoelastic and non-thermoelastic martensite.

The performance of drilling tools hardfacing in different conditions is strongly related to microstructural aspect of the coating and to the adhesion with the substrate. In the present investigation, the manual oxy-acetylene brazing process was employed for AISI 1020 steel hardfacing using WC-Ni. The substrate/hard facing interface was particularly studied which was a Ni-Cr-Al-Mo interlayer prepared by flame thermal spray method. The microstructural results exhibit a good embedding of WC particles into the Ni matrix, where the inter-diffusion of Ni, Cr, and Fe elements at the interface is enhanced using the interlayer. The dissolution and decarburization phenomena of WC particles with the formation of W2C eutectic phase and their effect on the decohesion and pull out of the particles during the wear test were studied. The hardness (HIT) and Young's modulus (EIT) of different parts of the hardfacing were investigated by instrumented nanoindentation. The wear resistance of the surface coatings under alkaline condition using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) basic solution of pH = 12 is two times higher than under dry condition. Furthermore, the formation of SiO2 third body stripes along the wear track promotes the decrease of the friction coefficient and the volume loss. On the other side, the wear mechanism is adhesive with severe plastic deformation of the Ni matrix in dry condition and oxidative/abrasive wear in alkaline wet condition.

Three oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels with different chromium content (MA 956, MA 957 and ODM 751) were studied as candidate materials for new nuclear reactors in term of their radiation stability. The radiation damage was experimentally simulated by helium ion implantation with energy of ions up to 500 keV. The study was focused on surface and sub-surface structural change due to the ion implantation observed by mostly non-destructive techniques: positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy and nanoindentation. The applied techniques demonstrated the best radiation stability of the steel ODM 751. Blistering effect occurred due to high implantation dose (mostly in MA 956) was studied in details.

Acoustically excited pulsating water jet cutting (PWJ) is technological modification of material disintegration. From the reason of not detail described area of area of acoustically excited pulsating water jet with using circular nozzle is article focused on further research of mentioned technology. Presented article is focused on evaluation of surface integrity of copper CW004A and brass CW614N, changes in surface layer and strengthening in subsurface layer after impact of acoustically excited pulsating water jet. Surface topography was evaluated by using optical profilometry. Changes in surface layer were evaluated based on mass material removal Δm [mg/s] and maximal depth of penetration PWJ hmax [mm]. Strengthening in subsurface layer was monitored by nanoindentation measurement with Berkovich indenter. Evaluation of subsurface layers discover slight strengthening under disintegrated surface with lower elasticity.

Three SiC based composites with 30, 40 and 50% of additives (Ti and NbC with ratio of 9:16) have been prepared by hot pressing without other sintering additives. The microstructure, porosity, and chemical composition were studied using SEM/EDS. Local mechanical properties such as hardness and elastic modulus of individual components of the composite were investigated by nanoindentation. Hardness and fracture toughness of the composites were evaluated by means of Vickers macroindentation. Indentation cracks were observed and their propagation was analyzed. It was shown that the present phases were distributed uniformly. The materials with 40 wt% and 50 wt% TiNbC were almost fully dense with porosity lower than 1%. The individual constituents shown similar elasticity modulus (550–590 GPa). Indentation fracture toughness was comparable in all materials, between 2.7–3.0 MPa.m1/2. Cracks in SiC were mostly straight, transgranular. In other places they propagated both trans- and intergarnularly, often followed SiC/TiNbC and TiNbC/TiNbC grain boundaries. The four-point bending strength was 435 MPa for 30% TiNbC and is comparable in all materials within the error of measurement. These results suggest much lower cohesive strength of TiNbC grain boundaries. Electrical conductivity increased with increasing amount of TiNbC and in all materials was more than 1000 S/m. Consequently, all composites were EDM machinable, the surfaces of the cut were intensively oxidized.

Three different types of SiC based cermets with various content (30, 40, 50 wt.%) of electrically conductive TiNbC phase have been fabricated by hot-pressing without sintering additives. The effect of TiNbC content on the basic mechanical, electrical and tribological properties of SiC-TiNbC cermets was investigated. Tribological properties have been characterized by the ball-on-disc method at the ambient temperature and dry wear conditions with air humidity 35–40% at the load of 5–30 N, sliding distance of 500 m, with the static partner made from SiC. Corresponding wear rate was calculated and wear mechanisms were identified. Resulting materials were relatively hard, with increasing amount of TiNbC the hardness increased from 19.8 ± 1 GPa for 30 wt.% of TiNbC up to 25.4 ± 0.9 GPa at 50 wt.% of TiNbC. The fracture toughness values were independent on TiNbC phase and varied between 2.7 and 2.9 MPa.m 1/2 . Similarly, Young's modulus increased from 354 GPa to 435 GPa. It was found that electrical conductivity of SiC cermets was rapidly improved with increased fraction of metallic phases and was three orders of magnitude higher at 30 wt.% TiNbC addition and around four order of magnitude higher at 50 wt.% of TiNbC metallic phase comparing to conventional semiconductive SiC ceramics with electrical conductivity ~ 10 Sm − 1 . Coefficient of friction (between 0.3 and 0.5) and wear resistance (10 − 6 –10 − 7 mm 3 /Nm) were comparable with the wear resistant SiC materials.

In this work, the WC-Co carbide/1020 steel brazed joints which were prepared by Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) process using different brazing currents have been studied. The peak temperature reached by increasing the brazing current caused remarkable inter-diffusion of Ni, Mn, Cu and Co elements between the braze and the base materials. The higher the brazing current was, the larger the diffusion extent of these elements became and the greater the WC rearrangement occured. As the diffusion rate of Ni towards the WC-Co was enhanced through increasing brazing current, a short range diffusion of Co element towards the braze was recorded. A Special Shear Test (SST) conducted at room temperature revealed the best bonding strength for the current of 80A. Besides, hardness (HIT) and elastic modulus (EIT) values of the interfaces were situated between those of the braze and the base materials.

The work deals with the observation of microstructure and crack propagation from macro-indentation in a set of newly developed materials. Complex composites based on SiC matrix with 30, 40 and 50 wt. % of additives (Ti and NbC) were hot pressed at 1960 oC in air atmosphere under 30 MPa pressure for 1.5 hour. The microstructure and chemical composition were studied by SEM equipped with EDX analyzer. Hardness of the composites was evaluated by means of classic Vickers macro-indentation and fracture toughness was determined by the Anstis method. Indentation cracks were observed and their propagation was analyzed. The electrical conductivity as function of volume fraction of additives was determined.

SiC based composite with 50 % of additives (Ti and NbC with ratio of 9:16) has been prepared. The microstructure, porosity, and chemical composition were studied using SEM equipped with EDS analyser. Local mechanical properties such a hardness and elastic modulus of individual components of the composite were investigated by nanoindentation using Berkovich indenter tip. Hardness and fracture toughness of studied material as a whole was evaluated by means of classic Vickers macroindentation. Indentation cracks were observed and their propagation was analyzed. It was shown that the present phases were distributed uniformly. Moreover, final density was satisfactory with porosity lower than 1 %. The individual constituents shown similar elasticity modulus (550 - 590 GPa). Hardness (HIT) exhibited very pronounced load-size effect. At 10 mN load, hardness was 42.33 GPa ± 1.1 GPa for SiC and 35.73 GPa ± 0.9 GPa for TiNbC, while at 500 mN the composite hardness was 27.61 GPa ± 0.505 GPa. It is in good agreement with macrohardness values, when 27.6 GPa and 25 GPa has been measured for 1 and 10 kg loads, respectively. Indentation fracture toughness was 3.3 MPa.m1/2 ± 0.22 MPa.m1/2. Electrical conductivity was measured by four point probes method and its value was 8.8×104 ± 0.3×104 Sm-1.

Purpose – This paper aims to find an optimal surface treatment of commonly used polymeric substrates for achieve the high adhesion of printed structures. For this reason, the investigation of substrates surfaces from different perspectives is presented in this paper. Design/methodology/approach – The contact angle measurements as well as the roughness measurements were realised for the analysis of surface properties of investigated substrates. The impact of applied chemical agents for surface treatment onto the wettability is analysed for polyimide, polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene naphthalene substrates. Findings – The results prove the correlation among wettability, surface energy and work of adhesion with respect to the theoretical background. The surface treatment of polymeric substrates by chemical agents, such as acetone, toluene, ethanol, isopropyl and fluor silane polymer, has a significant impact onto the wettability of substrates which affects the final deposition process of nanoinks. Originality/value – The main benefit of the surfaces’ investigation presented in this paper lays in surface modification by readily available chemical agents for optimising the deposition process nanoinks used in inkjet printing technology.

Several bone cements were prepared in two ways of mixing (manual and vacuum bowl). Wear behavior, friction coefficient were studied by ball on disc method. Nano-hardness and Young`s modulus was studied by instrumented indentation. Obtained results were summarized by taking into account their way preparation, antibiotics content and testing conditions. There was found no significant time dependence of saline acting on Young`s modulus and nano-hardness values. Friction coefficient in saline was less than half in compare to dry sliding conditions

Presented article is focused on surface integrity evaluation of brass CW614N form the sight of surface topography, structural changes in surface layers and strengthening character in subsurface layers after impact of acoustically excited pulsating water jet (PWJ). Surface topography was evaluated using optical profilometry. Structural changes in subsurface layer were observed based on mass material removal Δm [mg/s] and maximal depth of penetrance of PWJ hmax [mm]. Nano indentation measurement according to Berkovich were used to examination of strengthening character in subsurface layer. Disintegration of experimental samples was performed under constant technological conditions: hydraulic power of plunger pump Ph = 19kW; round nozzle diameter d = 1.6mm; feed speed rate v = 0.75mm/s; pressure of plunger pump p = 38MPa, stand-off distance of nozzle from target material z = 45mm; ultrasound frequency f = 20.29kHz and as variable factor was set power of ultrasound P on values 340, 360 and 380W. In terms of surface topography experimental investigation proved that PWJ under selected conditions is not suitable for precision machining. Evaluation of the surface characteristics indicates that the chemical composition has a significant effect on material weight loss Δm [mg/s] and a maximum depth of penetration of PWJ hmax [mm]. Evaluation of characteristics of subsurface layer was observed strengthened area with lower elasticity.