U.S.-Korea Cooperative Research: Synthesis and Properties of Light Weight Alumina Particle Reinforced Ductile Iron Castings

0352314Rohatgi博士和他在威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校（UWM）复合材料中心的研究小组的初级成员，与韩国釜山东亚大学冶金工程系的Chang Ok Choi博士和其他人合作研究金属基复合材料。他们计划开发合成低成本轻质氧化铝增强球墨铸铁复合材料的最佳工艺条件，该合作研究计划将Rohatgi博士在开发各种有色金属基复合材料方面的专长与韩国研究小组在球墨铸铁铸件领域的专长相结合。氧化铝颗粒在球墨铸铁铸件中的分散有望提高各种机械系统中球墨铸铁部件的刚度和硬度，减轻重量并增加耐磨性。该项目的挑战是开发新的冶金技术，将氧化铝颗粒纳入球墨铸铁熔体中，制备具有改进球形的非常精细的石墨结核，并将其接种到复合熔体中。研究小组计划，一旦实现这一目标，就利用东亚大学为展示性能改善而开发的工艺，选定原型零件进行铸造。该项目的工作将导致对氧化铝颗粒在熔融球墨铸铁中的掺入及其与凝固过程中形成的过渡相的相互作用的进一步了解。更广泛的意义：金属基复合材料的发展是过去25年来材料领域的重大创新之一。然而，铸造复合材料的使用受到限制，因为不存在充分混合成分以改善材料性能的技术。本项目采用新技术开发的铝增强铸造球墨铸铁将比汽车、卡车、矿山设备和小型发动机中广泛使用的黑色材料更轻、更强。在汽车工业中采用该技术有助于节约能源。该复合材料性能的改进也可用于其他制造业。韩美两国的学生和博士后也将从中受益。美国团队包括本科生、研究生和一名博士后；他们中的一些人将前往韩国进行研究。韩国队也有几名学生。学生们将从他们的互动中受益，也将从接触到两国最先进的研究和金属铸造行业中受益。

0352314RohatgiThis award enables Dr. Rohatgi and junior members of his research group from the Center for Composites at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) to collaborate in research on metal-matrix composites with Dr. Chang Ok Choi and others of the Metallurgical Engineering Department of Dong-A University in Pusan, South Korea. They plan to develop optimum processing conditions for synthesizing low-cost lightweight ductile iron composites reinforced with alumina The collaborative research plan joins the complementary expertise of Dr. Rohatgi in developing various nonferrous metal-matrix composites and that of the Korean research group in the area of ductile iron castings.Dispersal of alumina particles in ductile iron castings is expected to improve the stiffness and hardness, reduce the weight and increase the wear resistance of ductile iron components in a variety of mechanical systems. The challenges in this project are to develop new metallurgical techniques to incorporate alumina particles in ductile iron melts, to prepare very fine graphite nodules with improved spheroid shape and to inoculate them into in composite melts. Once this has been achieved, the investigators plan to cast a selected prototype component using the process developed to demonstrate improved performance in a component at Dong-A University. The project work will lead to an increased understanding of the incorporation of alumina particles in molten ductile iron and their interaction with transitional phases formed during solidification. Broader significance: The development of metal matrix composites has been one of the major innovations in materials in the past 25 years. However the use of cast composites has been limited because techniques did not exist to blend the components well enough to achieve improved materials behavior. The alumina-reinforced cast ductile iron to be developed with new techniques in this project will be lighter and stronger than widely used ferrous materials in cars, trucks, mining equipment and small engines. Adoption in the automobile industry could contribute to energy conservation. The improved characteristics of this composite material can also make it useful in other manufacturing industries. The collaborative arrangement also will benefit students and postdoctoral fellows of the U.S. and Korea. The U.S. team includes undergraduate and graduate students and a postdoctoral fellow; several of them will travel to Korea for research experience. The Korean team also has several students. The students will benefit from their interaction and also from being exposed to state-of-the-art research and the metal castings industries of both countries.