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

该奖项使Rohatgi博士和他在威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校(UWM)复合材料研究中心的初级成员能够与韩国釜山东阿大学冶金工程系的Chang Ok Choi博士和其他人合作进行金属基复合材料的研究。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。合作研究计划加入了Rohatgi博士和韩国研究小组在球墨铸铁领域开发各种有色金属基复合材料方面的互补专业知识。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硬度和硬度，减轻重量和提高耐磨性。该项目的挑战是开发新的冶金技术，将氧化铝颗粒加入球墨铸铁熔体中，制备具有改进的球状形状的超细石墨结核，并将其孕育到复合熔体中。一旦实现了这一点，研究人员计划使用开发的工艺来铸造选定的原型部件，以证明在东A大学的部件中提高了性能。该项目的工作将使人们更好地了解氧化铝颗粒在球墨铸铁熔体中的加入及其与凝固过程中形成的过渡相的相互作用。更广泛的意义：在过去的25年里，金属基复合材料的发展是材料领域的重大创新之一。然而，铸造复合材料的使用一直受到限制，因为还不存在将组分充分混合以实现改善材料性能的技术。该项目将采用新技术开发的氧化铝增强球墨铸铁将比汽车、卡车、采矿设备和小发动机中广泛使用的黑色金属材料更轻、更坚固。汽车行业的采用可以为节能做出贡献。这种复合材料性能的改善也使其在其他制造业中发挥作用。这一合作安排也将使美国和韩国的学生和博士后研究员受益。美国团队包括本科生和研究生以及一名博士后；其中几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，也将从接触两国最先进的研究和金属铸造业中受益。

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.