Deep Cryogenic Treatment of High Performance Metals and Related Composites**

深冷国际公司总部设在新斯科舍省的布兰德福德，专门从事对多种先进材料的深冷处理(DCT)的开发和应用，如工具钢、陶瓷-金属复合材料(或“金属陶瓷”)和轻合金。他们已经在这一领域开发并拥有宝贵的知识产权，并计划将其工业存在和加工技术扩展到对加拿大具有经济重要性的各种行业(石油和天然气、造船、采矿、国防等)。DCT工艺包括将工程部件控制速率冷却到液氮温度(-196摄氏度)，然后在此温度下保持固定的时间(通常长达24小时)。DCT在提高硬度、耐磨性和耐腐蚀性、抗拉强度等方面的好处已经得到了广泛的证明，并定期应用于工具和模具行业。这项拟议的工作将评估DCT应用于三种材料系统的效果：(I)D2工具钢，(Ii)Ti-6Al-4V和(Iii)新型TiC-Ni3Al金属陶瓷。这些材料的机械、摩擦学和腐蚀响应将在DCT之前和之后(在-196℃下长达24小时)进行评估，工具钢在DCT之前进行适当的奥氏体化/回火处理。拟议的工作将使这项不断增长的技术在未来得到进一步扩展，为深冷国际公司、大西洋各省地区和加拿大带来直接的经济利益。预计概述的研究将使它们能够扩展到几个主要的新市场领域，特别是石油和天然气、采矿、国防和造船。同时，它将为Dalhousie的至少两名HQP提供重要的培训，他们将能够使用最先进的材料加工和表征设施。

Based in Blandford, Nova Scotia, Deep Cryogenics International specialise in the development and application of deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) to a broad range of advanced materials, such as tool steels, ceramic-metal composites (or 'cermets'), and light alloys. They have already developed and hold valuable intellectual property in this area, and are planning to expand their industrial presence and process technology into a variety of industries that are economically important to Canada (oil and gas, shipbuilding, mining, defence, etc.). The DCT process involves controlled rate cooling of engineering components to liquid nitrogen temperature (-196 degrees C), and then holding at this temperature for a fixed period of time (typically up to 24 hours). The benefits of DCT have been extensively documented, in terms of increased hardness, wear and corrosion resistance, tensile strength, etc., and are regularly applied in the tool and die industry. The proposed work will evaluate the effects of DCT applied to three material systems: (i) D2 tool steel, (ii) Ti-6Al-4V, and (iii) a novel TiC-Ni3Al cermet. The mechanical, tribological and corrosion response of these materials will be evaluated both before and after DCT (for up to 24 hours at -196 degrees C), with the tool steels subjected to appropriate austenitising/tempering treatments prior to DCT. The proposed work will enable further future expansion of this growing technology, with direct economic benefits to Deep Cryogenics International, the Atlantic Provinces region, and Canada. It is anticipated that the outlined research will enable their expansion into several major new market sectors, notably oil and gas, mining, defence, and shipbuilding. At the same time, it will provide important training for at least two HQP at Dalhousie, who will have access to stay-of-the-art facilities for materials processing and characterisation.******