The preliminary stage of asphalt mixture production involves the drying and dedusting of coarse aggregates. The most common types of coarse aggregates used are limestone and basalt. In the process of drying and dedusting the dryer filter accumulates large quantities of waste in the form of mineral powder.

This paper introduces an investigation into limestone powder waste as a potential microfiller of polymer composites. Physical characteristics such as the granulation the of powder collected from the filter - in terms of the season of its collection and the type of input materials used - were analysed. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used for the investigation described within this paper. The obtained results were compared against those of other materials which can be used as polymer composites microfillers.

An understanding of the fundamental correlation between grain size and material damping is crucial for the successful development of structural components offering high strength and good mechanical energy absorption. With this regard, we fabricated aluminum sheets with grain sizes ranging from tens of microns down to 60 nm and investigated their tensile properties and mechanical damping behavior. An obvious transition of the damping mechanism was observed at nanoscale grain sizes, and the underlying causes by grain boundaries were interpreted.

In this study, we present a new method for obtaining the parameters of the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov equation for dynamic recrystallization grain size. The method consists of finite-element analysis and optimization techniques. An optimization tool iteratively minimizes the error between experimental values and corresponding finite-element solutions. Isothermal backward extrusion of the AA6060 aluminum alloy was used to acquire the main parameters of the equation for predicting DRX grain size. We compared grain sizes predicted using optimized and reference parameters with experimental values from the literature and found better agreement when the optimized parameters were applied.

The efficient, stable and reliable operation of the blast furnace secures the proper quality of coke, which is one of the basic components of the blast furnace charge. In modern blast-furnace technology, when using substitute fuels, i.e. coal dust, the role of coke is extremely important. For this reason, the demands placed on its quality increase. Domestic coking plants have a limited base of Polish high quality coking coals at their disposal, therefore the full use of their coking properties is extremely important. The grain composition of the coal blend is one of the basic factors affecting the quality of the produced coke. This influence depends on the quantity and quality of coal components that make up the blend. In the conducted research, 21 coking coals, differing significantly in the degree of rank and origin (Polish and overseas coals), it was shown that the separated grain classes differ in properties, both coking properties and the degree of devolatalization during heating. In analyzing the obtained results, it was observed that the grain volume growth occurs essentially in the temperature range between the beginning and the maximum of fluidity. It has been shown that there is a linear correlation between the temperature corresponding to maximum fluidity and the temperature at which the maximum rate of evolution of volatiles enters. The presented phenomena accompany the emergence of coal expansion pressure during the coking process and they are its primary causes. The presented results can be an important guide for preparing the milling of coal for the coking process.

The investigation results of the reclamation of spent moulding sands with furfuryl resin are presented in this paper. The reclamation

process was performed in the secondary reclamation chamber of the REGMAS 1.5 vibratory reclaimer. 70 kg portions of moulding sands,

previously subjected to the primary reclamation and dedusting, were used. The secondary reclamation was performed in two stages: the

first consisted of determining the reclaimer intensity at various reclamation times (5 min, 10 min and 15 min) and various electrovibrator

frequencies (40 Hz, 50 Hz and 60 Hz), the second consisted of determining the influence of additional crushing elements on the intensity

of processes.

Repeated austenitisation and furnace cooling of homogenised 0.16 wt. % carbon steels result in ferrite grain sizes between 27 μm and 24 μm. Similarly, repeated austenitisation and normal-air cooling produces ferrite grain sizes between 17 μm and 12 μm; while repeated austenitisation and forced-air cooling produces a minimum grain size of 9.5 μm. Furnace cooling decomposes the austenite eutectoidally to lamellar pearlite; while normal-air cooling and forced-air cooling after austenitisation cause degeneration of pearlite regions producing grain boundary network as well as cluster of cementite and other carbides. Forced-air cooled samples provide the highest YS (364 MPa) and UTS (520 MPa); while furnace cooling provides the lowest (290 MPa and 464 MPa) leaving the normal-air cool performance in between. Hardness values depict the role of individual ferrite and pearlite content and the extent of pearlite degeneration occurring after each cyclic treatment.

Effects of various friction stir processing (FSP) variables on the microstructural evolution and microhardness of the AZ31 magnesium alloy were investigated. The processing variables include rotational and travelling speed of the tool, kind of second phase (i.e., diamond, Al2O3, and ZrO2) and groove depth (i.e., volume fraction of second phase). Grain size, distribution of second phase particle, grain texture, and microhardness were analyzed as a function of the FSP process variables. The FSPed AZ31 composites fabricated with a high heat input condition showed the better dispersion of particle without macro defect. For all composite specimens, the grain size decreased and the microhardness increased regardless of the grooved depth compared with that of the FSPed AZ31 without strengthening particle, respectively. For the AZ31/diamond composite having a grain size of about 1 μm, microhardness (i.e., about 108 Hv) was about two times higher than that of the matrix alloy (i.e., about 52 Hv). The effect of second phase particle on retardation of grain growth and resulting hardness increase was discussed.

Influence of the initial grain size on hot deformation behavior of the low-alloy Mn-Ti-B steel was investigated. The uniaxial compression tests were performed in range of the deformation temperatures of 900-1200°C and strain rates of 0.1-10 s–1. One set of samples was heated directly to the deformation temperature, which corresponded to the initial austenitic grain size of 19-56 μm; the other set of samples was uniformly preheated at the temperature of 1200°C. Whereas the values of activation energy, peak stress and steady-state stress values practically did not depend on the initial austenitic grain size, the peak strain values of coarser-grained structure significantly increase mainly at high values of the Zener-Hollomon parameter. This confirms the negative effect of the large size of the initial grain on the dynamic recrystallization kinetics, which can be explained by the reduction in nucleation density.

Equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) was used as a technique for severe plastic deformation (SPD) on Al alloy AA3004. This technique produced fully dense materials of refined grain structure to sub-micrometer dimensions and advanced mechanical properties. The ECAP processing of samples was conducted as 1 to 4 passes through the die at room temperature. We present the results of the studied homogeneity evolution with the ECAP treatment. Furthermore, a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was used for examination of the microstructure changes in samples undergone from 1 to 4 passes. The microhardness-HV increased upon each ECAP pass. The resulting micro-hardness evolution was attributed to crystalline microstructure modifications, such as the d-spacing (studied by X-ray Diffraction-XRD) depending on the number of ECAP pressings. The microcrystalline changes (grain refining evaluated from the Scanning Electron Microscopy – SEM images) were found to be related to the HV, following the Hall-Petch equation.

There are 40 coal mines in Poland now. One of them (coal mine “Bogdanka”) is situated in Lublin Coal Basin, other are localised in Silesia and Małopolska regions. Coal mining is a source of large amounts of wastes. Mean annual production of wastes in only Lublin Coal Basin exceeds 2 million Mg, 65% of which is disposed on a heap. The rest is used to restore opencast excavations, to construct and repair local roads and to produce building materials. It seems that large amount of these wastes could be used to construct or modernize flood embankments and dykes. Using mine wastes as building materials requires the knowledge of their geotechnical parameters. A characteristic feature of mine wastes is their gradual weathering which affects geotechnical parameters largely determined by their mineral and petrographic composition.

This paper describes analyses of geotechnical parameters of mine wastes from Lublin Coal Basin (heap near coal mine “Bogdanka”) of various storage times and of samples collected after 10 years of exploitation of a dyke between ponds made of these wastes at the break of 1993 and 1994. Detailed analyses involved: grain size distribution, natural and optimum moisture content, maximum dry den-sity, shear strength and coefficient of permeability. Obtained results were compared with literature data pertaining to mine wastes from Upper Silesian Coal Basin and from other European coal basins.

Performed studies showed that coal mining wastes produced in Lublin Coal Basin significantly differed in the grain size distribution from wastes originating from Upper Silesian Coal Basin and that weathering proceeded in a different way in wastes produced in both sites.

Comprehensive understanding of the melt quality is of vital importance for foundry man. The effect of each particular element need to be properly analysed. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to analyse the impact of various content of zirconium on the solidification path and structural characteristics (SDAS, grain size, porosity) of as cast commercial AlSi10MgCu alloys. It has been found that addition of zirconium up to 0.24 wt.% reduce significantly the grains size (from 3.5 mm to 1.2 mm), SDAS (from 57.3 µm to 50.4 µm) and porosity (from 19% to 5%), leading to production of sound cast parts.

The results are based on two experimental high-manganese X98MnAlSiNbTi24-11 and X105MnAlSi24-11 steels subjected to thermo-mechanical treatment by hot-rolling on a semi-industrial processing line. The paper presents the results of diffraction and structural studies using scanning and transmission electron microscopy showing the role of Nb and Ti micro-additives in shaping high strength properties of high-manganese austenitic-ferritic steels with complex carbides. The performed investigations of two experimental steels allow to explain how the change cooling conditions after thermo-mechanical treatment of the analysed steels affects the change of their microstructure and mechanical properties. The obtained results allow assessing the impact of both the chemical composition and the applied thermo-mechanical treatment technology on the structural effects of strengthening of the newly developed steels.