Based on thermodynamic calculations, it is shown that metal crystallization is an equilibrium nanostructural process. At the beginning, trigonal or tetragonal structure-forming nanocrystals are formed from elementary nanocrystals. Then crystallization centers are formed from them. Further, tetragonal or hexagonal dendrites are formed from them and tetragonal or trigonal structure-forming nanocrystals. Their forms depend on the degree of branching of dendrites. The most branched of them (compact dendrites) are tetragonal or hexagonal crystals.

The article presents a number of experimental and research works on the development of the parameters of the casting technology for castings with internal cavities formed by a sand rod, by casting in a lined coquille (chill mould) with a vertical connector. The influence of gating systems with a central riser and side risers on the thickness of the casting wall shedding and on the mechanical characteristics of the cast iron alloy, including ligatures, is revealed.

The third article of the series devoted to the application of nanomaterials and nanotechnologies in industry in general and, first of all, in metallurgy, materials science and foundry is presented. This article deals with the use of nanomaterials for the improvement of ferrous and non-ferrous alloys by micro-alloying and modifying methods, as well as the synthesis of new composite materials. The results of research on C-B-Fe composites obtained at the Belarusian State Technological University, a method for modifying gray cast iron with micro-additives of abrasive slurries of high-speed steels, proposed by specialists of BNTU and OJSC «MTW», and aluminum alloys modified with nanostructured carbideand nitride-containing powders developed by Belarusian, Bulgarian and Russian scientists are presented.

The current state of GOST, which regulates the quality of the structure of steels and alloys, has significantly lagged behind the progress in the compositions and technologies for obtaining modern steels and alloys. Using the example of microstructural banding of steel, it is shown how to overcome this gap and bring the methodology developed in Russia to the level of interstate GOST.

Other problems of quantitative evaluation of structural components of steels and alloys that can become the basis of industry, national and interstate standards are considered: microstructural heterogeneity of sheet metal; non-metallic inclusions in steel, including automation of GOST 1778-70, evaluation methods using the ASTM E1245 methodology and statistics of extreme values, as well as automatic particle analysis; central axial inhomogeneity of a slab; liquation strip in sheet metal; the proportion of coarse bainite blocks used to describe the properties of modern pipe steels; the structure of joints after multi-pass welding; the metallurgical quality of heat-resistant nickel alloys; the structure of alloys treated in a semi-solid state; the structure of pre-eutectic silumins; non-metallic inclusions in aluminum alloys (PoDFA method); the structure of high-strength cast iron; grain size distribution.

A method for determining the mass concentration of phosphorus in a water-oil emulsion used for wire drawing by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry has been developed. Phosphorus enters the emulsion after etching the wire in a solution of orthophosphoric acid, which removes oxides that have appeared in the process of forming brass. It is one of the determined indicators that additionally characterizes the state of the emulsion during operation.

This creates an insoluble phosphate film. The resulting phosphate film layer should not be too thick, as it has a negative effect on further processing (an additional factor of contamination of the emulsion on thin drawing).

The most promising method for determining harmful impurities in an emulsion, including phosphorus, is optical emission spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma. The method is based on the sputtering of the analyzed sample in an argon plasma excited by a high-frequency electromagnetic field. To determine the mass concentration of phosphorus, it is necessary to perform calibration of the inductively coupled plasma spectrometer. To check the correctness of the calibration, a control sample is used, which is prepared from the state standard sample (SSS) of the composition of an aqueous solution of phosphate ions. Next, it is necessary to prepare working samples of solutions of water-oil emulsion. Then, the mass concentration of phosphorus in the analyzed sample is measured using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer Ultima Expert (HORIBA, France).

Accuracy indicators, extended uncertainty of measurement results for the method are calculated in accordance with STB ISO 5725-2.

To ensure the competitiveness of rolled metal in the modern market, the decisive factor is the quality of the rolled surface (defects with a depth of no more than 0.2 mm are allowed without stripping). Rolling processing is a source of formation of small surface defects, most of which are obtained in the process of deformation of a continuously cast billet (hereinafter referred to as CCB, billet) at hot rolling mills in the presence of areas with non-removed furnace scale. This is the main reason for the formation of such types of surface defects as rolled scale, ripple, scale shells, which reduces the quality of the rolled surface and increases the sorting of metal with surface defects. In addition, the scale not removed from the surface of the CCB has a negative impact not only on the quality of metal products, but also on the operation of rolling equipment.

One of the directions that allows to achieve high quality of the surface of long products in production conditions is the effective removal of scale from the surface of the initial billet before hot deformation. Scale removal from the surface of the workpiece is carried out on the installation of a hydraulic descaling unit, but not always a satisfactory (complete) scale removal occurs.

To determine the cause of poor – quality scale removal before hot deformation, the efficiency of the hydraulic descaling unit and the state of the metal – scale interface surface were investigated.

This work is devoted to the study of the possibility of recycling bar scrap of stainless metals using radial-shear rolling. In the course of studies on the deformation of bar scrap in the form of pins made of 12X18N9T stainless austenitic steel on a radial-shear rolling mill, the resulting bar was obtained microstructure of two different types: on the periphery an equiaxed ultrafine-grained structure with a grain size of 0.4–0.6 microns was formed; in the axial zone anoriented, banded texture was obtained. This discrepancy in the structure of the peripheral and axial zones, together with the results of cross-section microhardness measurements of samples made of 12X18N9T austenitic stainless steel with a total degree of deformation of 44.4 %, indicates the gradient nature of the resulting microstructure.

The article discusses the results of manufacturing multicomponent consumable cathodes of vacuum electric arc evaporation plants. To obtain ingots of complex silicide as a raw material for the manufacture of target cathodes, it is proposed to use induction melting of pure metal charge materials in an argon atmosphere.

The method made it possible to obtain ingots of complex silicide with a composition close to the calculated one and a density of at least 93 %. Further forming of the cathode takes place when controlling the powder fractions by their percentage ratio with a pressing force of at least 50 tons. The results obtained are compared with the SHS method of manufacturing cathodes of identical composition.

The interest in nanomaterials is due to a significant change in their physical properties compared to massive materials. Changes in the physical and chemical properties of particles containing several hundred or thousands of atoms are determined by changes in the density of electronic states.

Aqueous solutions of aluminum and silicon nanoparticles were obtained by laser ablation. Pulsed laser treatment was performed in the mode of double pulses in distilled water. The invested energy was: for aluminum 1000–1500 J, the exposure time is 10–25 min., for silicon-50–1000 J with exposure times from 1 to 10 min.

The features of the morphology of the obtained particles, as well as the surface of polycrystalline aluminum and silicon craters, were determined by scanning electron microscopy. It is shown that an ensemble of particles of different sizes from 20 nm to 2.0 microns is formed. Some aluminum particles are cut, which allows us to talk about their cristallinity. It is shown that the structure of the target surface after laser exposure consists of grains separated from each other by thermal etching grooves, since the evaporation of the material occurs primarily along the grain boundaries.

One of the directions of wear resistance improvement is microalloying of improved steels. In the studies conducted, the feasibility of adjusting the composition of steel 30Н3MF was determined by additional microalloying of V + Nb in order to give it wear-resistant properties. Microstructural studies of the experimental alloy were carried out. The microstructure is fairly uniform, represented by a matrix and inclusions. Matrix is represented by doped solution, which includes nickel. It is determined that in a chemically and structurally inhomogeneous ingot, even after heat treatment, structural components will remain. Characteristics such as the amount, morphology and distribution of non-metallic inclusions in the metal matrix are mainly laid at the stage of metal discharge from the steelmaking unit, as well as in the process of deoxidation and modification of steel during its off-furnace treatment.

The article presents the waste generated during the production of hot-dip galvanizing. The analysis of the proposed methods of using these wastes in the production of zinc-containing coatings is carried out. It is shown that hard zinc can be successfully used in the compositions of saturating mixtures during thermal diffusion galvanizing of steel products and obtain high-quality coatings. The disadvantages include the need for grinding hard zinc.

The dispersed waste of hot-dip galvanizing production, which is formed as a result of blowing pipes with superheated steam, can be used as a cheap substitute for expensive zinc powder in the compositions of zinc-filled paints. For paints, a fraction of 2–15 microns is used, which is 27 % of the total fractional composition. Therefore, in order to use a wider range of values of the fractional composition of dispersed waste to obtain zinc coatings and thus ensure the recycling of zinc into industrial circulation, the authors of this article plan to optimize and develop the compositions of powder compositions and the technology of thermal diffusion saturation of steel products based on zinc-containing waste.

The features of structure formation of diffusion layers obtained by the technology, including preliminary surface treatment of steel products and subsequent thermal diffusion boriding in powder media, have been investigated. Pretreatment consisted in surface activation by superdeep penetration with a powder composition based on SiC of steel samples made of У8 steel. The features of the activation zones and their distribution over the surface are noted. The features of the activation zones and their quantitative characteristics are noted. A structural analysis of the obtained diffusion layers for the variants of low-temperature (650 °C) and high-temperature (920 °C) boration has been carried out. The chemical composition of the layer and the distribution of the main elements in it are analyzed. In both cases, a change in morphology was noted, consisting in the formation of a more compact diffusion layer and rounding of boride needles in the zone adjacent to the base metal. An increase in the layer thickness by 20–50 % and an increase in the proportion of the high-boron FeB phase relative to the variant of borating without preliminary activation were established.

The use of non-standard modes of heat treatment increases the density of dislocations in the crystal structure of the α-phase and increases the wear resistance of carbon, low-alloy steels under various friction conditions, which is comparable to the results when heated to a standard temperature (Ac3 + 30–50 °C). The preliminary extreme heating temperature is determined. After requenching at standard temperature and low tempering, the wear resistance of steels under various types of friction increases by up to 40 % compared to standard quenching.

The relevance of the use of gas cleaning equipment in foundry production is considered. Examples are given of equipping the casting, cooling and knocking areas of molds and rods manufactured according to ALFASET and Cold-box-amin processes with absorption-biochemical installations (ABCHI) for cleaning the ventilation air from pollutants. The technical and economic parameters of the ABCHI operation are considered. The list of the enterprises successfully operating ABHI is given. The advantages of using ABCHI in comparison with alternative methods are considered.

For the case of interaction of polarized light with an analyzer (a polarizing device), an experimental scheme based on the Feynman idea of path integrals is proposed. Real and virtual photons are considered in the context of the Lenz rule (in terms of constructive and destructive induction). The Planck formula for the photon energy in the format of a verbal description is considered. The complexity of identifying the wave description of the photon with the ideas of the Ancient Greeks about elementary particles is shown. From the point of view of chronogeometry, it is shown that the stationary observer does not exist at the point of intersection of the cone of the past and the future, but in the time interval separating these regions. It is proposed to consider the fluctuations of the physical vacuum as a relic of the process of permanent inflation according to Linde. Based on the assumption of the self-measurement of the Universe, the quantum Zeno effect, and Hawking’s idea of the Universe being a quantum object with the Nth sum of Feynman stories, it is assumed that the history of the Universe is deterministic. From the perspective of the orthogonality of the electromagnetic field vectors E and B, the Heisenberg equation of the form Δp × Δx = ħ/2 is considered. A thought experiment is considered showing the complexity in describing the interaction of a photon with an electron of an atom from the point of view of the classical interaction of an electromagnetic wave with an antenna device. It is proposed to consider the absorption of a photon by an electron as its inertial collapse on an atom.