Gold recovery from placer washing waste was carried out using a flotation method where circulating rough concentrate is used to increase the recovered metal content in the rougher flotation operation. Moreover, flotation is carried out with a mixture of air with hot steam. Pressure in bubbles drops and their sizes decrease as a result of vapor condensation at the first moment of time under conditions of vapor-air flotation. Heat exchange between the phases worsens when the bubble is compressed, and mass transfer stops at the minimum bubble size, while temperature and vapor pressure in the bubble reach their maximum. As the bubble grows in size, superheated steam becomes saturated and pressure in the bubble decreases resulting in resumed condensation. The bubble surface undergoes damped oscillations. When the bubble surface vibrates, the motion of a slowly developing concentration-capillary Marangoni flow to the center of the interphase film cannot compensate for its thinning by the counter thermocapillary flow with a high hydrodynamic stability potential from the film center to its periphery. The vapor-air flotation results obtained can be interpreted in the context of this mechanism of wetting film stability changes during the vapor-liquid phase transition. Pilot tests of gravity and gravity-flotation technologies for gold extraction from a technogenic placer of gold have been carried out. It has been proved that the main effect of using the developed configuration of the scheme and the mode of flotation with a vapor-air mixture is a decrease in the concentrate yield by ~ 25% rel. while maintaining the achieved level of recovery and concentrate quality. When using the combined technology, the added value of marketable products provides an increase in the value of net discounted income and the return on investment index, and a decrease in their payback period.

Electrolytic copper refining makes it possible to obtain high purity metal, so the analysis of the main ways of impurity transition into electrolysis products is an actual problem. If it is solved, the process can be controlled when changing the composition of raw materials and, as a result, the content of impurities in the anodes. This paper uses the comprehensive analysis and synchronization of a large array of data on impurities concentrations in various process media (anodes, electrolyte, slime, and cathode metal) obtained on the series of commercial cells to identify the directions of impurity flows and relationship between their content in these media. It is shown that the transition of impurities from one process medium (source) to another (receiver) is implemented according to four main patterns: linear increase, no visible dependence, the presence of a limit concentration in the receiver and the presence of a threshold concentration in the source. The paper provides the results obtained in the statistical analysis of the distribution of six impurities (bismuth, arsenic, lead, sulfur, nickel and silver) belonging to different groups in four main pairs of the impurity source – receiver: anode – solution, anode – slime, slime – cathode, solution – cathode. The coefficients of linear regression equations are determined and their significance is estimated for all dependencies of the impurity concentration in the source on the content in the receiver. The coefficients obtained make it possible to explain the impurity transition paths observed in the commercial cells and predict the quality of cathode copper and the composition of slimes when the anode composition changes. The calculations showed that impurities are accumulated in cathodes due to the occlusion of slime particles and incomplete solution removal from the surface of commercial cathodes rather than due to electrochemical reactions. The copper electrorefining technology should be improved and developed so as to find surface-active additives that would prevent the adsorption of suspended slime particles on the cathode surface, as well as better wash them from the electrolyte.

The paper studies the kinetics of sulfuric acid leaching of nickel, the main component of grinding waste of ZhS-32VI rheniumcontaining heat-resistant superalloy formed during mechanical processing of products and containing such impurities as abrasive materials, oils, ceramics and other contaminants with refractory metal concentration in a solid residue, in agitation mode. The nickel content is 60 %. In addition to nickel, grinding waste contains other metals such as rhenium, chromium, cobalt, tungsten, tantalum, molybdenum, hafnium, titanium, and aluminum. The process of nickel leaching from waste with a sulfuric acid solution was carried out in a thermostated cell at an elevated temperature (55–85 °С), waste : 3 M H2SO4 solution phase ratio of 1 g : 10 ml, and stirring rate of 200 min–1. Kinetics was studied using a fraction of –0.071 mm with the highest yield (49.2 wt.%) in grinding waste. Convex kinetic curves of nickel leaching from waste were obtained. It was found that when the temperature changes from 55 to 85 °С, the time until leaching stops decreases from 220 to 140 min, and nickel recovery from the solution increases from 45 to 99 %. The data of the obtained kinetic curves were linearized according to the «contracting sphere» equation, Gistling–Braunstein and Kazeev–Erofeev equations (the latter is most suitable for description). Taking into account the assessment of anamorphosis correlation coefficients, it was found that nickel leaching from grinding waste is limited by the chemical reaction, and the process proceeds in the kinetic region of the reaction. The apparent activation energy calculated using the Arrhenius equation and rate constants obtained by processing linearized kinetic curves according to the «contracting sphere» model, was 47.5±0.5 kJ/mol. This value confirms the course of the process in the kinetic region where the process can be intensified by increasing its temperature.

The AA 511 alloy of the Al–Mg–Si system was used as an example to demonstrate that aluminum melt irradiation with nanosecond electromagnetic pulses (NEPs) leads to a significant change in the nature of structure formation during crystallization. It was found that an increase in the frequency of melt irradiation with NEPs is accompanied by the refinement of the alloy structural components, while the greatest grain size reduction of the α-solid solution and intergranular inclusions of the eutectic Mg2Si phase is observed at a NEPs frequency f = 1000 Hz. An increase in the NEPs frequency leads to a significant increase in the concentration of magnesium in the α-solid solution and the fragmentation of Mg2Si phase intergranular inclusions, which is released in the form of compact isolated inclusions when the melt is irradiated at a frequency of 1000 Hz. It was shown that melt processing with NEPs leads to an increase in the Brinell hardness of as-cast specimens, as well as to a significant increase in the microhardness of α-solid solution grains (from 38.21 HV in the initial state to 61.85 HV after irradiation with a frequency of 1000 Hz). It was assumed that the effect of a pulsed electromagnetic field leads to a decrease in the critical values of the Gibbs free energy required to initiate nucleation processes, and to a decrease in the surface tension at the «growing crystal – molten metal» interface, which causes a modifying effect on the alloy structure due to a decrease in the critical size of crystal nuclei.

The study covers the effect of recrystallization annealing temperature and time on the characteristic temperatures of martensitic transformations and mechanical properties of the Ti–50.7at.%Ni shape memory alloy in the form of wire after cold drawing at room temperature. Six modes of post-deformation annealing with different temperatures and holding times were studied for the alloy to obtain structures with different sizes of recrystallized grains. The recrystallized grain size was determined by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). It was shown that the size of recrystallized grains increases from 2.5 to 9 μm, with both an increase in the annealing temperature (600– 700 °С) and an increase in the holding time (0.5–5.0 h). The characteristic temperatures of direct and reverse martensitic transformations were determined using differential scanning calorimetry. It was shown that the threefold growth of the recrystallized grain size reduces the starting temperature of the direct martensitic transformation, and extends the temperature range of the reverse martensitic transformation. The results of mechanical tests (stretching tests) at room temperature showed that an increase in the grain size leads to a decrease in the dislocation yield strength and an increase in the phase yield strength. It was established that the dislocation yield strength obeys the Hall–Petch law, and the phase yield strength is determined by the test temperature position relative to the starting (or peak) temperature of the direct martensitic transformation. Heat treatment modes for specific products should be recommended taking into account these two competing factors, as well as reverse martensitic transformation temperatures determining the alloy strain recovery temperatures.

The paper studies the effect of the laser scanning speed (vs) on the morphology of single tracks obtained from a mixture of Ti and Al powders in a stoichiometric ratio of 1 : 1 in longitudinal and cross sections. Droplets of splashed liquid were found on the outer surface of the track obtained at vs = 300 mm/s. Their appearance is resulted most likely from the release of gas bubbles formed due to the evaporation of aluminum having a lower melting point. A distortion of a single track along its length was observed with an increase in vs values up to 600 mm/s. It was found that tracks loose stability as the laser beam speed increases with «balls» formed on the track surface due to the significant Marangoni convection and the capillary liquid instability in the molten bath. An increase in the laser speed led to the appearance of pores mainly concentrated in the formed balls, and also influenced the track morphology in the cross section, namely, the width and height of the track, as well as the depth of substrate fusion. An increase in the scanning speed from 300 to 900 mm/s led virtually no substrate fusion, and the track width decreased from 194 to 136 μm, while its height increased almost 4 times – from 21 to 88 μm. X-ray microanalysis was conducted and element distribution maps were obtained to assess the structure of the tracks under study. It was found that the degree of liquid mixing in the molten bath is insufficient at scanning speeds of 300 and 600 mm/s, which leads to the segregation of elements over the track cross section. The central zone turns out to be enriched in aluminum, while titanium predominates at the base and is practically absent in the extreme zone (4.57 at.% Ti). X-ray microanalysis revealed the presence of unmelted titanium powder particles at vs = 900 mm/s. Presumably, it may be caused by insufficient laser power at such a high scanning speed.

The study covers the tensile properties and microstructure of AA₂B06-O aerospace aluminum alloy (Al–Cu–Mg system) at low (0.001–1.0 s–¹) and high (1293–5045 s–¹) strain rates. The stain rate at relatively slow (quasistatic) tension has a small effect on mechanical properties. Rasing strain rate at fast (dynamic) loading results in a substantial (nearly twofold) simultaneous increase in the ultimate tensile strength and plasticity (elongation to failure) of the alloy with the yield stress virtually unchanged. Transmission electron microscopy revealed a homogeneous nature of plastic deformation on the microlevel at slow loading and inhomogeneous one at fast loading. The latter is observed as localized deformation in the form of adiabatic microshear bands where complex dislocation structures are formed such as dislocation tangles, dipole and multipole configurations. The first stage of dynamic recrystallization is observed in certain domains of microshear bands due to the heat released at localized plastic deformation. It was shown that the changeover of deformation mechanisms when passing from the quasistatic to dynamic tension causes a significant change in mechanical behavior of the material. Thus, a simultaneous increase in both strength and plasticity can take place not only in nanostructured materials obtained by severe plastic deformation techniques (e.g. equal channel angular pressing), but also at the high strain rate deformation of an aluminum alloy having an «ordinary» microstructure after rolling and low-temperature annealing. The experimental results open up new prospects for practical application of high strain rate pulse deformation methods, such as impact hydroforming, for producing complex-shape articles from sheet blanks in one operation due to substantially improved technological plasticity of the material.

DC reactive magnetron sputtering of two separate single-element Ti and Pb targets was used to deposit a TiN–Pb composite coating onto a substrate made of the VT6 titanium alloy. The studies were carried out at Pb cathode currents of 0.2 and 0.1 A and two fixed argon flow rate values of 6.0 or 8.5 cm3/min, and the flow rate of nitrogen supplied to the chamber varying from experiment to experiment. The composition of coatings was determined by energy dispersive analysis. It was shown that the amount of lead in the coatings ranged from 0.5 to 16 wt.% depending on the Pb cathode current and reactive nitrogen consumption. Coating microhardness and wear were determined for each deposition mode. It was found that coating thicknesses varied from 1.9 to 5.2 μm depending on the ratio of argon and nitrogen fluxes. The effect of TiN–Pb magnetron coating deposition parameters on the structure and phase composition was investigated by X-ray diffraction method. It was shown that the coating consists of Pb and PbO at the Pb cathode current of 0.2 A, and of TiN, Pb, and PbO at the current of 0.1 A, while an increase in the ratio of argon and nitrogen fluxes leads to an increase in the fraction of TiN, the intensity of titanium substrate surface saturation with nitrogen, as well as microhardness and wear resistance. Under all deposition conditions the TiN coating features by a typical texture (111), the intensity of which varies nonmonotonically.