Hot rolled 40Cr and W6Mo5Cr4V2 steels were diffusion-welded by using a 4-staged process including uniaxial 50 kN compression at 1200 oC in 10^-5 mbar vacuum with following cooling down to room temperature. Structural 40Cr and high-speed tool W6Mo5Cr4V2 steels are dissimilar, since they are different (i) in content of host Fe element and alloying Cr, W, V, Mo elements, (ii) in phase composition (40Cr steel is single-phased and W6Mo5Cr4V2 steel is multi-phased), (iii) in microstructure (homogeneous inclusions-less microstructure is characteristic for 40Cr steel, composite microstructure consisting of matrix Fe-based phase with metal (W, V, Mo) carbides is characteristic of W6Mo5Cr4V2 steel), and (iv) in grain structure (40Cr steel is coarse-grained with grain ~100 µm size and W6Mo5Cr4V2 steel is fine-grained with grain size of several µm). Phase composition, microstructure and grain structure of the steels are retained after welding. Diffusion redistribution of Fe, Cr, W, V, Mo atoms results in forming the diffusion zones with different widths (several µm for W, V and Mo, ~25 for Cr and ~15 µm for Fe). Resulting concentration Cr profiles are typical for diffusion from limited sources and could be satisfactorily described by diffusion coefficient equal to ~1.1∙10^-14 m²∙s^-1 (the coefficient is weighted over the entire temperature range from 1200 oC to room temperature). Within the diffusion Cr and Fe zones, the Vickers microhardness decreases from ~2000 HV (for W6Mo5Cr4V2 steel) to ~530 HV (for 40Cr steel). During room-temperature tensile tests, the diffusion-welded steels were always fractured not in the diffusion joint but in 40Cr steel.

Issues of industrial waste recycling are very relevant for the entire global scientific community. The search for technological solutions that would allow the production of high-quality materials using industrial waste will not only reduce the environmental load, but also expand the raw material base for the production of gypsum materials. The study examined the possibility of improving the surface quality of molded gypsum samples by replacing the metal mold with a plastic one and introducing a surfactant into the raw mixture. As a result of the research, it was found that the use of a surfactant and a plastic mold allows to avoid defects on the surface of the samples. At the same time, the use of a plastic mold, which has low adhesion to the citrogypsum-based binder, helps to reduce the amount of adhesion friction and optimize the raw mixture compaction process. This makes it possible to obtain samples with improved physical and mechanical characteristics (compressive strength increases by 30–85.5%, average density - by 1.7–2.7% and water absorption decreased by 1.7–16%) or lower consumption of binder up to 20% compared to samples prepared in metal mold.