LOW ENERGY DISLOCATION STRUCTURES DUE TO FATIGUE SOFTENING

The evolution of dislocation structures in 6% prestrained steel 1018 during fatigue has beenstudied by TEM.The dislocations are quite movable,the loose cells quickly change to“checkboard”structures,in which the main cell walls lie about {100}.Then,the low energydislocation structures i.e.dipolar walls and abyrinth structures are evolved.The characteristicof labyrinth and the orientation of dipolar walls are quite similar to fcc crystal.This indicatesthe energy state of system and the moving ability of dislocations are important factors affect-ing softening process,rather than the slip geometric characteristic of dislocations and detailsof dislocations.The decreasing in misorientation between adjoining cells and internal stressare discussed.     

Fatigue in Ti–6Al–4V–B alloys

The addition of small amounts of B to Ti–6Al–4V alloy reduces the as-cast grain size by an order of magnitude and introduces TiB phase into the microstructure. The effects of these microstructural modifications on both the high cycle fatigue and cyclic stress–strain response were investigated. Experimental results show that B addition markedly enhances the fatigue strength of the alloy; however, the influence of prior-β grain size was found to be only marginal. The presence of TiB particles in the matrix appears to be beneficial with the addition of 0.55 wt.% B to Ti–6Al–4V enhancing the fatigue strength by more than 50%. Strain-controlled fatigue experiments reveal softening in the cyclic stress–strain response, which increases with the B content in the alloy. Transmission electron microscopy of the fatigued specimens indicates that generation of dislocations during cyclic loading and creation of twins due to strain incompatibility between the matrix and the TiB phase are possible reasons for the observed softening.     

疲劳软化的低能位错结构

用电子衍衬技术研究了预变形6％的1018钢在疲劳过程中位错组态的演变。晶体中位错十分可动,变形态的松散胞迅速变化为主胞壁大致沿{100}的棋盘结构,再逐渐演变为位错偶墙及迷宫结构的低能位错组态。bcc和fcc的迷宫特征以及偶墙取向相似,说明位错线的滑移几何特性及相应的位错细节不是软化过程的控制因素,位错组态的能量状态对软化有重要影响。讨论了周期载荷下胞间位向差的消失以及内应力下降的过程。     

Molecular dynamics simulation on mechanisms of plastic anisotropy in nanotwinned polycrystalline copper with {111} texture during tensile deformation

Based on molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, the mechanisms of plastic anisotropy in nanotwinned polycrystalline copper with {111} texture during tensile deformation were systematically studied from the aspects of Schmid factor of the dominant slip system and the dislocation mechanism. The results show that the Schmid factor of dominated slip system is altered by changing the inclining angle of the twin boundaries (TBs), while the yield stress or flow stress does not strictly follow the Schmid law. There exist hard and soft orientations involving different dislocation mechanisms during the tensile deformation. The strengthening mechanism of hard orientation lies in the fact that there exist interactions between the dislocations and the TBs during plastic deformation, which leads to the dislocation blocking and reactions. The softening mechanism of soft orientation lies in the fact that there is no interaction between the dislocations and the TBs because only the slip systems parallel to the TBs are activated and the dislocations slip on the planes parallel to the TBs. It is concluded that the plastic anisotropy in the nanotwinned polycrystalline copper with {111} texture is aroused by the combination effect of the Schmid factor of dominated slip system and the dislocation mechanism.     

Stress fields and geometrically necessary dislocation density distributions near the head of a blocked slip band

We have examined the interaction of a blocked slip band and a grain boundary in deformed titanium using high-resolution electron backscatter diffraction and atomic force microscopy. From these observations, we have deduced the active dislocation types and assessed the dislocation reactions involved within a selected grain. Dislocation sources have been activated on a prism slip plane, producing a planar slip band and a pile-up of dislocations in a near screw alignment at the grain boundary. This pile-up has resulted in activation of plasticity in the neighbouring grain and left the boundary with a number of dislocations in a pile-up. Examination of the elastic stress state ahead of the pile-up reveals a characteristic “one over the square root of distance” dependence for the shear stress resolved on the active slip plane. This observation validates a dislocation mechanics model given by Eshelby, Frank and Nabarro in 1951 and not previously directly tested, despite its importance in underpinning our understanding of grain size strengthening, fracture initiation, short fatigue crack propagation, fatigue crack initiation and many more phenomena. The analysis also provides a method to measure the resistance to slip transfer of an individual grain boundary in a polycrystalline material. For the boundary and slip systems analysed here a Hall–Petch coefficient of K = 0.41 MPa m^½ was determined.     

Low-Cycle Fatigue and Creep-Fatigue Behaviors of a Second-Generation Nickel-Based Single-Crystal Superalloy at 760 ℃

Low-cycle fatigue (LCF) behaviors of a second-generation nickel-based single-crystal superalloys with [001] orientation at 760 °C have been investigated. Different strain amplitudes were introduced to investigate the creep-fatigue effects. The LCF life of none tensile holding (NTH) was higher than that of the 60-s tensile hold (TH) at any strain amplitude. As the strain amplitude was 0.7%, the stacking and cross-slip dislocations appeared together at the γ/γ’ coherent microstructure in both TH and NTH specimens. At the strain amplitude of 0.9%, plenty of the cross-slip dislocations appeared in γ channel and other dislocations were stacking at γ/γ’ interfaces. However, the SFs still appeared in γ’ phase with 60-s TH which caused cyclic softening. As the strain amplitude increased up to 1.2%, the dislocations are piling up at the γ/γ’ interfaces and cutting through the γ’ phase in both TH and NTH tests, which caused cyclic hardening. The influences of strain amplitude and holding time were complicated. Different stress response behaviors occurred in different loading conditions. The surface characteristic and fracture mechanism were observed by scanning electron microscopy. This result is helpful for building the relationship of various blade fatigue failure modes, cyclic stress response and microstructure deformation under different strain amplitudes.     

Hot Compression Mechanical Behavior of Solution Heat-Treated and Pre-aged Mg-Zn-Gd-Er Alloys

The mechanical behavior of solution heat-treated and pre-aged Mg-6Zn-1Gd-1Er alloys during hot compression (from 180 to 330 °C) has been investigated. The results showed that the flow stress curves of the pre-aged sample (PAS) intersected with that of the solution heat-treated sample (SHTS) during hot compression. At 180 °C, when the true strain is 0.27 and 0.47, the PAS showed larger and smaller stress (210.80 MPa vs. 207.58 MPa and 205.67 MPa vs. 207.93 MPa) than the SHTS, respectively. These phenomena were due to the stronger interaction of W phase and dislocations/twins under the strain of 0.27, while dynamic recrystallization softening occurred under the strain of 0.47. When the temperature increased to 330 °C, the flow stress of PAS and SHTS showed an opposite trend to that of 180 °C. Continuous dynamic recrystallization and particle stimulated nucleation based on slip operations are the main deformation mechanisms under 330 °C. At the true strain is 0.33 and 0.53, the PAS has smaller and larger stress (61.32 MPa vs. 63.69 MPa and 58.75 MPa vs. 57.09 MPa) than the SHTS, respectively. The increasing deformation resistance of dynamic precipitation improved the flow stress under smaller strain and dynamic recrystallization decreased the flow stress under high strain, which resulted the opposite phenomena of SHTS.     

Substructure and texture evolution and flow behavior of TA15 titanium alloy compressed in the alpha + beta two-phase field

This paper investigates the substructure and texture evolution of a near-α titanium alloy Ti–6Al–2Zr–1Mo–1V (TA15) during isothermal hot compression in an α + β two-phase field. The microstructures of deformed samples were analyzed using an electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique to study the effects of process parameters on the evolution of substructure and texture. The activated energy and the stress exponent were calculated to identify the deformation behaviors and the softening mechanisms. The experimental results showed that the transformation of low angle boundaries (LABs) to high angle boundaries (HABs) was sensitive to strain rate, strain and temperature. The volume fraction of the HABs increased with the increasing strain rate or strain but decreased with increasing temperature. During the transformation process, the dislocations inside the subgrains and around the subgrain boundaries were annihilated by dislocation reaction and absorption. The transformation of the LABs into HABs significantly influenced the flow stress during the thermomechanical processing. With the increase of strain or temperature, the texture in the alpha phase became weaker and the pyramidal slip systems began to be activated, while the texture in the beta phase tended to be stronger with more plastic deformation.     

Cyclic deformation behaviors of Ti-46Al-2Cr-2Nb-0.15B alloy during thermo-mechanical fatigue tests

Thermo-mechanical fatigue tests were carried out on the gamma-TiAl alloy in the temperature range of 500-800 °C under mechanical strain control in order to evaluate its cyclic deformation behaviors at elevated temperature.Cyclic deformation curves,stress-strain hysteresis loops under different temperature-strain cycles were analyzed and dislocation configurations were also observed by TEM.The mechanisms of cyclic hardening or softening during thermo-mechanical fatigue(TMF) tests were also discussed.Results showed that thermo-mechanical fatigue lives largely depended on the applied mechanical strain amplitudes,applied types of strain and temperature.On the hysteresis loops appeared two apparent asymmetries:one was zero asymmetry and the other was tensile and compressive asymmetry.Dislocations configuration and slip behaviors were contributed to cyclic hardening or cyclic softening.     

Study on Fatigue Properties of Turbine Disk Groove Modeling Specimens of GH4720 Alloy

基于航空发动机涡轮盘榫槽结构特点及其工作状态,采用榫槽模拟件对GH4720合金的疲劳失效机理和裂纹扩展寿命进行了实验研究和理论分析。研究结果表明:GH4720合金榫槽模拟件的疲劳失效表现为3个阶段:(i)模拟涡轮盘榫槽处由于较高的应力集中而产生滑移,进而萌生裂纹;(ii)随着应力集中和循环载荷的持续,相邻晶粒间位错开动、发生滑移,裂纹在晶粒间传递;(iii)随着应力强度因子范围增大,剪应力和主应力交互作用、滑移系开动及位错在不同滑移系间的运动,裂纹快速扩展。在实验基础上建立了GH4720合金的疲劳裂纹扩展寿命模型,基于有限元分析的榫槽处的应力和裂纹扩展寿命模型得到的裂纹扩展寿命与实验结果相符,表明该裂纹扩展寿命模型可用于工程中预测涡轮盘的剩余寿命。     

GH536高温合金焊接接头疲劳裂纹萌生与扩展原位试验研究

采用原位疲劳试验方法,实时观察了GH536焊接接头疲劳裂纹的萌生和扩展行为,从而揭示了GH536焊接接头疲劳裂纹的萌生和扩展机制:疲劳加载过程中,位错沿滑移带在晶界前沿塞积,晶界阻碍位错运动,裂纹沿滑移带开裂,萌生疲劳裂纹;疲劳裂纹扩展初期,受单滑移的交替作用,裂纹呈“Z”字型向前扩展,随后裂纹的扩展逐渐以主应力控制为主,垂直于加载方向、平直向前扩展;GH536合金焊接接头组织中的晶界和碳化物会阻碍疲劳裂纹的扩展。     

基于微结构分析定义应变路径非比例度

对316L不锈钢进行了单轴及多轴非比例循环加载低周疲劳实验及其微结构的观察，研究了非比例循环附加强化对应变路径依赖性的微观机理，分析了位错自由运动间距的分布规律．结果表明：316L不锈钢在非比例循环加载下产生的附加强化与材料中的多滑移位错结构的形态与尺寸直接相关，滑移面上的位错自由运动间距服从正态分布，位错自由运动间距的统计平均值与宏观等效饱和应力幅值之间呈现线性对数关系．基于上述研究结果，以位错自由运动间距统计平均值给出了应变路径非比例度的定义，结果表明：在单轴循环应力-应变关系式中引入新的非比例度的定义可以较好地描述应变路径对材料非比例循环变形行为的影响．     

ATOMISTIC SIMULATION OF NANOSTRUCTURE FOR MACHINING-TENSION PROCESS

利用分子动力学在原子尺度模拟了单晶Cu (111)面纳构件的纳米加工过程和加工后纳构件的拉 伸过程, 分析了纳刻划过程的缺陷行为及加工缺陷对纳构件力学特性的影响. 结 果表明: 在纳刻划过程中, 在针尖的前方和下方形成加工变形区; 当刻划深度 较浅时, 位错仅在表面与亚表面繁殖; 随着刻划深度的增加, 加工后残留的缺 陷数量增加, 纳构件的有序度及首次屈服应力下降; 加工后的纳构件内部, 尤其在针尖退出处有较高的残余应力. 对加工后的纳构件施加拉伸载荷, 由于 存在残留加工缺陷和较高残余应力, 其应力--应变曲线在弹性上升阶段有局部下降; 在塑性阶段, 由于位错繁殖及位错塞积和中间部分原子的迁移重构使应力--应变曲 线呈锯齿状逐渐下降. 纳构件断裂失效前表现为单原子相连的纳 链. 纳构件的有序度随着刻划深度的增加而下降. 在应变为0.8处, 刻划较浅的 纳构件的有序度较首次屈服处的有序度略好.     

Effect of long-range order on the cyclic deformation behaviour of Ni3Fe single crystals

Effect of ordering on cyclic deformation in disordered and ordered Ni₃Fe single crystals was investigated focusing on stress–strain response and deformation substructure. The cyclic hardening depended strongly on the long range order. The maximum stress in the disordered crystals increased gradually with increasing number of cycles and then reached a saturation, while ordered ones exhibited cyclic softening after an initial strong cyclic hardening. The cyclic hardening at an early stage of fatigue in ordered crystals may be due to APB tubes and debris which were produced by the intersection between primary and secondary slips. Coarse slip bands were observed in fatigued ordered Ni₃Fe single crystals. In the bands, three-dimensional dislocation structure was formed accompanied by a decrease in the degree of order, which was responsible for the cyclic softening.     

Effects of plastic deformation on lamellar structure formation in Ti–39 at.% Al single crystals

The effects of plastic deformation on lamellar structure formation in solution-treated Ti–39 at.% Al single crystals were investigated, focusing on the role of dislocations of different slip systems. The dislocations were introduced by indentation on the surfaces of solution-treated single crystals with different crystallographic orientations. Traces of basal and prism slips were observed, depending on the position relative to the indentation. During annealing at α₂ + γ dual-phase temperatures, lamellar structures were formed faster where basal slip had occurred than where prism slip had occurred. After long annealing, the length scale of lamellar structures formed depends on the slip system operated during prior deformation: in the region where only one of either basal or prism slip had occurred the lamellar structure was coarser than in undeformed crystal, while in the region where both basal and prism slips occurred the lamellar structure was finer than those formed in undeformed crystal. The reasons for the differences in lamellar structures are discussed on the basis of the frequencies of stacking fault formation on (0 0 0 1) planes as precursors to γ-precipitates. The results suggest that the cross-slip of dislocations between basal and prism planes, which gives rise to the formation of multiple stacking faults on many parallel (0 0 0 1) planes, is responsible for the refinement of lamellar structures.     

Low Cycle Fatigue Behavior of HT250 Gray Cast Iron for Engine Cylinder Blocks

The strain-controlled low cycle fatigue properties were evaluated on specimens of HT250 gray cast iron (GCI) at room temperature. The material exhibited cyclic stabilization at a low strain amplitude of 0.1% and cyclic softening characteristic at higher strain amplitudes (0.15-0.30%). At a representative total strain amplitude (0.30%), the hysteresis loops of HT250 GCI were asymmetric with a large amount of plastic deformation in the compressive phases. Furthermore, the hysteresis loop became larger in both width and height with increasing total strain amplitude (from 0.10 to 0.30%), and tended to exhibit a clockwise rotation. The fatigue crack propagation mechanisms were different at various total strain amplitudes, where high stress concentration due to dislocation pile-up favored fatigue crack initiation in the examined HT250. Finally, the roughness-induced crack closure was a key to determine the crack growth rate as well as fatigue life.     

Cyclic deformation and fatigue behaviour of 7Mo–0.5N superaustenitic stainless steel—slip characteristics and development of dislocation structures

The present work concerns the development of dislocation structures and surface slip markings during cyclic straining of a superaustenitic stainless steel. The composition of the tested material was Fe–25Cr–22Ni–7.6Mo–3Mn–0.46N (wt%). Two total strain amplitudes, 2.7×10⁻³ and 1.0×10⁻², were employed and specimens were investigated at specific numbers of cycles corresponding to certain stages on the cyclic hardening/softening curve. For both strain amplitudes, the developed dislocation structures are strongly planar and with increasing strain amplitude, the slip mode gradually changes from single slip to multiple slip. The short range ordering between Mo and N, as indicated by an atom probe investigation, is broken down during strain cycling leading to increased slip planarity. Early stages of cycling show dislocation multiplication. With increasing number of cycles, the dislocations are gradually grouped together in planar bands with high dislocation density, surrounded by dislocation-poor areas. The evolution of such bands is associated with decreasing effective stresses, while the internal stresses are only slightly reduced. Macroscopic slip bands, similar to PSBs, are formed upon prolonged cycling at the high amplitude. The slip markings created on the specimen surface show strong similarities with the bands of localised slip observed in the dislocation structures of the bulk.     

Thermomechanical fatigue behaviours of a third generation γ-TiAl based alloy

In order to clarify the behaviours of thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) of a third generation γ-TiAl based alloy, the influence of related microstructural instability during TMF process on stress–strain response, fatigue life and fracture way under in-phase (IP) and out-of-phase (OP) loading mode was investigated. Cyclic softening at high temperature (>700 °C) arises from the dissolution of α₂ lamellae and recrystallization of γ phase. Cyclic hardening at low temperature (<550 °C) is caused by strong interaction between dislocations. As temperature increases, the mean stress and remained plastic strain range increase, leading to severe TMF damage. Owing to the formation of superfine γ grains in IP condition, a superimposed effect of creep and fatigue damage contributes to the TMF failure. OP loading mode brings about the coarsening of primary equiaxed γ grains. Fatigue damage displays the intergranular fracture and transgranular cleavage fracture ways of coarse γ grains.     

Effect of crystallographic orientation and grain boundary character on fatigue cracking behaviors of coaxial copper bicrystals

Four coaxial copper bicrystals were employed to study the slip morphologies and fatigue cracking behaviors during cyclic deformation. Three of them had high-angle grain boundaries (GBs) with nearly the same misorientation and one bicrystal had a twin boundary (TB). Different slip bands (SBs) operated near the GBs and TB, generating different dislocation arrangements, which are mainly determined by the crystallographic orientations of the component grains. The GBs suffered impingement or shear damage caused by slip difference from both sides. It is suggested that there is an energy increase in the interfaces between matrix and persistent slip bands (PSBs), GBs and TBs per cycle during cyclic deformation due to the accumulation of lattice defects, which would make the interface unstable. After a certain number of cycles, fatigue cracks initiated firstly at GBs for some bicrystals while fatigue cracking occurred preferentially at PSBs for the others. It is confirmed that the energy growth rate is an increasing function of the shear stress, strain amplitude and strain incompatibility, which results from slip differences on both sides of the interfaces. Interfaces with different energies and strain incompatibilities have different fatigue cracking resistance. It is found that GBs with defective and complex structure, and hence high interfacial energy accompanied by high modulus of the residual GB dislocation (GBD), are preferential sites for fatigue cracking, while the fatigue cracking appeared predominantly at PSBs when the modulus of the residual GBD is lower than that of a perfect dislocation with simple GB structure and low interfacial energy. The present model for the energy can predict well which kind of interface would form cracks preferentially during cyclic deformation in one coaxial bicrystal and which GB would need more cycles to initiate fatigue cracking between coaxial bicrystals with different GB characters.     

High temperature fatigue behavior of wrought nickel-base superailoy GH4049

Push-pull total strain-controlled fatigue tests without and with a hold period were carried at elevated temperatures for wrought nickel base superailoy GH4049. The influence of the testing temperature and strain hold period on fatigue behavior was determined. The alloy would exhibit either cyclic strain hardening, softening or stability during cyclic straining. Fatigue life depends strongly on the testing temperature and the introduction of the strain hold period. Observations on fatigue specimens using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the dislocations were distributed mostly in the γ matrix. It was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) that cracks initiated always in a transgranular mode, but their propagation mode was closely related to the testing temperature. In addition, the fatigue life was predicted by linear damage summation (LDS), strain range partitioning (SRP) and the strain energy partitioning (SEP) method. The results of life prediction indicated that the SRP and SEP methods were in a good agreement as to the measured and predicted life at lower temperatures, while the LDS method showed better predictability at higher temperature as compared to the SRP and SEP methods.