Irradiation behaviors of two novel single-phase bcc-structure high-entropy alloys for accident-tolerant fuel cladding

High-entropy alloys(HEAs)are potential alternative materials for accident-tolerant fuel cladding due to their excellent irradiation resistance and high-temperature corrosion resistance.In this work,two novel body-centered cubic(bcc)structured Mo0.5NbTiVCr0.25 and Mo0.5NbTiV0.5Zr0.25 HEAs were fab-ricated.Helium-ion irradiation was performed on the two HEAs to simulate neutron irradiation,and the crystal structure,hardness,and microstructure evolution were investigated.The crystal structure of the Mo0.5NbTiVCr0.25 HEA remained stable at low fluences,while amorphization may occur at high fluences in the two HEAs.The irradiation hardening value of the Mo0.5NbTiVCr0.25 was 0.77 GPa at flu-ences of 1×1017 ions/cm2 and 1.49 GPa at fluences of 5×1017 ions/cm2,while the hardening value of the Mo0.5NbTiV0.5Zr0.25 was 1.36 GPa at ion fluences of 5×1017 ions/cm2.In comparison with most of the conventional alloys,the two HEAs showed slight irradiation hardening.The helium bubbles and dislocation loops with small size were observed in the two HEAs after irradiation.This is the first time to report the formation of a dislocation loop in bcc-structure HEAs after irradiation.However,voids and precipitates were not observed in the two HEAs which could be ascribed to the high lattice distortion and compositional complexity of HEAs.This research revealed that the two HEAs show outstanding irradiation resistance,which may be promising accident-tolerant fuel cladding materials.     

Uniaxial creep behavior of nanostructured, solution and dispersion hardened V-1.4Y-7W-9Mo-0.7TiC with different grain sizes

Nanostructured vanadium (V) alloys are expected to exhibit high performance under neutron irradiation environments. However, their ultra-fine or refined grains cause significant decrease in flow stress at high temperatures due to grain boundary sliding (GBS), which is the major concern for their high-temperature structural applications such as future fusion reactors. The contribution of GBS to plastic deformation is known to depend strongly on grain size (GS) and may give more significant influence on long-time creep test results than on short-time tensile test results. In order to improve the creep resistance through elucidation of the effect of GS on the uniaxial creep behavior of nanostructured V alloys, a solution and dispersion hardened V alloy, V-1.4Y-7W-9Mo-0.7TiC (in wt%), with GSs from 0.58 to 2.16 μm was developed by mechanical alloying and HIP processes, followed by annealing at 1473-1773 K, and creep tested at 1073 K and 250 MPa in vacuum. It is shown that the creep resistance of V-1.4Y-7W-9Mo-0.7TiC increases monotonically with GS: The creep life for the alloy with 2.16 μm in GS is as long as 114 h, which is longer by factors of 2-30 than those for the other finer grained alloys and by two orders than that for coarse-grained V-4Cr-4Ti (Nifs heat2, GS: 17.8 μm) that is a primary candidate material for fusion reactor structural applications. The minimum (steady state) creep rate decreases with increasing GS as ?_s ∝ (1/?)³, where ?_s is the steady state creep rate and ? is the grain diameter. The observed superior creep resistance of V-1.4Y-7W-9Mo-0.7TiC is discussed in terms of GS effects on dislocation glide/climb, GBS, and strain hardening capability enhanced by solution and dispersion hardening.     

Role of electronic energy loss on defect production and interface stability: Comparison between ceramic materials and high-entropy alloys

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) and some complex alloys exhibit desirable properties and significant structural stability in harsh environments, including possible applications in advanced reactors. Energetic ion irradiation is often used as a surrogate for neutron irradiation; however, the impact of ion electronic energy deposition and dissipation is often neglected. Moreover, differences in recoil energy spectrum and density of cascade events on damage evolution must also be considered. In many chemically complex alloys, the mean free path of electrons is reduced significantly, thus their decreased thermal conductivity and slow dissipation of localized radiation energy can have noticeable effects on displacement cascade evolution that is greatly different from metals with high thermal conductivity. In this work, nanocrystalline HEAs of Ni₂₀Fe₂₀Co₂₀Cr₂₀Cu₂₀ and nonequiatomic (NiFeCoCr)₉₇Cu₃, both having much lower room-temperature thermal conductivity than pure Ni or Fe, are chosen as model HEAs to reveal the role that electronic energy loss during ion irradiation has in complex alloys. The response of nanocrystalline HEAs is investigated under irradiation at room temperature using MeV Ni and Au ions that have different ratios of electronic energy to damage energy, which is the energy dissipated in displacing atoms. Different from previously reported amorphization of nanocrystalline SiC, experimental results on these HEAs show that, similar to the process in nanocrystalline oxide materials, both inelastic thermal spikes via electron–phonon coupling and elastic thermal spikes via collisions among atomic nuclei contribute to the overall grain growth. The growth follows a power law dependence with the total deposited ion energy, and the derived value of the power-exponent suggests that the irradiation-induced instability at and near grain boundaries leads to local rapid atomic rearrangements and consequently grain growth. The high power-exponent value can be attributed to the sluggish diffusion and delayed defect evolution arising from the chemical complexity intrinsic to HEAs. This work calls attention to quantified fundamental understanding of radiation damage processes beyond that of simplified displacement events, especially in simulating neutron environments.     

Modeling of radiation hardening in ferritic/martensitic steel using multi-scale approach

Fe-Cr based ferritic/martensitic (FM) steels are the candidate structural materials for future fusion reactors. In this work, a multi-scale approach comprising atomistic and dislocation dynamic simulations are used to understand the hardening of these materials due to irradiation. At the atomic scale, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to study the mobility of an edge dislocation and its interaction with irradiation induced voids and bubbles. The dislocation dynamics (DD) simulations are used to estimate the change in flow stress of the material as a result of irradiation hardening. The key input to the DD simulations are the friction stress and maximum shear stress for the edge dislocation to overcome the defects as determined from atomistic simulations. The results obtained from the MD and DD simulations are in qualitative agreement with experimental results of hardening behavior of irradiated FM steels.     

Modeling of precipitation hardening in Mg-based alloys

This work deals with the development of Mg-based alloys with enhanced properties at elevated temperatures. This is achieved by precipitation of binary phases such as MgZn₂ and Mg₂Sn during the aging of these alloys. The aim of the present work is to develop and calibrate a model for precipitation hardening in Mg-based alloys, as different types of precipitates form simultaneously. The modified Langer-Schwartz approach, while taking into account nucleation, growth and coarsening of the new phase precipitations, was used for the analysis of precipitates’ evolution and precipitation hardening during aging of Mg-based alloys. Two strengthening mechanisms associated with particle-dislocation interaction (shearing and bypassing) were considered to be operating simultaneously due to particle size-distribution. Parameters of the model, R _N i and k _{σ i} , were found by fitting of calculated densities and average sizes of precipitates with ones estimated from experiments. The effective diffusion coefficients of phase formation processes, which determine the strengthening kinetics, were estimated from the hardness maximum positions on the aging curves.     

Constitution and age hardening of Al-Sc alloys

Aluminium-rich alloys from the Al-Sc system were examined to determine the form of the equilibrium phase diagram and to obtain information on age hardening of chill cast alloys. Samples containing up to 8.75wt% Sc were examined using thermal analysis and optical microscopy. This work indicated a eutectic type of phase diagram with a eutectic temperature of about 665° C and a eutectic composition of about 0.6wt% Sc. The scandium-rich primary phase was found to be ScAl₃ which is f c c with a lattice parameter of 0.4105nm. Chill cast samples of a 1 wt% Sc alloy were examined for their age hardening behaviour over the temperature range of 225 to 360° C. A maximum hardness of 77 VHN was obtained after ageing at 250° C for 3 days. This hardness was retained after ageing for a total of at least 12 days. The hardening precipitates were ScAl₃ which were observed to form via a discontinuous precipitation mechanism. The ScAl₃ precipitates were observed to have a parallel orientation relationship with the matrix.     

Nitrogen-doped TiAl alloys Part II Plastic deformation behavior

Effects of the nitrogen addition on high temperature tensile properties and creep resistance of the fully lamellar and the duplex Ti-48.5Al-1.5Mo (at.%) alloy were investigated. High temperature yield strength of the nitrogen-doped alloys increased due to solute hardening and precipitation hardening of Ti₃AlN. Nitrogen addition led to remarkable improvement of creep resistance in the duplex microstructure as well as in the fully lamellar microstructure. In particular, the primary creep deformation of the 1.0 at.% nitrogen-doped alloy with the duplex microstructure decreased definitely to a similar or superior level of the fully lamellar alloy. We consider that precipitate hardening of p-phase (Ti₃AlN) and solute hardening of nitrogen atoms may be responsible for such remarkable creep resistance of the nitrogen-doped alloys.     

Effect of aluminum on precipitation hardening in Cu–Ni–Zn alloys

The effect of aluminum on the precipitation hardening of Cu–Ni–Zn alloys with varying aging temperatures and times was investigated in this article, in the hope to achieve better mechanical properties. Vickers hardness, tensile, and electrical conductivity tests were carried out to characterize the properties of the Cu–Ni–Zn alloys with or without an addition of aluminum subjected to different aging treatments. The results show that an addition of 1.2 wt% aluminum can play an influential role in the precipitation hardening of the Cu–Ni–Zn alloys. For example, it can increase the peak hardness from 58 Hv for the solution-treated Cu–10Ni–20Zn alloy to 185 Hv for the solution-treated Cu–10Ni–20Zn–1.2Al alloy during aging at 500 °C. The yield strength, tensile strength, and electrical conductivity of the Cu–10Ni–20Zn–1.2Al alloy subjected to suitable treatments under prior cold-rolled and aged conditions can reach 889 MPa, 918 MPa, and 10.96% IACS, respectively, being much higher than those of the relevant alloy without aluminum and comparable to those of the Cu–Be alloys (C17200 and C17510). According to the transmission electron microscope observations, it was found that formation of nanosized precipitates with the L1₂-type ordered lattice results in precipitation hardening, and an orientation relationship of [011]_\textp//[011]_\textm [011]_{\text{p}}//[011]_{\text{m}} and (100)_\textp//(200)_\textm (100)_{\text{p}}//(200)_{\text{m}} exists between the precipitates and the α-Cu matrix.     

Thermal stability and mechanical properties of nanocrystalline Fe–Ni–Zr alloys prepared by mechanical alloying

The thermal stability of nanostructured Fe_100?x?y Ni _x Zr _y alloys with Zr additions up to 4 at.% was investigated. This expands upon our previous results for Fe–Ni base alloys that were limited to 1 at.% Zr addition. Emphasis was placed on understanding the effects of composition and microstructural evolution on grain growth and mechanical properties after annealing at temperatures near and above the bcc-to-fcc transformation. Results reveal that microstructural stability can be lost due to the bcc-to-fcc transformation (occurring at 700 °C) by the sudden appearance of abnormally grown fcc grains. However, it was determined that grain growth can be suppressed kinetically at higher temperatures for high Zr content alloys due to the precipitation of intermetallic compounds. Eventually, at higher temperatures and regardless of composition, the retention of nanocrystallinity was lost, leaving behind fine micron grains filled with nanoscale intermetallic precipitates. Despite the increase in grain size, the in situ formed precipitates were found to induce an Orowan hardening effect rivaling that predicted by Hall–Petch hardening for the smallest grain sizes. The transition from grain size strengthening to precipitation strengthening is reported for these alloys. The large grain size and high precipitation hardening result in a material that exhibits high strength and significant plastic straining capacity.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of spray deposited and extruded 7000 series aluminium alloys

Abstract

The microstructure and mechanical properties of spray deposited 7000 series aluminium alloys were investigated. The 7000 type alloys were produced by the spray atomisation deposition method. These alloys were hot extruded and subsequently heat treated in the T6 and T7 temper conditions. Microstructural characterisation of the alloys was carried out by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM studies revealed the presence of η′ and η(MgZn₂) hardening precipitates in both temper conditions. The mechanical properties were assessed through tensile and notched tensile tests using an Instron machine. It was observed that the 0.2% proof stress of these alloys after T7 temper decreased with increased elongation to fracture values.     

On anisotropy of ferritic ODS alloys

Abstract

Ferritic oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloys are candidate materials to be used as cladding for long term fast reactors, due to their high strength at high temperature and good swelling and irradiation resistances. The fabrication of cladding tubes is usually made by a succession of cold deformation steps where a deformation induced anisotropic microstructure could take place, which would affect the mechanical behaviour of the tube. The characterisation of this microstructural anisotropy is one of the key issues in the development of cladding ODS tubes. In this paper, the microstructural anisotropy of a Fe–14Cr–ODS extruded bar and a Fe–12Cr–ODS plate is characterised and its effect on the mechanical properties is analysed by tensile, impact and small punch testing. In both materials, a reduction of the ductility is observed in the transverse specimens. In addition, the fracture behaviour seems to be strongly dependent on the location of the crack plane regarding the elongated grained microstructure.     

Microstructures and tensile properties of Al-Zn-Cu-Mg-Zr alloys modified with scandium

We melted five types of Al-Zn-Cu-Mg-Zr alloys and added 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5 (wt.%) of scandium. Its influence on the microstructure of alloys and their mechanical properties is studied with the help of optical transmission and scanning electron microscopes. An insignificant amount of scandium promoted the formation of Al₃ (Sc, Zr) particles. These particles efficiently clean the microstructure, decelerate and preserve recrystallization, and fix dislocations and substructures. The strength of the alloys increases for high levels of plasticity. It is shown that the optimal properties of the alloys with 0.21% Sc are attained after holding in a solution for 40 min at 475°C and aging for 24 h at 120°C. The strength of the alloys increases mainly as a result of dispersion solidification and microstructural hardening with Al₃ (Sc, Zr) particles. Published in Fizyko-Khimichna Mekhanika Materialiv, Vol. 44, No. 1, pp. 100–103, January–February, 2008.     

Creep deformation mechanism of magnesium-based alloys

Two heat-resistant magnesium alloys AJC421 and Mg-2Nd were prepared. Both as-cast Mg-2Nd and AJC421 alloys exhibited good creep resistance in comparison with commonly used magnesium alloys. The improvement in creep properties through Nd addition to pure magnesium is attributed to both solid solution and precipitation hardening. The stress exponents of 4.5–5.5 and activation energies of 70.0–96.0 kJ/mol obtained from the as-cast Mg-2Nd alloy at low temperatures and low stresses indicate the five power law can be used for predicting the creep mechanism. The additions of alkaline earth elements Sr and Ca into Mg–Al alloys suppress the discontinuous precipitation of Mg₁₇Al₁₂ and form thermal-stable intermediate phases at grain boundaries, leading to effective restriction to grain boundary sliding and migration. However, the mechanism responsible for creep deformation of Mg–Al based alloys with Ca and Sr additions is not consistent with the results of microstructure observations performed on the alloys before and after creep tests.     

Effect of nuclear radiation on the microhardness of SAV-1 avials

The microhardness of the initial specimens of SAV-1 avials was experimentally investigated. Modification of this mechanical characteristic as a result of alloy irradiation in the channels of a research nuclear reactor WWR-SM was studied. The nonlinear pattern of material hardening after irradiation at low fluence rates (10¹⁵ – 10¹⁸ neutron/cm²) was revealed. The radiation effect of avial microhardness variations is established to be a certain function of irradiation doses and indentation loads. The possible reasons of an increase in hardness of irradiated specimens are discussed. The radiation-induced hardening of aluminum alloys is assumed to be determined by generation of point flaws and dislocations, blocked by defects and interstitial phase decay products.     

Einfluß des Richtens auf das mechanische Verhalten von Federlegierungen

Influence of Levelling Processes on the Mechanical Behaviour of Spring Alloys Levelling processes – that means straightening of wire or level rolling of strip – have an impairing effect on the R_p0,2 and R_p0,1 proof strength of cold worked spring alloys and on the hysteresis behaviour of flat springs respectively. SEM and TEM investigations indicate that recovery is initiated by levelling processes and is intensified by a subsequent age hardening treatment. This may lead to a modification of age hardening behaviour and effectivity for those alloys which show different age hardening mechanisms in the cold worked and recovered state respectively. The detrimental influence of level rolling on the hysteresis behaviour is found to be due to an increased subgrain size after age hardening treatment. The results show that improvement of geometry by levelling processes is only possible at the cost of decreased spring properties.     

Strengthening of nickel -base superalloys for nuclear heat exchanger application

Strengthening mechanisms of nickel-base superalloys have been discussed with the background of the Japanese research and development activities in this field. As candidates for materials of intermediate heat exchangers which will be used for a future programme of nuclear steelmaking systems, two kinds of alloys have successfully been developed in Japan. The designs of these alloys have been reviewed from metallurgical aspects including their composition and creep properties. In addition to the conventional methods to strengthen these alloys, such as solid solution hardening or particle precipitation hardening, a grain-boundary precipitation strengthening due to tungsten-rich ₂ phase in the Ni-Cr-W system, would be expected as a further advanced method.     

Strain hardening of as-extruded Mg-xZn (x = 1, 2, 3 and 4 wt%) alloys

The influence of Zn on the strain hardening of as-extruded Mg-x Zn(x = 1, 2, 3 and 4 wt%) magnesium alloys was investigated using uniaxial tensile tests at 10~(-3)s~(-1) at room temperature. The strain hardening rate,the strain hardening exponent and the hardening capacity were obtained from true plastic stress-strain curves. There were almost no second phases in the as-extruded Mg-Zn magnesium alloys. Average grain sizes of the four as-extruded alloys were about 17.8 μm. With increasing Zn content from 1 to 4 wt%, the strain hardening rate increased from 2850 MPa to 6810 MPa at(б-б_(0.2)) = 60 MPa, the strain hardening exponent n increased from 0.160 to 0.203, and the hardening capacity, Hc increased from 1.17 to 2.34.The difference in strain hardening response of these Mg-Zn alloys might be mainly caused by weaker basal texture and more solute atoms in the α-Mg matrix with higher Zn content.     

Effect of cobalt additions on the age hardening of Cu-4.5Ti alloy

The effects of 0.9 and 1.8 wt% cobalt additions on the age hardening behaviour of Cu-4.5Ti alloy have been investigated. It has been observed that though Co addition results in the refinement of grain size and the Cu-Ti-Co alloys exhibit age hardening (giving rise to peak hardness on aging at 400°C for 16 hours), the peak hardness as well as the corresponding yield and tensile strengths were found to decrease with increasing cobalt content. The electrical conductivities of 0.9 and 1.8 wt% Co alloys were found to be 6% and 10% International Annealed Copper Standard (IACS) and 7% and 14% IACS in solution treated and peak aged conditions, respectively. Like in the binary Cu-Ti alloys, precipitation of ordered, metastable and coherent Cu₄Ti(¹) precipitate was found to be responsible for maximum strengthening in these alloys. In addition, coarse intermetallic phases of Ti and Co, viz. Ti₂Co and TiCo particles have been observed in all the conditions studied. The inferior mechanical properties of Cu-Ti-Co alloys compared with those of the binary Cu-Ti alloys are attributed to the depletion of Ti from matrix, which is consumed to form Ti₂Co and TiCo phases.     

Microstructural change and precipitation hardening in melt-spun Mg–X–Ca alloys

Mg–Al–Si–Ca and Mg–Zn–Ca base alloys were rapidly solidified by melt spinning at the cooling rate of about a million K/s. The melt-spun ribbons were aged in the range 100–400°C for 1 h. The effect of additional elements on microstructural change and precipitation hardening after heat treatment was investigated using TEM, XRD and a Vickers microhardness tester. Age hardening occurred after aging at 200°C in the Mg–Al–Si–Ca alloys mainly due to the formation of Al₂Ca and Mg₂Ca phases, whereas in the Mg–Zn–Ca alloys mostly due to the distribution of Mg₂Ca. TEM results revealed that spherical Al₂Ca precipitate has the coherent interface with the matrix. Considering the total amount of additional elements, Mg–Zn–Ca alloys showed higher hardness and smaller size of precipitates than Mg–Al–Si–Ca alloys. With the increase of Ca content, the hardness values of the aged ribbons were increased. Among the alloys, Mg–6Zn–5Ca alloy showed the maximum value of age hardening peak(H_v:180) after aging at 200°C for 1 h.     

Ultrastrong High-Ductility Ni35Co35Fe10Al10Ti8B2 High-Entropy Alloy Strengthened with Super-High Concentration L12 Precipitates

L1₂ phase hardening alloys with excellent mechanical properties are of great significance for structural applications. However, low volume fractions of L1₂ precipitates in conventional alloys (nearly lower than 60%) tend to limit their practical usage, while the strengths of the alloys generally increase with L1₂ precipitation contents. Herein, a novel high-entropy alloy (HEA) Ni₃₅Co₃₅Fe₁₀Al₈Ti₁₀B₂ with ultrahigh concentration L1₂ precipitates is successfully designed aided by the calculation of phase diagrams (CALPHAD). The volume fraction of L1₂ precipitates in this HEA is up to 75% and outperforms that of most of traditional superalloys. The novel L1₂-strengthened Ni₃₅Co₃₅Fe₁₀Al₈Ti₁₀B₂ has an ultrahigh tensile yield strength of ≈1.45 GPa, ultimate tensile strength of ≈1.9 GPa, and great ductility of ≈23% at room temperature. The desirable strength–ductility combination is superior to most of conventional superalloys and reported HEAs, mainly due to the presence of ultrahigh concentration L1₂ precipitates that act as dislocation obstacles and the formation of numerous stacking faults and deformation twining. This work is expected to provide guidance for developing new high-performance HEAs with an excellent combination of strength and ductility.