Increasing the stability of austenite by programmed loading

Conclusion The stability of austenite under strain can be increased by programmed loading in the temperature range where the stability of heated austenite is highest and the diffusion mobility of lattice defects is adequate. For some parts of austenitic steels (of the Kh18NI0T type) operating at low temperatures under stress, programmed loading can be used as the final treatment.Physicotechnical Institute of the Academy of Sciences, Ukrainian SSR. Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No. 6, pp. 71–72, June, 1970.     

Deformation in metals after low-temperature irradiation: Part II – Irradiation hardening,strain hardening,and stress ratios

Effects of irradiation at temperatures ⩽200 °C on tensile stress parameters are analyzed for dozens of body-centered cubic (bcc), face-centered cubic (fcc), and hexagonal close packed (hcp) pure metals and alloys, focusing on irradiation hardening, strain hardening, and relationships between the true stress parameters. Similar irradiation-hardening rates are observed for all the metals irrespective of crystal type. Typically, irradiation-hardening rates are large, in the range 100–1000 GPa/dpa, at the lowest dose of <0.0001 dpa and decrease with dose to a few tens of MPa/dpa or less at about 10 dpa. However, average irradiation-hardening rates over the dose range of 0 dpa−D_C (the dose to plastic instability at yield) are considerably lower for stainless steels due to their high uniform ductility. It is shown that whereas low-temperature irradiation increases the yield stress, it does not significantly change the strain-hardening rate of metallic materials; it decreases the fracture stress only when non-ductile failure occurs. Such dose independence in strain-hardening behavior results in strong linear relationships between the true stress parameters. Average ratios of plastic instability stress to unirradiated yield stress are about 1.4, 3.9, and 1.3 for bcc metals (and precipitation hardened IN718 alloy), annealed fcc metals (and pure Zr), and Zr-4 alloy, respectively. Ratios of fracture stress to plastic instability stress are calculated to be 2.2, 1.7, and 2.1, respectively. Comparison of these values confirms that the annealed fcc metals and other soft metals have larger uniform ductility but smaller necking ductility when compared to other materials.     

纳米压入结合有限元模拟确定金属材料的塑性性能

材料具有相同的弹性模量 E以及代表性应力与代表性应变(σr,εr)时,可以获得相同的纳米压痕加载曲线,而与材料的应变强化指数 n无关。基于此,利用纳米压入结合有限元数值模拟建立一种确定金属材料塑性性能参数的改进方法。首先,不考虑金属材料的加工硬化,通过不断调整代表性应力的假设值,当模拟与实验载荷?位移曲线的加载阶段相吻合时,确定其代表性应力。其次,对金属材料假设不同的应变强化指数,采用相同的方法确定其代表性应变。最后,通过调整应变强化指数的假设值,使模拟曲线与实验曲线的卸载阶段相吻合来确定金属材料的真实应变强化指数,继而利用幂强化本构方程确定金属材料的初始屈服极限。将该方法应用于AISI 304不锈钢、铁及铝合金三种金属,其有效性得到验证。     

Tungsten-based heterogeneous multilayer structures via diffusion bonding

Recent work has shown that tungsten (W) and other refractory metals with body-centered cubic (bcc) structures exhibit certain novel behavior when their grain size, d, is refined into the ultrafine (UFG, 100 nm < d < 1000 nm) or nanocrystalline (NC, d < 100 nm) regime. For example, it has been shown that bcc refractory metals with such microstructures show decreased strain rate sensitivity besides their elevated strength and vanishing strain hardening response. Consequently, under both quasi-static and high-strain-rate loading, plastic instability in the form of shear banding becomes the dominant mode of plastic deformation. Such behavior is long sought-after in certain applications. However, due to the technology used to refine the grain size (primarily severe plastic deformation), the inability to scale the dimensions of the material may limit wider use and application of UFG/NC bcc refractory metals. In this work, the feasibility was demonstrated of production of large-scale W parts using a diffusion bonding method. The microstructure, preliminary mechanical properties, and issues and challenges associated with the fabrication procedures were examined and discussed. It is envisioned that diffusion bonding may serve as a promising technology for scaled-up fabrication of UFG bcc refractory metals for the targeted application.     

异质梯度纳米结构金属的研究现状

强度-塑性倒置普遍存在于传统均匀或随机微观结构的金属材料,而梯度纳米结构材料由于其晶粒尺寸呈梯度变化,变形过程中不同特征尺寸的结构相互协调,使其具有优异的综合力学性能。近年来,由不同性质的非均质区域构成异质结构的设计理论、制备方法和变形机理逐步完善。本文总结了梯度结构、双峰结构、谐波结构、异质层状结构、分散纳米域和层状纳米孪晶结构等异质结构金属材料的分类及制备方法。结合梯度纳米结构金属在应力加载过程中非均匀塑性变形行为,总结其强塑性机制,包括梯度塑性、几何必须位错、机械驱动的晶粒粗化、表面残余应力和表面扰动和剪切带行为等,并讨论其未来发展所面临的挑战。     

Plastic anisotropy and associated deformation mechanisms in nanotwinned metals

Anisotropic plastic deformation in columnar-grained copper in which preferentially oriented nanoscale twins are embedded is studied by experimental testing, crystal plasticity modeling and molecular dynamics simulations. The dominant deformation mechanism can be effectively switched among three dislocation modes, namely dislocation glide in between the twins, dislocation transfer across twin boundaries, and dislocation-mediated boundary migration, by changing the loading orientation with respect to the twin planes. The controllable switching of deformation mechanisms not only leads to a marked dependence of yield strength on loading orientation, but also induces a strong orientation dependence of strain hardening that can be critical for retaining tensile ductility. These results demonstrate a new route for tailoring both nanostructure and loading to control the deformation mechanisms in order to achieve the desired mechanical properties in engineering materials.     

析出相形态对Ni-Ti形状记忆合金力学性能的影响

对室温奥氏体相NiTi形状记忆合金进行热处理,在300和500℃时效温度下,分别获得具有粒状和针状Ni4Ti3析出相的组织特征,对两种组织的合金进行准静态和动态力学性能研究,对比分析析出相形态对奥氏体NiTi形状记忆合金静动态力学行为的影响规律。结果表明,准静态拉伸加载下,随应变率的提高,两种组织的应力诱发马氏体相变过程均呈现明显的应变率效应,对比分析发现,针状组织的NiTi合金发生应力诱发马氏体相变的初始应力值低,材料塑性好,抗拉强度高;准静态压缩加载时,两种组织的力学性能相近;动态压缩加载时,针状组织的动态压缩屈服强度显著高于粒状组织,但是由于粒状组织马氏体塑性变形阶段表现出更强的应变硬化效应,导致二者的动态抗压强度值相近。论文对相关机理进行了讨论和分析。     

Three strategies to achieve uniform tensile deformation in a nanostructured metal

In nanostructured metals with grain sizes of the order of 100 nm, dislocation mechanisms remain dominant in controlling plastic deformation. These materials, similar to their coarse-grained counterparts that have been subjected to heavy cold work, can no longer go through the several strain hardening stages of normal metals and are hence susceptible to plastic instabilities such as necking in tension. For processing and applications, it is obviously important and often necessary to control such inhomogeneous plastic deformation. Here we demonstrate three strategies to achieve relatively large stable tensile deformation in nanostructured metals, using the pure Cu processed by equal channel angular pressing as a model. The first approach uses an in situ formed composite-like microstructure, such as a bimodal grain size distribution, to impart strain hardening to the material and attain large uniform tensile strains while maintaining the majority of the strengthening brought forth by nanostructuring. In the second route, deformation is conducted at low temperatures, such as 77 K. The material regains the ability to work harden due to suppressed dynamic recovery. Uniform elongation is achieved as a result, together with an elevated strength at the cryogenic temperature. The third method takes advantage of the elevated strain rate sensitivity of the flow stress of the nanostructured Cu, especially at slow strain rates. Using the stabilizing effects of strain rate hardening on tensile deformation, nearly uniform strains can be acquired in absence of strain hardening. We also discuss the deformation mechanisms involved in these approaches to assess their applicability to nanocrystalline metals with grain sizes well below 100 nm, where normal dislocation activities become severely suppressed.     

Surface characterization of 6H-SiC (0001) substrates in indentation and abrasive machining

Surface characterization of 6H-SiC (0001) substrates in indentation and abrasive machining was carried out to investigate microfracture, residual damage, and surface roughness associated with material removal and surface generation. Brittle versus plastic deformation was studied using Vickers indention and nano-indentation. To characterize the abrasive machining response, the 6H-SiC (0001) substrates were ground using diamond wheels with grit sizes of 25, 15 and 7 μm, and then polished with diamond suspensions of 3 and 0.05 μm. It is found that in indentation, there was a scale effect for brittle versus plastic deformation in 6H-SiC substrates. Also, in grinding, the scales of fracture and surface roughness of the substrates decreased with a decrease in diamond grit size. However, in polishing, a reduction in grit size of diamond suspensions gave no significant improvement in surface roughness. Furthermore, the results showed that fracture-free 6H-SiC (0001) surfaces were generated in polishing with the existence of the residual crystal defects, which were associated with the origin of defects in single crystal growth.     

Instrumented indentation of a Pd-based bulk metallic glass: Constant loading-rate test vs constant strain-rate test

Most of the previous nanoindentation experiments on bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) were made under a constant ‘loading rate,’ although ‘strain rate’ is a more useful parameter than loading rate to analyze the inhomogeneous plasticity in the BMG according to the classic free-volume theory. Here, we explore the strain-rate dependency of plastic characteristics in a Pd-based BMG through nanoindentation tests under a variety of constant strain rates (0.01–0.25 s⁻¹). The results are compared with those from nanoindentations under various constant loading rates (0.05–5 mN/s) and discussed in terms of the influences of strain rate on the plastic flow characteristics in the BMG.     

Particle size effect in metallic materials: a study by the theory of mechanism-based strain gradient plasticity

It is a significant fact that the size of second-phase particles has an important effect on the macroscopic plastic work hardening behavior of metals and their alloys or metal–matrix composites. The classical plasticity theories cannot explain this size effect since their constitutive laws possess no internal material lengths. We use the theory of mechanism-based strain gradient (MSG) plasticity to investigate the particle size effect and find good agreements with the experiments of aluminum matrix reinforced by silicon carbide particles as well as with prior numerical studies by other strain gradient plasticity theories. It is shown that, at a fixed particle volume fraction, smaller particles give larger plastic work hardening of the composite than large particles do.     

Fatigue of a laterally constrained closed cell aluminum foam

An experimental investigation into the constant stress amplitude compression–compression fatigue behavior of closed-cell aluminum foam, both with and without lateral constraint, was conducted. Results show that while the early stages of strain accumulation due to fatigue loading are independent of constraint, the rapid strain accumulation stage behaviors are sensitive to the constraint. This was ascribed to the noticeable hardening with plastic deformation observed under constraint during quasi-static loading, which in turn reduces the effective maximum stress experienced by the foam specimen during fatigue loading. This was demonstrated through a simple empirical model that connects fatigue strain accumulation without constraint to that under constraint. Complementary X-ray tomography experiments suggest that the fatigue behavior of the foams is relatively less sensitive to morphological defects such as missing walls than the quasi-static mechanical properties such as plastic strength. Evaluation of the energy absorption behavior suggests that the damage that accumulates during fatigue does not affect the energy-absorbing ability of the foam adversely.     

Deformation-induced nanocrystallization and its influence on work hardening in a bulk amorphous matrix composite

With the development of various processes to produce bulk amorphous composites with enhanced plasticity, investigations of the mechanical behaviors of the amorphous alloys in the plastic regime have now become feasible. In addition to dramatically enhanced plasticity, some bulk amorphous composites have exhibited a work hardening behavior during plastic deformation. Considering that most strengthening mechanisms, such as solid solution hardening, martensitic hardening, etc., operative in crystalline metals are associated with dislocations, the work hardening behavior observed from amorphous composites, where dislocations do not exist, is of a special scientific interest. We have observed that quasistatic compression imposed to the amorphous composite induces the homogeneous precipitation of nanocrystallites from the amorphous matrix of the composite, which, in turn, leads to strengthening the amorphous composite. The strengthening mechanism of the amorphous matrix composite is investigated as well.     

Phase-separated microstructures and shear-banding behavior in a designed Zr-based glass-forming alloy

We have employed a thermodynamic-computation approach to identify the composition of the Zr–Cu–Ni–Al alloy system exhibiting a two-liquid miscibility phase equilibrium in the liquid-temperature region, which tends to favor the occurrence of the liquid-phase separation. Guided by these calculated diagrams, a Zr-based alloy with a 10 at.% Al is designed, and its bulk-metallic glass (BMG) is prepared successfully by the copper-mould suction casting. A heterogeneous microstructure characterized by the existence of phase-separated regions with several to decades micrometers in size forms in the BMG. Under uniaxial compressive loading, the designed Zr-based BMG demonstrates the continuous “work hardening” and remarkable macroscopic plastic strain at room temperature. The improvement of mechanical properties is attributed to the unique glassy structure correlated with both the heterogeneous microstructure and the micro-scaled phase separation, leading to the extensive shear-band formation, interaction, and multiplication.     

Dislocation starvation and exhaustion hardening in Mo alloy nanofibers

The evolution of defects in Mo alloy nanofibers with initial dislocation densities ranging from 0 to ∼1.6 × 10¹⁴ m⁻² were studied using an in situ “push-to-pull” device in conjunction with a nanoindenter in a transmission electron microscope. Digital image correlation was used to determine stress and strain in local areas of deformation. When they had no initial dislocations the Mo alloy nanofibers suffered sudden catastrophic elongation following elastic deformation to ultrahigh stresses. At the other extreme fibers with a high dislocation density underwent sustained homogeneous deformation after yielding at much lower stresses. Between these two extremes nanofibers with intermediate dislocation densities demonstrated a clear exhaustion hardening behavior, where the progressive exhaustion of dislocations and dislocation sources increases the stress required to drive plasticity. This is consistent with the idea that mechanical size effects (“smaller is stronger”) are due to the fact that nanostructures usually have fewer defects that can operate at lower stresses. By monitoring the evolution of stress locally we find that exhaustion hardening causes the stress in the nanofibers to surpass the critical stress predicted for self-multiplication, supporting a plasticity mechanism that has been hypothesized to account for the rapid strain softening observed in nanoscale bcc materials at high stresses.     

Vibrational working of metal

Conclusions Vibrational working (upsetting) produces a more uniform structure and hardness distribution within the reduced specimen than static loading. This is apparently the main reason for the better forming properties of metals in vibrational working. The strain hardening of the end surfaces of the vibrated specimens is less than that of those subjected to a static load [for the same reduction].     

Formation of phase during glow-discharge nitriding of tantalum alloys with tungsten

Many methods are used to harden tantalum (solid-solution hardening, plastic deformation, grain ordering, dispersion hardening, and introduction of hardening dispersion phases in the form of particles, filaments, whiskers, fibers, etc.). The influence of conditions of glow-discharge nitriding of tantalum and the alloy Ta-10% W on the microhardness and phase composition of the diffusion layer is discussed.Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No. 6, pp. 15–20, June, 1994.     

Experimental and numerical study of the effects of porosity on fatigue crack initiation of HPDC magnesium AM60B alloy

In this study, high-cycle fatigue tests were conducted on specimens machined from 50 sequentially cast instrument panels made from high-pressure die-cast (HPDC) AM60B magnesium alloy. The fatigue life data were described by a two-parameter Weibull model. SEM analyses on the fracture surfaces showed the initiation of the fatigue cracks occurred exclusively at casting pores close to the machined surfaces. The dependence of local maximum plastic shear strain range on casting pore features and loading conditions was studied quantitatively by finite element simulation including varying the pore size, geometry and spacing, proximity to the free surface, as well as loading ratios. A constitutive plasticity model, the classic Ohno–Wang's kinematic hardening rule, was employed to simulate the isothermal monotonic and cyclic behaviour of magnesium AM60B alloy under uniaxial loading. The simulation results illuminated the microstructure–property relations for fatigue crack incubation and the resultant scatter in fatigue life.     

动态冲击条件下Ti-15Mo时效钛合金的变形机制

通过固溶时效处理Ti-15Mo合金获得片层组织,采用分离式霍普金森压杆（SHPB）研究应变速率对变形机制产生的影响,结合绝热温升、显微组织和硬度分析表明：由于位错与第二相的相互作用,导致流变应力曲线发生波动。提高应变速率,一方面造成应变速率强化;另一方面促进绝热升温软化。合金温度达到379K时,热软化效应超过应变硬化效应,变形方式由均匀塑性变形变为绝热剪切变形。绝热剪切带的宽度随切应变的增加而增大,通过亚晶旋转再结晶机制产生等轴晶粒。再结晶的界面强化导致组织硬度由高到低为：混合组织>条状组织>基体组织。时效处理抑制应力诱发孪生（TWIP）效应,造成合金较低的应变硬化能力,劣化材料的动态力学性能。     

Low-carbon manganese carburizing steels

Conclusions High-manganese low-carbon steels may be a new and promising class of carburizing steels. They do not contain expensive elements or those in short supply, are simple in production, and possess high strength properties and sufficient plasticity of the core. The obtaining in the case of metastable austenite which becomes harder during service opens new possibilities for increasing the life of machine parts.The principle of obtaining metastable austenite in the case may be broadened with the use of other methods of chemicothermal treatment such as nitriding, chromizing, etc. Subsequent treatment (hardening, tempering, plastic deformation) must be directed toward regulating the quantity of austenite, the degree of its hardening, and its stability in relation to the specific part service conditions.Zhdanov Metallurgical Institute. Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No. 3, pp. 32–35, March, 1985.