Pre-martensitic phenomena in Ti40.7Hf9.5Ni44.8Cu5 shape memory alloy

Pre-martensitic phenomena such as abnormal resistivity growth, diffusion scattering, “tweed” contrast and internal friction peak were observed in Ti_40.7Hf_9.5Ni_44.8Cu₅ alloy prior to the forward martensitic transformation on cooling. It was shown that all the observed phenomena were due to the formation of quasi-static strain nanodomains in the B2 phase prior to the forward martensitic transformation. This led to accumulation of the elastic energy before the phase transition and resulted in the variation in thermodynamic balance for the forward martensitic transformation and, as a result, influenced the parameters of the phase transition. The appearance of elastic energy prior to the forward transformation caused a decrease in the forward and reverse martensitic transformations' start temperatures, a widening of the temperature range of the reverse transformation and an increase in the hysteresis of the transformation.     

Investigation of the influence of Ni powder size on microstructural evolution and the thermal explosion combustion synthesis of NiTi

A key microstructural feature that controls the sintering behavior of Ni + Ti powders was determined to be the transformation of alpha-Ti to beta-Ti during heating. The use of very fine Ni powders causes this transformation to occur at the eutectoid temperature (i.e., 765 °C). The use of coarse Ni powders causes a gradual beta-Ti transformation from 765 to 882 °C. At 950 °C a large volume fraction of beta-Ti remains in coarse Ni/Ti mixtures whereas in fine Ni/Ti mixtures this phase is almost eliminated. Further heating above 950 °C causes the beta-Ti to melt, initiating a large exothermic reaction in the coarse Ni/Ti mixtures (i.e., 158 J/g) at 980 °C. The use of fine Ni significantly reduces this reaction (i.e., 3 J/g). Consequently, Ni powder size, and its influence over beta-Ti content can be used to control the reactive sintering behavior of Ni + Ti mixtures.     

FeWB基陶瓷在真空烧结过程中的组织和相转变

研究了烧结温度和保温时间对反应硼化烧结制备FeWB基陶瓷的影响。利用X射线衍射,扫描电镜和能谱仪对FeWB基烧结过程中的相转变,微观组织以及反应机理进行了表征。结果表明FeWB硬质相是通过W + Fe2B = FeWB + Fe和FeB + W = FeWB两种方式合成的,并且反应生成的FeWB晶粒呈各向异性分布。在温度区间为800℃-1150℃之间,FeWB基陶瓷的密度骤然升高,这与Fe2B相的熔化有关。在1300℃时,由于W2B相的存在,会使FeWB相转变为Fe7W6相,从而使密度进一步升高。随着烧结温度的提高,通过液相烧结制备的金属陶瓷表现出相对均匀的微观结构,而且原位合成的FeWB颗粒会发生长大。为了获得较高的致密度,实验结果表明,FeWB基陶瓷的烧结温度应控制在1150℃-1250℃之间。其次,适当的增加铁和硼铁的含量有利于烧结的致密化。     

Effect of post-deformation annealing on the R-phase transformation temperatures in NiTi shape memory alloys

In NiTi shape memory alloys, both the annihilation of dislocations and the formation of Ni₄Ti₃ precipitates may occur during post-deformation annealing. Different responses of the R-phase transformation temperatures to the annealing conditions have been reported. In order to find out the main factor(s) affecting the R-phase transformation temperatures during post-deformation annealing, a Ti-49.8 at% Ni and a Ti-50.8 at% Ni alloy were subjected to various post-deformation annealing and thermal cycling treatments. The results show that the R-phase transformation temperatures are very stable in the Ti-49.8 at% Ni alloy, while a significant variation is observed in the Ti-50.8 at% Ni alloy with respect to the annealing and thermal cycling conditions. These findings suggest that the R-phase transformation temperatures are not susceptible to the change of dislocation density and depends mainly on the Ni concentration of the matrix, which can be modified by the formation of Ni₄Ti₃ precipitates.     

The influence of phase and substructural evolution during dynamic loading on subsequent mechanical properties of zirconium

At high pressures zirconium undergoes a phase transformation from the hexagonal closed packed (hcp) α-phase to the simple hexagonal ω-phase. In high purity Zr and under shock loading conditions the phase transformation has been observed to begin at approximately 7 GPa [1]. Evolution of the plastic response and phase transformation during dynamic loading is not well understood and therefore the contributions of this evolution to strength and damage are not well predicted. Here, through a combination of post-mortem and in situ techniques, different dynamic drive conditions are utilized to create a set of specimens with various volume fractions of retained high pressure ω-phase and stored plastic work. The mechanical properties of these well-characterized microstructures are subsequently examined. The results indicate that while both plastic deformation and the volume fraction of the high pressure phase play important roles in determining subsequent material properties, the effect of texture evolution due to plastic work may be of critical importance in determining these properties. This finding sheds an insight into strength under pressure.     

An investigation on the crystal structures of Ti50Ni50−xCux shape memory alloys based on density functional theory calculations

The present research has investigated the martensite crystal structures and electronic structures of Ti₅₀Ni_50−xCu_x (x = 0, 5, 12.5, 15, 18.75, 20, 25) shape memory alloys using density functional theory (DFT). The computational results are compared with the reported data and it is found that the equilibrium lattice constants are in good agreement with reported values. It is also found that with Cu addition to NiTi, the lattice parameters (a and c) and the monoclinic angle decrease, whereas the lattice parameter b increases. With increasing Cu content, fewer electrons were transferred from Ti to Ni in comparison with that in binary NiTi alloys, and the NiTi monoclinic structure becomes unstable. When Cu content is increased to around 20 at%, an orthorhombic crystal structure is formed which agrees well with reported experimental observations.     

Influence of metastable Al9Ni2 phase on the sequence of phase transformations initiated by heating of Al/Ni multilayer foils produced by EBPVD method

Al/Ni multilayer foils (MF) undergo a cascade of phase transformations at heating, initiated by diffusion interaction of Al and Ni layers. It is found that phase transformations sequence at initial stages depends on the method of producing MF: at sputtering or ion-beam deposition of elements, metastable Al₉Ni₂ phase forms at phase transformations initial stages, and in the case of MF produced by electron-beam physical vapour deposition (EBPVD) method or cold rolling of laminates, this is Al₃Ni phase. Such a difference in phase transformations sequence is associated with the influence of the method of MF production on the possibility of intermixed zone (IZ) formation on layer interfaces. In the study it was suggested that such anomalously high diffusion mobility of atoms can be achieved in the presence of excess vacancies in MF structure. With this purpose, MF structure was produced by high-rate (up to 30 nm/s) layer-by-layer deposition of elements by EBPVD method. Phase transformations and MF were studied by the method of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential-thermal analysis (DTA). It is shown that irrespective of MF composition and modulation period, at their heating phase transformations start with formation of metastable Al₉Ni₂ phase. At further MF heating, a stable Al₃Ni phase forms alongside Al₉Ni₂ phase. Later on, Al₉Ni₂ and Al₃Ni phases turn into stable intermetallics characteristic of MF chemical composition.     

Mechanical properties and lattice misfit of γ/γ′ strengthened Co-base superalloys in the Co–W–Al–Ti quaternary system

A continuous γ/γ′ two-phase field has been identified extending between the ternary Co–Al–W system to the binary Co–Ti system. The lattice misfits of two phase γ/γ′ alloys from the Co–Al–W–Ti quaternary system were measured by X-ray diffraction and found to be positive and vary linearly with composition. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements showed that the solidus and liquidus temperatures decrease from the W and Al rich end to the Ti rich end, whilst the γ′ solvus temperature increases. Long term heat treatments identified the occurrence of discontinuous precipitation at the grain boundaries in many of the alloys studied. The high temperature strength and creep resistance of the quaternary alloys in the intermediate composition range surpassed those of the binary and ternary alloys.