Crystallographic variant selection of martensite during fatigue deformation

Metastable austenitic stainless steels are prone to form deformation-induced martensite under the influence of externally applied stress. Crystallographic variant selection during martensitic transformation of metastable austenite has been investigated thoroughly with respect to the interaction between the applied uniaxial cyclic stress and the resulting accumulated plastic strain during cyclic plastic deformation. The orientation of all the Kurdjomov–Sachs (K-S) variants has been evaluated extensively and compared with the measured orientation of martensite with their corresponding interaction energies by applying the elegant transformation texture model recently developed by Kundu and Bhadeshia. Encouraging correlation between model prediction and experimental data generation for martensite pole figures at many deformed austenite grains has been observed. It has been found that both the applied uniaxial cyclic stress and the accumulated plastic strain are having strong influence on crystallographic variant selection during cyclic plastic deformation. Patel and Cohen’s classical theory can be utilized to predict the crystallographic variant selection, if it is correctly used along with the phenomenological theory of martensite crystallography.     

Exploring the origin of variant selection through martensite-austenite reconstruction

An approach of near neighbour correlation, with manual intervention, was developed for reconstructing parent austenite microstructure in a martensitic stainless steel. This was validated in a ferrite-austenite dual structure. Two-hundred and twenty randomly selected austenite grains were reconstructed from the experimental EBSD (electron backscattered diffraction) measurements. From these reconstructions, martensite variant selection was quantified as the number of variants (n_V) and the variant selection index (VSI: a statistical index for the relative area fractions of the variants). For each prior austenite grain, both n_V and VSI appeared to depend on the associated transformation (austenite-martensite) strain. Selection of common variants between two neighbouring austenite grains was related to the presence of 60°<111?>?or Σ3 boundary in the austenite phase and corresponding minimisation of the transformation strain.     

Grain refinement and strengthening of austenitic stainless steels during large strain cold rolling

The microstructure/texture evolution and strengthening of 316?L-type and 304?L-type austenitic stainless steels during cold rolling were studied. The cold rolling was accompanied by the deformation twinning and micro-shear banding followed by the strain-induced martensitic transformation, leading to nanocrystalline microstructures consisting of flattened austenite and martensite grains. The fraction of ultrafine grains can be expressed by a modified Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov equation, while inverse exponential function holds as a first approximation between the mean grain size (austenite or martensite) and the total strain. The deformation austenite was characterised by the texture components of Brass, {011}<211>, Goss, {011}<100>, and S, {123}<634>, whereas the deformation martensite exhibited a strong {223}<110> texture component along with remarkable γ-fibre, <111>∥ND, with a maximum at {111}<211>. The grain refinement during cold rolling led to substantial strengthening, which could be expressed by a summation of the austenite and martensite strengthening contributions.     

Deformation-induced martensite and nanotwins by cryogenic laser shock peening of AISI 304 stainless steel and the effects on mechanical properties

Laser shock peening (LSP) of stainless steel 304 was carried out at room and cryogenic temperature (liquid nitrogen temperature). It was found that the deformation-induced martensite was generated by LSP only when the laser-generated plasma pressure is sufficiently high. Compared to room temperature laser shock peening (RT-LSP), cryogenic laser shock peening (CLSP) generates a higher volume fraction of martensite at the same laser intensity. This is due to the increase in the density of potential embryos (deformation bands) for martensite nucleation by deformation at cryogenic temperature. In addition, CLSP generates a high density of deformation twins and stacking faults. After CLSP, an innovative microstructure, characterised by networks of deformation twins, stacking faults and composite structure (martensite and austenite phases), contributes to material strength and microstructure stability improvement. The combined effect of higher surface hardness and a more stabilised microstructure results in greater fatigue performance improvement of the CLSP samples compared to that of the RT-LSP samples.     

Deformation cubic anvil press and stress and strain measurements using monochromatic X-rays at high pressure and high temperature

A system for deformation experiments under high pressure using a deformation cubic apparatus, with monochromatic synchrotron radiation, has been developed at beamline AR-NE7A, Photon Factory, KEK High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Japan. We have conducted deformation experiments of fayalite using this new system at pressures up to 5 GPa and temperatures up to 1073 K, and successfully conducted the stress and strain measurements during the deformation.     

Effects of cold rolling deformation on microstructure,hardness, and creep behavior of high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel

Effects of cold rolling deformation on the microstructure, hardness, and creep behavior of high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel （HNASS） are investigated. Microstructure characterization shows that 70% cold rolling deformation results in significant refinement of the microstructure of this steel, with its average twin thickness reducing from 6.4 μm to 14 nm. Nanoindentation tests at different strain rates demonstrate that the hardness of the steel with nano-scale twins （nt-HNASS） is about 2 times as high as that of steel with micro-scale twins （mt-HNASS）. The hardness of nt-HNASS exhibits a pronounced strain rate dependence with a strain rate sensitivity （m value） of 0.0319, which is far higher than that of mt-HNASS （m = 0.0029）. nt-HNASS shows more significant load plateaus and a higher creep rate than mt-HNASS. Analysis reveals that higher hardness and larger m value of nt-HNASS arise from stronger strain hardening role, which is caused by the higher storage rate of dislocations and the interactions between dislocations and high density twins. The more significant load plateaus and higher creep rates of nt-HNASS are due to the rapid relaxation of the dislocation structures generated during loading.     

Strain rate and cold rolling dependence of tensile strength and ductility in high nitrogen nickel-free austenitic stainless steel

The tensile strength and ductility of a high nitrogen nickel-free austenitic stainless steel with solution and cold rolling treatment were investigated by performing tensile tests at different strain rates and at room temperature. The tensile tests demonstrated that this steel exhibits a significant strain rate and cold rolling dependence of the tensile strength and ductility.With the increase of the strain rate from 10~(-4)s~(-1)to 1 s~(-1), the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength increase and the uniform elongation and total elongation decrease. The analysis of the double logarithmic stress–strain curves showed that this steel exhibits a two-stage strain hardening behavior, which can be well examined and analyzed by using the Ludwigson equation. The strain hardening exponents at low and high strain regions(n_2and n_1) and the transition strain(εL) decrease with increasing strain rate and the increase of cold rolling RA. Based on the analysis results of the stress–strain curves, the transmission electron microscopy characterization of the microstructure and the scanning electron microscopy observation of the deformation surfaces, the significant strain rate and cold rolling dependence of the strength and ductility of this steel were discussed and connected with the variation in the work hardening and dislocation activity with strain rate and cold rolling.     

近800 nm波长张应变GaAsP/AlGaAs量子阱激光器有源区的设计

张应变GaAs_1-xP_x量子阱是高性能大功率半导体激光器的核心有源区,基于能带结构分析优化其结构参数具有重要的应用指导意义.首先,基于6×6 Luttinger-Kohn模型,采用有限差分法计算了张应变GaAs_1-xP_x量子阱的能带结构,得到了第一子带间跃迁波长固定为近800 nm时的阱宽-阱组分关系,即随着阱组分x的增加,需同时增大阱宽,且阱宽较大时靠近价带顶的是轻空穴第一子带lh₁,阱宽较小时靠近价带顶的是重空穴第一子带hh₁.计算并分析了导带第一子带c₁到价带子带lh₁和hh₁的跃迁动量矩阵元.针对808 nm量子阱激光器,模拟计算了阈值增益与阱宽的关系,得到大阱宽有利于横磁模激射,小阱宽有利于横电模激射.进一步考虑了自发辐射和俄歇复合之后,模拟计算了808 nm量子阱激光器的阱宽与阈值电流密度的关系,阱宽较大时载流子对高能级子带的填充使得阈值电流密度增加,而阱宽较小时则是低的有源区光限制因子导致阈值电流密度升高,因此存在一最佳的阱宽-阱组分组合,可使阈值电流密度达到最小.本文的模拟结果可对张应变GaAs_1-xP_x量子阱激光器的理论分析和结构设计提供理论指导.     

Determining the tensile response of materials at high temperature using DIC and the Virtual Fields Method

An experimental approach based on Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is successfully applied to predict the uniaxial stress-strain response of 304 stainless steel specimens subjected to nominally uniform temperatures ranging from room temperature to 900 °C. A portable induction heating device equipped with custom made water-cooled copper coils is used to heat the specimen. The induction heater is used in conjunction with a conventional tensile frame to enable high temperature tension experiments. A stereovision camera system equipped with appropriate band pass filters is employed to facilitate the study of full-field deformation response of the material at elevated temperatures. Using the temperature and load histories along with the full-field strain data, a Virtual Fields Method (VFM) based approach is implemented to identify constitutive parameters governing the plastic deformation of the material at high temperature conditions. Results from these experiments confirm that the proposed method can be used to measure the full field deformation of materials subjected to thermo-mechanical loading.     

A combination of a Drickamer anvil apparatus and monochromatic X‐rays for stress and strain measurements under high pressure

A modified Drickamer anvil apparatus has been developed to combine with monochromatic synchrotron radiation for high‐pressure X‐ray diffraction and radiography in the GSECARS bending‐magnet station, 13‐BM‐D, at the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne, USA. Using this experimental set‐up, deformation experiments can be carried out at pressures in excess of 30 GPa at high temperatures. Differential stresses and total axial strains of polycrystalline platinum and Mg₂SiO₄ ringwoodite have been measured up to 32 GPa at room temperature using tungsten carbide anvils. The total axial strain of the platinum increases with pressure and reaches about 55% at the highest pressure. A test run using a composite sintered diamond anvil system was performed. The use of X‐ray‐tranparent anvils enables the entire Debye rings to be observed up to 10° 2θ. With high‐energy photons (65–70 keV), this allows a coverage in Q (= 2π sinθ/λ) to about 3 Å^?1, thus making it possible to evaluate hydrostatic pressure and differential stress in crystalline minerals using diffraction. This, coupled with the ability to determine axial strain, allows deformation studies to be performed to pressures above 30 GPa.     

Finite element analysis of stress and strain distributions in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

In this paper, we perform systematic calculations of the stress and strain distributions in InAs/GaAs truncated pyramidal quantum dots (QDs) with different wetting layer (WL) thickness, using the finite element method (FEM). The stresses and strains are concentrated at the boundaries of the WL and QDs, are reduced gradually from the boundaries to the interior, and tend to a uniform state for the positions away from the boundaries. The maximal strain energy density occurs at the vicinity of the interface between the WL and the substrate. The stresses, strains and released strain energy are reduced gradually with increasing WL thickness. The above results show that a critical WL thickness may exist, and the stress and strain distributions can make the growth of QDs a growth of strained three-dimensional island when the WL thickness is above the critical value, and FEM can be applied to investigate such nanosystems, QDs, and the relevant results are supported by the experiments.     

Implications of neutron spectrum and flux differences on fission-fusion correlations at high neutron fluence

Abstract

The application to fusion environments of materials data derived from fission reactors involves considerations related not only to neutron spectra but also the often dominant effect of displacement rate. It is shown in this paper that fission-fusion correlation experiments directed toward helium effects and PKA recoil spectra are frequently difficult to interpret due to the strong influences of displacement rate, low energy recoils from thermal neutron absorption and in some cases a large influence of solid transmutants. It is also shown that materials data published in earlier decades must be reevaluated in light of recent advances in defining irradiation parameters.     

基于锡组分和双轴张应力调控的临界带隙应变Ge_(1-x)Sn_x能带特性与迁移率计算

能带工程通过改变材料的能带结构可以显著提升其电学和光学性质,已广泛应用于半导体材料的改性研究.双轴张应力和Sn组分共同作用下的Ge_(1-x)Sn_x合金,不仅可以解决直接带隙转变所需高Sn组分带来的工艺难题,而且载流子迁移率会显著提升,在单片光电集成领域有很好的应用前景.根据形变势理论,分析了(001)面双轴张应变Ge_(1-x)Sn_x的带隙转变条件,并给出了在带隙转变临界点Sn组分和双轴张应力的关系;采用8κ·p方法,得到了临界带隙双轴张应变Ge_(1-x)Sn_x在布里渊区中心点附近的能带结构,进而计算得到电子与空穴有效质量;基于载流子散射模型,计算了电子与空穴迁移率.计算结果表明:较低Sn组分和双轴张应力的组合即可得到直接带隙Ge_(1-x)Sn_x合金,且直接带隙宽度随着应力的增大而减小;临界带隙双轴张应变Ge_(1-x)Sn_x具有极高的电子迁移率,空穴迁移率在较小应力作用下即可显著提升.考虑工艺实现难度和材料性能两个方面,可以选择4%Sn组分与1.2 GPa双轴张应力或3%Sn组分与1.5 GPa双轴张应力的组合用于高速器件和光电器件的设计.     

Role of weak interface to retain high strength of fiber in monofilamentary SiC fiber/titanium-aluminide composite

The tensile strength of monofilamentary weakly bonded SiC fiber/γ-TiAl intermetallic compound matrix composite, prepared by the sputtering method, was measured and analysed using a fracture mechanical technique. The main results are summarized as follows: (1) The fracture of TiAl occurred prior to that of fiber, resulting in formation of circumferential cracks on the fiber. Interfacial debonding occurred during tensile test, resulting in long pull-out of the fiber. (2) The strength of the fiber in the TiAl matrix was nearly the same as that of the bare fiber. (3) The fracture mechanical analysis showed that (i) the interfacial debonding grows unstably upon initiation and (ii) the stress distribution in the fiber in the cross-section, where the matrix is fractured, approaches to that of bare fiber with increasing debonded length. The reason why the fiber strength was maintained in spite of the formation of cracks on the fiber surface due to the premature fracture of the matrix was accounted for by the fully blunted crack-tip from the above calculation result.     

Integral energy spectrum of primary cosmic rays at high energies

The integral energy spectrum of primary cosmic rays has been obtained. In the energy range (2.4×10³−1.1×10⁵ GeV), the spectrum of all nuclei is consistent with a power law of indexγ=1.55±0.06 and the flux of all nuclei is:N(⩾E ₀)⋍(5.1±1.8)×10⁻¹×E ₀ ^−1.55 particles/cm² sterad. sec., whereE ₀ is in GeV. The spectrum of primaryα-particles in the energy range (4.4×10³−4.8×10⁴) GeV is also consistent with a power law of indexγ=1.71±0.12 and the flux is:N(⩾E ₀)=(4.2±1.4)×10⁻¹×E ₀ ^−1.71 , particles per cm² sterad. sec, whereE ₀ is in GeV.     

Simulation of 12C+12C elastic scattering at high energy by using the Monte Carlo method

The Monte Carlo method is used to simulate the ¹²C+¹²C reaction process. Taking into account the size of the incident ¹²C beam spot and the thickness of the ¹²C target, the distributions of scattered ¹²C on the MWPC and the CsI detectors at a detective distance have been simulated. In order to separate elastic scattering from the inelastic scattering with 4.4 MeV excited energy, we set several variables: the kinetic energy of incident ¹²C, the thickness of the ¹²C target, the ratio of the excited state, the wire spacing of the MWPC, the energy resolution of the CsI detector and the time resolution of the plastic scintillator. From the simulation results, the preliminary establishment of the experiment system can be determined to be that the beam size of the incident ¹²C is φ 5 mm, the incident kinetic energy is 200-400 A MeV, the target thickness is 2 mm, the ratio of the excited state is 20%, the ight distance of scattered ¹²C is 3 m, the energy resolution of the CsI detectors is 1%, the time resolution of the plastic scintillator is 0.5%, and the size of the CsI detectors is 7 cm×7 cm, and we need at least 16 CsI detectors to cover a 0° to 5° angular distribution.     

Deformation of single crystal sample using D-DIA apparatus coupled with synchrotron X-rays: In situ stress and strain measurements at high pressure and temperature

We present a technique for high pressure and high temperature deformation experiment on single crystals, using the Deformation-DIA apparatus at the X17B2 beamline of the NSLS. While deformation experiments on polycrystalline samples using D-DIA in conjunction with synchrotrons have been previously reported, this technical paper focuses on single crystal application of the technique. Our single crystals are specifically oriented such that only [1 0 0] slip or [0 0 1] slip in (0 1 0) plane is allowed. Constant applied stress (sigma <300 MPa) and specimen strain rates were monitored using in situ time-resolved X-ray diffraction and radiography imaging, respectively. Rheological properties of each activated slip system in the crystals can be revealed using this technique. In this paper, we describe the principle of sample preparation (e.g. [1 1 0]_c and [0 1 1]_c orientations) to activate specific slip systems (i.e. [1 0 0](0 1 0) and [0 0 1](0 1 0), respectively), stress measurement and procedures of the deformation experiments.