Calibration of a quenching and deformation differential dilatometer upon heating and cooling: Thermal expansion of Fe and Fe-Ni alloys

Dilatometry is a technique for precise measurement of thermal dilatation of materials during heating or cooling. A procedure has been presented for calibration of a differential dilatometer operating with electromagnetic heating for metallic specimens both upon heating and cooling as well as under uniaxial compressive and tensile loading. The dilation signal has been calibrated for both heating and cooling and for uniaxial loading (compressive and tensile) using platinum or iron reference specimens, for which recommended dilational data are available. The ferro- to paramagnetic transition (characterised by the Curie temperature) of pure iron or iron-based alloys has been adopted to calibrate the temperature in the dilatometric measurement under different loading modes during heating and cooling. On this basis calibrated data for the thermal expansion coefficients of Fe and Fe-Ni alloys have been obtained.     

Quantitative analysis of multi-element oxide thin films by angle-resolved XPS: Application to ultra-thin oxide films on MgAl substrates

An original procedure has been developed for the quantitative analysis and microstructural interpretation of angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectra (AR-XPS) of very thin (<6 nm), multi-element oxide films as grown on metallic binary alloy substrates by, e.g., thermal or plasma oxidation. To this end, first an approach has been given to retrieve the different metallic, oxidic and oxygen primary zero-loss (PZL) intensities from the measured AR-XPS spectra of the bare and oxidized alloy. The principal equations for the determination of the oxide-film thickness, composition and constitution from the resolved PZL intensities have been presented. On this basis, various corresponding calculation routes have been distinguished. The procedure has been applied to the case of very thin (<6 nm), mixed (Mg, Al)-oxide films on bare Mg-based MgAl substrates as grown by dry, thermal oxidation at room temperature. The results obtained on the thickness, composition, defect structure and constitution of the oxide-film have been discussed as function of the bulk Al alloying content and the applied partial pressure of oxygen.     

Layer-stacking irregularities in C36-type Nb–Cr and Ti–Cr Laves phases and their relation with polytypic phase transformations

Specific layer-stacking irregularities have been identified in C36 (4H) Nb–Cr and Ti–Cr Laves phases on the basis of X-ray diffraction line-profile analysis and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Domain boundaries and transformation errors within domains could be distinguished. The layer-stacking irregularities in both C36-NbCr₂ and C36-TiCr₂ can be associated with a preceding C14 (2H) → C36 (4H) phase transformation carried out by glide of mobile synchro-Shockley partial dislocation dipoles in an ordered fashion. The stacking irregularities observed can be interpreted as deviations from such perfect “ordered glide”. The interpretation is supported by the observation that, in the case of C36-NbCo₂, where no preceding C14 → C36 transformation occurs, different layer-stacking irregularities are observed.     

Grain Boundary Grooving as an Indicator of Grain Boundary Phase Transformations

The atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to study the grain boundary (GB) groove profiles far away from the melting temperature T _m. It is shown that AFM allows one to measure the temperature dependence of the GB energy in a rather broad temperature interval (from 0.85 T _m to T _m). The GB energy and GB segregation of Bi were measured at 1123 K in the interval of the Bi bulk concentration x ^v _Bi from 5 to 140 ppm Bi. The transition from monolayer to multilayer adsorption is observed for the 19a GB at 1123 K and x ^v _Bi = 60 at. ppm Bi. At the same point (1123 K and x ^v _Bi = 60 at. ppm Bi) a discontinuity of the first derivative of the GB energy is observed. These features were explained using the model of GB prewetting phase transformation developed previously.     

Unusual nucleation and growth of γ′ iron nitride upon nitriding Fe–4.75 at.% Al alloy

The influence of substitutionally dissolved Al in ferritic Fe–4.75 at.% Al alloy on the nucleation and growth of γ′ iron nitride (Fe₄N_{1? x} ) was investigated upon nitriding in NH₃/H₂ gas mixtures. The nitrided specimens were characterised employing optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis and X-ray diffraction. As compared to the nitriding of pure ferrite (α-Fe), where a layer of γ′ develops at the surface, upon nitriding ferritic Fe–4.75 at.% Al an unusual morphology of γ′ plates develops at the surface, which plates deeply penetrate the substrate. In the diffusion zone, nano-sized precipitates of γ′ and of metastable, cubic (NaCl-type) AlN occur, having, with the ferrite matrix, a Nishiyama–Wassermann orientation relationship and a Bain orientation relationship, respectively. The γ′ plates contain a high density of stacking faults and fine ε iron nitride (Fe₂N_{1? z} ) precipitates, although the formation of ε iron nitride is not expected for the employed nitriding parameters. On the basis of dedicated nitriding experiments it is shown that the unusual microstructural development is a consequence of the negligible solubility of Al in γ′ and the obstructed precipitation of the thermodynamically stable, hexagonal (wurtzite-type) AlN in ferrite.     

Mechanical elastic constants and diffraction stress factors of macroscopically elastically anisotropic polycrystals: the effect of grain-shape (morphological) texture

The effect of the grain-shape (‘morphological’) texture of a polycrystal on the mechanical elastic constants and diffraction (X-ray) stress factors is investigated. To this end, the Eshelby–Kröner grain interaction model originally devised for polycrystals consisting of spherical grains is extended to ellipsoidal grain morphology. Results obtained for the mechanical elastic constants show that a polycrystal consisting of ellipsoidal grains with their principal axes aligned along common directions (i.e. when an ideal grain-shape texture occurs) is macroscopically elastically anisotropic. Also the diffraction (X-ray) stress factors are affected by the grain-shape texture; they reflect the macroscopic elastic anisotropy by resulting in nonlinear so-called sin²?ψ plots. In general, a grain-shape texture can have a moderate effect on the mechanical elastic constants and a pronounced effect on the diffraction elastic constants, depending on the crystal symmetry and single-crystal elastic anisotropy.     

The Reconstructive Phase Transformation β‐Co2P → α‐Co2P and the Structure of the High‐Temperature Phosphide β‐Co2P

Metallographical and differential thermoanalytical (DTA) investigatitons indicate that the well known phosphide Co₂P (Pearson code oP12, space group Pnma, Co₂Si type) is not stable up to the melting point, T = 1659 K; it is therefore designated as the low‐temperature phase α‐Co₂P. In the temperature range from 1428 to 1659 K, another, high‐temperature phase, designated as β‐Co₂P, exists. X‐ray powder diffraction investigation of liquid quenched alloys in the composition range x_P = 0.25 to 0.335, with x_P as the mole fraction, show that the high‐temperature phase β‐Co₂P is isotypic with Fe₂P (hP9, P 6 2m). For the ideal composition Co₂P, the unit cell parameters are: a = 5.742(2) Å, c = 3.457(5) Å, c/a = 0.621. Among the binary transition metal‐containing phosphides and arsenides isotypic with Fe₂P, β‐Co₂P is the only known high‐temperature phase and it shows (i) the highest axial ratio c/a and (ii) the “smallest” distortion of the hcp substructure formed by the transition metals atoms in the Fe₂P structure type.