Effect of multidirectional forging and equal channel angular pressing on ultrafine grain formation in a Cu-Cr-Zr alloy

The microstructure evolution was investigated in a Cu-0.3%Cr -0.5%Zr alloy subjected to large plastic deformation at temperature of 400° C. Two methods of large plastic deformation, i.e., equal channel ang ular pressing (ECAP) and multidirectional forging (MDF) were used. The large plastic deformations resulted in the development of new ultrafine grains. The formation of new ultrafine grains occurred as a result of continuous reaction, i.e., progressive incr ease in the misorientations of deformation subboundaries. The faster kinetics of microstructure evolution was observed during MDF as compared to ECAP. The MDF to a total strain of 4 resulted in the formation of uniform ultrafine grained structure, while ECAP to the same strain led to the heterogeneous microstructure consisting of new ultrafine grains and coarse remnants of original grains . Corresponding area fractions of ultrafine grains comprised 0.23 and 0.59 in the samples subjected to ECAP and MDF, respectivel

Ultrafine grain evolution in a Cu-Cr-Zr alloy during warm multidirectional forging

The microstructure evolution and the deformation behavior of a Cu-0.3%Cr-0.5%Zr alloy subjected to multidirectional forging at a temperature of 673 K under a strain rate of about 10-³ s-¹ were studied. Following a rapid increase in the flow stress during straining to about 1, the strain hardening gradually decreases, leading to a steady-state flow behavior at total strain above 2. The multidirectional forging led to the development of ultrafine grained microstructures with mean grain sizes of 0.9 μm and 0.64 μm in the solution treated and aged samples, respectively. The presence of second phase precipitates promoted the grain refinement. After processing to a total strain of 4, the fractions of ultrafine grains (D < 2 μm) comprised 0.36 and 0.59 in the solution treated and aged samples, respectivel

Grain refinement in a Cu-Cr-Zr alloy during multidirectional forging

Structural changes during plastic deformation were studied in a Cu-0.3%Cr-0.5%Zr alloy subjected to multidirectional forging up to a total strain of 4 at the temperatures of 300 K and 673 K. The deformation behavior was characterized by a rapid increase in the flow stress at an early deformation followed by a steady-state flow at large strain. The development of the new ultrafine grains resulted from the progressive increase in the misorientations of the strain-induced low-angle boundaries, which evolve into high-angle boundaries with increasing cumulative strain through a strain-induced continuous reaction that is quite similar to continuous dynamic recrystallizatio

Deformation microstructures, strengthening mechanisms, and electrical conductivity in a Cu-Cr-Zr alloy

Cr-0.06%Zr alloy subjected to multiple equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at temperatures of 473-673 K were investigated. The new ultrafine grains resulted from progressive increase in the misorientations of strain-induced low-angle boundaries during the multiple ECAP process. The development of ultrafine-grained microstructures is considered as a type of continuous dynamic recrystallizatio

Development of ultrafine grained austenitic stainless steels by large strain deformation and annealing

The development of ultrafine grained structures in 316L and 304-type austenitic stainless steels subjected to large strain cold working and subsequent annealing and their effect on mechanical properties were studied. The cold rolling was accompanied by a mechanical twinning and a partial martensitic transformation and resulted in the development of elongated austenite/ferrite grains with the transverse size of about 50 nm at a strain of 4. The grain refinement by large strain cold working resulted in an increase of tensile strength above 2000 MPa in the both steels. Annealing at temperatures above 500°C resulted in ferrite-austenite reversion. However, the transverse grain/subgrain size remained on the level of about 100-150 nm after annealing at temperatures up to 700°

Stabilising the Blue Phases

We present an investigation of the phase diagram of cholesteric liquid crystals within the framework of Landau - de Gennes theory. The free energy is modified to incorporate all three Frank elastic constants and to allow for a temperature dependent pitch in the cholesteric phase. It is found that the region of stability of the cubic blue phases depends significantly on the value of the elastic constants, being reduced when the bend elastic constant is larger than splay and when twist is smaller than the other two. Most dramatically we find a large increase in the region of stability of blue phase I, and a qualitative change in the phase diagram, in a system where the cholesteric phase displays helix inversion.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

Microstructure evolution in a Cu-Cr-Zr alloy during warm intense plastic straining

The effect of equal channel angular pressing at a temperature of 200°C to a total strain of 12 on microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of a Cu-0.87wt.%Cr- 0.06wt.%Zr was investigated. New ultrafine grains resulted from gradual increase in the misorientations of strain-induced low-angle boundaries with increasing number of passes. Therefore, the development of ultrafine grains is considered as a kind of dynamic recrystallization. The equal channel angular pressing to a total strain of 12 resulted in the formation of almost equiaxed ultrafine grained structure with an average grain size of 0.5 Tm and 0.7 Tm in the solution treated and aged samples, respectively. At the same time, the fraction of ultrafine grains comprises 0.77 in the solution treated samples and 0.72 in the aged samples. Significant grain refinement led to the remarkable increase of the ultimate tensile strength up to 550 MP

Damage buildup in Si under bombardment with MeV heavy atomic and molecular ions

Accumulation of structural disorder in Si bombarded at −196 °C with 0.5 MeV ²⁰⁹Bi₁ and 1 MeV ²⁰⁹Bi₂ ions (the so-called molecular effect) is studied by Rutherford backscattering/channeling spectrometry. Results show that the damage buildup is sigmodal even for such heavy-ion bombardment at liquid nitrogen temperature. This strongly suggests that, for the implant conditions of this study, the buildup of lattice damage cannot be considered as an accumulation of completely disordered regions. Instead, damage-dose curves are well described by a cascade-overlap model modified to take into account a catastrophic collapse of incompletely disordered regions into an amorphous phase after damage reaches some critical level. Results also show that Bi₂ ions produce more lattice damage than Bi₁ ions implanted to the same dose. The ratio of lattice disorder produced by Bi₂ and Bi₁ ions is 1.7 near the surface, decreases with depth, and finally becomes close to unity in the bulk defect peak region. Parameters of collision cascades obtained using ballistic calculations are in good agreement with experimental data. The molecular effect is attributed to a spatial overlap of (relatively dense) collision subcascades, which gives rise to (i) nonlinear energy spike processes and/or (ii) an increase in the defect clustering efficiency with an effective increase in the density of ion-beam-generated defects.Research at StPSTU was supported in part by the Ministry for General and Professional Education of the Russian Federation

Investigation and Assessment of Soil Fertility in Agroforest Landscapes

The article presents the research materials of agrochemical properties of soil land use in the agricultural production co-operative ”Kolos”, Oktyabrsky district of the Volgograd region. The studied agroforestry landscape is located on the left bank of the Tsimlyansk reservoir, in the watershed of the Myshkov River. The territory of the farm is typical for the light chestnut sub -- zone of soils in the South of the Volgograd region. The results of the research are data on agrochemical properties of soils, their analysis and relative assessment, as well as proposals for improving fertility. The analysis of soil samples was carried out in accordance with the guidelines for the comprehensive monitoring of soil fertility of agricultural land. The soil sample was taken from an area of 40 hectares and is a mixed sample composed of 20 individual samples taken from the depth of the arable layer (0 -- 0.30 m). The total area of the surveyed arable land is 13.3 thousand hectares. Under laboratory conditions, chemical analyses were carried out and such parameters of soil fertility as humus content, content of macronutrients (NPK), content of water-bearing salts, soil granulometric composition, pH index were determined. Laboratory data are summarized in the table. The analysis of experimental data revealed the ranges of the studied parameters and identified four groups of relative soil fertility: fields with high, medium, low and very low fertility. The grouping of fields based on the account of soil fertility will allow using more differentiated and effective application of the system of measures aimed at increasing the yield and preserving soil fertility

Microstructure and crystallographic texture of silicon iron modified by torsion under quasihydrostatic pressure

The electron backscatter diffraction, X-ray diffraction analysis, electromotive force instantaneous measurement, microhardness and coercive force measurement techniques are used to explore the development of the microstructure, crystallographic texture and physico-mechanical properties of silicon iron (Fe-3% Si) alloy under quasi-hydrostatic pressure in a Bridgman anvil. It is found that the alloy deformation is accompanied by its significant hardenin