Modeling of grain boundary stresses in Alloy 600

Corrosive environments combined with high stress levels and susceptible microstructures can cause intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) of Alloy 600 components on both primary and secondary sides of pressurized water reactors. One factor affecting the IGSCC is intergranular carbide precipitation controlled by heat treatment of Alloy 600. This study is concerned with analysis of elastic stress fields in vicinity of M{sub 7}C{sub 3} and M{sub 23}C{sub 6} carbides precipitated in the matrix and at a grain boundary triple point. The local stress concentration which can lead to IGSCC initiation was studied using a two-dimensional finite element model. The intergranular precipitates are more effective stress raisers than the intragranular precipitates. The combination of the elastic property mismatch and the precipitate shape can result in a local stress field substantially different than the macroscopic stress. The maximum local stresses in the vicinity of the intergranular precipitate were almost twice as high as the applied stress

The Representation of Texture in Cold-Rolled Copper Sheet by an Advanced X-Ray Diffraction Technique

The influence of texture on forming properties of metals has widely been recognized [l–4]. Preferred orientation of the crystallites (grains) in polycrystalline aggregates results in anisotropy of the mechanical properties. The desired degree of, or absence of, anisotropy depends on the particular process of forming, and any subsequent manufacturing process requires certain material properties for satisfactory performance. For example, the type of texture desired in deep drawing is quite different from the one necessary for simple stamping or multiaxial bending. Thus, in-process texture monitoring is receiving increased interest, both from manufacturers and researchers [4,5].</p

Ultrasonic Monitoring of Textures in Cold-Rolled Copper Sheets

The formation of deformation texture is an important material characteristic which influences the behavior of a material. A textured material usually exhibits certain levels of anisotropy which may or may not be desirable from a practical point of view. During a forming process, strip is progressively bent into complex shapes by passing it through a series of driven rolls or dies. Normally, punches and dies are designed so that successive stages in the forming of the part are carried out in the same die on each stroke of the press in a progressive forming method. However, total automation and the improvement of productivity and quality of the products is frustrated by the variability of the physical and mechanical properties of material feed stock. The directionalities of properties produced by rolling and other primary working processes can have important consequences on the fabricability of the material. For example, sometimes bending is more difficult when the bend line is parallel to the rolling direction than when the bend is made perpendicular to the rolling direction.</p

Residual stress depth profiles of ausrolled 9310 gear steel

Residual Stress analysis utilizing x-ray diffraction in conjunction with material removal by chemical polishing provides a very effective method of analyzing the near surface residual stress profile of steels. In this experiment, residual stress profiling has been used to analyze the effects of surface ausrolling during the marquenching of a 9310 gear steel which has been carburized to 1% carbon. The ausrolling process is an advanced thermomechanical processing technique used to ausform only the critical surface layer of gears and produce a hard, tough, fine-grained martensitic product. This study compares the residual stress profile of a marquenched specimen with a moderately deformed ausrolled specimen and with a heavily deformed ausrolled specimen, in order to correlate the effects of residual stress with the improved fatigue properties of the gear steel. While no significant variation was observed between the residual stress profile of the marquenched specimens (no deformation) and the line contact ausrolled specimens (moderate deformation), significant increases in the amount of compressive residual stress was noted in the residual stress profile of the point contact ausrolled (heavily deformed) samples. The maximum increase in compressive residual stress due to point contact ausrolling was approximately 500 MPa, when compared to the marquenched sample. This increased residual compressive stress will lower the effective shear stresses during rolling contact fatigue and would therefore explain some of the increase the rolling contact fatigue endurance of the point contact ausrolled specimens

Modeling of stresses at grain boundaries with respect to occurrence of stress corrosion cracking

The distributions of elastic stresses/strains in the grain boundary regions were studied by the analytical and the finite element models. The grain boundaries represent the sites where stress concentration occurs as a result of discontinuity of elastic properties across the grain boundary and the presence of second phase particles elastically different from the surrounding matrix grains. A quantitative analysis of those stresses for steels and nickel based alloys showed that the stress concentrations in the grain boundary regions are high enough to cause a local microplastic deformation even when the material is in the macroscopic elastic regime. The stress redistribution as a result of such a plastic deformation was discussed

Modeling of stress distributions on the microstructural level in Alloy 600

Stress distribution in a random polycrystalline material (Alloy 600) was studied using a topologically correct microstructural model. Distributions of von Mises and hydrostatic stresses at the grain vertices, which could be important in intergranular stress corrosion cracking, were analyzed as functions of microstructure, grain orientations and loading conditions. Grain size, shape, and orientation had a more pronounced effect on stress distribution than loading conditions. At grain vertices the stress concentration factor was higher for hydrostatic stress (1.7) than for von Mises stress (1.5). The stress/strain distribution in the volume (grain interiors) is a normal distribution and does not depend on the location of the studied material volume i.e., surface vs/bulk. The analysis of stress distribution in the volume showed the von Mises stress concentration of 1.75 and stress concentration of 2.2 for the hydrostatic pressure. The observed stress concentration is high enough to cause localized plastic microdeformation, even when the polycrystalline aggregate is in the macroscopic elastic regime. Modeling of stresses and strains in polycrystalline materials can identify the microstructures (grain size distributions, texture) intrinsically susceptible to stress/strain concentrations and justify the correctness of applied stress state during the stress corrosion cracking tests. Also, it supplies the information necessary to formulate the local failure criteria and interpret of nondestructive stress measurements

X-ray diffraction characterization of thin superconductive films

The physical and mechanical properties of thin films are often different from the properties of bulk material and are dictated by the film/substrate orientation relationship, crystal anisotropy and crystalgraphic texture of the film. X-ray diffraction texture analysis provides information about preferential film growth and can be used for optimization of deposition parameters and prediction of properties of thin films. An x-ray back reflection technique using the Braga-Brentano geometry with experimental corrections for absorption and defocusing was used to study thin ceramic films deposited by combustion chemical vapor deposition (CCVD). The film/substrate orientation relationships of YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub x} (YBCO) superconducting thin films deposited via CCVD on single crystal MgO and polycrystalline silver substrates were studied. The as-deposited films on single crystal (100) MgO substrates showed strong preferential growth with the basal plane parallel to the substrate surface (c-axis up growth). Texture analysis showed two in-plane alignment orientations of the film with respect to the substrate, with YBCO [100] and [110] aligned with the [100] MgO substrate. YBCO films deposited on cold-rolled polycrystalline silver displayed c-axis up growth indicating that the orientation of the polycrystalline substrate (brass type texture) did not induce detectable in-plane preferential growth of the YBCO