Effects of solute concentrations on kinetic pathways in Ni-Al-Cr alloys

The kinetic pathways resulting from the formation of coherent L12-ordered y'-precipitates in the g-matrix (f.c.c.) of Ni-7.5 Al-8.5 Cr at.% and Ni-5.2 Al-14.2 Cr at.% alloys, aged at 873 K, are investigated by atom-probe tomography (APT) over a range of aging times from 1/6 to 1024 hours; these alloys have approximately the same volume fraction of the y'-precipitate phase. Quantification of the phase decomposition within the framework of classical nucleation theory reveals that the y-matrix solid-solution solute supersaturations of both alloys provide the chemical driving force, which acts as the primary determinant of the nucleation behavior. In the coarsening regime, the temporal evolution of the y'-precipitate average radii and the y-matrix supersaturations follow the predictions of classical coarsening models, while the temporal evolution of the y'-precipitate number densities of both alloys do not. APT results are compared to equilibrium calculations of the pertinent solvus lines determined by employing both Thermo-Calc and Grand-Canonical Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Submitted to Acta Materialia, June, 200

Experimental study of vortex-induced vibration for drilling risers under uniform flow current

An experiment was conducted in a deep water basin to investigate the vortex-induced vibration mechanism of a drilling riser. Various measurements were obtained by the fiber Bragg grating strain sensors, and data was analyzed by modal analysis method. Results show that the vibration mode of the drilling riser increases with the increasing flow velocity, and the vibration amplitude in the CF direction is larger than that in the IL direction. The vibrations in the CF and IL directions interact and mutually affect each other. The vibration mode in the IL direction is usually larger than that in the CF direction as the dominant vibration frequency is twice of that in the CF direction. Higher stresses may occur rather in the IL direction than in the CF direction. Hence, fatigue induced by the IL direction should also be taken into consideration when analyzing the fatigue life of a drilling riser. The three-time harmonic appears, and the phenomenon becomes more obvious as the flow velocity increased for the effect of the “2T” wake mode under the experiment condition. Displacement trajectories are significantly influenced by dominant vibration frequency and phase angle between the CF and IL directions. Crescent shapes, figure-eight, and inclined figure-eight are appeared in the experiment with the increasing flow velocity

Chromium and Tantalum Site Substitution Patterns in Ni3Al (L1(sub 2))gamma(prime)- Precipitates

The site substitution behavior of Cr and Ta in the Ni3Al (Ll2)-type gamma'-precipitates of a Ni-Al-Cr-Ta alloy is investigated by atom-probe tomography (APT) and first-principles calculations. Measurements of the gamma'-phase composition by APT suggest that Al, Cr, and Ta share the Al sublattice sites of the gamma'-precipitates. The calculated substitutional energies of the solute atoms at the Ni and Al sublattice sites indicate that Ta has a strong preference for the Al sites, while Cr has a weak Al site preference. Furthermore, Ta is shown to replace Cr at the Al sublattice sites of the gamma'-precipitates, altering the elemental phase partitioning behavior of the Ni-Al-Cr-Ta alloy