Superplastic behavior in a powder-metallurgy TiAl alloy with a metastable microstructure

Superplasticity in a powder-metallurgy TiAl alloy (Ti-47Al-2Cr-2Nb) with a metastable microstructure has been studied. Samples were tested at temperatures ranging from 650 to 1100{degrees}C, and at strain rate ranging from 10{sup -6} to 10{sup -4} s{sup -1}. An elongation value of over 300 obtained at a strain rate of 2 x 10{sup -5} s{sup -1} and at a temperature as lo as 800{degrees}C, which is close to the ductile-to-brittle-transition temperature. This is in contrast to the prior major observations of superplastic behaviors in TiAl in which typical temperatures of 1000{degrees}C have usually been required for superplasticity. It is proposed that the occurrence of superplasticity at 8000{degrees}C in the present alloy is caused by the presence of a B2 phase. During superplastic deformation (grain boundary sliding), the soft P grains accommodate sliding strains to reduce the propensity for cavitation at grain triple junctions and, thus, delays the fracture process. The final microstructure consists of stable, equiaxed y+a{sub 2} grains

High temperature deformation in 2036 Al and 0.2 wt % Zr-2036 A1

The microstructure and high-temperature deformation of 2036 Al and a 0.2 wt % Zr modified 2036 Al were characterized. A particle-simulated- nucleation process was applied to refine grain structure in both alloys. Thermomechanically processed materials were tested from 450 to 500 C and strain rates from 2{times}10{sup {minus}1} to 2{times}10{sup {minus}4}s{sup {minus}1}. Strain rate sensitivity exponent, activation energy, and total elongation were measured, and the deformation mechanism was proposed. Effect of Zr on microstructure and deformation of 2036 Al at elevated temperatures was discussed

HighP–TNano-Mechanics of Polycrystalline Nickel

We have conducted highP–Tsynchrotron X-ray and time-of-flight neutron diffraction experiments as well as indentation measurements to study equation of state, constitutive properties, and hardness of nanocrystalline and bulk nickel. Our lattice volume–pressure data present a clear evidence of elastic softening in nanocrystalline Ni as compared with the bulk nickel. We show that the enhanced overall compressibility of nanocrystalline Ni is a consequence of the higher compressibility of the surface shell of Ni nanocrystals, which supports the results of molecular dynamics simulation and a generalized model of a nanocrystal with expanded surface layer. The analytical methods we developed based on the peak-profile of diffraction data allow us to identify “micro/local” yield due to high stress concentration at the grain-to-grain contacts and “macro/bulk” yield due to deviatoric stress over the entire sample. The graphic approach of our strain/stress analyses can also reveal the corresponding yield strength, grain crushing/growth, work hardening/softening, and thermal relaxation under highP–Tconditions, as well as the intrinsic residual/surface strains in the polycrystalline bulks. From micro-indentation measurements, we found that a low-temperature annealing (T < 0.4 Tm) hardens nanocrystalline Ni, leading to an inverse Hall–Petch relationship. We explain this abnormal Hall–Petch effect in terms of impurity segregation to the grain boundaries of the nanocrystalline Ni

Roles of nanoclusters in shear banding and plastic deformation of bulk metallic glasses

During the course of this research we published 33 papers in various physics/material journals. We select four representing papers in this report and their results are summarized as follows. I. To study shear banding process, it is pertinent to know the intrinsic shear strain rate within a propagating shear band. To this aim, we used nanoindentation technique to probe the mechanical response of a Au49Ag5.5Pd2.3Cu26.9Si16.3 bulk metallic glass in locality and found notable pop-in events associated with shear band emission. Using a free volume model and under the situation when temperature and stress/hardness are fixed result in an equation, which predicts that hardness serration caused by pop-in decreases exponentially with the strain rate. Our data are in good agreement with the prediction. The result also predicts that, when strain rate is higher than a critical strain rate of 1700 s^-1, there will be no hardness serration, thereby no pop-in. In other words, multiple shear bandings will take place and material will flow homogeneously. The critical strain rate of 1700 s^-1 can be treated as the intrinsic strain rate within a shear band. We subsequently carried out a simulation study and showed that, if the imposed strain rate was over , the shear band spacing would become so small that the entire sample would virtually behave like one major shear band. Using the datum strain rate =1700 s^-1 and based on a shear band nucleation model proposed by us, the size of a shear-band nucleus in Au-BMG was estimated to be 3 ÃÂà10^6 atoms, or a sphere of ~30 nm in diameter. II. Inspired by the peculiar result published in a Science article âÃÂÃÂSuper Plastic Bulk Metallic Glasses at Room TemperatureâÃÂÃÂ, we synthesized the Zr-based bulk metallic glass with a composition identical to that in the paper (Zr64.13Cu15.75Ni10.12Al10) and, subsequently, tested in compression at the same slow strain rate (~10^-4 s^-1). We found that the dominant deformation mode is always single shear. The stress-strain curve exhibited serrated pattern in the plastic region, which conventionally has been attributed to individual shear band propagation. The scanning electron micrographs taken from the deformed sample surface revealed regularly spaced striations. Analysis indicates that the observed stress-strain serrations are intimately related to the striations on the shear surface, suggesting the serrations were actually caused slip-and-stick shear along the principal shear plane. We further use video camera to conduct in situ compression experiments to unambiguously confirm the one-to-one temporal and spatial correspondence between the intermittent sliding and flow serration. This preferential shear band formation along the principal shear plane is, in fact, a natural consequence of Mode II crack, independent of strain softening or hardening, usually claimed in the literature. III. Flow serration in compression of metallic glasses is caused by the formation and propagation of localized shear bands. These shear bands propagate at an extremely high speed, so high that a load cell and load frame were unable to capture the details of the dynamic event. To subdue this problem, we conducted uniaxial compression on Zr64.13Cu15.75Ni10.12Al10 bulk metallic glass using a high-speed camera to capture the sample image and also high-sensitivity strain gauges attached to the test samples to directly measure the strain. The displacement-time curves obtained from the test and a magnified version of the displacement burst reveals clearly a three-step (acceleration, steady-state, and deceleration) process during shear band propagation. The fastest propagating speed occurring at the steady state is calculated as 8ÃÂÃÂ10^2 ÃÂõm/s. This speed is about 1,000 times faster than the crosshead speed. This explains the gradual disappearance of flow serration at higher strain rates previously reported during compression of BMGs. IV. Shear banding is associated with a local viscosity drop, which may be associated with a temperature rise in the shear band or dynamic stability caused by excessive applied stress. Molecular dynamic simulations recently have shown that applied stress and temperature are equivalent and shear banding is essentially a stress-induced glass transition process. To validate this, we carried out a series compression tests on the binary Cu50Zr50 metallic glass in a temperature range below glass transition temperature where deformation mode was inhomogeneous (T = 0.40-0.65 Tg); the results are shown in the left figure below. The yield strength (onset of plastic flow) was found to decrease monotonically with the increase of test temperature. The strength-temperature relation for the binary glass, as well as several other metallic glass systems, can be well correlated. This result supports the proposed concept of stress-induced glass transition

Roles of nanoclusters in shear banding and plastic deformation of bulk metallic glasses

During the course of this research we published 33 papers in various physics/material journals. We select four representing papers in this report and their results are summarized as follows. I. To study shear banding process, it is pertinent to know the intrinsic shear strain rate within a propagating shear band. To this aim, we used nanoindentation technique to probe the mechanical response of a Au49Ag5.5Pd2.3Cu26.9Si16.3 bulk metallic glass in locality and found notable pop-in events associated with shear band emission. Using a free volume model and under the situation when temperature and stress/hardness are fixed result in an equation, which predicts that hardness serration caused by pop-in decreases exponentially with the strain rate. Our data are in good agreement with the prediction. The result also predicts that, when strain rate is higher than a critical strain rate of 1700 s^-1, there will be no hardness serration, thereby no pop-in. In other words, multiple shear bandings will take place and material will flow homogeneously. The critical strain rate of 1700 s^-1 can be treated as the intrinsic strain rate within a shear band. We subsequently carried out a simulation study and showed that, if the imposed strain rate was over , the shear band spacing would become so small that the entire sample would virtually behave like one major shear band. Using the datum strain rate =1700 s^-1 and based on a shear band nucleation model proposed by us, the size of a shear-band nucleus in Au-BMG was estimated to be 3 ÃÂà10^6 atoms, or a sphere of ~30 nm in diameter. II. Inspired by the peculiar result published in a Science article âÃÂÃÂSuper Plastic Bulk Metallic Glasses at Room TemperatureâÃÂÃÂ, we synthesized the Zr-based bulk metallic glass with a composition identical to that in the paper (Zr64.13Cu15.75Ni10.12Al10) and, subsequently, tested in compression at the same slow strain rate (~10^-4 s^-1). We found that the dominant deformation mode is always single shear. The stress-strain curve exhibited serrated pattern in the plastic region, which conventionally has been attributed to individual shear band propagation. The scanning electron micrographs taken from the deformed sample surface revealed regularly spaced striations. Analysis indicates that the observed stress-strain serrations are intimately related to the striations on the shear surface, suggesting the serrations were actually caused slip-and-stick shear along the principal shear plane. We further use video camera to conduct in situ compression experiments to unambiguously confirm the one-to-one temporal and spatial correspondence between the intermittent sliding and flow serration. This preferential shear band formation along the principal shear plane is, in fact, a natural consequence of Mode II crack, independent of strain softening or hardening, usually claimed in the literature. III. Flow serration in compression of metallic glasses is caused by the formation and propagation of localized shear bands. These shear bands propagate at an extremely high speed, so high that a load cell and load frame were unable to capture the details of the dynamic event. To subdue this problem, we conducted uniaxial compression on Zr64.13Cu15.75Ni10.12Al10 bulk metallic glass using a high-speed camera to capture the sample image and also high-sensitivity strain gauges attached to the test samples to directly measure the strain. The displacement-time curves obtained from the test and a magnified version of the displacement burst reveals clearly a three-step (acceleration, steady-state, and deceleration) process during shear band propagation. The fastest propagating speed occurring at the steady state is calculated as 8ÃÂÃÂ10^2 ÃÂõm/s. This speed is about 1,000 times faster than the crosshead speed. This explains the gradual disappearance of flow serration at higher strain rates previously reported during compression of BMGs. IV. Shear banding is associated with a local viscosity drop, which may be associated with a temperature rise in the shear band or dynamic stability caused by excessive applied stress. Molecular dynamic simulations recently have shown that applied stress and temperature are equivalent and shear banding is essentially a stress-induced glass transition process. To validate this, we carried out a series compression tests on the binary Cu50Zr50 metallic glass in a temperature range below glass transition temperature where deformation mode was inhomogeneous (T = 0.40-0.65 Tg); the results are shown in the left figure below. The yield strength (onset of plastic flow) was found to decrease monotonically with the increase of test temperature. The strength-temperature relation for the binary glass, as well as several other metallic glass systems, can be well correlated. This result supports the proposed concept of stress-induced glass transition

Effect of Extrusion Temperature on the Microstructural Development of Powder Metallurgy Ti-47A1-2Cr-1Nb-1Ta Alloy

Effect of extrusion temperatures on the microstructural development of a powder metallurgy (PM) Ti-47Al-2Cr-1Nb-1Ta (at. %) alloy has been investigated. Microstructure of the PM alloy extruded at 1150 C consists of a fine-grained ({gamma} + {alpha}{sub 2}) two-phase structure in association with coarse grains of metastable B2 (ordered bcc) phase. In addition, fine {omega} (ordered hexagonal) particles are also found within some B2 grains. The PM alloy containing the metastable B2 grains displays a low-temperature superplastic behavior, in which a tensile elongation of 310% is obtained at 800 C under a strain rate of 2 x 10{sup -5} s{sup -1}. It is suggested that the decomposition of metastable B2 phase and microstructural evolution during the deformation play a crucial role in the low-temperature superplasticity of the PM TiAl alloy. A refined fully-lamellar (FL) microstructure with alternating {gamma} and {alpha}{sub 2} lamellae is developed within the PM alloy extruded at 1400 C. The creep resistance of the refined FL-TiAl alloy is found to be superior to those of the TiAl alloys fabricated by conventional processing techniques. Creep mechanisms for the PM alloy with a refined FL microstructure are critically discussed according to TEM examination of deformation substructure