Mechanisms of Pressure-Induced Phase Transitions by Real-Time Laue Diffraction

Synchrotron X-ray radiation Laue diffraction is a widely used diagnostic technique for characterizing the microstructure of materials. An exciting feature of this technique is that comparable numbers of reflections can be measured several orders of magnitude faster than using monochromatic methods. This makes polychromatic beam diffraction a powerful tool for time-resolved microstructural studies, critical for understanding pressure-induced phase transition mechanisms, by in situ and in operando measurements. The current status of this technique, including experimental routines and data analysis, is presented along with some case studies. The new experimental setup at the High-Pressure Collaborative Access Team (HPCAT) facility at the Advanced Photon Source, specifically dedicated for in situ and in operando microstructural studies by Laue diffraction under high pressure, is presented

Phase Transitions of Cu and Fe at Multiscales in an Additively Manufactured Cu–Fe Alloy under High-Pressure

A state of the art, custom-built direct-metal deposition (DMD)-based additive manufacturing (AM) system at the University of Michigan was used to manufacture 50Cu–50Fe alloy with tailored properties for use in high strain/deformation environments. Subsequently, we performed preliminary high-pressure compression experiments to investigate the structural stability and deformation of this material. Our work shows that the alpha (BCC) phase of Fe is stable up to ~16 GPa before reversibly transforming to HCP, which is at least a few GPa higher than pure bulk Fe material. Furthermore, we observed evidence of a transition of Cu nano-precipitates in Fe from the well-known FCC structure to a metastable BCC phase, which has only been predicted via density functional calculations. Finally, the metastable FCC Fe nano-precipitates within the Cu grains show a modulated nano-twinned structure induced by high-pressure deformation. The results from this work demonstrate the opportunity in AM application for tailored functional materials and extreme stress/deformation applications

Modification of the aluminum for making offset printing plates

Aluminum as the base of offset printing plates should make good contact with wetting agents and the light sensitive layer and should be resistant to wear and cracking. In order to achieve this, the aluminum is roughened and eventually anodized. A thin, electrochemically deposited chromium layer is used as the non-printing element in bimetallic offset printing forms. Chromium shows excellent wettability and wear resistance. The possibility of chemical deposition of chromium on aluminum from an alkaline solution is examined in this paper. The presence of chromium was confirmed and measured by EDAX. A difference in the spectral reflection characteristic between chromium-treated and non-treated specimens was also detected. An influence of a chromium layer on an aluminum surface was examined by water drop spreading. Chromium-treated samples showed better wettability than non-treated samples, but they are less wettable than anodized samples

Nontrivial nanostructure, stress relaxation mechanisms, and crystallography for pressure-induced Si-I → Si-II phase transformation

Crystallographic theory based on energy minimization suggests austenite-twinned martensite interfaces with specific orientation, which are confirmed experimentally for various materials. Pressure-induced phase transformation (PT) from semiconducting Si-I to metallic Si-II, due to very large and anisotropic transformation strain, may challenge this theory. Here, unexpected nanostructure evolution during Si-I → Si-II PT is revealed by combining molecular dynamics (MD), crystallographic theory, generalized for strained crystals, and in situ real-time Laue X-ray diffraction (XRD). Twinned Si-II, consisting of two martensitic variants, and unexpected nanobands, consisting of alternating strongly deformed and rotated residual Si-I and third variant of Si-II, form {111} interface with Si-I and produce almost self-accommodated nanostructure despite the large transformation volumetric strain of −0.237. The interfacial bands arrest the {111} interfaces, leading to repeating nucleation-growth-arrest process and to growth by propagating {110} interface, which (as well as {111} interface) do not appear in traditional crystallographic theory.This article is published as Chen, Hao, Valery I. Levitas, Dmitry Popov, and Nenad Velisavljevic. "Nontrivial nanostructure, stress relaxation mechanisms, and crystallography for pressure-induced Si-I→ Si-II phase transformation." Nature Communications 13, no. 1 (2022): 1-6. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28604-1. Copyright 2022 The Author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Posted with permission

Persistent descending mesocolon: Case report

Introduction. Positional anomalies of the right half of the colon are quite common whereas positional anomalies of the left half of the colon are much less common because of embryological disorders during the period of the embryological development of that part of the bowel. The process of the fixation of the descending colon to the posterior abdominal wall can be absent. In that case, when the descending colon has a free descending mesocolon, it shows some degree of mobility. Case Outline. We are presenting an example of one of the anomalies, which is characterized by the persistent descending mesocolon, which extends from the splenic flexure or just below it to the sigmoid colon. The persistent descending mesocolon in our case contains or surrounds almost complete small bowel in a recess which is located laterally to the left of the midline. The content of this hernial sac simulates the symptoms of an internal hernia followed by clinical symptoms and roendgenographical signs. Conclusion. We are of the opinion that this anomaly is more common than some surveys of literature would suggest