Magnetic and vibrational properties of high-entropy alloys

The magnetic properties of high-entropy alloys based on equimolar FeCoCrNi were investigated using vibrating sample magnetometry to determine their usefulness in high-temperature magnetic applications. Nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering measurements were performed to evaluate the vibrational entropy of the ^(57)Fe atoms and to infer chemical order. The configurational and vibrational entropy of alloying are discussed as they apply to these high-entropy alloys

The Effect of Hot Deformation Parameters on Microstructure Evolution of the α-Phase in Ti-6Al-4V

The effect of high-temperature deformation and the influence of hot working parameters on microstructure evolution during isothermal hot forging of Ti-6Al-4V in the alpha phase field were investigated. A series of hot isothermal axis-symmetric compression tests were carried out at temperatures both low and high in the alpha stability field [(1153 K and 1223 K (880 °C and 950 °C), respectively], using three strain rates (0.01, 0.1 and 1.0/s) relevant to industrial press forging. The microstructures and orientation of the alpha laths were determined using optical microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction techniques. The experimental results show that there is a change in lath morphology of the secondary α phase under the influence of the deformation parameters, and that α lath thickness appears to have little influence on flow behavior

Annealing behavior of cryogenically-rolled Cu-30Zn brass

The static-annealing behavior of cryogenically-rolled Cu-30Zn brass over a wide range of temperature (100-900 °C) was established. Between 300 and 400 °C, microstructure and texture evolution were dominated by discontinuous recrystallization. At temperatures of 500 °C and higher, annealing was interpreted in terms of normal grain growth. The recrystallized microstructure developed at 400 °C was ultrafine with a mean grain size of 0.8 μm, fraction of high-angle boundaries of 90 pct., and a weak crystallographic texture

The grain-refinement mechanism during heavy cold-rolling of commercial-purity titanium

Microstructure evolution in heavily-cold-rolled (≥40 pct.) commercial-purity titanium was determined to be governed by a continuous-dynamic-recrystallization mechanism. This process was shown to be closely linked with mechanical twinning occurring at lower rolling strain

Absence of long-range chemical ordering in equimolar FeCoCrNi

Equimolar FeCoCrNi alloys have been the topic of recent research as "high-entropy alloys," where the name is derived from the high configurational entropy of mixing for a random solid solution. Despite their name, no systematic study of ordering in this alloy system has been performed to date. Here, we present results from anomalous x-ray scattering and neutron scattering on quenched and annealed samples. An alloy of FeNi_3 was prepared in the same manner to act as a control. Evidence of long-range chemical ordering is clearly observed in the annealed FeNi_3 sample from both experimental techniques. The FeCoCrNi sample given the same heat treatment lacks long-range chemical order

The unusual character of microstructure evolution during "abc" deformation of commercial-purity titanium

Microstructure evolution during "abc" deformation of commercial-purity titanium was investigated. Continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) played a dominant role in the microstructural changes, although mechanical twinning also contributed to some extent. It was found that CDRX developed preferentially at the original grain boundaries, thus resulting in a necklace-type microstructur

Effect of electric-current pulses on grain-structure evolution in cryogenically rolled copper

The effect of electric-current pulses on the evolution of microstructure and texture in cryogenically rolled copper was determined. The pulsed material was found to be completely recrystallized, and the recrystallization mechanism was deduced to be similar to that operating during conventional static annealing. The microstructural changes were explained simply in terms of Joule heating. A significant portion of the recrystallization process was concluded to have occurred after pulsing; i.e., during cooling to ambient temperature. The grain structure and microhardness were shown to vary noticeably in the heat-affected zone (HAZ); these observations mirrored variations of temper colors. Accordingly, the revealed microstructure heterogeneity was attributed to the inhomogeneous temperature distribution developed during pulsing. In the central part of the HAZ, the mean grain size increased with current density and this effect was associated with the temperature rise per se. This grain size was slightly smaller than that in statically recrystallized specimens

EBSD investigation of microstructure evolution during cryogenic rolling of type 321 metastable austenitic steel

Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was employed to establish microstructure evolution in type 321 metastable austenitic stainless steel during rolling at a near-liquid-nitrogen temperature. A particular emphasis was given to evaluation of microstructure-strength relationship.As expected, cryogenic rolling promoted strain-induced martensite transformation. The transformation was dominated by the γ→α′ sequence but clear evidence of the γ→ε→α′ transformation path was also found. The martensitic reactions were found to occur almost exclusively within deformation bands, i.e., the most-highly strained areas in the austenite. This prevented a progressive development of deformation-induced boundaries and thus suppressed the normal grain-subdivision process in this phase. On the other hand, the preferential nucleation of martensite within the deformation bands implied a close relationship between the transformation process and slip activity in parent austenite grains. Indeed, the martensite reactions were found to occur preferentially in austenite grains with crystallographic orientations close to Goss {110} and Brass {110}. Moreover, the martensitic transformations were governed by preferential variant selection which was most noticeable in ε-martensite. The sensitivity of the martensitic reactions to the crystallographic orientation of the austenite grains resulted in re-activation of the transformation process after development of a deformation-induced texture in the austenitic phase at high strains. Both martensitic phases were concluded to experience plastic strain which resulted in measurable changes in misorientation distributions. Cryogenic rolling imparted dramatic strengthening resulting in a more-than-sixfold increase in yield strength. The main source of hardening was the martensitic transformation with lesser contributions from dislocations and subboundary strengthening of the austenite

Microstructure evolution and mechanical behavior of ultrafine Tie6Ale4V during low-temperature superplastic deformation

The influence of microstructure evolution on the low-temperature superplasticity of ultrafine Tie6Ale4V was established. For this purpose, the static and dynamic coarsening response and plastic-flow behavior of the alloy with a mean size of a (sub)grains and b particles of 0.1-0.4 μm were determined via a series of tension tests at temperatures between 450 and 700°

Microstructure response of cryogenically-rolled Cu-30Zn brass to electric-current pulsing

The effect of transient electric-current pulses (ECP) on the evolution of microstructure and texture of cryogenically-rolled Cu-30Zn brass was determined. The pulsing was shown to lead to recrystallization followed by grain growth. The mean grain size in the recrystallized material was 0.5 μm, thus indicating that cryogenic rolling coupled with ECP is suitable for the production of an ultrafine-grain microstructure in Cu-30Zn brass. The differences in the recrystallization texture in pulsed versus statically-annealed conditions suggested a distinct recrystallization mechanism during ECP