Impact failure in two silicates revealed by ultrafast, in situ, synchrotron X-ray microscopy

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2019-12-31, accepted 2020-05-28, registration 2020-06-03, pub-electronic 2020-06-25, online 2020-06-25, collection 2020-12Publication status: PublishedAbstract: To travel safely behind screens that can protect us from stones and hail, we must understand the response of glass to impact. However, without a means to observe the mechanisms that fail different silicate architectures, engineering has relied on external sensors, post-impact examination and best-guess to glaze our vehicles. We have used single and multi-bunch, X-ray imaging to differentiate distinct phases of failure in two silicates. We identified distinct micromechanisms, operating in tandem and leading to failure in borosilicate glass and Z-cut quartz. A surface zone in the amorphous glass densifies before bulk fracture occurs and then fails the block, whilst in quartz, fast cracks, driven down cleavage planes, fails the bulk. Varying the rate at which ejecta escapes by using different indenter tip geometries controls the failed target’s bulk strength. This opens the way to more physically based constitutive descriptions for the glasses allowing design of safer, composite panels by controlling the impulses felt by protective screens

Non-steady 3D dendrite tip growth under diffusive and weakly convective conditions

Three dimensional α-Al dendrite tip growth under varying solute gradients in an Al-Cu-Si alloy melt has been studied using real time synchrotron X-ray imaging and mathematical modelling. X-radiographic image sequences with high temporal and spatial resolution were processed and analysed to retrieve three-dimensional spatial details of the evolving dendrite and the solute concentration field, providing vastly improved estimates for the latter, in particular for the melt regions adjacent to the dendrite tips. Computational results obtained from an extended Horvay-Cahn dendrite tip model, capable of taking into account the effects of sample confinement, showed good agreement with the experimental data, and can be taken to verify the robustness of the 3D data extraction protocol.European Commission - Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) UKNorwegian Research Council, SYNKNOYT programm

Columnar and Equiaxed Solidification of Al-7 wt.% Si Alloys in Reduced Gravity in the Framework of the CETSOL Project

International audienceDuring casting, often a dendritic microstructure is formed, resulting in a columnar or an equiaxed grain structure, or leading to a transition from columnar to equiaxed growth (CET). The detailed knowledge of the critical parameters for the CET is important because the microstructure affects materials properties. To provide unique data for testing of fundamental theories of grain and microstructure formation, solidification experiments in microgravity environment were performed within the European Space Agency Microgravity Application Promotion (ESA MAP) project Columnar-to-Equiaxed Transition in SOLidification Processing (CETSOL). Reduced gravity allows for purely diffusive solidification conditions, i.e., suppressing melt flow and sedimentation and floatation effects. On-board the International Space Station, Al-7 wt.% Si alloys with and without grain refiners were solidified in different temperature gradients and with different cooling conditions. Detailed analysis of the microstructure and the grain structure showed purely columnar growth for nonrefined alloys. The CET was detected only for refined alloys, either as a sharp CET in the case of a sudden increase in the solidification velocity or as a progressive CET in the case of a continuous decrease of the temperature gradient. The present experimental data were used for numerical modeling of the CET with three different approaches: (1) a front tracking model using an equiaxed growth model, (2) a three-dimensional (3D) cellular automaton–finite element model, and (3) a 3D dendrite needle network method. Each model allows for predicting the columnar dendrite tip undercooling and the growth rate with respect to time. Furthermore, the positions of CET and the spatial extent of the CET, being sharp or progressive, are in reasonably good quantitative agreement with experimental measurements

Investigation of columnar-to-equiaxed transition in solidification processing of AlSi alloys in microgravity - The CETSOL project

International audienceGrain structures observed in most casting processes of metallic alloys are the result of a competition between the growth of several arrays of dendrites that develop under constrained and unconstrained conditions. Often this leads to a transition from columnar to equiaxed grain growth during solidification (CET). A microgravity environment results in suppression of buoyancy-driven melt flow and so enables growth of equiaxed grains free of sedimentation and buoyancy effects. This contribution presents first results obtained in experiments on-board the International Space Station (ISS), which were performed in the frame of the ESA-MAP programme CETSOL. Hypoeutectic aluminium-silicon alloys with and without grain refiners were processed successfully in a low gradient furnace (MSL-LGF). First analysis shows that in the non grain refined samples columnar dendritic growth exists, whereas CET is observed in the grain refined samples. From analysis of the thermal data and the grain structure the critical parameters for the temperature gradient and the cooling rate describing CET are determined. These data are used for initial numerical simulations to predict the position of the columnar-to-equiaxed transition and will form a unique database for calibration and further development of numerical CET-modeling

Comparison of nucleation and growth mechanisms in alloy solidification to those in metallic glass crystallisation - relevance to modeling

The development of microstructure during phase transformations is often best understood by considerations of nucleation in the parent material followed by growth of the new phase. This is a mature research field in alloy solidification, thanks to extensive investigations of nucleation and dendritic growth in cooling alloy melts. Bulk metallic glasses, on the other hand, typically do not form crystals on cooling from above the liquidus to below the glass transition temperature, resulting in very strong hard materials. As BMG toughness can be enhanced by a crystallising anneal, the study of nucleation and growth of crystals in viscous multi-component liquids has become an important topic for study. Such devitrification can lead to crystalline-glass composites or bulk nano-crystalline alloys, and the micro- or nano-structure is controlled by phenomena such as diffusion of solute and heat, and impingement dynamics. The relevance of solidification theories of nucleation, growth and impingement to crystallisation in amorphous alloys is discussed in this paper. The effects of the key differences between phase transformations in alloy casting processes and those in alloy devitrification on development of computational models for process simulation are highlighted.Deposited by bulk importAM