Engineering Papers⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Asta, Mark

Publications and source records attributed to Asta, Mark.

At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Mechanistic basis of oxygen sensitivity in titanium

One of the most potent examples of interstitial solute strengthening in metal alloys is the extreme sensitivity of titanium to small amounts of oxygen. Unfortunately, these small amounts of oxygen also lead to a markedly decreased ductility, which in turn drives the increased cost to purify titanium to avoid this oxygen poisoning effect. Here, we report a systematic study on the oxygen sensitivity of titanium that provides a clear mechanistic view of how oxygen impurities affect the mechanical properties of titanium. The increased slip planarity of Ti-O alloys is caused by an interstitial shuffling mechanism, which is sensitive to temperature, strain rate, and oxygen content and leads to the subsequent alteration of deformation twinning behavior. The insights from our experimental and computational work provide a rationale for the design of titanium alloys with increased tolerance to variations in interstitial content, with notable implications for more widespread use of titanium alloys.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Instability of Monolayer-Thick PbSe on VSe 2

Two-dimensional monolayers derived from 3D bulk structures remain a relatively unexplored class of materials because of the challenge of stabilizing non-epitaxial interfaces. Here, we report an unusual reconstruction during the deposition of precursors when targeting the synthesis of heterostructures with an odd number of PbSe monolayers. Multilayer elemental precursors of Pb|Se + V|Se were deposited to have correct number of atoms to form [(PbSe) 1+δ ] q (VSe 2 ) 1 where q is the number of PbSe monolayers in the heterostructure. Structural analysis of the self-assembled precursor via xray reflectivity, x-ray diffraction, and HAADF-STEM suggests three different behaviors upon deposition. Precursors with q 7 and even values of q have the targeted nanoarchitectures after deposition which are maintained as the products are selfassembled through a near diffusionless process. Significant lateral surface diffusion occurred during deposition of precursors with q = 1, 3, and 5 resulting in the precursor having a different nanoarchitecture than targeted. Additional perpendicular long range diffusion occurs during self-assembly of these precursors resulting in different final products than targeted. DFT calculations of PbSe blocks show that the odd numbered layers are less stable than even numbered layers, which suggests an energetic driving force for the observed rearrangement. This work highlights the importance of understanding the reaction mechanism when attempting to prepare 2D layers of constituents with bulk 3D structures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Short-range order and its impact on the CrCoNi medium-entropy alloy

Traditional metallic alloys are mixtures of elements in which the atoms of minority species tend to be distributed randomly if they are below their solubility limit, or to form secondary phases if they are above it. The concept of multiple-principal-element alloys has recently expanded this view, as these materials are single-phase solid solutions of generally equiatomic mixtures of metallic elements. This group of materials has received much interest owing to their enhanced mechanical properties 1,2,3,4,5 . They are usually called medium-entropy alloys in ternary systems and high-entropy alloys in quaternary or quinary systems, alluding to their high degree of configurational entropy. However, the question has remained as to how random these solid solutions actually are, with the influence of short-range order being suggested in computational simulations but not seen experimentally 6,7 . In this paper we report the observation, using energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy, of structural features attributable to short-range order in the CrCoNi medium-entropy alloy. Increasing amounts of such order give rise to both higher stacking-fault energy and hardness. These findings suggest that the degree of local ordering at the nanometre scale can be tailored through thermomechanical processing, providing a new avenue for tuning the mechanical properties of medium- and high-entropy alloys.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

High operating temperature heat transfer fluids for solar thermal power generation. Final report

This is the final technical report for the DOE MURI project on developing high-operating temperature heat transfer fluids for solar thermal power generation. This project aimed to evaluate liquid metals as a heat-transport fluid and potential energy storage medium for concentrated solar powered (CSP) systems. The project consisted of five phases, starting with fluid selection and screen and ending with potential CSP integration. The initial fluid selection arrived at heavy liquid metals as candidate fluids such as lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) as the prime liquid-alloy candidate to be studied, given the conditions above. Fifty-seven liquid compositions were initially identified with liquidus temperatures lower than 200°C, composed of elements that provide no driving force to the reduction of Cr 2 O 3 or Al 2 O 3 passivation layers in pipe material which is required for corrosion prevention. LBE was identified as the primary candidate fluid after these compositions were compared against computational thermodynamic modeling to screen all of the selected systems that would be compatible with our design objectives. Twenty-eight of these compositions were also investigated with the rapid characterization methods; the accuracies of the liquidus temperature and the specific heats predicted by the computations were better than 3 percent and 9 percent, respectively. We conducted numerus corrosion tests of various Fe-Cr-Al based steels in LBE and its variants at temperate as high as 800°C. It was found that minor additions to the liquid did not provide sufficient corrosion protection to warrant their use in real applications. Furthermore, we investigated the detailed mechanism of corrosion between heavy liquid metal and the pipe material at these very high temperatures. A liquid metal loop was constructed to operate at these high temperatures. The loop construction and operation lead to valuable lessons learned that will be needed for industrial scale loops. Furthermore, we learned that electromagnetic pumps at these extreme temperatures will have to be reengineered and redesigned to be used for CSP applications.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Direct imaging of short-range order and its impact on deformation in Ti-6Al

Chemical short-range order (SRO) within a nominally single-phase solid solution is known to affect the mechanical properties of alloys. While SRO has been indirectly related to deformation, direct observation of the SRO domain structure, and its effects on deformation mechanisms at the nanoscale, has remained elusive. Here, we report the direct observation of SRO in relation to deformation using energy-filtered imaging in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The diffraction contrast is enhanced by reducing the inelastically scattered electrons, revealing subnanometer SRO-enhanced domains. The destruction of these domains by dislocation planar slip is observed after ex situ and in situ TEM mechanical testing. These results confirm the impact of SRO in Ti-Al alloys on the scale of angstroms. The direct confirmation of SRO in relationship to dislocation plasticity in metals can provide insight into how the mechanical behavior of concentrated solid solutions by the material’s thermal history.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Pressure-induced semiconductor-to-metal phase transition of a charge-ordered indium halide perovskite

Phase transitions in halide perovskites triggered by external stimuli generate significantly different material properties, providing a great opportunity for broad applications. Here, we demonstrate an In-based, charge-ordered (In + /In 3+ ) inorganic halide perovskite with the composition of Cs 2 In(I)In(III)Cl 6 in which a pressure-driven semiconductor-to-metal phase transition exists. The single crystals, synthesized via a solid-state reaction method, crystallize in a distorted perovskite structure with space group I 4/ m with a = 17.2604(12) Å, c = 11.0113(16) Å if both the strong reflections and superstructures are considered. The supercell was further confirmed by rotation electron diffraction measurement. The pressure-induced semiconductor-to-metal phase transition was demonstrated by high-pressure Raman and absorbance spectroscopies and was consistent with theoretical modeling. This type of charge-ordered inorganic halide perovskite with a pressure-induced semiconductor-to-metal phase transition may inspire a range of potential applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Real time imaging of two-dimensional iron oxide spherulite nanostructure formation

The formation of complex hierarchical nanostructures has attracted a lot of attention from both the fundamental science and potential applications point of view. Spherulite structures with radial fibrillar branches have been found in various solids; however, their growth mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we report real time imaging of the formation of two-dimensional (2D) iron oxide spherulite nanostructures in a liquid cell using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). By tracking the growth trajectories, we show the characteristics of the reaction front and growth kinetics. Our observations reveal that the tip of a growing branch splits as the width exceeds certain sizes (5.5–8.5 nm). The radius of a spherulite nanostructure increases linearly with time at the early stage, transitioning to nonlinear growth at the later stage. Furthermore, a thin layer of solid is accumulated at the tip and nanoparticles from secondary nucleation also appear at the growing front which later develop into fibrillar branches. The spherulite nanostructure is polycrystalline with the co-existence of ferrihydrite and Fe3O4 through-out the growth. Finally, a growth model is further established, which provides rational explanations on the linear growth at the early stage and the nonlinearity at the later stage of growth.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Identifying rhenium substitute candidate multiprincipal-element alloys from electronic structure and thermodynamic criteria

While rhenium has proven to be an ideal material in fast-cycling high-temperature applications such as rocket nozzles, its prohibitive cost limits its continued use and motivates a search for viable cost-effective substitutes. We show that a simple design principle that trades off average valence electron count and cost considerations proves helpful in identifying a promising pool of candidate substitute alloys: The Mo–Ru–Ta–W quaternary system. We demonstrate how this picture can be combined with a computational thermodynamic model of phase stability, based on high-throughput ab initio calculations, to further narrow down the search and deliver alloys that maintain rhenium’s desirable hcp crystal structure. Here, this thermodynamic model is validated with comparisons to known binary phase diagram sections and corroborated by experimental synthesis and structural characterization demonstrating multiprinciple-element hcp solid-solution samples selected from a promising composition range.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

High-throughput Computational Study of Halide Double Perovskite Inorganic Compounds

Double perovskite halides are a class of materials with diverse chemistries that are amenable to solution-based synthesis routes, and display a range of properties for a variety of potential applications. Here, starting from a consideration of the octahedral and tolerance factors of ~2000 candidate double perovskite compounds, we compute structural, electronic, and transport properties of ~1000 using first-principles calculations based on density-functional-theory methods. The computational results have been assembled in a database that is accessible through the Materials Project online. As one potential application, double perovskites are candidates in the search for lead-free halide photovoltaic absorbers. We present the application of our database to aid the discovery of new double perovskite halide photovoltaic materials, by combining the results with optical absorption and phonon stability calculations. From three distinct classes of chemistries, 11 compounds were identified as promising solar absorbers and the complex chemical trends for band gap within each of these are analyzed, to provide guidelines for the use of substitutional alloying as a means of further tuning the electronic structure. Other possible applications of the database are also discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Direct measurement of nanostructural change during in situ deformation of a bulk metallic glass

Abstract To date, there has not yet been a direct observation of the initiation and propagation of individual defects in metallic glasses during deformation at the nanoscale. Here, we show through a combination of in situ nanobeam electron diffraction and large-scale molecular dynamics simulations that we can directly observe changes to the local short to medium range atomic ordering during the formation of a shear band. We observe experimentally a spatially resolved reduction of order prior to shear banding due to increased strain. We compare this to molecular dynamics simulations, in which a similar reduction in local order is seen, and caused by shear transformation zone activation, providing direct experimental evidence for this proposed nucleation mechanism for shear bands in amorphous solids. Our observation serves as a link between the atomistic molecular dynamics simulation and the bulk mechanical properties, providing insight into how one could increase ductility in glassy materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Probing the Stability and Band Gaps of Cs 2 AgInCl 6 and Cs 2 AgSbCl 6 Lead-Free Double Perovskite Nanocrystals

Lead toxicity has sparked interest into alternative halide nanomaterials with properties similar to CsPbX 3 perovskites. A promising alternative predicted from bulk studies is the family of double perovskites of the form Cs 2 AgMX 6 . In this work, we report the synthesis of colloidal CsCs 2 AgInCl 6 and Cs 2 AgSbCl 6 nanocrystals via injection of acyl halides into a metal acetate solution under atmospheric conditions and relatively mild temperatures. We reflect the synthesis of single-crystalline cubic nanocrystals of ca. 10 nm side length and their morphological similarities to other double perovskite nanostructures in terms of their [200] facet termination and decoration with Ag (o) smaller nanocrystallites. To contrast the stabilities of the synthesized materials, we develop a titration assay based on the degradation of nanocrystals with amines as a proxy for degradation by humidity, which provides a quantifiable stability metric. This measurement shows that Cs 2 AgSbCl 6 releases more than twice the decomposition energy compared to Cs 2 AgInCl 6 or CsPbCl 3 and degrades in the presence of approximately one molar equivalent of amine, whereas the other two materials require more than a 100-fold excess. Using facile chemical titration to quantitatively determine chemical stability provides an additional tool to aid in the basic understanding of what makes some of these materials more environmentally stable than others.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Quantum effects on dislocation motion from ring-polymer molecular dynamics

Quantum motion of atoms known as zero-point vibration was recently proposed to explain a long-standing discrepancy between theoretically computed and experimentally measured low-temperature plastic strength of iron and possibly other metals with high atomic masses. This finding challenges the traditional notion that quantum motion of atoms is relatively unimportant in solids comprised of heavy atoms. Here we report quantum dynamic simulations of quantum effects on dislocation motion within the exact formalism of Ring-Polymer Molecular Dynamics (RPMD). To extend the reach of quantum atomistic simulations to length and time scales relevant for extended defects in materials, we implemented RPMD in the open-source code LAMMPS thus making the RPMD method widely available to the community. We use our RPMD/LAMMPS approach for direct calculations of dislocation mobility and its effects on the yield strength of α-iron. Our simulation results establish that quantum effects are noticeable at temperatures below 50 K but account for only a modest (≈13% at T = 0 K) overall reduction in the Peierls barrier, at variance with the factor of two reduction predicted earlier based on the more approximate framework of harmonic transition state theory. Our results confirm that zero-point vibrations provide ample additional agitation for atomic motion that increases with decreasing temperature, however its enhancing effect on dislocation mobility is largely offset by an increase in the effective atom size, an effect known as quantum dispersion that has not been accounted for in the previous calculations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Dynamics of Nanoscale Dendrite Formation in Solution Growth Revealed Through in Situ Liquid Cell Electron Microscopy

Formation mechanisms of dendrite structures have been extensively explored theoretically, and many theoretical predictions have been validated for micro- or macroscale dendrites. However, it is challenging to determine whether classical dendrite growth theories are applicable at the nanoscale due to the lack of detailed information on the nanodendrite growth dynamics. Here, we study iron oxide nanodendrite formation using liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We observe "seaweed"-like iron oxide nanodendrites growing predominantly in two dimensions on the membrane of a liquid cell. By tracking the trajectories of their morphology development with high spatial and temporal resolution, it is possible to explore the relationship between the tip curvature and growth rate, tip splitting mechanisms, and the effects of precursor diffusion and depletion on the morphology evolution. We show that the growth of iron oxide nanodendrites is remarkably consistent with the existing theoretical predictions on dendritic morphology evolution during growth, despite occurring at the nanoscale.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Melts of CrCoNi-based high-entropy alloys: Atomic diffusion and electronic/atomic structure from ab initio simulation

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are an emerging class of advanced structural alloys under extensive research; yet, the properties of the liquid states of these materials, which are relevant to their processing, have been far less explored. In this work, we utilize ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the melt properties of a representative HEA—the Cantor alloy—and its derivatives: CrMnFeCoNi, CrFeCoNi, and CrCoNi. The atomic dynamics of these melts at various temperatures are investigated, specifically to analyze their electronic and atomic structures, including charge transfer, pair distribution functions, and short-range order. Results are compared with existing information for the liquids of metallic glasses, which also typically contain multiple principal elements, but retain the amorphous state under moderate to fast cooling rates. The present results provide insights into the structural and bonding factors favoring solidification to single-phase solid solutions in HEAs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Free energy of grain boundary phases: Atomistic calculations for Σ 5 ( 310 ) [ 001 ] grain boundary in Cu

Atomistic simulations are employed to demonstrate the existence of a well-defined thermodynamic phase transformation between grain boundary (GB) phases with different atomic structures. The free energy of different interface structures for an embedded-atom-method model of the Σ5 (310) [001] symmetric tilt boundary in elemental Cu is computed using the nonequilibrium Frenkel-Ladd thermodynamic integration method through molecular dynamics simulations. It is shown that the free-energy curves predict a temperature-induced first-order interfacial phase transition in the GB structure in agreement with computational studies of the same model system. Moreover, the role of vibrational entropy in the stabilization of the high-temperature GB phase is clarified. The calculated results are able to determine the GB phase stability at homologous temperatures less than 0.5, a temperature range particularly important given the limitation of the methods available hitherto in modeling GB phase transitions at low temperatures. Lastly, the calculation of GB free energies complements currently available 0 K GB structure search methods, making feasible the characterization of GB phase diagrams.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Tunable stacking fault energies by tailoring local chemical order in CrCoNi medium-entropy alloys

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are an intriguing new class of metallic materials due to their unique mechanical behavior. Achieving a detailed understanding of structure–property relationships in these materials has been challenged by the compositional disorder that underlies their unique mechanical behavior. Accordingly, in this work, we employ first-principles calculations to investigate the nature of local chemical order and establish its relationship to the intrinsic and extrinsic stacking fault energy (SFE) in CrCoNi medium-entropy solid-solution alloys, whose combination of strength, ductility, and toughness properties approaches the best on record. We find that the average intrinsic and extrinsic SFE are both highly tunable, with values ranging from –43 to 30 mJ•m –2 and from –28 to 66 mJ•m –2 , respectively, as the degree of local chemical order increases. The state of local ordering also strongly correlates with the energy difference between the face-centered cubic ( fcc ) and hexagonal close-packed ( hcp ) phases, which affects the occurrence of transformation-induced plasticity. Here, this theoretical study demonstrates that chemical short-range order is thermodynamically favored in HEAs and can be tuned to affect the mechanical behavior of these alloys. It thus addresses the pressing need to establish robust processing–structure–property relationships to guide the science-based design of new HEAs with targeted mechanical behavior.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Electronic and Polar Properties of Vanadate Compounds Stabilized by Epitaxial Strain

Recent experimental and computational studies have demonstrated pressure and epitaxial stabilization of polar PbVO 3 phases with perovskite-derivative crystal structures. In this study, we demonstrate, by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the stability of similar perovskite-derivative structures in the KVO 3 and NaVO 3 systems when subjected to compressive biaxial strain. The electronic structure and polar properties of these compounds are computed as a function of biaxial strain, and the results are compared to those obtained for experimentally observed PbVO 3 structures. It is demonstrated that the substitution of Pb with monovalent K or Na cations increases the strength of the vanadyl bond due to the removal of the spatially extended Pb 6p states. Both KVO 3 and NaVO 3 exhibit epitaxially stabilized perovskite-derivative phases having large polarizations and only small total energy increases relative to their unstrained bulk structures. The calculated epitaxial phase diagram for KVO 3 predicts a strain-energy driving force for a phase separation from ~% to 1.5% misfit strain into a polar Cm phase, having square-pyramidal coordination of the B-site, and a paraelectric Pbcm phase, having tetrahedral coordination of the B-site. The results show that strain-stabilized polar vanadate compounds may occur for other compositions in addition to PbVO 3 and that changes in the A-site species can be used to tune bonding, structure, and functional properties in these systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗