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At least 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

Neutron diffraction study of a non-strichiometric Ni-Mn-Ga MSM alloy

The structure and chemical order of a Heusler alloy of non-stoichiometric composition Ni-Mn-Ga were studied using constant-wavelength (1.538 ) neutron diffraction at 363K and the diffraction pattern was refined using the FullProf software. At this temperature the structure is austenite (cubic) with Fm-3m space group and lattice constant of a = 5.83913(4) [ ]. The chemical order is of critical importance in these alloys, as Mn becomes antiferromagnetic when the atoms are closer than the radius of the 3d shell. In the studied alloy the refinement of the site occupancy showed that the 4b (Ga site) contained as much as 22% Mn; that significantly alters the distances between the Mn atoms in the crystal and, as a result, also the exchange energy between some of the Mn atoms. Based on the refinement, the composition was determined to be Ni1.91Mn1.29Ga0.8

Ari-Gur, Pnina↗
DOE OSTI2024

Probing the fatigue enhancement in a thermally aged cast duplex stainless steel by in situ neutron diffraction

After long-term thermal aging at 400 °C for 3000 h and 10,000 h, a cast duplex stainless steel exhibits promoted fatigue performance, including enhanced three-stage cyclic hardening and prolonged fatigue life. Utilizing in situ neutron diffraction, the phase-specific stresses are resolved, and their evolutions over entire fatigue cycling reveal the underlying mechanisms of the fatigue enhancement. It is found that the ferrite phase bears a much higher stress than the austenite matrix under both as-received and aged conditions. The enhanced cyclic hardening in Stage I is attributed to the strengthening of both phases due to thermal aging, while the enhancement in Stage III results from the martensitic transformation induced strengthening. The fatigue life is prolonged thanks to the cyclic hardening and the delay of martensitic transformation in the austenite phase after thermal aging.

Yu, Dunji↗
DOE OSTI2021

Through-Thickness Microstructure Characterization in a Centrifugally Cast Austenitic Stainless Steel Nuclear Reactor Primary Loop Pipe Using Time-of-Flight Neutron Diffraction

The US code of Federal Regulations mandates regular inspection of centrifugally cast austenitic stainless steel pipe, commonly used in primary cooling loops in light-water nuclear power plants. These pipes typically have a wall thickness of ~8 cm. Unfortunately, inspection using conventional ultrasonic techniques is not reliable as the microstructure strongly attenuates ultrasonic waves. Work is ongoing to simulate the behavior of acoustic waves in this microstructure and ultimately develop an acoustic inspection method for reactor inspections. In order to account for elastic anisotropy in the material, the texture in the steel was measured as a function of radial distance though the pipe wall. Experiments were conducted on two 10 × 12.7 × 80 mm radial sections of a cast pipe using neutron diffraction scans of 2 mm slices using the HIPPO time-of-flight neutron diffractometer at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE, Los Alamos, NM, USA). Strong textures dominated by a small number of austenite grains with their (100) direction aligned in the radial direction of the pipe were observed. ODF analysis indicated that up to 70% of the probed volume was occupied by just three single-grain orientations, consistent with grain sizes of almost 1 cm. Texture and phase fraction of both ferrite and austenite phases were measured along the length of the samples. These results will inform the development of a more robust diagnostic tool for regular inspection of this material.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Neutron Diffraction Characterization of C–H···Li Interactions in a Lithium Aluminate Polymer

The reaction of AlMe3 with tBuLi in the presence of trimethylacetonitrile affords the bimetallic complex [tBu(Me)Al(μ-Me)2Li·NC(tBu)]∞ (1). Pseudotetrahedral Al centers form by the nucelophilic addition of tBuLi to AlMe3.The alkali-metal center is stabilized through coordination of the unreacted nitrile and polymer formation via the construction of Al(μ-Me)nLi (n = 1, 2) motifs. Neutron diffraction evidences agostic interactions in the bridging methyl group to give further stabilization. There is only one previous report of a neutron structure of a lithium aluminate compound. This work therefore offers an important structural example of agostic interactions and the precise nature of Al(μ-Me)2Li bridging.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Noncollinear antiferromagnetic order in the buckled honeycomb lattice of magnetoelectric Co 4 Ta 2 O 9 determined by single-crystal neutron diffraction

Co 4 Ta 2 O 9 exhibits a three-dimensional magnetic lattice based on the buckled honeycomb motif. It shows unusual magnetoelectric effects, including the sign change and nonlinearity. These effects cannot be understood without the detailed knowledge of the magnetic structure. Herein, we report neutron diffraction and direction-dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements on Co 4 Ta 2 O 9 single crystals. In this work, below 20.3 K, we find a long-range antiferromagnetic order in the alternating buckled and flat honeycomb layers of Co 2+ ions stacked along the c axis. Within experimental accuracy, the magnetic moments lie in the ab plane. They form a canted antiferromagnetic structure with a tilt angle of ~14° at 15 K in the buckled layers, while the magnetic moments in each flat layer are collinear. This is directly evidenced by a finite (0, 0, 3) magnetic Bragg peak intensity, which would be absent in the collinear magnetic order. The magnetic space group is C2/c'. It is different from the previously reported C2/c' group, also found in the isostructural Co 4 Nb 2 O 9 . The revised magnetic structure successfully explains the major features of the magnetoelectric tensor of Co 4 Ta 2 O 9 within the framework of the spin-flop model.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Neutron Diffraction Study of Parasitic Nd-Moment Order in the Checkerboard-Type Phase Nd 1.3 Sr 0.7 NiO 4

In this paper, the Nd-moment order in the layered nickelate Nd 2-x Sr x NiO 4 (x = 0.7) has been investigated by performing a neutron diffraction experiment using a single crystal sample. First, the checkerboard (CB)-type charge order was confirmed by observing the temperature dependence of the nuclear superlattice peak at Q=(5,0,0) between 1.9 and 300 K, which indicates that the transition temperature of the CB-type charge order is above 300 K. Magnetic superlattice peaks with the propagation vector k=(1-ε,0,1) appear below 67 K, and the value of ε was determined to be 0.455 in good agreement with previous studies. The intensity of the magnetic superlattice peaks appearing below 67 K shows a sharp increase below ≈20 K. This behavior indicates that the Nd moments freeze under the influence of the Ni ordering. The CB-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) Ni order in the NiO 2 layers is stacked antiferromagnetically in the c-axis direction, while the Nd moments in the Nd/SrO 2 layers are coupled antiferromagnetically with the Ni moments. Finally, the Nd moments are parallel to the c-axis, while the Ni moments are canted towards the c-axis direction from the basal ab-plane at low temperatures where the Nd moments are well ordered.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Neutron diffraction measurement of residual stresses, dislocation density and texture in Zr-bonded U-10Mo “mini” fuel foils and plates

Here, Al clad U-10Mo fuel plates are being considered for conversion of several research reactors from high-enriched to low-enriched U fuel. Neutron diffraction measurements of the textures, residual phase stresses, and dislocation densities in the individual phases of the mini-foils throughout several processing steps and following hot-isostatic pressing to the Al cladding, have been completed. Recovery and recrystallization of the bare U-10Mo fuel foil, as indicated by the dislocation density and texture, are observed depending on the state of the material prior to annealing and the duration and temperature of the annealing process. In general, the cladding procedure significantly reduces the dislocation density, but the final state of the clad plate, both texture and dislocation density, depends strongly on the final processing step of the fuel foil. In contrast, the residual stress state of the final plate is dominated by the thermal expansion mismatch of the constituent materials.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Neutron Diffraction Measurement of Residual Stresses in “OSU Plate”

Aluminum-clad U10Mo (including zirconium diffusion layer) fuel assembly plates are bound to be in a state of residual stress due to the mismatch of thermal expansion of the constituent phases. Due to the geometry of the plates, i.e. thin beams, it is expected that the stress will predominantly be in-plane. The thermal expansion of the aluminum cladding, zirconium diffusion layer and U10Mo foil are roughly α Al =22x10 -6 /K, α Zr =5x10 -6 /K, and α U10Mo =10x10 -6 /K. Note that the coefficient of thermal expansion of the zirconium is quoted as that in the a direction in the hexagonal close packed crystal structure because of the strong texture in the rolled zirconium foil, in which the a-axis are strongly preferred in the in-plane direction. During cooling from the hot isostatic pressing (HIP’ing) temperature, the zirconium contracts considerably less than the U10Mo, which in turn, contracts less than the aluminum. Because the aluminum dominates in terms of volume fraction, it is expected that the U10Mo foil and zirconium bonding layer will be in a residual stress state of in-plane compression at room temperature after bonding. This has been verified for the U10Mo foil in a mini fuel plate using x-ray diffraction at the Advanced Photon Source, but measurements of the stress state of the aluminum and zirconium were not possible at the APS. Also, the APS measurements were limited to mini size fuel plates Neutron diffraction experiments of residual stress on the “OSU plate” were completed on the Spectrometer for Materials Research at Temperature and Stress (SMARTS) at the Lujan Center at LANSCE between 2/19-21/2013. Longitudinal and transverse residual strain profiles were measured on an Al-clad U10-Mo OSU plate. Residual strains from the aluminum cladding, the zirconium bonding layer and the U10Mo fuel foil were recorded.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Neutron diffraction study of quadruple perovskite SrCu{sub 3}Fe{sub 3}O{sub 12}

The magnetic structure of the quadruple perovskite SrCu{sub 3}Fe{sub 4}O{sub 12} is studied by means of neutron powder diffraction. The magnetic diffraction peaks are observed at low temperatures below 200 K. The Rietveld refinement result suggests an antiferromagnetic alignment of Fe spin magnetic moments for SrCu{sub 3}Fe{sub 4}O{sub 12} at low temperature. The refined magnetic moment at 4 K is ∼3.5 µ{sub B}, which is larger than that of that of CeCu{sub 3}Fe{sub 4}O{sub 12} (2.3 µ{sub B}). The increase in the magnetic moment is attributed to the larger Fe{sup 3+}:Fe{sup 5+} ratio for SrCu{sub 3}Fe{sub 4}O{sub 12} (∼4:1) compared with that of CeCu{sub 3}Fe{sub 4}O{sub 12} (∼3:1).

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

Development of a Neutron Diffraction Based Experiemental Capability for Investigating Hydraulic Fracturing for EGS-like Conditions

Hydraulic fracturing to enhance formation permeability is an established practice in the Oil & Gas (O&G) industry and is expected to be an enabler for EGS. However, it is rarely employed in conventional geothermal systems and there are significant questions regarding the translation of practice from O&G to both conventional geothermal and EGS applications. Lithological differences(sedimentary versus crystalline rocks, significantly greater formation temperatures and different desired fracture characteristics are among a number of factors that are likely to result in a gap of understanding of how to manage hydraulic fracturing practice for geothermal. Whereas the O&G community has had both the capital and the opportunity to develop its understanding of hydraulic fracturing operations empirically in the field as well through extensive R&D efforts, field testing opportunities for EGS are likely to be minimal due to the high expense of hydraulic fracturing field trials. A significant portion of the knowledge needed to guide the management of geothermal/EGS hydraulic fracturing operations will therefore likely have to come from experimental efforts and simulation. This paper describes ongoing efforts at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to develop an experimental capability to map the internal stresses/strains in core samples subjected to triaxial stress states and temperatures representative of EGS-like conditions using neutron diffraction based strain mapping techniques. This capability is being developed at ORNL\'s Spallation Neutron Source, the world\'s most powerful pulsed neutron source and is still in a proof of concept phase. A specialized pressure cell has been developed that permits independent radial and axial fluid pressurization of core samples, with axial flow through capability and a temperature rating up to 300 degrees C. This cell will ultimately be used to hydraulically pressurize EGS-representative core samples to conditions of imminent fracture and map the associated internal strain states of the sample. This will hopefully enable a more precise mapping of the rock material failure envelope, facilitate a more refined understanding of the mechanism of hydraulically induced rock fracture, particularly in crystalline rocks, and serve as a platform for validating and improving fracture simulation codes. The elements of the research program and preliminary strain mapping results of a Sierra White granite sample subjected only to compressive loading will be discussed in this paper.

egs↗
DOE OSTI2018

In situ neutron diffraction study on tensile deformation behavior of carbon-strengthened CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloys at room and elevated temperatures

In this paper, carbon is doped into a CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy as an interstitial atom, improving the single phase solid solution alloy with a good combination of strength and ductility at room temperature by introducing deformation twins. In situ neutron diffraction (ND) is applied to investigate the carbon-doped CoCrFeMnNi deformation mechanism and micromechanical behaviors during uniaxial tension at room and elevated temperatures. With in situ results accompanied with the microstructure and texture measurement, it is found that the plastic deformation is dominated by dislocation slip at an early stage at both temperatures. However, at high strain level, deformation is mediated simultaneously by deformation twins and microbands at room temperature, while it is governed solely by microbands at elevated temperature of 573 K. The evolution of lattice strain, peak intensity, and peak width from in situ ND elucidates the micromechanical behaviors regarding the role of slips and twins. Finally, the texture represented by orientation distribution function indicates that the initial specimen possesses a relatively strong {112} <110> texture component, and the room-temperature tension deformed texture comprises of slip-induced fiber texture and twinning-induced {115} <552> texture component.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

An in situ neutron diffraction study of anomalous superelasticity in a strain glass Ni 43 Fe 18 Ga 27 Co 12 alloy

Superelastic behavior is traditionally related to the martensitic transition with a collective transformation scenario in some shape memory alloys. A kind of quasi-linear superelasticity accompanied by a finite avalanche or confined martensitic transformation was recently found in some alloy systems with strain glass state. Here, an in situ neutron diffraction technique was used to study the deformation behavior in an Ni 43 Fe 18 Ga 27 Co 12 alloy with strain glass state in order to reveal the new intrinsic physical nature of the quasi-linear superelasticity. A significant modulus softening prior to the stress-induced martensitic transformation was observed during compression in the studied alloy, which is similar to the characteristics exhibited in the tweed precursor phenomena prior to temperature-induced martensitic transformation. Moreover, the diffraction peak broadening was further shown during the elastic stage of deformation for both single-crystal and polycrystalline samples, which mainly stems from the short-range fluctuation in the strain field inside each grain based on Williamson–Hall analysis. The authors believe that there exists a spatial heterogeneity in the modulus of the confined martensitic transformation alloy.

Zhang, Q. H.↗
DOE OSTI2012

Neutron-Diffraction Evidence for the Ferrimagnetic Ground State of a Molecule-Based Magnet with Weakly Coupled Sublattices

The diruthenium compound [Ru2(O2CMe)4]3[Cr(CN)6] contains two weakly coupled, ferrimag- netically ordered sublattices occupying the same volume. The magnetic field Hc 800 Oe required to align the two sublattice moments is proportional to the antiferromagnetic dipolar interaction Kc B Hc 5 10 3 meV between sublattices. Powder neutron-diffraction measurements on a deuterated sample reveal that the sublattice moments are restricted by the anisotropy of the diruthenium paddle-wheel complexes to the cubic diagonals. Those measurements also suggest that the quantum corrections to the ground state are significant.

Fishman, Randy Scott↗
DOE OSTI2018

In-situ neutron diffraction investigation on twinning/detwinning activities during tension-compression load reversal in a twinning induced plasticity steel

The tension-compression type of load reversal produces an asymmetric cyclic tension-compression behavior and varied yielding stresses in the subsequent monotonic tension and compression in a twinning induced plasticity steel. The micromechanical behavior was elucidated via the evolutions of the stacking fault probability and the grain orientation density captured by in-situ neutron diffraction. The latter indicates more profound detwinning activities in a reversal from tension to compression than those from compression to tension and more twinning involves in monotonic tension than in compression. In conclusion, this is confirmed by the calculated twinning activities in monotonic tension and compression using the visco-plastic self-consistent model.

TWIP↗
DOE OSTI2017

In-situ Neutron Diffraction Analysis of Crystal Plasticity of Retained Austenite in Bearing Steel

The presence of retained austenite in bearing steels can have a significant effect on the mechanical response of the material at varying length scales. Since retained austenite is metastable and cannot be produced independently without martensite/carbides, the key physical data on elastic-plastic behaviour is absent. In order to address this issue, this study investigates the transformation behaviour of retained austenite using in-situ neutron diffraction during uniaxial tensile testing of through hardened A485 (Grade 1) bearing steel. The study showed that retained austenite does not transform until the yield point of 1.0 GPa, and the transformation suddenly initiates once the true stress exceeds the macroscopic yield point. Analysis of the lattice strain and evolution of peak intensities showed that most of the deformation is accommodated by the retained austenite with <200> crystallographic direction parallel to the loading direction (LD). Analysis further revealed that these austenite planes were transformed into martensite with <211> direction parallel with the LD.

Bedekar, Vikram↗
DOE OSTI2023

Operando neutron diffraction reveals mechanisms for controlled strain evolution in 3D printing

Abstract Residual stresses affect the performance and reliability of most manufactured goods and are prevalent in casting, welding, and additive manufacturing (AM, 3D printing). Residual stresses are associated with plastic strain gradients accrued due to transient thermal stress. Complex thermal conditions in AM produce similarly complex residual stress patterns. However, measuring real-time effects of processing on stress evolution is not possible with conventional techniques. Here we use operando neutron diffraction to characterize transient phase transformations and lattice strain evolution during AM of a low-temperature transformation steel. Combining diffraction, infrared and simulation data reveals that elastic and plastic strain distributions are controlled by motion of the face-centered cubic and body-centered cubic phase boundary. Our results provide a new pathway to design residual stress states and property distributions within additively manufactured components. These findings will enable control of residual stress distributions for advantages such as improved fatigue life or resistance to stress-corrosion cracking.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

A study of suppressed formation of low-conductivity phases in doped Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 garnets by in situ neutron diffraction

Doped Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 garnets, oxide-based solids with good Li + conductivity and compatibility, show great potential as leading electrolyte material candidates for all-solid-state lithium ion batteries. Still yet, the conductive bulk usually suffers from the presence of secondary phases and the transition towards a low-conductivity tetragonal phase during synthesis. Dopants are designed to stabilize the high-conductive cubic phase and suppress the formation of the low-conductivity phases. In situ neutron diffraction enables a direct observation of the doping effects by monitoring the phase evolutions during garnet synthesis. It reveals the reaction mechanism involving the temporary presence of intermediate phases. The off-stoichiometry due to the liquid Li 2 CO 3 evaporation leads to the residual of the low-conductivity intermediate phase in the as-synthesized bulk. Appropriate doping of an active element may alter the component of the intermediate phases and promote the completion of the reaction. While the dopants aid to stabilize most of the cubic phase, a small amount of tetragonal phase tends to form under a diffusion process. Lastly, the in situ observations provide the guideline of process optimization to suppress the formation of unwanted low-conductivity phases.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Neutron Diffraction and Magnetic Susceptibility Studies on a High-Voltage Li 1.2 Mn 0.55 Ni 0.15 Co 0.10 O 2 Lithium Ion Battery Cathode: Insight into the Crystal Structure

Lithium- and manganese-rich oxides undergo structural transformation and/or atomic rearrangements during the delithiation/lithiation process and ultimately suffer from several issues such as first cycle irreversible capacity and voltage fade. In order to understand the mechanism of these issues, perception of a detailed crystal structure of pristine material is obviously demanding. In this study, combined powder neutron diffraction (ND) and temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility techniques were employed to investigate the structure of a pristine lithium- and manganese-rich Li1.2Mn0.55Ni0.15Co0.10O2 cathode oxide. Rietveld refinement on the experimental ND pattern yields good fits by considering either Li2MO3 (M = Co, Mn, Ni) type monoclinic (C2/m space group) phase with 1% of Ni residing in the 4h lithium site or a composite structure consisting of 50% of Li2MnO3 type monoclinic (C2/m space group) and 50% LiMO2 (M = Co, Mn, Ni) type trigonal (R$\bar{3}$m space group) structure. In the composite structure, 3% Li/Ni site exchange in the trigonal phase is also proposed. Further, temperature-dependent dc magnetic susceptibility shows Curie–Weiss paramagnetic behavior at T ≥ 100 K, and no ordering/deviation of the field cooling (FC) curve in the temperature range 2–320 K indicates the random distribution of metal ions in the transition metal (TM) layer in the trigonal phase. Bifurcation of the zero-field cooling (ZFC) curve from the FC curve showing a magnetic ordering at TN 50 K reveals the presence of cation ordering in the TM layers arising from a distinct Li2MnO3-like phase. These results suggest that the lithium- and manganese-rich oxide with a composition Li1.2Mn0.55Ni0.15Co0.10O2 is more likely a composite of monoclinic and trigonal phases. The report also highlights the unique materials diagnostic capability of combined ND and magnetic susceptibility techniques to obtain detailed structural information of complex oxide systems.

Mohanty, Debasish↗