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Characterization of Shear Properties for APO/MBI Syntactic Foam

Triaxial compression testing is a means for mechanical characterization of a material. A unique feature of the triaxial compression test is the application of two different magnitudes of compressive pressures on the material simultaneously. The material behavior under these different compressive pressures can be monitored over time. Several important characteristics of the material, such as stress yield values and the shear failure envelope may then be determined. Also mechanical properties such as Poisson’s ratio, Young’s modulus and bulk modulus can be determined from the triaxial compression test. The triaxial compression test was employed in this investigation to characterize the shear behavior, shear failure envelope, and mechanical properties of a syntactic foam. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) supplied a total of 36 samples of APO-BMI syntactic foam to the University of New Mexico, Department of Civil Engineering for testing between December 2003 and May 2004. Each sample had a diameter of 1.395±0.005 in. (3.543±0.013cm.) and a length of 2.796±0.004 in. (7.102±0.010 cm.). The samples had an average density of 0.295 g/cm3. Additional information about the material tested in this investigation can be found in the “Specimen Description” section contained in Chapter 1. The nomenclatures used in this study is presented in Chapter 1. In addition to designing and implementing triaxial compression tests capable of up to 2,000 psi. confining pressure (minor principal stress) and roughly 13,000 psi. in axial pressure (major principal stress), a pure tension test was designed and conducted on the foam material. The purpose of this pure tension test was to obtain maximum tensile stress values to enhance the characterization of the shear envelope in the stress space. The sampling procedure and specimen preparation for a standard test can be found in the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) D 5379/ D 5379 – 93. The above tests mentioned and their procedures are discussed in Chapter 2. Chapter 2 contains the types of tests performed and the apparatus used for testing the material. Chapter 2 also has a brief explanation of the equipment and the procedures used for conducting the tests. In Chapter 3, the material characteristics and mechanical properties obtained from the tests are described; composite plots of deviatoric vs. mean stress and deviatoric stress vs. longitudinal strain are also included. The plots of deviatoric stress vs. mean stress clearly identify the shear envelope for the material. Chapter 4 summarizes the vital information obtained from the tests and the conclusions made. All the necessary plots and the data generated during the testing have been included in the Appendix. The information in the appendix includes plots of: Strain vs. Time, Stress vs. Time, Stress vs. Strain, Mean Stress vs. Volumetric Strain, Lateral Strain vs. Longitudinal Strain, and q vs. p. Bulk modulus, Poisson’s ratio, and Young’s modulus are displayed in the appropriate plots in each appendix.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Trait relationships of fungal decomposers in response to drought using a dual field and laboratory approach

Abstract Decomposer fungi play a fundamental role in terrestrial ecosystem dynamics. In the southwestern United States, climate change is causing more frequent and severe droughts, which may alter fungal community composition and activity. Investigating relationships between fungal traits may improve the prediction of fungal responses to drought. In this dual field and laboratory experiment, we examine whether trade‐offs occur between traits associated with drought. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that fungi sort into lifestyles specializing in growth y ield, resource a cquisition, and drought s tress tolerance (“YAS” framework). For the field experiment, we constructed microbial “cages” containing sterilized litter and 1 of 10 fungal isolates. These cages were placed in long‐term drought and control plots in a southern Californian grassland for 6 and 12 months. We measured fungal hyphal length per unit litter mass loss for growth yield, the potential activities of four extracellular enzymes for resource acquisition, and the ability to grow in the drought versus control plots for drought stress tolerance. We compared these results with a laboratory microcosm experiment constructed with the same fungal isolates and that measured the same fungal traits. The field experiment corroborated our laboratory results, in that no trade‐offs were observed between growth yield and resource acquisition traits. However, in contrast to the laboratory experiment, drought tolerance was negatively related to extracellular enzyme activity and growth yield in the field, implying a trade‐off. Despite this observed trade‐off in the field, growth yield was not hindered by drought. We propose a modification to the YAS framework, by combining the growth yield and resource acquisition lifestyles, which may be more appropriate for this arid system. This joint laboratory and field approach contextualizes a theoretical framework in microbial ecology and improves understanding of fungal community response to climate change.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Empirical Characterization and Modeling of Cohesive – to – Adhesive Shear Fracture Mode Transition due to Increased Adhesive Layer Thicknesses of Fiber Reinforced Composite Single – Lap Joints

Here, to ensure a strong adhesive bond, most standards and adhesive manufacturers specify a maximum adhesive gap of 1 mm when bonding fiber reinforced composite structures. In manufacturing large components, such as joining two halves of wind turbine blades, meeting this gap tolerance specification is impractical; gaps larger than 10 mm are common in large adhesively bonded composite structures using state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques. Currently, there is a lack of fundamental understanding of the failure mechanics of adhesive gaps larger than 3 mm. To create such understanding, glass fiber - acrylic thermoplastic composite panels bonded using different epoxy adhesives within single-lap joint samples with adhesive thicknesses of 0.1 mm, 0.3 mm, 1 mm, 3 mm, 5 mm, and 10 mm were sheared to failure. A transition from cohesive to adhesive failure was observed to occur about 1 mm to 3 mm joint thicknesses. Plotting the shear stress normalized by the ratio of the joint width to thickness as a function of the joint thickness normalized by the joint length is shown to result in the ability to fit simple empirically derived models of the cohesive-to-adhesive failure transition, regardless of the adhesive. Furthermore, using these normalized variables, all the observed cohesively failed specimens collapse to a single master curve, as do the adhesively failed specimens.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Optimal Geometry for Focused Ion Beam-Milled Samples for Direct-Pull Micro-Tensile Testing Performed In Situ in a Scanning Electron Microscope

A thorough procedure was developed to efficiently manufacture dogbone samples using focused ion beam (FIB) milling for micro-tensile testing. A Bruker PI 89 PicoIndenter, Billerica, MA, USA, was used as a case study, although the analysis and results are applicable to other micro-mechanical testing systems capable of mounting a standard, Ø12.7 mm × Ø3.2 mm pin, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) pin stub (Ted Pella, Redding, CA, USA). Nine dogbones were made from an Fe-45Cu alloy additively manufactured using powder-fed laser-directed energy deposition (DED-LB). Testing showed that fracture was confined to the gauge section for all dogbones and that the fracture mode, ductile vs. brittle, was entirely dependent on the grain orientation relative to the loading direction. The analysis showed that the measured plastic strain to failure can vary from >11% (optimal geometry) to <1% (non-optimal geometry) in micro-tensile testing of high-tensile-strength (>1 GPa) metallic materials. Subsequently, a finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted to identify the improved dogbone geometries. A total of ten thousand dogbone geometries were tested, and their dimensions were defined by a set of four adjustable parameters (corner radius, load surface angle, load surface length, and dogbone head length). The gauge width and gauge length were fixed to 4 µm and 10 µm, respectively. Three-dimensional surface plots of the stress concentration as a function of two parameters were used to identify the optimal ranges of parameter values. The addition of maximum width and length constraints, measuring 25 µm and 30 µm, respectively, allowed us to identify an optimal geometry at load surface angles of 30° and 45°. Their respective dimensions (corner radius, load surface length, and dogbone head length) are, in µm, 12, 6, and 7 and 10, 7, and 7. Testing these two optimal geometries with a range of gauge lengths from 4 to 20 µm showed that smaller gauge lengths only slightly reduced the detrimental stress concentration outside the gauge section. However, smaller gauge lengths will notably improve the FIB surface polishing step as tapering is reduced with smaller dogbone lengths.

Chemistry↗

Modeling slip system strength evolution in Ti-7Al informed by in-situ grain stress measurements

In this work, far-field high-energy X-ray diffraction microscopy is used to asses the evolution of slip system strengths in hexagonal close-packed (HCP) Ti-7Al during tensile deformation in-situ. The following HCP slip system families are considered: basal $\langle$a$\rangle$, prismatic $\langle$a$\rangle$, pyramidal$\langle$a$\rangle$, and first-order pyramidal $\langle$c + a$\rangle$. A 1 mm length of the specimen's gauge section, marked with fiducials and comprised of an aggregate of over 500 grains, is tracked during continuous deformation. The response of each slip system family is quantified using ‘slip system strength curves’ that are calculated from the average stress tensors of each grain over the applied deformation history. These curves, which plot the average resolved shear stress for each slip system family versus macroscopic strain, represent a mesoscopic characterization of the aggregate response. A short time-scale transient softening is observed in the basal $\langle$a$\rangle$, prismatic $\langle$a$\rangle$, and pyramidal $\langle$a$\rangle$ slip systems, while a long time-scale transient hardening is observed in the pyramidal $\langle$c + a$\rangle$ slip systems. These results are used to develop a slip system strength model as part of an elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model for the single crystal behavior. A suite of finite element simulations is performed on a virtual polycrystal to demonstrate the relative effects of the different parameters in the slip system strength model. The model is shown to accurately capture the macroscopic stress-strain response using parameters that are chosen to capture the mesoscopic slip system responses.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Fallon FORGE: Distinct Element Reservoir Modeling

Archive containing input/output data for distinct element reservoir modeling for Fallon FORGE. Models created using 3DEC, InSite, and in-house Python algorithms (ITASCA). List of archived files follows; please see 'Modeling Metadata.pdf' (included as a resource below) for additional file descriptions. Data sources include regional geochemical model, well positions and geometry, principal stress field, capability for hydraulic fractures, capability for hydro-shearing, reservoir geomechanical model-stimulation into multiple zones, modeled thermal behavior during circulation, and microseismicity.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Dynamic phase transformations in additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V during thermo-mechanical gyrations

A complex interaction of process parameters, geometry and scan strategies in Additive Manufacturing (AM), can bring about spatial and temporal transients, i.e., Σ T ( x, y, z, time ), within a part. Published literature focusses on fluctuating thermal cycles on the microstructure evolution. However, the microstructural variations have not been correlated to dynamic flow behavior due to the macro- and micro-scale phenomena, i.e., accumulated plastic strains brought about by large thermal gradients, transformational strains and crystallographic misfit strains. Therefore, here we studied the mechanical response of Ti6Al4V alloys produced by AM under externally imposed controlled thermo-mechanical reversals in a Gleeble® thermo-mechanical simulator. The stress-strain behaviors were correlated to phase fractions, lattice strains, and also limited information on crystallographic texture using neutron diffraction techniques at the VULCAN Beamline at SNS, ORNL and also metallographic studies. The results are discussed and rationalized based on theories of static and dynamic phase transformations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

SupplementalFilesCPTAC_ProteogenomicOvarianPaper_2020_02_27

Interactive plots (in HTML/javascript) as supplemental files for the paper titled: Proteogenomic Characterization of Ovarian High-Grade Serous Cancer Implicates Mitotic Kinases, Replication Stress in Observed Chromosomal Instability. The plots represent the differential expression of proteins (File 1) and phosphopeptides (File 2) comparing tumor to normal tissue.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Critical Shear Stress for Erosion Under Laminar Jet Flow

Particle erosion is an important process in both natural and manmade environments. For example, in natural environments particle or sediment erosion rates determine the course of rivers, depth of streams, and fate of deltas. The interplay between erosion rates and flow patterns can have dramatic impact on shorelines. Where hydrodynamic jet flows or rip currents change direction, sediments may accumulate or disperse altering the shape of coastlines and the ecosystems and economies that rely on them. In man-made systems, jet flows may be used to mobilize particles from surfaces or within industrial scale mixing tanks. For example, in the nuclear industry, impinging jet mixers may be used to mobilize and suspend sludges at the bottom of waste tanks. In each of these examples, the Shields diagram is useful to determine the conditions under which erosion occurs. This diagram plots the scaled critical shear stress for erosion as a function of the particle size as embedded in particle Reynolds numbers, Archimedes numbers, or their equivalents. Although the data, that carries a large spread, is largely in agreement with mathematical models, for the smallest particles, model predictions diverge from each other and from experimental data. Indeed, there is substantial uncertainty about the Shields diagrams at relatively small particle sizes and flow rates. Here we evaluate critical shear stresses for erosion under laminar jet flow. To date critical shear stresses for erosion, as embodied in Shields diagrams, have largely been developed for turbulent flow both experimental and mathematically. However, curves on the Shields diagrams diverge among various models at lower particle Reynolds numbers. Indeed, how critical shear stresses for erosion develop under fully laminar jet flow conditions (not simply laminar boundary layers under turbulent flow) remains unclear. Here we address this gap, which is particularly important for mobilization of the smallest particles. We find the Shields parameter to be inversely proportional to the particle Reynolds numbers under laminar jet flow conditions similar to turbulent conditions.

critical shear stresses, erosion rates, effective ↗

Hopes Beyond PET Recycling: Environmentally Clean and Engineeringly Applicable

Disposal of plastics in the environment has become a core of anxiety in developing countries, while in the developed countries the focus has additionally been placed on design and manufacture of emerging products from plastic wastes—a somewhat vague yet promising horizon. Central to environmental concerns are poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) wastes, mainly from post-consumer bottles. Because of a considerable drop in molecular weight in the course of recycling, recycled PETs are not suitable for engineering uses. An efficient yet reasonably green synthesis route is employed here to convert PET wastes into polyurethane, and then carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was added at different levels to obtain nanocomposites with high mechanical properties. The effects of isocyanate (NCO)/hydroxyl (OH) molar ratio and CNTs content on the morphology, physical and mechanical properties were discussed. Chemical/physical crosslink density was calculated from initial slope of stress–strain curves, Mooney–Rivlin plots, strain-hardening modulus, rubbery-plateau storage modulus and swelling data. High tensile strength (300 MPa) and breaking elongation (160%) of polyurethane/CNTs nanocomposites born from PET wastes seemed promising. Microscopic analyses by AFM, SEM, and TEM gave useful information about distribution of CNTs in polyurethane. Lastly, structural changes were correlated to mechanical properties improvement.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A physiological signal derived from sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence quantifies crop physiological response to environmental stresses in the U.S. Corn Belt

Sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) measurements have shown unique potential for quantifying plant physiological stress. However, recent investigations found canopy structure and radiation largely control SIF, and physiological relevance of SIF remains yet to be fully understood. This study aims to evaluate whether the SIF-derived physiological signal improves quantification of crop responses to environmental stresses, by analyzing data at three different spatial scales within the U.S. Corn Belt, i.e. experiment plot, field, and regional scales, where ground-based portable, stationary and space-borne hyperspectral sensing systems are used, respectively. We found that, when controlling for variations in incoming radiation and canopy structure, crop SIF signals can be decomposed into non-physiological (i.e. canopy structure and radiation, 60% ~ 82%) and physiological information (i.e. physiological SIF yield, Φ F , 17% ~ 31%), which confirms the contribution of physiological variation to SIF. We further evaluated whether Φ F indicated plant responses under high-temperature and high vapor pressure deficit (VPD) stresses. The plot-scale data showed that Φ F responded to the proxy for physiological stress (partial correlation coefficient, r p = 0.40, p < 0.001) while non-physiological signals of SIF did not respond ( p > 0.1). The field-scale Φ F data showed water deficit stress from the comparison between irrigated and rainfed fields, and Φ F was positively correlated with canopy-scale stomatal conductance, a reliable indicator of plant physiological condition (correlation coefficient r = 0.60 and 0.56 for an irrigated and rainfed sites, respectively). The regional-scale data showed Φ F was more strongly correlated spatially with air temperature and VPD ( r = 0.23 and 0.39) than SIF ( r = 0.11 and 0.34) for the U.S. Corn Belt. The lines of evidence suggested that Φ F reflects crop physiological responses to environmental stresses with greater sensitivity to stress factors than SIF, and the stress quantification capability of Φ F is spatially scalable. Utilizing Φ F for physiological investigations will contribute to improve our understanding of vegetation responses to high-temperature and high-VPD stresses.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

High-Temperature Tensile and Creep Test Results on Thin Wall Tube Specimens of ODS Alloys 14YWT and OFRAC

High-temperature tensile and strain rate jump (SRJ) creep tests were conducted on axial specimens fabricated from thin wall tubes of the oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloys 14YWT and OFRAC. The dimensions of the 14YWT thin wall tube was 10.7 mm OD, 0.5 mm WT and 0.92 m and of the OFRAC thin wall tube was 8.5 mm OD + 0.5 mm WT and 1.78 m in length. The axial specimens fabricated from the thin wall tubes were based on a dual-gauge design with gauge dimensions of 4 mm long and 2 mm wide. The tensile tests were conducted in air at 800ºC, 900ºC and 1,000ºC and the SRJ creep tests were conducted in air at 800ºC. Two axial specimens were used in each tensile and SRJ creep tests. The results of the tensile tests showed much lower yield stress (YS) compared to ultimate tensile strength (UTS) indicative of large work hardening properties. The results showed the UTS of OFRAC was higher than that of 14YWT by ~35 MPa at 800ºC. At 900ºC, the UTS of OFRAC and 14YWT was similar at 900ºC and at 1000ºC, the UTS of 14YWT was higher than that of OFRAC by ~10 MPa. The ductility properties of OFRAC were greater than that of 14YWT with higher values of uniform elongation (UE) and total elongation (TE) at all tensile test temperatures. The creep properties of 14YWT and OFRAC were evaluated by the strain rate jump test method at 800ºC. The stress exponent (n) for creep was obtained from the SRJ test data by plotting the values of the log strain rate against the log stress, which is measured from the stress-strain curve generated during the SRJ test. The results showed the highest stress exponents of n = 19.8 and n = 35.0 were measured from the two SRJ tests on 14YWT. The stress exponent measured from one successful SRJ test on OFRAC was n = 13.3, which was lower than that of 14YWT. Nevertheless, these high values of stress exponent are consistent with ODS ferritic alloys such as 14YWT and OFRAC since they indicate dislocation-particle interactions are the dominant creep mechanism for specific ranges of temperature and stress. The results obtained from the tensile and SRJ creep tests conducted on axial specimens in this study indicate that 14YWT and OFRAC retain high strengths at temperatures up to 1,000ºC and good creep performance at 800ºC.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Soil microenvironmental variation drives below‐ground trait variation and interacts with macroclimate to structure above‐ground trait variation of arctic shrubs

Abstract Intraspecific trait variation can influence plant performance in different environments and may thereby determine the ability of individual plants to respond to climate change. However, our understanding of its patterns and environmental drivers across different spatial scales is incomplete, especially in understudied regions like the Arctic. To fill this knowledge gap, we examined above‐ground and below‐ground traits from three shrub taxa expanding across the tundra biome and evaluated their relationships with multiple microenvironmental and macroclimatic factors. The traits reflected plant size and structure (plant height, leaf area and root to shoot ratio), leaf economics (specific leaf area, nitrogen content), and root economics and collaboration with mycorrhizal fungi (specific root length, root tissue density, nitrogen content, and ectomycorrhizal colonisation intensity). We also measured leaf and root δ 15 N and leaf δ 13 C to characterise nitrogen source and acquisition pathways and plant water stress. Traits were measured in replicated plots ( N = 135) varying in soil microclimate, thaw depth and organic layer thickness established across five sites spanning a macroclimate gradient in northern Alaska. This hierarchical design allowed us to disentangle the independent and combined effects of fine‐scale and broad‐scale factors on intraspecific trait variation. We found substantial intraspecific variation at fine spatial scales for most traits and less variation along the macroclimate gradient and between shrub taxa. Consistent with these patterns, microenvironmental factors, mainly soil moisture and thaw depth, interacted with macroclimate, mainly climatic water deficit, to structure size‐structural and leaf trait variation. In contrast, most root traits responded additively to thaw depth and macroclimate. Synthesis . Our results demonstrate that above‐ground and below‐ground tundra shrub traits respond differently to microenvironmental and macroclimatic variation. These differing responses contribute to substantial trait variation at fine spatial scales and may decouple above‐ground and below‐ground trait responses to climate change.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗

Effect of Small Preliminary Deformation on the Evolution of Elastoplastic Waves of Shock Compression in Annealed VT1-0 Titanium

The evolution of an elastoplastic waves of shock compression in VT1-0 titanium in the as-annealed state and after preliminary compression is measured. A preliminary strain of 0.6% and the related increase in the dislocation density are found to change the deformation kinetics radically and to decrease the Hugoniot elastic limit. An increase in the preliminary strain from 0.6% to 5.2% only weakly changes the Hugoniot elastic limit and the compression rate in the plastic shock wave. The measurement results are used to plot the strain rate versus the stress at the initial stage of high-rate deformation, and the experimental results are interpreted in terms of dislocation dynamics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Complete Status Report Documenting the Development of Friction Stir Welding for Producing a Butt Joint in Thin Wall Tubing of ODS Alloys

A challenging attempt using friction stir welding to produce a butt joint between two 1.0 mm thick plates of 14YWT was nearly successful. The modified tool pin mostly penetrated the thickness of the adjoined thin plate samples resulting in a small blunt notch on the bottom surface of the butt joint. A bend occurred in the thin plate sample due to formation of stresses from clamping the thin plate sample during FSW. The peak displacement of the bend occurred along the center line of the butt joint. The weld zone showed good microstructure mixing with some flashing mostly on the retreating side that suggested excess heat input by friction between the traveling and spinning tool pin and thin plates of 14YWT. Neutron diffraction experiments were performed on the bent sample of 14YWT to measure the residual stresses in the butt joint on the HB-2B beam line at the Neutron Residual Stress Facility at HFIR. However, the neutron scattering to background noise ratio was very low during data acquisition. Measurements of lattice strains were obtained in the rolling (RD) and normal (ND) directions but not in the extrusion direction (ED) of the thin plate sample. Unfortunately, the quality of the data was not sufficient for determining the residual stresses in the butt joint. From the previous neutron scattering experiments conducted on four hot rolled plates (R1, R2, R3 and R4) of 14YWT, the residual stresses were calculated from lattice strain data and plotted in 2-D color contour maps for ED, RD and ND. The results showed variations in the magnitude and spatial position of residual stresses in the microstructure of the four plates. The magnitude in residual stresses in ED and RD increased gradually with increasing rolling deformation for R1 (50%) to R2 (76%), followed by larger increases in R3 (89%) and R4 (95%). The maximum peaks in residual stresses for R4 was ~710-730 MPa in ED and RD. The residual stresses in ND were below ~300 MPa for each of the 4 rolled plates, with a maximum residual stress in R4 (95%) of ~400 MPa. These results indicated that significant residual stresses representing ~57% of the yield stress of 14YWT (SM13) had accumulated in the 14YWT plate after hot rolling to the 1 mm thickness, which was used in the FSW experiments. The microstructure analysis of the 1.0 mm thick plate of 14YWT containing the butt joint produced by FSW revealed significant changes in the grain structure and texture between the unaffected zone (UZ) of the rolled plate and the butt joint weld. In the UZ, the grains were severely elongated after 95% deformation and mainly possessed the {101} texture component in the ED. Two predominant grain misorientation angles were observed: one consisting of small misorientations of <5º between highly elongated grains and the other consisting of large misorientations of >15º in pockets of small grains that might have formed by dynamic recrystallization processes during rolling of the plate at 1000ºC. The morphology and texture of grains in the heat affected zone (HAZ) were similar to those in UZ, except the grains had coarsened due to excess heat input during FSZ. A population of pores formed and the grains both coarsened and changed to isotropic morphology in the microstructure of the butt joint on both the advancing and retreating sides. The texture of grains in both regions were randomly orientated between the 3 poles {001}, {101} and {111}. The main difference in texture of grains between the advancing side and retreating side was with the misorientation angles of neighboring grains. Most of the grains in the advancing side had misorientation angles of >5º indicating that these grains experienced recrystallization. On the retreating side, areas containing larger grains showed high misorientation angles of >15º compared to areas appearing as bands of grains with misorientation angles of <5º and between 5º-15º. Numerous small pockets of grains with low misorientation angles of <5º were distributed in the microstructure among the grains showing high misorientation angles of >15º. It was determined that the grains associated with low misorientation angles contained sub-grain structures, which was consistent with both recrystallization and recovery mechanisms for grains located on the retreating side of the butt joint. These results demonstrate the complex microstructure that evolves in the microstructure of 14YWT resulting from the input of high temperatures and severe deformations during FSW.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Materials for Advanced Ultrasupercritical Steam Turbines Task 4: Cast Superalloy Development

The Steam Turbine critical stationary structural components are high integrity Large Shell and Valve Casing heavy section Castings, containing high temperature steam under high pressures. Hence to support the development of advanced materials technology for use in an AUSC steam turbine capable of operating with steam conditions of 760°C (1400°F) and 35 Mpa (5000 psia), Casting alloy selection and evaluation of mechanical, metallurgical properties and castability with robust manufacturing methods are mandated. Alloy down select from Phase 1 based on producability criteria and creep rupture properties tested by NETL-Albany and ORNL directed the consortium to investigate cast properties of Haynes 282 and Haynes 263. The goals of Task 4 in Phase 2 are to understand a broader range of mechanical properties, the impact of manufacturing variables on those properties. Scale up the size of heats to production levels to facilitate the understanding of the impact of heat and component weight, on metallurgical and mechanical behavior. GE Power & Water Materials and Processes Engineering for the Phase 2, Task 4.0 Castings work, systematically designed and executed casting material property evaluation, multiple test programs. Starting from 15 lbs. cylinder castings to world’s first 17,000 lbs. poured weight, heavy section large steam turbine partial valve Haynes 282 super alloy casting. This has demonstrated scalability of the material for steam Turbine applications. Activities under Task 4.0, Investigated and characterized various mechanical properties of Cast Haynes 282 and Cast Nimonic 263. The development stages involved were: 1) Small Cast Evaluation: 4 inch diam. Haynes 282 and Nimonic 263 Cylinders. This provided effects of liquidus super heat range and first baseline mechanical data on cast versions of conventional vacuum re-melted and forged Ni based super alloys. 2) Step block castings of 300 lbs. and 600 lbs. Haynes 282 from 2 foundry heats were evaluated which demonstrated the importance of proper heat treat cycles for Homogenization, and Solutionizing parameters selection and implementation. 3) Step blocks casting of Nimonic 263: Carried out casting solidification simulation analysis, NDT inspection methods evaluation, detailed test matrix for Chemical, Tensile, LCF, stress rupture, CVN impact, hardness and J1C Fracture toughness section sensitivity data and were reported. 4) Centrifugal Casting of Haynes 282, weighing 1400 lbs. with hybrid mold (half Graphite and half Chromite sand) mold assembly was cast using compressor casing production tooling. This test provided Mold cooling rates influence on centrifugally cast microstructure and mechanical properties. Graphite mold section out performs sand mold across all temperatures for 0.2% YS; %Elongation, %RA, UTS at 1400°F. Both Stress-LMP and conditional Fracture toughness plots data were in the scatter band of the wrought alloy. 5) Fundamental Studies on Cooling rates and SDAS test program. Evaluated the influence of 6 mold materials Silica, Chromite, Alumina, Silica with Indirect Chills, Zircon and Graphite on casting solidification cooling rates. Actual Casting cooling rates through Liquidus to Solidus phase transition were measured with 3 different locations based thermocouples placed in each mold. Compared with solidification simulation cooling rates and measurement of SDAS, microstructure features were reported. The test results provided engineered casting potential methods, applicable for heavy section Haynes 282 castings for optimal properties, with foundry process methods and tools. 6) Large casting of Haynes 282 Drawings and Engineering FEM models and supplemental requirements with applicable specifications were provided to suppliers for the steam turbine proto type feature valve casing casting. Molding, melting and casting pouring completed per approved Manufacturing Process Plan during 2014 Q4. The partial valve casing was successfully cast after casting methods were validated with solidification simulation analysis and the casting met NDT inspection and acceptance criteria. Heat treated and sectioned to extract trepan samples at different locations comparing with cast on coupons test data. Material properties requisite for design, such as tensile, creep/rupture, LCF, Fracture Toughness, Charpy V-notch chemical analysis testing were carried out. The test results will be presented in the final report. The typical Haynes 282 large size Steam Turbine production casting from Order to Delivery foundry schedule with the activity break up is shown in Figures 107 and 108. • From Purchase Order placement to Casting pouring ~ 26 weeks. 1. Sales and commercial review 3 2. Engineering Drawings/models review 4 3. Pattern and core box manufacturing 6 4. Casting process engineering review 4 5. FEM and solidification simulation analysis 4 6. Gating & Feeder Attachments, Ceramic tiling 2 7. Molding and coremaking production scheduling 6 8. Melting planning and schedule 3 9. Pouring, cooling and shake out 2 • From Pouring to casting Delivery ~ 29 weeks 10. Shot blast and riser cutting, gates removal 3 11. Homogenizing , solutionizing HT furnace prep 4 12. Grinding, Fettling 2 13. Aging HT Cycle, cooling 2 14. VT and LPT NDT inspections 2 15. Radiographic inspection 4 16. Mechanical testing, Chemical analysis test certs 4 17. Casting weld repair upgrades and Aging PWHT 4 18. NDT after weld repairs and casting upgrades 3 19. Casting Final Inspection and test certifications 3 20. Package and delivery 2 Hence the Total Lead time from P.O to Casting delivery is approximately 55 weeks. The Task 4.2 and Task 4.3 activities and reporting completed.

Thangirala, Mani↗

Development of creep resistant ferritic-martensitic steels for operation at 650°C

Creep resistant ferritic-martensitic steels capable of operating at 650°C have long been under development for electricity generation. This presentation will showcase the design and development of alloys CPJ-7 and JMP with approximately 420,000 h of in-house creep testing, the equivalent of ~50 years of cumulative creep tests. Approximately fifty different alloy compositions were manufactured as part of an ICME approach. CPJ-7 present superior creep properties compared to COST alloys for steam turbine and P91/92 for boiler applications. The prolonged creep life was attributed to slowing down the destabilization of fine precipitates at 650°C. The JMP steels were designed with higher Co for solid solution strengthening and increased W for matrix strength and stability. The creep life compared to CPJ-7 increased between 118 and 150% at 650°C depending on the stress. On a Larson-Miller plot, the performance of the JMP steels surpasses that of MARBN steel. Composition-microstructure-properties relationships will be discussed.

Detrois, Martin↗

Species-specific transpiration responses to intermediate disturbance in a northern hardwood forest: Transpiration response to disturbance

Intermediate disturbances shape forest structure and composition, which may in turn alter carbon, nitrogen, and water cycling. We used a large-scale experiment in a forest in northern lower Michigan where we prescribed an intermediate disturbance by stem girdling all canopy-dominant early successional trees to simulate an accelerated age-related senescence associated with natural succession.Using 3 years of eddy covariance and sap flux measurements in the disturbed area and an adjacent control plot, we analyzed disturbance-induced changes to plot level and species-specific transpiration and stomatal conductance. We found transpiration to be ~15% lower in disturbed plots than in unmanipulated control plots. However, species-specific responses to changes in microclimate varied. While red oak and white pine showed increases in stomatal conductance during post disturbance (62.5 and 132.2%, respectively), redmaple reduced stomatal conductance by 36.8%. We used the hysteresis between sap flux and vapor pressure deficit to quantify diurnal hydraulic stress incurred by each species in both plots. Red oak, a ring porousanisohydric species, demonstrated the largest mean relative hysteresis, while red maple, bigtooth aspen, andpaper birch, all diffuse porous species, had the lowest relative hysteresis. We employed the Penman-Monteithmodel for LE to demonstrate that these species-specific responses to disturbance are not well captured using current modeling strategies and that accounting for changes to leaf area index and plot microclimate are insufffcient to fully describe the effects of disturbance on transpiration.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗