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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 883 records · Page 49
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Transient Rheological Behavior of Semisolid SEED-Processed 7075 Aluminum Alloys in Rapid Compression

The transient rheological behavior and microstructure evolution of semisolid SEED-processed 7075 aluminum alloys were studied using the rapid compression tests. The effects of the TiB{sub 2} grain refinement on the grain morphology and size of semisolid slurries were investigated. Results indicated that the grain refiner could reduce the grain size and improve the globularity of α-Al grains. The grain-refined alloy can be easily deformed at a wide range of solid contents (0.42 to 0.53 Fs), in which the deformation level appears to be independent from the solid content. Under the transient state, the apparent viscosity decreased with increasing shear rate to a minimum value and followed by an increase as the shear rate decreased. The apparent viscosity of the base alloy exhibited a dependency on the solid content, while the apparent viscosity of the grain-refined alloy in the decreasing or increasing shear rate periods was not substantially influenced by the solid content. The viscosity as a function of applied shear rate can be described using the power law viscosity model. The differences in the flow behavior index (n) and the consistency index (k) for two alloys were discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Effect of Normalizing Temperature on Fracture Characteristic of Tensile and Impact Tested Creep Strength-Enhanced Ferritic P92 Steel

The high-temperature Cr-Mo creep strength-enhanced ferritic (CSEF) steels are mainly used in nuclear and thermal power plants. In the present investigation, a systematic study on fracture surface morphologies of tensile and impact tested specimens and mechanical properties of cast and forged (C&F) P92 steel was performed for various heat treatment conditions. The heat treatment was carried out in normalizing temperature range of 950-1150 °C and then tempered to a fixed tempering temperature of 760 °C. The effect of varying normalizing temperatures before and after tempering on microstructure evolution, tensile properties, Vicker’s hardness and Charpy toughness was studied. The normalizing temperature before and after tempering was having a noticeable effect on mechanical properties of as-received P92 steel. The fracture surface of impact and tensile tested samples was also studied for various normalizing temperatures with or without tempering. Fracture surface morphology was affected by the presence of secondary phase carbide particles. The fraction area of cleavage facets on the tensile fracture surface was found to be increased with an increase in the normalizing temperature. The fractured tensile specimens were characterized by transgranular ductile dimples, tear ridges and transgranular cleavage facets for various heat treatments. The fracture mode of impact tested samples was more complex. It showed both quasi-cleavage facets and ductile dimple tearing for various normalizing temperatures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Correlation Between Structural Parameters and Mechanical Properties of Al5083 Sheets Processed by ECAR

In the paper, structural parameters and mechanical properties of Al5083 alloy sheet during equal channel angular rolling (ECAR) process and their relationship are studied. In order to evaluate the effect of ECAR process, Al5083 strips were subjected to the ECAR process for 1, 2, and 3 passes through the die channel angles 110°, 120°, and 130° at two routes. The effect of the process on the microstructural evolution of samples was investigated by means of x-ray diffraction and EBSD techniques. X-ray pattern has been analyzed using Rietveld method to compute structural parameters, including microstrain, average crystallite size, and dislocation density. The results showed that the dislocation density and microstrain were increased, and crystallite size was decreased during ECAR process. It was found that the behavior of variations in mechanical properties was in accordance with the dislocation density changes. This paper revealed that the increase in the strength of ECARed samples could be attributed to reduction in high-angle grain boundaries and the increase in dislocation density. Moreover, the yield strength estimated from Taylor equation was found in accordance very well with the experimentally measured yield strength of the samples.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Effect of Deformation Temperature on Dynamic Recrystallization and CSL Grain Boundary Distribution of Fe-36%Ni Invar Alloy

This paper investigated the effect of deformation temperatures on microstructure evolution and grain boundary character distribution (GBCD) of Fe-36%Ni Invar alloy during hot compression tests. The isothermal hot deformation tests were carried out in a temperature range of 850-1100 °C and a strain rate of 0.01 s{sup −1}. The grain boundary character distribution was based on the Σ3{sup n} (n = 1, 2, 3,…) coincidence site lattice (CSL) boundaries. The experimental results show that the extent of dynamic recrystallization significantly expanded at the strain rate of 0.01 s{sup −1} with the increase in temperature and this phenomenon was consistent with the evolution tendency of Σ3{sup n} boundaries. To some degree, the increasing proportion of typical low-ΣCSL boundaries, especially the increasing trend of Σ3, positively promoted the wider process of dynamic recrystallization.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Effect of Zener–Holloman Parameter on the Prior Austenite Grain size in a 12Cr-10Ni Precipitation-Hardenable Stainless Steel

Hot isothermal plane strain compression (PSC) tests were carried out on a 12Cr-10Ni martensitic precipitation-hardenable (PH) stainless steel, in the temperature range of 750-1050 °C, to study microstructural evolution during large strain deformation. The nature of stress–strain curves varies with Zener–Holloman parameter (Z) with specimens deformed at high Z showing steady-state behavior and those deformed at lower Z showing flow softening. Prior austenite grain size (PAGS), d, exhibited a strong correlation to Z showing a bilinear behavior represented as: d = (1803.9)Z{sup −0.094} for high Z deformation and d = (1456.2)Z{sup −0.058} for low Z deformation. Based on the above study, it is recommended to thermomechanically process 12Cr-10Ni steel at Z ≥ 10{sup 22} for obtaining products with good strength–toughness balance.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Dissimilar Metal Weld Joints of P91/Ni Alloy: Microstructural Characterization of HAZ of P91 and Stress Analysis at the Weld Interfaces

Microstructure evolution and hardness were evaluated at the interface of two friction-welded transition joints between P91 and AISI 304 fabricated applying Inconel interlayers, viz. single-interlayer weld (P91/IN600/AISI304) and three-interlayer weld (P91/IN625/IN600/IN800H/AISI304). The welds were subjected to post-weld heat treatment at 1023 K for 1 h followed by air cooling and a long-term exposure at 973 K for 100, 250, and 500 h. A soft zone with the absence of lath martensite was noticed in both the welds which was located at the intercritical heat-affected zone of the welds. This zone was found to be extending with time toward the fine grain heat-affected zone by carbide precipitation and coarsening at the grain boundaries. Soft zone formation at the interface of the welds was found to be due to carbon diffusion. The presence of high-nickel-content alloy at the interface was proven to be beneficial in stopping carbon diffusion at the interface. Though soft zones existed in both the welds, better creep rupture life was observed for three-interlayer welds. Finite element analysis of these weld joints was performed for thermal loading followed by tensile loading. The results from this analysis indicated that thermal expansion also plays an important role in the failures of these dissimilar weld joints by creating high stress at the interface due to incompatibility.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Characterizing the Effect of Thermal Processing on Feedstock Al Alloy Powder for Additive Manufacturing Applications

Gas-atomized metallic powders are commonly used in additive manufacturing processes. Research has shown that, for certain AM techniques, the chemistry and microstructural properties of the feedstock powders significantly affect the properties of the consolidated material. Understanding the powder characteristics before use in additive manufacturing can lead to optimizing properties of additively manufactured materials as well as determining the recyclability of feedstock powders. This research studies the effect of various solution treatment processes on the characteristics and microstructural evolution of powder aluminum alloy 6061. Solution treatment times and temperatures were guided by thermodynamic and kinetic modeling. Light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and hardness were used to evaluate each condition in both two and three dimensions. Results indicate that the Mg{sub 2}Si present in the untreated condition dissolves after 60 min of solution treatment, while there are competing effects from the dissolution and concurrent growth of various Fe-containing phases. Additionally, it is shown that both granular and sub-granular structures exist in these rapidly solidified powders, and the sub-grains reorient themselves during solution treatment.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Novel Fabrication of a TiB{sub 2} Grain Refiner and its Effect on Reducing Hot Tearing in AZ91D Magnesium Alloy

Despite the increased use of magnesium (Mg) alloys in diverse engineering applications in recent years, further incorporation of complex Mg alloy castings remains challenging due to the alloy’s relatively high susceptibility to hot tearing. A significant reduction in hot tearing via grain refinement was achieved in aluminum and ferrous alloys; however, an effective, long-lasting and inexpensive grain refiner for aluminum-containing Mg alloys remains elusive. In this work, a TiB{sub 2} grain refiner was fabricated via a novel spark plasma sintering (SPS) powder metallurgy process. Then, its effectiveness in grain refining an AZ91D magnesium alloy was compared to that of a commercially available TiB{sub 2} grain refiner produced by hot extrusion. Due to the homogeneous distribution of the TiAl{sub 3} and TiB{sub 2} particles in the grain refiner, as well as their effect on the alloy’s microstructure evolution and solidification behavior, the SPS-TiB{sub 2} grain refiner was observed to achieve a significant reduction in the grain size and hot tearing of the Al-containing AZ91D magnesium alloy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Achieving Grain Refinement and Related Mechanical Property Improvement of an Al-Zn-Mg-Cu Alloy Through Severe Plastic Deformation

Microstructural features and mechanical properties of an Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy processed by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) have been investigated. The equivalent plastic strain obtained from the simulation agrees well with that from the analytical calculation in a way that both increase with an increase in deformation, but the strain distribution is non-uniform, appearing as a strain gradient along the norm direction. Microstructure investigation shows that grain refinement is achieved in frequency of low-angle grain boundaries fabricated by ECAP. The pole density is reduced by ECAP, during which the Brass and Goss type textures are introduced. TEM results show chain-like recrystallized grains formed at the grain boundaries and broken second-phase particles come into being due to the heavy shear force. After ECAP, the hardness and strength increase significantly while the elongation is reduced. Besides, an extreme strengthening is confirmed because of the balance between dynamic hardening and softening. The microstructure evolution mechanism is revealed in terms of grain refinement, precipitate phase breakage and texture evolution.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Microstructure and Mechanical Characterization of Friction-Stir-Welded 316L Austenitic Stainless Steels

Fusion welding of austenitic stainless steels (ASSs) causes undesirable metallographic changes. An attempt has been made to join 3-mm-thick 316L ASS plates using friction stir welding and correlate the microstructural evolution and the mechanical properties under various welding conditions. Tungsten alloy (W-Re) tool was employed for welding. Successful joints were obtained within a range of traverse speeds (45-85 mm/min) used in this work. Various zones were observed across the joint line. The stir zone exhibited considerable grain refinement and traces of delta ferrite phase. EBSD images showed a decreasing grain size with increased traverse speed. XRD patterns and TEM images confirmed the existence of delta ferrite. The mechanical properties of the joints including microhardness, tensile strength, impact toughness and bending were further reported.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Preparation and Oxidation Performance of a NiCoCrAlYSiHf + NiAl Composite Coating Deposited by Arc Ion Plating and Magnetron Sputtering Techniques

A NiCoCrAlYSiHf+NiAl composite coating was deposited onto a second-generation single-crystal superalloy René N5 by methods of arc ion plating and magnetron sputtering. After vacuum annealing, the composite coating exhibited a gradient distribution of elements, in which Al was enriched in outer layer and Cr was enriched in inner layer. Compared with conventional NiCoCrAlYSiHf and β-NiAl coatings, the composite coating was evaluated in isothermal and cyclic oxidation tests at 1100 °C in ambient air. The results showed that the oxidation rate of the composite coating was lower than that of NiCoCrAlYSiHf coating. Meanwhile, the extent of interdiffusion between coating and substrate in the composite coating was slighter compared with that in the β-NiAl coating. Microstructure evolutions of the composite coating after annealing and further oxidation test are investigated.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Processing of Ultrafine-Grained Steels by Warm Rolling and Annealing

Low-carbon microalloyed steel was subjected to warm rolling followed by rapid transformation annealing (RTA) at 800-850 °C and subcritical annealing (SCA) at 600 °C to develop ultrafine ferrite grain structures (UFFG) with grain size less than 3 μm. The present study investigated the influence of light (40%) and heavy (80%) warm rolling deformation (LWR and HWR) applied during the finishing pass of two-pass rolling schedules on the microstructural evolution after rolling and subsequent annealing treatments. RTA treatment of HWR sample at a lower intercritical temperature for an optimum duration (800 °C, 30 s) developed UFFG-martensite dual-phase structure that offered the best combination of strength (YS ~ 900 MPa and UTS ~ 1200 MPa) and ductility (25% elongation). The SCA treatment provided sufficient time to achieve a uniform distribution of carbide particles throughout the ferrite matrix. SCA treatment of HWR at 600 °C for 4 h developed UFFG-carbide structure achieving YS of 800 MPa with 20% ductility. The SCA of LWR resulted in coarser ferrite grain structures (grain size > 5 μm) having higher ductility (more than 30%) but lower strength (UTS of 400-550 MPa) as compared to RTA.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Investigation on Equal-Channel Angular Pressing-Induced Grain Refinement in an Aluminum Matrix Composite Reinforced with Al-Cu-Ti Metallic Glass Particles

In the present study, a homogeneous ultrafine grain structure composite consisting of metallic glass particles reinforcements was developed by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) process. The microstructure of composite was characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) techniques. The uniaxial compression test was used to determine the mechanical properties. The mechanisms of grain refinement during ECAP process were discussed based on the microstructural evolutions. A composite was successfully produced after four passes of ECAP, having an average grain size of 610 nm and compressive yield strength of 242 MPa. Also, the yield strength of composite after each pass was quantitatively estimated by considering all the effective strengthening mechanism. The findings showed that the dislocations strengthening mechanism with contribution of more than 50% plays a major role in strengthening the composite. There was a negligible gap between the experimental and theoretical values of yield strength for all ECAP pass numbers.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

The Application of Canned Deformation to a Hard-Deformed Spray-Deposited Al-Zn-Mg-Cu Alloy

A wide variety of industrial applications require Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys with high strength and ductility. However, Zn-rich Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys prepared by rapid solidification methods usually show excellent strength but poor formability, which restricts their wide application in complex forming. In this study, we developed a new deformation method for the spray-deposited Zn-rich Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy to avoid crack formation and achieve isotropic properties. The microstructure evolution and crystallographic textures were analyzed and compared with the results of a normal deformation process. Crack-free forgings with the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS) and elongation of 727 ± 5 MPa, 690 ± 3 MPa, 5.0 ± 0.7% along the radial direction and 735 ± 2 MPa, 693 ± 3 MPa, 6.3 ± 0.2% along the tangential direction were finally obtained. The improvement in the mechanical properties can be attributed to the larger amount of subgrains and substructures generated in the canned deformed alloy. The results of this study show excellent advantages and potential application prospects of the canned deformation to hard-deformed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Effect of Test Temperature and Strain Rate on Dynamic Mechanical Behavior of Aluminum Alloy 2519A

The dynamic mechanical behavior of aluminum alloy 2519A-T9I6 has been investigated by a split Hopkinson bar at temperature range from 298 to 523 K and at strain rates of from 10{sup 3} to 5 × 10{sup 3} s{sup −1} in this study. The results show that both the strain rate and test temperature have a significant effect on the dynamic behavior and microstructure evolution of aluminum alloy 2519A-T9I6. Under similar strain rate, the strengthening effect of strain rate decreases with the increase in the test temperature. Moreover, the dynamic yield strength at above 423 K drops sharply at the strain rate of about 5000 s{sup −1}, which is attributed to the flow softening caused by decomposition of θ′ precipitates at high strain rate and high temperature.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Hot Deformation Behavior of Aluminum Alloys AA7010 and AA7075

The hot deformation behavior of high-strength aluminum alloys AA7010 and 5 was studied through hot isothermal compression testing in the temperature regime of 623-723 K (at an interval of 25 K) and at varying strain rates (0.001 to 10 s{sup −1}). The safe zone of hot workability of both the alloys was determined using the instability criteria and correlating with the microstructure evolution. Zener–Hollomon parameters were calculated, and constitutive equations were also derived. Common characteristics observed in both the alloys were adiabatic shear band formation at a temperature of 623 K and strain rate of 10 s{sup −1} and flow localization at combination of all temperatures and high strain rate of 10 s{sup −1} with evolution of very fine recrystallized (DRX) grains. High-temperature resistance to deformation, large extent of recrystallization and relatively larger zone of stable deformation and higher activation energy in Al alloy AA7010 were observed as compared to AA7075. Considering the role of precipitates, dynamic recrystallization was found to have significant role in governing the hot deformation behavior of the alloys. Prediction of constitutive equations was found to be more accurate at higher temperatures and at moderate-to-high strain rates with relatively less error in AA7075 alloy as compared to AA7010 alloy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Thermomechanical Behavior of Biocompatible Austenitic Stainless Steels during Simulated Torsion Tests

The thermomechanical behavior and the microstructural evolution during the hot deformation are important aspects of metal alloys during hot forging and rolling processes. Here, the correlation between dynamically recrystallized grain size (d{sub DRX}), steady-state stress (σ{sub ss}) and Zener–Hollomon (Z) parameter is investigated according to the Universal Derby–Ashby relationship. Specimens of a UNS S 31673 and a UNS S 31675 steels, used in the manufacture of orthopedic implants, were subjected to continuous isothermal torsion tests. A strain of 3.0 and strain rates of 0.01, 0.1, 1.0 and 10 s{sup −1} at temperatures of 1000, 1100 and 1200 °C, were employed. The results showed that the competition between the hardening and dynamic softening (i.e., recovery and recrystallization) mechanisms, as depicted by the flow curves, agreed with the Derby relation. This observation is also a consequence of the variation in the stacking fault energy (SFE) with the applied strain. Additionally, the influence of the hot deformation parameters on the shape of the curves and the grain refinement is governed by the balance between these thermally activated mechanisms.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Hot Deformation and Processing Maps of B{sub 4}C/6061Al Nanocomposites Fabricated by Spark Plasma Sintering

We developed 3 vol.% B{sub 4}C/6061Al nanocomposites by spark plasma sintering. We then characterized their flow and hot deformation behaviors using isothermal compression tests at deformation temperatures of 673-823 K and strain rates of 0.001-1 s{sup −1}. Results indicated that their steady flow characteristic can be described by the Zener–Hollomon parameter (Z) as a hyperbolic-sine function of flow stress. Based on pinning effect from B{sub 4}C nanoparticles, the estimated activation energy was calculated to be 274.80 kJ/mol. At the unstable deformation condition (723 K/1 s{sup −1}) with high Z, flow localization appeared; the main softening mechanisms involved are dynamic recovery and dynamic recrystallization (DRX). At the stable deformation condition (823 K/0.001 s{sup −1}) with low Z, adequate DRX occurred. Based on the processing map and microstructure evolution, the optimum hot working conditions for B{sub 4}C/6061Al nanocomposites were determined to be a deformation temperature of 773-823 K and a strain rate of 0.001-0.003 s{sup −1}. These working conditions were verified by a hot extrusion test.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗