In situ synchrotron tensile investigations on the phase responses within an oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) 304 steel
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Miao, Yinbin (ORCID:0000000231284275)↗
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
Results for “STRESS CORROSION”
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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Design, properties, and weldability of advanced oxidation-resistant FeCrAl alloys
FeCrAl alloys are promising as corrosion- and oxidation-resistance materials for extreme high-temperature applications. However, further alloy design and improvement requires a delicate balance between workability, weldability, propensity for '-phase formation, among other factors. Here, a series of advanced oxidant resistant FeCrAl alloys were produced and investigated. Variants with Al (+2%), Nb (+1%), and TiC (0.1, 0.3, and 1%) additions over the reference alloy (Fe-13%Cr-5%Al) were characterized in detail before and after controlled laser beam welding using tensile tests with digital image correlation, SEM-EBSD analysis, and fractography. All investigated alloys demonstrated yield stress in the weldment over 500 MPa; no welding-induced cracking was observed. However, it was shown that the increase in the Al-content over 5% was detrimental leading to a brittle fracture mechanism and decreased ductility in the weldment. At the same time, Nb and TiC additions were beneficial for preventing grain growth and reducing local softening (yield stress reduction) in the heat-affected zone. The 1% TiC addition also effectively refined grain size in the weldment.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Fundamental Studies of Tritium Diffusivity in Pure and Defective Zircaloy-4 Getters (Tritium Science Program FY2020 Report)
Zirconium (Zr) alloys are extensively used as tritium (T) getters in nuclear reactors due to their low absorption cross section to thermal neutron, good mechanical properties at high temperature and resistant to corrosion in different environmental conditions. Zr alloys have better thermal properties than many other refractory alloys including stainless steel. The nuclear characteristic is simulated, and T is produced in tritium-producing burnable absorber rods (TPBAR) by the irradiation of neutron flux in pressurized water reactor (PWR). T thus produced diffuses through the pellets and is captured by the getter where it chemically reacts with Zr to form metal hydride (ZrTx). These hydrides are brittle and affect adversely the mechanical properties of alloys. In addition to that, mismatch in the lattice structures after hydride formation creates a stress which needs to be considered in component design and their life evaluation. Therefore, understanding the behavior of T and its species becomes significant as fuel burnup is increased, which leads to increase in hydrogen pickup and oxide formation. The transport of T and its species in pure Zr alloys, and in alloys with certain alloying elements and defects are important to understand in order to enhance the performance of the materials.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Designing Cladded Components for High Temperature Nuclear Service: Part I—Analysis Methods
Use of corrosion-resistant cladding can greatly extend the design life of structural components in many advanced reactor systems. However, there are currently no ASME design rules for cladded components to guard against creep-fatigue failure and ratcheting strain accumulation in elevated temperature nuclear service. This paper, presented in two parts, addresses this gap by proposing a design strategy for cladded components that do not require long-term testing of clad materials. The proposed approach relies on approximate design analysis methods for two types of clad materials—a soft clad that creeps much faster than and has lower yield stress than the class A base material and a hard clad that creeps much slower than and has higher yield stress than the class A base material. Part I discusses the approximate analysis strategies for the clad materials—treat a soft clad as perfectly compliant and a hard clad as linear elastic—and Part II develops a complete set of design rules for each of the two types of cladded components. In conclusion, finite element analyses of representative high temperature reactor components show that the proposed design analysis methods can bound the design quantities in soft cladded components and approximate the design quantities in hard cladded components.
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
Designing Cladded Components for High Temperature Nuclear Service: Part II—Design Rules
The challenge of using existing ASME Section III, Division 5, class A metallic materials for the construction of structural components of advanced reactors with corrosive coolants could be mitigated by allowing designers to use cladding to protect the base material from corrosion. However, the existing Section III, Division 5 rules provide no guidance on the evaluation of strain accumulation and creep-fatigue damage in cladded components. The availability of design rules for cladded components that do not require long-term clad material testing could promote the application of the cladding approach to accelerate the deployment schedule of these advanced reactor systems. To avoid long-term properties for the clad materials Part I of this work proposes two approximate design analysis methods for two types of clad materials—soft clads that creep much faster and have lower yield stress than the class A base material, and hard clads that creep much slower and have higher yield stress than the class A base material. The proposed analysis methods approximate the response of a soft clad by treating it as perfectly compliant and of a hard clad by treating it as linear elastic. Based on these approximate design analysis strategies this Part II develops a complete set of design rules for class A components cladded with either soft or hard clad materials. In conclusion, Part II discusses the reasoning behind the proposed design rules and uses example finite element analyses of representative reactor components to illustrate the use of these design methods.
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
Development of an Electrochemical Impedance Instrument for Monitoring Corrosion Formation (Oxide and Hydride) on Cladding Materials
The objective of this work package is to develop electrochemical impedance spectroscopic (EIS) techniques for the in pile measurement of changes in cladding materials in coupling with model simulation and material characterization. This work package will involve the initial development of electrochemical sensing technologies for measuring spatial and time resolved changes in cladding chemistry. Specific attention will be paid to monitoring changes in monitor cladding corrosion including oxide and hydride formation and deformation. The planned work during this period was focused on cladding material zirconium alloy corrosion, oxide and hydride development, and to characterize samples using EIS under controlled gas atmosphere, atom probe tomography (APT), Raman Spectroscopy, and Synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD). The corrosion, including oxide and hydride of zirconium alloy samples, was tested in this study. The samples were treated at a gas environment containing 3% H2 (vol%) balanced with N2 gas at various temperatures (100 – 500°C) and different times (up to 60 hours) and were characterized by in situ EIS. After treatment, various characterization techniques were applied to measure the samples, including TGA, Ramen, XRD, and APT. This study found that impedance spectra can be affected significantly with (furnace/environment) temperature. Higher temperature resulted in higher overall impedance, and longer exposure time exerted similar effects. Proof of concept characterization of oxidized samples, including TGA, Raman, XRD, and APT, were accomplished on samples exposed to 700 oC gas environment containing 20% O2 and 80% N2. TGA provides observable breakaway and bulk oxide growth measurements. High-temperature, in-situ Raman provides observation of oxidation stress at the surface of the oxide. Additionally, a transition from tetragonal to monoclinic zirconia can be seen early in the oxidation experiment. Specifically, tetragonal-rich zirconia is seen at the metal/oxide interface, where a transition to monoclinic-rich zirconia is seen in the bulk of the oxide. It has also been confirmed that highly compressive residual stresses are seen near the metal/oxide interface. It is concluded that the transition from tetragonal to monoclinic zirconia is induced by massive shifts in stress as the oxide grows. APT has supplied evident differences in the distribution of zirconium and oxygen at the metal/oxide interface. On the pre-breakaway sample, the metastable Zr(O) region at the boundary is relatively thin, interfaced by Zr-rich (i.e., metal) and O-rich (i.e., ZrO2) on either side. In contrast, it has been seen on a post-breakaway sample that the Zr(O) metastable region is much greater in thickness, with evidence of four “zones” showing slightly contrasting composition between 49-54% Zr. In addition, it can be seen from the Zr-2.65Nb post-breakaway sample that secondary element concentrations are considerably different than bulk composition measurements show. Specifically, Nb concentration is much lower than expected, whereas Fe concentration is much higher than expected. These differences could play a role in each element’s contribution to oxide growth mechanisms, as well as causation for breakaway. Future work is focused on analyzing EIS spectra of hydride and its correlation with characterization features, finite element (FE) modeling of cladding materials, electrochemical sensor development, targeting cladding oxides/hydrides under thermodynamic equilibria, during transients and under irradiation.
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
Corrosive Influence of Carbon Dioxide on Crack Initiation in Quartz: Comparison With Liquid Water and Vacuum Environments
The stimulation of crack growth in quartz and siliceous materials by injecting carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) represents a key technology in long-term carbon storage and in the development of natural gas wells. While this technology is widely used, the molecular impact of CO 2 interactions on the solid matrix is only incompletely understood. In this work, we employ reactive molecular dynamics simulations to study how the CO 2 fluid environment affects the mechanical properties of pre-cracked single-crystal quartz. The thermodynamic conditions of interest are those relevant to subsurface reservoirs. We report how structural properties of quartz—bond length distribution and crack tip shape—evolve upon introduction of a fluid. These properties are directly related to macroscopic quantities of the global stress-strain curves, thus reaffirming the inherent coupling across multiple scales for fluid-solid interactions in the subsurface. Here, we find that CO 2 reduces the fracture toughness of quartz by 12.1% compared to that of quartz in vacuum, thereby promoting crack growth and enhancing fluid transport in the subsurface.
58 GEOSCIENCES↗
Effects of particle inclusions on cracking in ultrathin barrier films
Here, the effects of particle inclusions with different mechanical properties on the development of cracks in ultra-thin barrier films have been studied. Two types of particles, alumina and poly(styrene-b-methyl methacrylate) with large differences in their elastic modulus were used, representing both hard and soft inclusions. Particles were seeded onto polyethylene naphthalate substrates and subsequently coated with atomic layer deposited Al 2 O 3 as a barrier film. Ca corrosion tests used to determine the performance of the barrier films revealed that soft polymer particle inclusions severely affect the development of cracking in barrier films as compared to stiff ceramic particles. Tensile tests also confirmed that the barrier films with polymer particle inclusions have the lowest value of critical onset strain. Parametric simulations, conducted by varying the elastic modulus of the particle inclusions over a wide range, resulted in a larger strain energy release rate near particle inclusions which promotes crack formation and negatively impacts the performance of barrier films with softer particle inclusions. Thus, the combination of high residual stresses in the barrier films with the presence of soft particle inclusions is found the most detrimental for the development of high-performance ultrathin barrier films.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Effects of Sodium Exposure on the Tensile Properties of Grade 91 steel
Two heats of G91 steel have been investigated in liquid sodium at 550- 650°C to understand their corrosion behaviour, microstructural evolution, and tensile properties. Sodium exposure experiments of subsized, sheet-type tensile specimens of G91 were performed in Argonne’s forced convection sodium materials testing loops, SMT-1 and SMT-2. Maximum exposure times of ~49,000 h at ~38,000 h, and ~20,000 h have been achieved at 550, 600, and 650°C, respectively. Thermal aging experiments of G91 steel were also conducted in parallel, and the results were compared with those of the sodium-exposed specimens to isolate the effect of thermal aging from the effect of sodium exposure. It was found that the yield stress and ultimate tensile strength of G91 were reduced by more than 50% after sodium exposures at 650°C due to decarburization. The reduction in tensile strength was accompanied by the dissolution of M 23 C 6 carbides and excessive grain growth. The effect of sodium at 550 and 600°C was insignificant for exposure times up to ~49,000 h and ~38,000 h, respectively. The effect of sodium on the microstructural stability and tensile properties of G91 is largely dependent on the carbon mass transfer in the alloy-sodium system.
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
Tank Inspection NDE Results for Waste Tanks 25, 26, 33, 34, 41 and 50 (FY2019)
In-service inspection is an essential element of a comprehensive structural integrity program for the carbon steel waste tanks at the Savannah River Site. Inspection confirms the effectiveness of corrosion controls used to preclude localized and general corrosion of the tanks. Ultrasonic inspection (UT) is used to detect general wall thinning, pitting and interface attack, as well as vertically oriented cracks through inspection of an 8.5 inch wide strip extending over the accessible height of the primary tank wall and knuckle regions. selected welds are also inspected for cracking parallel or perpendicular to the weld. The inspections were performed from the annular space of the Type III/IIIA waste storage tanks. The ISI Program calls for thickness mapping and crack detection scans on specified areas of the tank covering all present and historic waste interface levels and selected welds with particular emphasis on the highest stress region of the tank.
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
First Annual Report on Development of Microwave Resonant Cavity Transducer for Fluid Flow Sensing: Development of Sensor Performance Model of Microwave Cavity Flow Meter for Advanced Reactor High Temperature Fluids
We are investigating a microwave cavity-based transducer for in-core high-temperature fluid flow sensing in molten salt cooled reactors (MSCR) and sodium fast reactors (SFR). This sensor is a hollow metallic cylindrical cavity, which can be fabricated from stainless steel, and as such is expected to be resilient to radiation, high temperature and corrosive environment of MSCR and SFR. The principle of sensing consists of making one wall of the cylindrical cavity flexible enough so that dynamic pressure, which is proportional to fluid velocity, will cause membrane deflection. Membrane deflection causes cavity volume change, which leads to a shift in the resonant frequency. Feasibility of the sensor was initially investigated with analytical derivations and with COMSOL RF Module computer simulations of resonant frequency spectral shift due to uniform load. We also investigated the mechanical integrity of the flowmeter’s membrane through analytical modelling and COMSOL Structural Mechanics Module computer simulations. Both the analytic model and COMSOL model showed that maximum stresses on the plate, which are at the radial boundary of the plate, are three orders of magnitude smaller than the material’s yield strength and ultimate tensile strength. This indicates that the sensor is at a low risk of mechanical failure. Using results from models, we have developed an initial design for a microwave K-band sensor. A cylindrical resonator prototype was fabricated from brass for the initial tests. The external dimensions of the cavity are matched to the flange of a standard WR-42 waveguide. Microwave field is coupled into the resonant cavity through a subwavelength-size aperture. A test article was developed consisting of a piping Tee with a bulkhead WR-42 microwave waveguide installed in a leak-proof assembly. A microwave waveguide circulator was installed in the setup to suppress the effect of reflections at the cavity entrance by increasing the isolation between the input and the output port. Preliminary spectral characterization of cavity spectral response was performed with a portable PXIe chassis microwave VNA with a custom GUI. Preliminary dry tests of the transducer response were conducted with a set of calibrated weights. Transducer frequency shift was shown to be monotonically increasing with increasing pressure. The next steps will involve investigation of the transducer performance for water flow sensing.
42 ENGINEERING↗
Predictive machine learning approaches for the microstructural behavior of multiphase zirconium alloys
Abstract Zirconium alloys are widely used in harsh environments characterized by high temperatures, corrosivity, and radiation exposure. These alloys, which have a hexagonal closed packed (h.c.p.) structure thermo-mechanically degrade, when exposed to severe operating environments due to hydride formation. These hydrides have a different crystalline structure, than the matrix, which results in a multiphase alloy. To accurately model these materials at the relevant physical scale, it is necessary to fully characterize them based on a microstructural fingerprint, which is defined here as a combination of features that include hydride geometry, parent and hydride texture and crystalline structure of these multiphase alloys. Hence, this investigation will develop a reduced order modeling approach, where this microstructural fingerprint is used to predict critical fracture stress levels that are physically consistent with microstructural deformation and fracture modes. Machine Learning (ML) methodologies based on Gaussian Process Regression, random forests, and multilayer perceptrons (MLP) were used to predict material fracture critical stress states. MLPs, or neural networks, had the highest accuracy on held-out test sets across three predetermined strain levels of interest. Hydride orientation, grain orientation or texture, and hydride volume fraction had the greatest effect on critical fracture stress levels and had partial dependencies that were highly significant, and in comparison hydride length and hydride spacing have less effects on fracture stresses. Furthermore, these models were also used accurately predicted material response to nominal applied strains as a function of the microstructural fingerprint.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Development of Self-Healing Zirconium-Silicide Coatings for Improved Performance Zirconium-Alloy Fuel Cladding
Zirconium-alloy fuel claddings have been used successfully in Light Water Reactors (LWR) for over four decades. However, under high temperature accident conditions, zirconium-alloys fuel claddings exhibit profuse exothermic oxidation accompanied by release of hydrogen gas due to the reaction with water/steam. Additionally, the ZrO 2 layer can undergo monoclinic to tetragonal to cubic phase transformations at high temperatures which can induce stresses and cracking. These events were unfortunately borne out in the Fukushima-Daiichi accident in in Japan in 2011. In reaction to such accident, protective oxidation-resistant coatings for zirconium-alloy fuel claddings has been extensively investigated to enhance safety margins in accidents as well as fuel performance under normal operation conditions. Such surface modification could also beneficially affect fuel rod heat transfer characteristics. Zirconium-silicide, a candidate coating material, is particularly attractive because zirconium-silicide coating is expected to bond strongly to zirconium-alloy substrate. Intermetallic compound phases of zirconium-silicide have high melting points and oxidation of zirconium silicide produces highly corrosion resistant glassy zircon (ZrSiO 4 ) and silica (SiO 2 ) which possessing self-healing qualities. Given the long-term goal of developing such coatings for use with nuclear reactor fuel cladding, this work describes results of oxidation and corrosion behavior of bulk zirconium-silicide and fabrication of zirconium-silicide coatings on zirconium-alloy test flats, tube configurations, and SiC test flats. In addition, boiling heat transfer of these modified surfaces (including ZrSi 2 coating) during clad quenching experiments is discussed in detail.
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
Investigation of the Mechanical Degradation of Zinc-Based Cold Spray Coatings for Steel Pipelines
Internal corrosion in wet natural gas is a big challenge in the oil and gas industry due to corrosive constituents such as carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), other forms of sulfur, and water in the gas stream. To mitigate internal corrosion, zinc-based cold spray coatings were designed for use in natural gas pipelines to increase the lifespan of the pipeline network. However, one of the requirements in designing internal coatings is the resistance of the coatings to mechanical forces applied on the pipeline's internal wall during pigging operations. These forces are primarily compressive and shear/friction forces. This study examines material properties that must be considered when evaluating mechanical considerations. To determine the viability of the developed coatings with respect to the shear/friction forces, the shear adhesion and wear resistance of the materials have been evaluated. Shear adhesion testing was performed with modified clevises to determine the shear stress required to cause adhesion failure at the coating/substrate interface. Scanning electron microscopy was utilized to characterize the interfaces after failure. Wear testing was performed on coatings and pipeline materials utilizing pin-on-drum testing. These tests display the stress limitations and wear that the coatings can tolerate from pigging.
mechanical degradation↗
Fundamental Studies of Tritium Formation and Diffusivity in Pure and Defective Zircaloy-4 Getters
Zirconium (Zr) alloys have excellent mechanical properties at high temperature and are resistant to corrosion in different environmental conditions. These alloys are used as tritium (3H or T) getters in nuclear reactors due to their low absorption cross section to thermal neutrons and excellent thermo-mechanical properties. Zr alloys have better mechanical and thermal properties than many other refractory alloys including stainless steel. After the irradiation of TPBAR by neutron flux, 3H produced during irradiation diffuses though the pellets and is captured by the getter. 3H chemically reacts with Zr metal to form metal hydride (ZrTx). Hydrides thus formed are brittle and adversely affect the mechanical and thermal properties of alloys. The lattice mismatch at the interface of alloy and metal hydrides also creates a stress that significantly reduces the alloy’s performance and operation life. Therefore, understanding the behavior of 3H and its species becomes significant as fuel burnup is increased, which leads to increase in hydrogen pickup and oxide formation.
Duan, Yuhua↗
Performance Enhancement of the Space Shuttle RSRM Nozzle-to-Case Joint Using a Carbon Rope Barrier
A carbon rope "thermal barrier" is being considered as a component to enhance performance of the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM) nozzle-to-case joint. Fundamental performance characteristics of the rope have been considered in this paper. In particular, resistance to erosion, ability to filter particulate matter, thermal capacitance, and flow resistance have been considered. Testing results have shown the rope to be resistant to the corrosive internal environment of the RSRM. The rope has also been shown to be an effective "slag barrier." A desirable feature of the rope would be the ability to act as a heat sink. However, analyses have indicated that the thermal capacitance of the rope is not large enough to reduce the temperature of an impinging gas stream below the ablation temperature of the 0-ring for significant time periods, The real value of the rope is its ability to act as a flow diffuser. Flow resistance test, were performed on the rope In the course of testing the rope between parallel plates, an undesirable "blow-by" phenomenon was observed when the compressive stress in the rope was smaller than the upstream gas pressure. It was found, however, that in the converging passage of the actual design, the rope would consistently "Self-seat" and thereby prevent blow-by, even in the absence of any precompression. Flow resistance values have been quantified for use in future analyses. The work presented here provides an initial thermal-fluid assessment of the rope for this application, and lays the groundwork for future development.
Ewing, M. E.↗
SIR Glass Test Vehicle Designed to Characterize Process Materials
The exposure to harsh environments can result in reliability issues on highly dense electronic packages and circuit assemblies. One area of concern is electrochemical failure mechanisms caused by electrolytic corrosion, electrochemical migration (dendrites), and leakage currents under humid conditions. These no-fault and no-trouble found failure points are challenging to detect and to perform process control during the assembly process. The focus of this research centers on metallizing glass surface insulation resistance test vehicles to characterize materials on electronic packages and components that exhibit the highest risk of failure due to material interactions and process residues. Glass test vehicles provide a visual representation of materials when they are exposed to moisture content in the air. Harsh environments can cause material interactions resulting in morphology changes, opening, and release of active components. A transparent test vehicle is highly functional for environmental stress testing under temperature, humidity, and bias. The designed experiment will evaluate the effects of material and process residues that can undergo changes in behavior during application, which leads to local failures.
Capen, Bill↗
A New Method for Low Cost Production of Titanium Alloys for Reducing Energy Consumption of Mechanical Systems
This project investigated an innovative manufacturing process intended to minimize the cost of production of titanium materials and components, and increase the adoption of Ti components for energy consuming applications, such as automobiles. A key innovation of the proposed manufacturing approach is a novel Ti powder sintering technology for making titanium materials with ultrafine grain microstructure in the as-sintered state with minimum, or an absence, of post-sintering processes. The new sintering technology is termed Hydrogen Sintering and Phase Transformations (HSPT), and constitutes a promising manufacturing technology that can be used to produce titanium (Ti) materials and components in a near-net-shape form, thus also minimizing machining costs. Our objective was to meet, or possibly surpass, the mechanical property levels for ASTM B348 Grade 5 for wrought Ti-6Al-4V. Although specific applications call for varying mechanical property requirements, ASTM B348 was created for the demanding applications of the aerospace industry, and is the established standard for Ti-6Al-4V. While the primary goal was to meet, or exceed this standard, the team also had the goal of demonstrating this could be done at a significantly lower cost of production. Interim goals of the project were to fully develop this novel sintering process, and provide sufficient baseline testing to make the method practical and attractive to industry. By optimizing the process parameters for the sintering of titanium hydride (TiH 2 ) powders in a hydrogen atmosphere and controlling the phase transformations during and after sintering, the HSPT process was expected to reduce the energy consumption, and thus cost, of making Ti alloys and fabricating Ti components. The process was designed such that no high temperature melting is required for producing Ti alloys; little or no post-sintering processing is needed for producing desired microstructures (and therefore enhanced mechanical properties), and finally, minimum machining is needed to fabricate finished Ti components. An energy analysis within this report provides more detail, but calculated values indicate that the HSPT process is less than half as energy intensive as conventional wrought processing, while producing mechanical properties that are comparable. In addition to the energy savings anticipated from the industrial production of Ti components, a second prong of energy savings resides in the use phase of components produced, primarily from use in the transportation sector. Titanium has a number of material qualities appropriate for the auto industry, particularly low mass and corrosion resistance. By reducing the weight of automobiles and other vehicles, energy costs and CO 2 production will be reduced over the lifetime of the vehicles, and components in corrosive environments on vehicles, such as exhaust systems and other under carriage parts, may not have to be replaced during a vehicle’s lifetime. Our analysis indicates that by replacing only 5.6 kg of steel parts in an auto with Ti components across the entire US fleet would save approximately 486 million gallons of gasoline per year. This correlates to a reduction of 3.6 million metric tons of CO 2 per year. The potential for replacing many more of the steel parts in automobiles with lighter weight titanium components is clear. The project was very successful overall, meeting all milestones and surpassing project goals in terms of mechanical properties and microstructures produced. In addition to tensile properties, fatigue properties were emphasized in the project work. Powder metallurgy processes often have porosity to some degree in their final microstructure, and porosity is a well-known cause of crack initiation and low fatigue performance. Although many automobile applications do not undergo fatigue stress regimes, many others do encounter cyclic stress, and design criteria in the latter case require good fatigue properties. Production and testing of HSPT parts showed excellent tensile properties and fracture toughness, and fatigue properties that exceeded all previously reported powder metallurgy Ti methods, overlapping with wrought processed values. Fatigue limits exceeded 500 MPa and tensile strength exceeded 1,000 MPa while maintaining good ductility. Microstructures produced during the project period easily surpassed pre-project expectations. In addition to producing very fine grains in the as-sintered state (without post sintered thermo-mechanical work), porosity was reduced and industrially relevant microstructures previously undemonstrated in any other powder metallurgy titanium method were produced using HSPT materials. These microstructures, both bi-modal and globularized, were produced with simple post-sinter heat treatments, but without the need for energy intensive mechanical work. The employed heat treatments expanded the available mechanical property range (tensile strength vs. ductility) of the HSPT system in Ti-6Al-4V. The project has resulted in the publication, thus far, of five refereed journal articles and five conference proceedings papers, as well as a patent application, two dissertations and a master’s thesis. Two additional journal articles are currently under review, and at least three others are currently in preparation, with several additional students anticipated to graduate within the coming year. Presentations and papers were a particular focus of the second half of the project, once significant experimentation had been performed and analyzed. As part of our efforts to disseminate information of our results, the Ti research teams within Prof. Fang’s and Prof. Chandran’s research groups had a strong presence at the 13th World Conference on Ti, August 16-20, 2015, in San Diego. Several research groups in the US and in Europe are now performing experiments using the HSPT process. Accompanying efforts to bring HSPT to the Ti community at large, and industry in particular, work has continued with our partners and with other interested industrial Ti users and producers, including Boeing and GKN (a major powder metallurgy parts manufacturer). Commercialization has been a central focus of the final phase of the project, and Reading Alloys signed a provisional licensing agreement in summer of 2015. They are currently seeking an appropriate customer with which to pursue initial parts manufacturing efforts. Other licensing options and partners are continuing to be pursued. The promise of lightweight, strong and corrosion resistant Ti alloys with long fatigue lifetimes for automobile or transportation applications has been the vision of the metal industry since titanium came to the attention of scientists and engineers. The sole limitation of realizing these goals has been cost, which is primarily a function of energy used in production. The HSPT process was shown through this work to be capable of realizing this goal, and facilitating the practical use of titanium in US automotive and other industries.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗