Effect of equal channel angular pressing on grain refinement and texture evolution in a biomedical alloy Ti13Nb13Zr

Evolution of texture and concomitant grain refinement during Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP) of Ti13Nb13Zr alloy has been presented. Sub-micron sized equiaxed grains with narrow grain size distribution could be achieved after eight pass at 873 K. A characteristic ECAP texture evolved in α phase till four passes while the evolution of characteristic ECAP texture in the β phase could be observed only beyond the fourth pass. On increasing the deformation up to eight passes, the texture in α phase weakens while the β phase shows an ideal ECAP texture. A weaker texture, low dislocation density and high crystallite size values in α phase suggest the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization. The absence of texture evolution in β phase till four passes can be attributed to local lattice rotations. The characteristic ECAP texture in the eight pass deformed sample is attributed to delayed dynamic recrystallization in the β phase.     

Effects of initial texture on deformation behavior during cold rolling and static recrystallization during subsequent annealing of AZ31 alloy

This study demonstrates that the initial texture of Mg alloy significantly affects the microstructure developed during cold rolling and the recrystallization behavior during subsequent annealing. In a sample with a texture oriented toward the normal direction(ND sample), thick and large-sized shear bands are intensively formed during cold rolling and the deformation is strongly localized along these bands. In contrast,in a sample with a texture oriented toward the transverse direction(TD sample), many {10-12} twins are formed at the early stage of cold rolling, and then, numerous small-sized shear bands are formed in these twins. Results of nanoindentation tests reveal that the cold-rolled ND sample has internal strain energy that is substantially concentrated along the shear bands, whereas the cold-rolled TD sample has a large amount of internal strain energy that is homogeneously distributed throughout the material;this latter behavior is strongly related to the extensive {10-12} twinning and the resultant microstructural variations in the TD sample. During subsequent annealing, recrystallization occurs locally along the shear bands in the ND sample, which leads to the formation of a bimodal grain structure comprising fine recrystallized grains and coarse unrecrystallized grains. In contrast, during subsequent annealing of the TD sample, static recrystallization occurs homogeneously throughout the material, which results in the formation of a uniform grain structure that mostly comprises equiaxed recrystallized grains.     

TC18钛合金热压参数对流动应力与显微组织的影响

通过在700~950℃和应变速率0.001~50s-1条件下的热模拟实验,系统研究了TC18钛合金应变速率、变形温度对变形抗力和显微组织的影响。结果表明:提高变形温度或降低应变速率,可显著降低TC18合金变形过程中的真应力,与单相区相比,两相区变形抗力对温度的变化更为敏感。在α+β区变形时,α相和β相都参与变形,球状初生α沿形变方向略有拉长,β相沿金属流动方向形成纤维组织;β相变点以上温度变形时,β相沿金属流动方向呈纤维状分布,在950℃可以观察到再结晶的等轴β晶粒。     

Microstructure evolution of the transitional region in isothermal local loading of TA15 titanium alloy

The microstructure of the transitional region determines the performance of TA15 component under isothermal local loading forming. To understand the characteristic of microstructure evolution in transitional region, a set of analogue experiments for isothermal local loading were designed and carried out to investigate the microstructure development under different temperatures and complex strain path. It is found that the isothermal local loading does not change the microstructural composition of TA15 alloy with initially equiaxed microstructure in the transitional region, though a small fraction of lamellar α phases appear at temperatures above 950 °C due to reheating and small deformation in the second loading step. Recrystallization takes place in the β matrix but not in the primary equiaxed α phases. The β grains are fine and equiaxed irrespective of strain path due to recrystallization. The existence of lamellar α refines the β grains. Kinked and disordered primary equiaxed α phases are produced under complex strain path. The grain size of primary equiaxed α phases increases slightly due to static coarsening and strain induced grain growth in multi-heat processing. The volume fraction of primary equiaxed α phases is not influenced by strain path but determined by working temperature.     

Influence of intermediate annealing on final Goss texture formation in low temperature reheated Fe-3%Si steel

The precipitation behavior of inhibitors and their influence on final Goss texture formation in grain-oriented electrical steels produced by compact strip processing technology with a reheating temperature lower than 1200 °C were investigated under two distinct intermediate annealing methods: conventional intermediate recrystallization annealing and a new intermediate decarburizing and recrystallization annealing method without final decarburizing after the second cold rolling. The initiation of secondary recrystallization, the distributions of second phase particles, the final Goss texture, and the grain structure were observed. The new technology could maintain higher inhibitor densities because the deformed matrix could provide higher site densities for inhibitor nucleation before secondary recrystallization, resulting in a relatively higher inhibition effect of the second phase particles. The new technology could also compensate for the disadvantages of fewer inhibitors induced by fewer dissolved Mn and S elements in the matrix during lower reheating temperature for hot rolling. The final sheet produced after the secondary recrystallization annealing obtained stronger Goss texture, larger grain size, and better magnetic properties.     

深冲IF钢再结晶{111}纤维织构形成机制探讨

为了探讨深冲IF钢再结晶织构与退火温度之间的关系及{111}再结晶织构形成机制,采用X射线衍射三维取向(ODF)和背散射电子衍射(EBSD)分析技术并结合金相组织观察,利用Gibbs-Thom son方程对冷轧IF钢在不同退火温度下的再结晶织构演变规律及形成机制进行研究.实验结果表明:随着退火温度的增加,再结晶量逐渐增多,γ纤维织构强度亦相应增强,同时,α纤维织构强度则逐渐降低;冷轧IF钢再结晶初期的织构转变主要发生在γ纤维织构之间.研究表明,再结晶核心的形成主要以"显微择优形核"为主,晶核的长大则主要以择优生长为主,而Σ重位点阵晶界在再结晶γ纤维织构形成过程中起着重要作用.     

预处理工艺对双辊铸轧3003铝合金再结晶行为的影响

对双辊铸轧3003铝合金板材进行了3种预处理退火,研究不同预处理工艺下的冷轧板材在380～500℃退火时晶粒组织和再结晶织构的变化规律。结果表明:最优化预处理工艺为610℃/12h+460℃/12h,高温阶段第二相尺寸发生粗化,低温阶段基体中Mn的过饱和固溶度显著降低,两者均有利于提高后续退火时的再结晶形核率。500℃退火时,在粗大第二相的附近产生了粒子诱发形核机制,降低了再结晶织构强度;并且退火时几乎不存在析出,析出相对再结晶形核的抑制作用甚微,从而得到了晶粒细小、织构弱的再结晶组织。     

Effect of prior β processing steps on microstructural refinement during thermomechanical processing of a two phase (α + β) titanium alloy

Abstract

Microstructural evolution in Ti - 6.8Al - 3.2Mo - 1.8Zr - 0.3Si alloy during a newly designed thermomechanical schedule has been systematically studied with the aim of obtaining a suitable microstructure for superplastic forming. The schedule involves prior processing in the β phase field and subsequent rolling in the (α + β) phase field. In all experiments the starting material was thermally or thermomechanically treated in the β phase field and subsequently quenched in order to produce a martensitic structure. The morphology of the primary α in material for hot rolling could be substantially altered from that obtained with the conventional (α + β) processing schedule of two phase titanium alloys. Prior β processed microstructure, (α + β) rolling temperature, and deformation were found to influence the α phase morphology in the alloy. The effect of subsequent annealing in the (α + β) phase field on microstructural stability has been examined. The results show that the proposed thermomechanical processing schedule provides a relatively wide temperature - strain 'processing window' in β and (α + β) phase fields over which a fine grain (< 5 μm) equiaxed α structure can be obtained in Ti - 6.8Al - 3.2Mo - 1.8Zr - 0.3Si alloy.     

Orientations of nuclei during static recrystallization in a cold-rolled Mg-Zn-Gd alloy

The static recrystallization process of a cold-rolled Mg-Zn-Gd alloy was tracked by a quasi-in-situ electron backscatter diffraction method to investigate the orientations of nuclei.The results show that orientation distribution of nuclei is associated with nucleation mechanism.The continuous static recrystallization nuclei display similar orientations to the parent grains with TD orientation.Differently,discontinuous static recrystallization nuclei formed within the parent grains(TD-45~0 orientation) show random orientations and a variety of misorientation angles but preferred axes <5273> or <5270>.Interestingly,a special oriented nucleation is found.Discontinuous static recrystallization nuclei originated from boundaries of the parent grain(TD-70° orientation) show concentrated TD orientations in another side due to the preferred misorientation relationship 70°<1120>(∑18 b).It is speculated that these two special misorientation relationships are related to the dislocation type.     

Effect of the size and dispersion of precipitates formed in hot rolling on recrystallization texture in ferritic stainless steels

In the present paper, the size and dispersion of precipitates in ferritic stainless steels have been varied by applying different hot rolling processes, the effect of which on the evolution of recrystallization textures was investigated. The precipitate characterization was observed and studied by transmission electron microscopy and the texture evolution processes were characterized by X-ray diffraction and electron backscattering diffraction. The results show that low temperature finish rolling can promote the formation of a large number of fine and dense TiC precipitates in hot band. These fine and dense precipitates can be inherited in the final sheet, and are beneficial to facilitating the nucleation of randomly oriented grains by promoting the formation of inhomogeneous cold rolled microstructure, strongly suppressing the growth of recrystallized grains by pinning grain boundary migration, thereby weakening the formation of γ-fiber recrystallization texture and deteriorating the formability of final sheet. By contrast, strong γ-fiber recrystallization texture is developed in the sample with sparsely distributed coarse precipitates. Therefore, the size and dispersion of precipitates formed in hot rolling have significant effects on the nucleation of randomly oriented grains and the growth of recrystallized grains during recrystallization annealing, which play important roles in controlling the γ-fiber recrystallization texture in ferritic stainless steels.     

Influence of rolling temperature on static recrystallization behavior of AZ31 magnesium alloy

Poor formability of rolled magnesium (Mg) alloys extremely restricts applications in form of sheets originating from formation of strong basal texture. Recently, we found that increasing rolling temperature from 723 to 798 K for a AZ31 Mg alloy can significantly improve stretch formability due to remarkable texture weakening after annealing. In this study, static recrystallization behaviors of AZ31 alloy sheets rolled at 723 and 798 K were investigated by electron backscattered diffraction analyses at different annealing stages in order to understand the origin of high temperature rolling on texture weakening. For both sheets, similar deformation microstructures with approximately the same types and fractions of twins exist in the as-rolled condition and recrystallized grains are mainly formed at pre-existing grain boundaries due to discontinuous recrystallization during subsequent annealing. However, only the basal texture of the latter remarkably weakens due to the formation of new recrystallized grains with well-dispersed orientations. Non-basal slips enhanced during high temperature rolling at 798 K are most likely responsible for the texture randomization as a result of rotations of recrystallization nuclei.     

Effect of electropulsing treatment on static recrystallization behavior of cold-rolled magnesium alloy ZK60 with different reductions

Effect of electropulsing treatment (EPT) on recrystallization behavior of cold-rolled Mg alloy ZK60 strips was investigated. It was found that EPT significantly improved nucleation rate and migration ability of grain boundaries, leading to accelerated recrystallization of the deformed metals at relatively low temperature. After the recrystallization induced by EPT, the average grain size of 20% rolling reduction samples decreased from 113 μm to around 10 μm, meanwhile the typical basal-type texture of the cold-rolled sample was weakened. EPT was normally accompanied with a thermal and an athermal effects. The athermal effect played a dominated role in increasing nucleation rate, while the thermal effect promoted grain growth. A fewer recrystallized grains originated along the grain boundaries in the 10% reduction samples, while most of the recrystallization took place inside the twins in the 20% reduction samples.     

Effects of microstructure on fatigue crack propagation behavior in a bi-modal TC11 titanium alloy fabricated via laser additive manufacturing

In this study, the crack propagation behaviors in the equiaxed and equiaxed-columnar grain regions of a heat-treated laser additive manufacturing (LAM) TC11 alloy with a special bi-modal microstructure are investigated. The results indicate that the alloy presents a special bi-modal microstructure that comprises a fork-like primary α (α_p) phase surrounded by a secondary α colony (α_s) in the β phase matrix after the heat treatment is completed. The samples demonstrate a fast crack growth rate with larger da/dN values through the equiaxed grain sample versus across the equiaxed-columnar grain sample at low ΔK values (<13.8). The differences that are observed between the crack propagation behaviors (in the crack initiation stage) of the samples can be mostly attributed to the different size and morphology of the α_p lamellae and α_s colony within the grains in the equiaxed and columnar grain regions rather than the grain boundaries. The cracks prefer to grow along the α/β boundary with a smooth propagation route and a fast propagation rate in the equiaxed grain region, where the α_p and α clusters have a large size. However, in the columnar grain region, small and randomly distributed α_p lamellae generate a zigzag-shaped propagation path with a reduction in the da/dN value. Additionally, the change in the size of the α_p lamellae in the equiaxed grains (heat affected bands, HAB) is also observed to influence the propagation behavior of the crack during the crack initiation stage.     

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Ti-35V-15Cr-0.05C Nonburning Titanium Alloy

Ti-35V15Cr-0.05C is a new nonburning titanium alloy. The structural analyses show that the alloy consists of β phase and lath-like α phase distributed within β grains, and some titanium carbide particles appear at grain boundaries. Using dark field TEM method, it was also found that TiCr2 phase uniformly precipitates in α phase. After heat treatment at 900℃ for 15 min,equiaxed β phase of 60~ 80μm in diameter and lath-like α phase of 1-2% volume fraction were observed. This alloy possesses attractive mechanical properties.     

Effect of initial texture on dynamic recrystallization of AZ31 Mg alloy during hot rolling

Wedge-shaped AZ31 plates with two kinds of initial textures were rolled at 573 K to investigate the effect of initial texture on dynamic recrystallization (DRX). The results indicated that the initiation and nucleation of DRX were closely related to the initial texture. The initiation and completion of DRX in the TD-plate were significantly retarded compared with that in the ND-plate. Twin related DRX nucleation was mainly observed in the ND-plate samples; while gain boundary related DRX nucleation was mainly observed in the TD-plate samples. The different DRX behavior between the TD- and ND-plates was attributed to the different deformation mechanism occurring before DRX initiation. For the ND-plate, dislocation glide was considered as the main deformation mechanism accompanied with {1 0 −1 1}-{1 0 −1 2} double twin, which led to the increment of a faster increasing stored energy within the grains. And {1 0 −1 1}-{1 0 −1 2} double twin was mainly found to be DRX nucleation site for the ND-plate. For the TD-plate, {1 0 −1 2} extension twin was the dominant deformation mechanism which resulted in a basal texture with the c-axis nearly parallel to ND. The stored energy caused by dislocation motion was relatively small in the TD-plate before a basal texture was formed, which was considered as the main reason of that DRX was retarded in the TD-plate compared with that in the ND-plate. Based on the difference in deformation mechanism and DRX mechanism caused by the different initial texture, the variation in grain size, micro-texture and misorientation angle distribution in the ND and TD plates were discussed.     

Inhomogeneous Distribution of Second Phase Particles in Grain Oriented Electrical Steels

The second phase particles were observed during the whole manufacturing process of conventional grain oriented electrical steels, exhibiting that the areal density of particles in the center was obviously higher than that on the surface at each manufacturing stage. After hot rolling, the approximately equiaxed grains formed upon recrystallization were present on the sheet surface while the deformation structures were retained in the central part. Thus, the dislocation density on the surface was evidently lower than that in the center and this trend became more noticeable after the first cold rolling. Since new precipitates were mainly nucleated at dislocations during both hot rolling and annealing following cold deformation, the difference in dislocation density resulted in the inhomogeneous distribution of particles through the thickness of sheet. According to this, Goss grains, which were usually found near the surface, tended to grow up more easily during the secondary recrystallization treatment.     

Low-temperature superplasticity of β-stabilized Ti-43Al-9V-Y alloy sheet with bimodal γ-grain-size distribution

The superplasticity of Ti-43Al-9V-0.2Y alloy sheet hot-rolled at 1100 ℃ was systematically investigated in the temperature range of 750-900 ℃ under an initial strain rate of 10-4 s-1.A bimodal γ grain-distribution microstructure of TiA1 alloy sheet,with abundant nano-scale or sub-micron γ laths embed-ded inside β matrix,exhibits an impressive superplastic behaviour.This inhomogeneous microstructure shows low-temperature superplasticity with a strain-rate sensitivity exponent of m =0.27 at 800 ℃,which is the lowest temperature of superplastic deformation for TiAl alloys attained so far.The maximum elongation reaches ～360％ at 900 ℃ with an initial strain rate of 2.0 × 10-4 s-1.To elucidate the softening mechanism of the disordered β phase during superplastic deformation,the changes of phase composi-tion were investigated up to 1000 ℃ using in situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction (XRD) in this study.The results indicate that β phase does not undergo the transformation from an ordered L20 structure to a disordered A2 structure and cannot coordinate superplastic deformation as a lubricant.Based on the microstructural evolution and occurrence of both y and β dynamic recrystallization (DR) after tensile tests as characterized with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD),the superplastic deformation mecha-nism can be explained by the combination of DR and grain boundary slipping (GBS).In the early stage of superplastic deformation,DR is an important coordination mechanism as associated with the reduced cavitation and dislocation density with increasing tensile temperature.Sufficient DR can relieve stress concentration arising from dislocation piling-up at grain boundaries through the fragmentation from the original coarse structures into the fine equiaxed ones due to recrystallization,which further effectively suppresses apparent grain growth during superplastic deformation.At the late stage of superplastic de-formation,these equiaxed grains make GBS prevalent,which can effectively avoid intergranular cracking and is conducive to the further improvement in elongation.This study advances the understanding of the superplastic deformation mechanism of intermetallic TiAl alloy.     

Effects of Primary Annealing Condition on Recrystallization Texture in a Grain Oriented Silicon Steel

The recrystallization texture in grain oriented silicon steel sheets, which were annealed at different primary annealingtemperatures with and without an electric field, was investigated. An automated electron backscattered diffraction(EBSD) technique was used to analyze the recrystallization texture. It was found that recovery and application ofelectric field in primary annealing lead to an increase of {001} component and a decrease of {111} component afterannealing at 900℃. The development of recrystallization texture can be explained in terms of the effects of electricfield and primary annealing temperature on recovery.     

Microstructural and textural evolution of pure titanium during differential speed rolling and subsequent annealing

The microstructural and textural evolution of pure titanium during differential speed rolling (DSR) at 500 °C and subsequent annealing were investigated using electron backscattered diffraction analysis. Twinning only occurs in the initial stage of DSR, and further deformation is dominated by dislocation slip. The as-rolled microstructure is characterized by large deformed grains, which form a major component of the material, and some dynamically recrystallized (DRXed) grains mainly existing in shear band regions. A dramatic change in the rolling texture, from the transverse direction (TD) split texture with basal poles largely tilted at ±40° to the single-peak basal texture, occurs during DSR. This change in texture is accelerated during the late stage of DSR and may be attributed to the gradual lattice rotation of deformed grains caused by enhanced basal slip activity. The basal texture changes back to the TD-split texture with basal poles tilted at ±25° after annealing due to consumption of deformed grains with basal orientations from DRXed grains with the TD-split texture. Subsequent extensive grain growth changes the orientation of the a-axis from parallel to the TD to parallel to the rolling direction, which is the result of the preferential grain growth in that direction.     

The low-temperature sonochemical synthesis of up-converting β NaYF4:Yb,Er mesocrystals

In this paper, we report the mild sonochemical synthesis of hexagonal (β) NaYF₄:Yb,Er mesocrystals at low temperature of 40 °C. The nucleation and transformation of crystal structures is investigated in the course of time, and it is shown that the pure β phase is obtained after 2 h of pulsed sonication. The crystallization of orthorhombic YF₃:Yb,Er and cubic (α) NaYF₄:Yb,Er precedes the appearance of a thermodynamically stable β NaYF₄:Yb,Er phase. Based on the evolution of the nanoparticle morphology, it is concluded that the transition from α to β phase is consistent with the dissolution-recrystallization process, while the final shape of mesocrystals is a consequence of the oriented attachment growth in the newly formed β phase nanocrystallites along two planes. The structural properties of all compounds are analyzed and correlated with their thermal and optical characteristics. The pump power dependence of green and red emissions confirms that only two-photon process is involved in up-conversion, which is superior in β phase mesocrystals.