The influence of texture,strain rate,temperature, and chemistry on the mechanical behavior of hafnium

The compressive mechanical behavior of highly textured, polycrystalline hafnium has been examined as a function of texture, strain rate, temperature, and material chemistry. The microstructural and substructural evolution in Hf was also examined as a function of texture. Decreasing temperature, increasing strain rate, and increasing impurity concentrations were found to increase the yield-stress and work-hardening rates, as well as increase the amount of twinning in Hf. Crystallographic texture was found to exhibit the most marked effect on the mechanical behavior of Hf. Differences in the orientation of the c-axis with respect to the loading direction were found to affect the yield stress, work-hardening behavior, and anisotropy of the tested specimen, with the highest yield stresses and rates of work hardening and the lowest anisotropies in specimens compressed along the c-axis. The amount of deformation twinning and the slip systems activated during deformation were seen to vary based on texture and are shown to correlate well with the observed yield stresses and work-hardening behaviors.     

The effect of twinning on the work-hardening behavior and microstructural evolution of hafnium

The work-hardening behavior of hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) metals, such as hafnium, is influenced by temperature, strain rate, chemistry, and texture. In the case of hafnium, while slip on the prism and pyramidal planes is dominant during deformation, the propensity of deformation twinning is known to increase with decreasing temperature and increasing strain rate. In this study, hafnium was prestrained quasi-statically in compression at liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K), creating a heavily twinned microstructure. The specimens were then reloaded in compression at room temperature (298 K). Yield stress, flow stress, and work-hardening behaviors of the prestrained specimens were higher than room-temperature compression test data typical of the as-annealed material. The microstructure of each specimen was characterized optically and using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Texture was measured by neutron diffraction and the texture evolution due to twinning, and the interaction of slip with the twins was seen to lead to higher work-hardening rates and flow stresses in the cold prestrained specimens.     

A neutron diffraction and modeling study of uniaxial deformation in polycrystalline beryllium

The deformation of polycrystalline beryllium to strains of ±0.8 pct in uniaxial tension and compression was studied by neutron diffraction and modeled using an elasto-plastic self-consistent (EPSC) model. The beryllium response is asymmetric with respect to tension and compression in both the macroscopic behavior, as displayed in the stress/strain curve, and the microscopic lattice response. The EPSC model qualitatively reproduces the lattice strain curves in tension and compression with the assumption of pyramidal slip being active, in addition to prism and basal slip and with the inclusion of thermal residual stresses developed during processing. Although it underpredicts the magnitude of the observed strains, it demonstrates that accounting for residual stresses of thermal origin is crucial for understanding the evolution of lattice strains during uniaxial loading.     

Microstructural and mechanical behavior of a duplex stainless steel under hot working conditions

In the hot deformation of the duplex stainless steels, the complexity of the microstructure evolution and mechanical response is increased as compared with those of single-phase ferritic or austenitic stainless steels. In the present work, plane strain compression and torsion deformation modes have been used to analyze the microstructural evolution and the mechanical behavior of a duplex stainless steel in as-cast and wrought conditions, as a function of spatial phase distribution, the nature of interface, and the relative mechanical properties of both phases. The law of mixtures has been used to explain the different flow curves obtained when changing the phase distribution and/or the deformation mode. On deforming as-cast microstructures, the deformation partitions vary heterogeneously between both phases and some austenite areas act as hard nondeforming particles. Cracks have been observed to occur at the interface of such regions, from relatively low strains, for which the initial Kurdjumov-Sachs orientation relationship between ferrite and austenite is still present.     

Mechanical Properties of Mg-Gd and Mg-Y Solid Solutions

The mechanical properties of Mg-Gd and Mg-Y solid solutions have been studied under uniaxial tension and compression between 4 K and 298 K (?269 °C and 25 °C). The results reveal that Mg-Gd alloys exhibit higher strength and ductility under tension and compression attributed to the more effective solid solution strengthening and grain-boundary strengthening effects. Profuse twinning has been observed under compression, resulting in a material texture with strong dominance of basal component parallel to compression axis. Under tension, twining is less active and the texture evolution is controlled mostly by slip. The alloys exhibit pronounced yield stress asymmetry and significantly different work-hardening behavior under tension and compression. Increasing of Gd and/or Y concentration leads to the reduction of the tension–compression asymmetry due to the weakening of the recrystallization texture and more balanced twinning and slip activity during plastic deformation. The results suggest that under compression of Mg-Y alloys slip is more active than twinning in comparison to Mg-Gd alloys.     

Serrated plastic flow behavior and microstructure in a Zr-based bulk metallic glass processed by surface mechanical attrition treatment

The serrated plastic flow, microstructure and residual stress of a Zr55 Cu30 Ni5 Al10 bulk metallic glass (BMG) undergone surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) have been investigated by a combina-tion of compression tests with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and the incremental hole-drilling strain-gage method.It is found that SMAT leads to various microstructural modifications and residual stress distribution in the surface layers of the Zr-based BMG due to the mechanically-induced nanocrystallization and generation of shear bands.As a re-sult, the BMG alloy exhibits a remarkable work-hardening like behavior and significant increase of plastic strain from less than 1% to 15%, and its plastic deformation dynamics yields a power-law distribution of shear avalanches.Based upon the analysis of the experimental results, it is indicated that this can be con-nected to the SMAT-induced microstructural modifications and the resulting residual compressive stress in the Zr-based BMG.     

Influence of deformation conditions and texture on the high temperature flow stress of magnesium AZ31

The evolution of hot working flow stress with strain is examined in torsion, uniaxial compression and channel die compression. The flow stress was found to be strongly dependent on texture and deformation mode. At low strains this dependency accounted for a difference in flow stress of up to a factor of two. At higher strains the influence of texture and deformation mode was less marked. The stresses corresponding to an equivalent strain of 0.5 were modelled using a power law expression with an activation energy of 147 kJ/mol and a strain rate exponent of 0.15. The influence of texture and deformation mode on flow stress is rationalised in terms of the influence of prismatic slip, twinning and dynamic recrystallisation on deformation stress and structure.     

The yielding, plastic flow, and fracture behavior of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene used in total joint replacements

The yielding, plastic flow, and fracture behavior of UHMWPE plays an important role in wear and failure mechanisms of total joint replacement components. The primary objective of this study was to compare the yielding, plastic flow, and fracture behavior of two implantable grades of UHMWPE (GUR 1120 vs 4150 HP). The first part of this work explored the hypothesis that up to the polymer yield point, the monotonic loading behavior of UHMWPE displays similar true stress strain behavior in tension and compression. Uniaxial tension and compression tests were conducted to compare the equivalent true stress vs strain response of UHMWPE up to 0.12 true strain. During monotonic loading, the equivalent true stress strain behavior was similar in tension and compression up to the yield point. However, investigation of the unloading behavior and permanent plastic deformations showed that classical deviatoric rate independent plasticity theory may dramatically overpredict the permanent strains in UHMWPE. A secondary goal of this study was to determine the ultimate true stress and strain for UHMWPE and to characterize the fracture surfaces after failure. Using a fracture mechanics approach, the critical flaw sizes were used in combination with the true ultimate stresses to predict the fracture toughness of the two resins. A custom video-based strain measurement system was developed and validated to characterize the true stress-strain behavior up to failure and to verify the accuracy of the incompressibility assumption in calculating the true stress-strains up to failure. In a detailed uncertainty analysis, theoretical expressions were derived for the relative uncertainty in digital video-based estimates of nominal strain, true strain, homogeneous stress, and true stress. Although the yielding behavior of the two UHMWPE resins was similar, the hardening and plastic flow behavior clearly discriminated between the GUR 1120 and 4150 HP. A statistically significant difference between the fracture toughness of the two resins was also evident. The long-term goal of this research is to provide detailed true stress strain data for UHMWPE under uniaxial tension and compression for future numerical simulations and comparison with more complex multiaxial loading conditions.     

The effect of the strain path on the work hardening of austenitic and ferritic stainless steels in axisymmetric drawing

The work-hardening characteristics of metals deeply affect the analytical and numerical analyses of their forming processes and especially the end mechanical properties of the products manufactured. The effects of strain, strain rate, and temperature on work hardening have received wide attention in the literature, but the role of the strain path has been far less studied, except for sheet-metal forming. Strain-path effects seem to have never been analyzed for bulk-forming processes, such as axisymmetric drawing. In the present work, drawn bars were considered as composed of concentric layers strained along varying strain paths. The tensile von Mises effective stress, effective-strain curves of two layers and of the full cross section of the drawn material, were experimentally determined. The flow behavior of these regions was compared to that resulting from pure monotonic-tensile processing. The AISI 420 and 304 stainless steels revealed a strain path and a material effect on their work-hardening characteristics. Higher or lower hardening rates were observed in axisymmetric drawing, as compared to pure tension. These phenomena were interpreted by considering the dislocation arrangements caused by initial drawing straining and their subsequent restructuring, associated with the strain-path change represented by tension after drawing. The analytical and numerical analyses of the tensile behavior of metals following axisymmetric drawing must consider the strain-path effects on the constitutive equations laws and on the hardening behavior of the material. The redundant deformation factor in axisymmetric drawing (φ) plays a central role in the analysis of the process and on the prediction of the mechanical properties of the final products. This parameter was evaluated considering (a) the strain distribution in the bar cross section caused by drawing or (b) the mechanical properties of the drawn bars. The comparison of the results from these two approaches allowed an unexplained interpretation of a material effect on this parameter.     

Numerical modeling of the propagation of an adiabatic shear band

The critical phenomena determining the propagation of an adiabatic shear band occur at its extremity. The stress and strain distributions at the tip of a shear band are calculated as a function of applied shear strain using the finite element method for an elasto-plastic material. Three assumptions simplify the calculations considerably: (a) the mechanical response of the material follows an adiabatic stress-strain curve; (b) the material within the shear band has zero shear strength; (c) the body is taken to be in equilibrium. The distribution of stresses and strains in the adiabatically-deformed material is compared to that of a quasi-statically deformed material. While the stress-strain curve for an isothermally deformed material is monotonic with continuous work-hardening, the adiabatic work-hardening curve reaches a plateau followed by work-softening (due to thermal softening). The stress and strain fields for both cases are nearly identical, except in the region directly in front of the shear band. In the adiabatically-deformed material a thin region (~5 μm) with large strains and lowered stresses is produced. This region, in which accelerated deformation takes place as the applied shear deformation increases, is absent in the isothermally-deformed material. The formation of this instability region, ahead of the shear band, is considered to be the mechanism for the propagation of an adiabatic shear band.     

Plastic behavior of aluminum-killed steel following plane-strain deformation

Aluminum-killed steel sheets have been subjected to plane-strain prestrain in three ways: two-pass rolling, multi-pass rolling, and inplane, plane-strain tension. Subsequent uniaxial tensile tests were performed to evaluate the residual work-hardening behavior. The subsequent hardening curves depended primarily on the relative direction between major strain axes in the two deformation stages and very little on the specific prestrain procedure. These curves showed high initial yield stresses followed by a region of low (or negative) work hardening rate. This behavior contrasted with earlier results for 70/30 brass sheet, and a model of subsequent tensile behavior based on a strain-induced stress transient emerged. Formerly Staff Research Scientist, General Motors Research Laboratories     

Deformation microstructures in titanium sheet metal

A metallographic study has been made of the microstructures produced by room temperature deformation of 0.6mm thick commercially pure titanium sheet metal in uniaxial, plane strain and biaxial tension. Deformation twinning becomes increasingly important as the deformation mode changes from uniaxial through plane strain to equibiaxial tension, and is more significant for strain transverse to the rolling direction than for strain in the longitudinal direction. In uniaxial tension, 1122 twins are dominant in longitudinal straining, while 1012 twins dominate in transverse straining. In plane strain and equibiaxial straining, 1012 twinning is suppressed and largely replaced by 1122 twinning. The observed changes in twin occurrence and type are attributed to the interaction of the imposed stress system and the crystallographic texture of the rolled sheet, which alters the distribution of the grain basal-plane poles with respect to the operative stress axes. In uniaxial tension parallel to the longitudinal direction, twins favored by ‘c’ axis compression are produced, while in the transverse direction twins favored by ‘c’ axis tension appear. In plane strain and biaxial tension the dominant stress is through-thickness compression, which produces twins favored by ‘c’ axis compression in nearly all cases. The alterations in twin orientation and numbers are associated with changes in stress-strain behavior. As twin volume fraction increases and twins are aligned more closely to the principal stress axis, the instantaneous work-hardening rate tends to stabilize at a nearly constant value over a large strain range. Formerly Chief Metallurgist, The APV Company.     

Isotropic and kinematic hardening in a dispersion-strengthened aluminum alloy

The room temperature mechanical behavior of a dispersion strengthened aluminum alloy was examined in tension, compression, and in fully reversed loading. The alloy, 8009, is characterized by a high volume fraction of 50–100 nm dispersoid (25%) and 0.5 mm grain size. In tension, 8009 exhibits low strain to UTS and large post uniform elongation; in compression, near steady state deformation is observed after 2–3% strain. The Bauschinger effect was quantified as a function of prestrain in the forward direction. The experimental reverse loading curves were compared to those expected for ideal isotropic hardening and ideal K1 type kinematic hardening. The alloy exhibits nearly pure kinematic hardening of the K1 type. Based on the microstructure and the fully reversed loading behavior, the monotonic deformation behavior is explained.     

Comparative study of the impact response and microstructure of 304L stainless steel with and without prestrain

This study compares the dynamic plastic deformation behavior and microstructural evolution of 304L stainless steel with and without metal-forming prestrain, using the compressive split Hopkinson pressure-bar technique and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) under strain rates ranging from 8 × 10² to 5 × 10³ s⁻¹ at room temperature, with true strains varying from yield to 0.3. Results show that the flow stress of unprestrained and prestrained 304L stainless steel is sensitive to applied strain rate, but the prestrained material exhibits greater strength. A higher work-hardening rate and higher strain-rate sensitivity are also found in the prestrained material, while an inverse tendency exists for the activation volume. A constitutive equation with our experimentally determined specific material parameters successfully describes both unprestrained and prestrained dynamic behavior. Microstructural observations reveal that the morphologies of dislocation substructure, mechanical twins, microshear bands, and α′ martensite formation are strongly influenced by prestrain, strain, and strain rate. The density of dislocations increases with increasing strain and strain rate for both materials. The dislocation cell size decreases with increasing strain, strain rate, and prestrain. An elongated cell structure appears in the prestrained material as heavy deformation is applied. Mechanical twins are found only in the prestrained material. Microshear bands and α′ martensite are more evident at large strains and strain rates, especially for the prestrained material. Quantitative analysis indicates that the amount of dislocations, mechanical twins, and α′ martensite varies as a function of work-hardening stress (σ−σ _y), reflecting different strengthening effects and degrees of microhardness.     

The influence of stacking fault energy on the mechanical behavior of Cu and Cu-Al alloys: Deformation twinning, work hardening, and dynamic recovery

The role of stacking fault energy (SFE) in deformation twinning and work hardening was systematically studied in Cu (SFE ∼78 ergs/cm²) and a series of Cu-Al solid-solution alloys (0.2, 2, 4, and 6 wt pct Al with SFE ∼75, 25, 13, and 6 ergs/cm², respectively). The materials were deformed under quasi-static compression and at strain rates of ∼1000/s in a Split-Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB). The quasi-static flow curves of annealed 0.2 and 2 wt pct Al alloys were found to be representative of solid-solution strengthening and well described by the Hall-Petch relation. The quasi-static flow curves of annealed 4 and 6 wt pct Al alloys showed additional strengthening at strains greater than 0.10. This additional strengthening was attributed to deformation twins and the presence of twins was confirmed by optical microscopy. The strengthening contribution of deformation twins was incorporated in a modified Hall-Petch equation (using intertwin spacing as the “effective” grain size), and the calculated strength was in agreement with the observed quasi-static flow stresses. While the work-hardening rate of the low SFE Cu-Al alloys was found to be independent of the strain rate, the work-hardening rate of Cu and the high SFE Cu-Al alloys (low Al content) increased with increasing strain rate. The different trends in the dependence of work-hardening rate on strain rate was attributed to the difference in the ease of cross-slip (and, hence, the ease of dynamic recovery) in Cu and Cu-Al alloys.     

The influence of crystallographic texture and interstitial impurities on the mechanical behavior of zirconium

Development of physically based constitutive models capable of simultaneously describing slip, twinning, and anisotropy requires knowledge of the coincident influence of each on mechanical response. In this article, the influence of interstitial impurities and texture on twinning in zirconium (Zr), in addition to variations in strain rate and temperature, are examined, to probe their effects on substructure evolution and mechanical behavior. The compressive-yield responses of both high-purity (HP) crystal-bar and lower-purity (LP) zirconium were found to depend on the loading orientation relative to the c-axis of the hcp cell, the applied strain rate, which varied between 0.001 and 3500/s, and the test temperature, which varied between 77 and 298 K. The rate of strain hardening in zirconium was seen to depend on the controlling defect-storage mechanism as a function of texture, strain rate, and temperature. The substructure evolution of HP zirconium was also observed to be a function of the applied strain rate and test temperature. The substructure of HP zirconium was seen to display a greater incidence of deformation twinning when deformed at a high strain rate at 298 K or quasi-statically at 77 K.     

316L不锈钢冷变形加工硬化机制及组织特征

通过对316L不锈钢的不同变形量的压缩试验,对其冷变形特性进行了研究.利用修正的Ludwik模型对流变应力数据进行非线性拟合,获得了316L不锈钢的真应力应变模型和加工硬化模型.试验结果表明:修正的Luiwik模型能较好的反映316L不锈钢真应力与应变关系;根据流变应力的变化规律,316L不锈钢冷变形流变应力可分为三个阶段,分别为真应变小于0.02的强加工硬化阶段,真应变在0.02与0.29之间的稳加工硬化阶段,以及真应变大于0.29的弱加工硬化阶段.电子显微技术研究表明316L不锈钢三个不同的变形阶段,其加工硬化机制、微观组织特征有所不同.      

High Strain-Rate Behavior and Transformation-Induced Plasticity of a High-Strength FeCrMoVWC Alloy Manufactured by Rapid Solidification Technique

By employing the rapid solidification technique and special manufacturing conditions, e.g., using only pure elements, an alloy was produced that exhibits major differences to conventionally produced high-speed steels. Within this study, the strain rate dependent material behavior of the examined alloy was characterized under compressive loading for a strain rate range from 10^?3?seconds^?1 to 10³?seconds^?1. The aim was to understand the inherent mechanisms when low and high strain rates are applied. Initially, microstructural observations of the base material, which revealed ????-martensite, retained austenite, and complex carbides, were conducted. The material exhibits extraordinarily high ultimate compression strength of up to 4800?MPa, a high work-hardening behavior, and a good deformability of 15?pct. Moderate strain rate sensitivity was detected. Furthermore, a strain-induced transformation (transformation induced plasticity [TRIP]-effect) from retained austenite to ????-martensite occurred. Interrupted compression tests at different strains and strain rates were carried out to understand the microstructural evolution. The examinations showed that adiabatic heating decreases the transformation rate of retained austenite to ????-martensite and counteracts the work-hardening behavior. For higher strain rates higher ????-martensite contents in the initial deformation region as well as a pronounced saturation behavior of ????-martensite was detected. A hypothesis is given for the strong work-hardening behavior of the alloy.     

Approximation of Nonlinear Unloading Effects in the Strain Rate Dependent Deformation Analysis of Polymer Matrix Materials Utilizing a State Variable Approach

An experimental and analytical program is carried out to explore key behaviors in the loading and unloading behavior of polymers. Specifically, the effects of strain rate and hydrostatic stresses on the nonlinear portions of the deformation response are examined. Tension, compression, and shear load only and load/unload tests are conducted on a representative polymer across a range of strain rates, and key features of the experimental results are identified. To conduct a preliminary exploration of how the key features of the deformation response could be simulated analytically, a previously developed set of constitutive equations, which were developed to analyze the strain rate dependent, nonlinear deformation of polymers including the effects of hydrostatic stresses, were modified in order to approximate key features of the nonlinear unloading behavior observed in the polymer. The constitutive relations are based on state variable constitutive equations originally developed for metals. The nonlinear unloading observed in the experiments is approximated by reducing the unloading modulus of the material as the effective inelastic strain is increased. The effects of the hydrostatic stress state on the unloading modulus are also simulated analytically. To examine the revised formulation, the loading and load/unload responses of the representative polymer in tension, compression, and shear are examined at several strain rates. Results computed using the developed constitutive equations were found to correlate reasonably well with the experimental data.     

Hot plane strain compression testing of aluminum alloys by channel-die compression

A thoroughly tested, high-temperature channel-die compression (CDC) rig is described for simulating hot plane strain compression of metallic alloys up to 500 °C. The equipment is currently used to characterize the flow stress and microstructure evolution in hot-rolled Al alloys. It has been validated by several tests involving (1) metallographic analysis of deformed samples; (2) flow stress comparisons with the same, or similar alloys deformed in conventional uniaxial or plane strain compression; and (3) microstructure and texture measurements. The use of modern lubricants enables one to obtain accurate flow stresses and true plane strain deformations that are homogeneous over 80 pct of the sample. The equipment also features rapid heating and cooling systems to minimize thermally-induced microstructure changes. Some results on high-temperature slip systems, hot deformation textures, and microstructures, and the behavior of constituent particles are outlined to illustrate the advantages of the technique.