Nanoindentation characterised plastic deformation of a Al0.5CoCrFeNi high entropy alloy

Abstract

The plastic deformation of a high entropy alloy Al_0.5CoCrFeNi was investigated by instrumented nanoindentation over a broad range of strain rates at room temperature. Results show that the creep behaviour depends on the strain rate remarkably. In situ scanning images showed a significant pile up around the indents, demonstrating that a highly localised plastic deformation occurred in the process of nanoindentation. Under different strain rates, contact stiffness and elastic modulus basically remain unchanged. However, the hardness decreases as indentation depth increases due to indentation size effect. For the same maximum load, serrations became less prominent as the loading rate of indentation increased. Similar serrations have been observed in the current alloy upon quasi-static compression.     

Analysis of plastic deformation in diamond like carbon films-steel substrate system with tribological tests

The influence of plastic deformation of the substrate on the tribological properties of diamond like carbon (DLC) films was investigated in DLC films-steel substrate system. The tribological properties of DLC films deposited on different hardness steel were evaluated by a ball on disk rotating-type friction tester at room temperature under different environments. In dry nitrogen, DLC films on soft steel exhibited excellent tribological properties, especially obvious under high load (such as 20 N and 50 N). However, DLC films on hard steel were worn out quickly at load of 20 N. Plastic deformation was observed on soft steel after tribological tests. The width and depth of plastic deformation track increased with increase of the experimental load. Super low friction and no measurable wear were kept in good condition even large plastic deformation under high load conditions in DLC films-soft steel system. In open air, DLC films on soft steel exhibited high coefficient of friction and DLC films on ball were worn out quickly. Plastic deformation was not observed on soft steel because the contact area increased and the thick hardened layer on contact surface were formed by DLC films and debris particles together on the steel substrate. The wear track on steel became deep and wide with increase of loads and DLC films were worn out. The experimental results showed that super low friction and high wear resistance of DLC films on soft steel can be attributed to the good adhesion and plastic deformation. Plastic deformation played an active role in the tribological properties of DLC films on soft steel in the present work.     

A combinatorial study on the influence of Cu addition, film thickness and heat treatment on phase composition, texture and mechanical properties of Ti-Ni shape memory alloy thin films

A series of amorphous Ti-Ni-Cu based thin films with compositional spread and different thicknesses was produced at room temperature using a magnetron sputtering device and crystallized by means of different heat treatments. Phase composition and crystallographic orientation of the films were characterized using a Multi-Axial X-ray Diffraction approach and their mechanical properties were assessed using nanoindentation. The results show that the addition of Cu and thermal treatments can be used to significantly alter the phase composition, the texture and the microstructure of the films. Film thickness plays an important role in determining of the amount of martensitic phase at room temperature as well as the amount of Ti-rich and Ni-rich phases. In particular a thickness threshold between 350 nm and 800 nm was shown to be critical for the triggering of the texture in the austenitic phase.     

Deformed metals – structure,recrystallisation and strength

Abstract

It is shown how new discoveries and advanced experimental techniques in the last 25 years have led to paradigm shifts in the analysis of deformation and annealing structures of metals and in the way the strength of deformed samples is related to structural parameters. This is described in three sections: structural evolution by grain subdivision, recovery and recrystallisation and strength–structure relationships.     

Micro- and nano-scale deformation behavior of nylon 66-based binary and ternary nanocomposites

The primary aim of this paper is to provide an insight on the effect of the location of organoclay on the micro- and nano-scale deformation processes in melt-compounded nylon 66/organoclay/SEBS-g-MA ternary nanocomposites prepared by different blending sequences. In addition, the deformation processes of the ternary nanocomposites were compared to the binary nanocomposites (nylon 66/organoclay and nylon 66/SEBS-g-MA) and neat nylon 66. The incorporation of SEBS-g-MA particles toughened nylon 66 markedly; but the flexural modulus and strength were both reduced. Conversely, the use of organoclay increased the modulus but decreased the fracture toughness of nylon 66. Nylon 66/SEBS-g-MA/organoclay ternary nanocomposites exhibited balanced elastic stiffness and toughness. Stress-whitening studies of the fracture surfaces in terms of gray level were also performed and an attempt was made to correlate the optical reflectivity characteristics with fracture toughness. It was concluded that the capability of SEBS-g-MA particles to cavitate was decreased by the presence of organoclay in the SEBS-g-MA phase, resulting in reduced toughening efficiency. The best micro-structure for toughness and other mechanical properties is thus to maximize the amount of exfoliated organoclay in the nylon 66 matrix rather than to have it embedded in the finely dispersed SEBS-g-MA particles.     

Microstructure, mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of industrial Cu-0.5%Cr alloy processed by severe plastic deformation

Microstructure, mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of industrial Cu-0.5% alloy subjected to equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) by route A and cold rolling with and without aging treatment were investigated. The lamellar grains in thickness of 100 nm were obtained after eight ECAP passes. They were not further pancake shaped, but fragmentary and obtained less sharp boundaries with more dislocations in addition to cold rolling. After aging at 450 °C for 1 h, high density of dislocations and some coarse grains were observable after ECAP and the additional cold rolling, respectively. The tensile tests show that tensile strength arrived at 460 MPa and 484 MPa after four and eight passes of ECAP, respectively, the corresponding tensile strength increased to 570 MPa and 579 MPa after the additional cold rolling. However, the electrical conductivity was not more than 35% IACS. It was proved that four passes of ECAP followed by 90% cold rolling and aging at 450 °C for 1 h offered a short process for Cu-0.5%Cr alloy to balance the paradox of high strength and electrical conductivity, under which the tensile strength 554 MPa, elongation to failure 22% and electrical conductivity 84% of IACS could be obtained. The high strength was explained by precipitation strengthening and fine grain strengthening.     

Microstructure control during severe plastic deformation of Al-Cu-Li and the influence on strength and ductility

The microstructure and mechanical behaviour of an Al-Cu-Li alloy has been examined after processing over a wide range of conditions involving severe deformation at elevated temperatures with prior or subsequent heat treatments. Dislocation cellular or subgrain structures are obtained, with varying degrees of precipitation. High strength, as well as poor ductility, can be correlated with the presence of a high density of fine T₁ phase precipitates, with the dislocation substructure playing a smaller role. Careful control of processing conditions allows a suitable combination of good strength with ductility to be obtained.     

Vickers indentation tests in a Zr62.55Cu17.55Ni9.9Al10 bulk amorphous alloy

Vickers indentation tests were conducted on a Zr_62.55Cu_17.55Ni_9.9Al₁₀ bulk amorphous alloy to investigate the evolution of shear bands and its plastic deformation dimension via a bonded interface technique. Under all indentation loads, the plastic deformation is accommodated through semi-circular and radial shear bands. The plastic deformation dimension increases with increasing the indentation loads. A simplified λ = C(P)^0.5 model was put forward to predict and estimate the plastic deformation dimension characterized by shear bands in the subsurface. For the Zr_62.55Cu_17.55Ni_9.9Al₁₀ amorphous alloy, C is about 15.314 µm/N^0.5. The normalized shear band zone is independent to the indentation load.     

Strain hardening and softening in a nanocrystalline Ni-Fe alloy induced by severe plastic deformation

The strain response of an electrochemically deposited nanocrystalline Ni-20 wt.% Fe alloy processed by high-pressure torsion (HPT) was investigated by monitoring changes in hardness. Strain hardening was observed in the very early stage of HPT, followed by strain softening before the onset of a second strain hardening stage. Structural investigations revealed that the two hardening stages were associated with an increase in dislocation density, whereas the strain softening stage was accompanied by a reduction in the dislocation and twin densities, thereby demonstrating the main dependence of hardness on the dislocation density in this material. Grain growth occurred during HPT and its role in the hardness evolution is also discussed.     

Influence of the supersaturated silicon solid solution concentration on the effectiveness of severe plastic deformation processing in Al-7 wt.% Si casting alloy

A comparative study of room temperature severe plastic deformation (SPD) of a hypoeutectic Al-7 wt.% Si casting alloy by high pressure torsion (HPT) and equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) has been performed. Microstructural parameters and microhardness were evaluated in the present work. Three different initial Si solid solution contents have been considered: as cast (C sample, 1.6 wt.% Si), annealed and quenched (Q sample, 1.2 wt.% Si) and annealed and furnace cooled (S sample, 0.7 wt.% Si). The samples processed by ECAP have smaller average Si particle sizes (0.9-1.7 μm), than those for samples processed by HPT (2.4-4.4 μm). The initial supersaturated Si solid solution is the major factor affecting the microstructure and the mechanical properties of the material. Fine deformation-induced Si precipitates from the supersaturated solid solution were responsible of the large grain refinement obtained by both SPD processing methods, which was considerably higher than that reported for pure aluminium. Q samples, processed by both SPD methods, containing an intermediate concentration of Si in solid solution, show the highest hardness due to the finest and most homogeneous microstructure. The finest and homogeneous grain size was ∼0.2 μm for the HPTed and ∼0.4 μm for the ECAPed Q samples.     

Synthesis and properties of bulk metallic glasses in the ternary Ni–Nb–Zr alloy system

Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) with high thermal stability, good mechanical properties and high corrosion resistance were synthesized in the Ni–Nb–Zr system. A large bulk glass-forming region with 60 < Ni < 64, 28 < Nb < 38 and 0 < Zr < 9 (in at.%) was found. The critical size for the glass formation is 3 mm. These investigated Ni-based BMGs process high glass transition temperature of about 880–900 K and high on-set crystallization temperature of 915–932 K as well as high compressive fracture strength of approximate 3.0–3.2 GPa along with some compressive plasticity of about 2%. Electrochemical measurements indicate they also exhibit high corrosion resistance, i.e., large passive region above 1.5 V (vs. saturated calomel reference electrode, SCE). The influence of the Zr content on the glass-forming ability (GFA) and corrosion behaviors was carefully studied, indicating that some Zr addition improves the GFA and corrosion resistance.     

Refinement of precipitates and deformation substructure in an Al–Cu–Li alloy during heavy rolling at elevated temperatures

An Al–Cu–Li alloy has been severely deformed by rolling over a wide range of temperatures and the evolution of deformation substructure and precipitation examined. A high dislocation density is retained at all temperatures, with dislocations forming cell and subgrain arrangements. There is a greater extent of recovery and coarsening at the higher temperatures. Much finer precipitate particles are seen after rolling than after simple ageing, and grain boundary precipitation is much less extensive. Particle size is reduced both by extensive precipitation on dislocations and by the breakage of previously formed precipitates by the subsequent high strain. Material strength is increased by the presence of the deformation substructure and the fine precipitates, while ductility is improved only when extensive recovery has taken place. More severe deformation, controlling the extent of precipitation, is necessary to refine structures further.     

Effect of annealing treatments on the anisotropy of a magnesium alloy sheet processed by severe rolling

The effect of annealing treatments on the normal plastic anisotropy (r-value) of a magnesium alloy, AZ61, processed by severe rolling was investigated. The various annealing treatments produce two effects on microstructure: grain coarsening and slight weakening of the texture. In addition, these treatments produce a noticeable decrease of the anisotropy that was correlated with an increase in strain rate sensitivity and a decrease of work hardening rate. It is concluded that an enhanced contribution of basal slip occurs as a consequence of the annealing treatments.     

Effect of strain rate and temperature on the deformation behavior in a Ti-23.1Nb-2.0Zr-1.0O titanium alloy

The compression behavior of a Ti-23.1 Nb-2.0Zr-1.0O (at.％) alloy was investigated at strain rates from 0.1 s-1 to 1000 s-1 and temperatures from 100 ℃ to 200 ℃ on a Gleeble 3800 system and Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) compressive tester.Optical microscopy,electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD),X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to characterize the microstructure evolution during the deformation.Numerous deformation phenomena,including dislocation slip,twinning of both {332}<113> and {112}<111> modes,stress-induced α" martensite (SIMα") and stress-induced ω (SIω) transformations,were observed.The preferred activation of twinning and SIω transformations was observed in the sample compressed at lower temperatures and/or higher strain rates.The underlying mechanism is that twinning and stress induced phase transformations are attribute to higher stress concentrations at β grain boundaries and additional energy supplied by a higher strain rate,as well as high stacking fault energy because of higher temperature.     

A theoretical model for the electromagnetic radiation emission during plastic deformation and crack propagation in metallic materials

This paper presents a theoretical model for the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) emissions during plastic deformation and crack propagation in metallic materials. It is shown that under an externally applied stress, edge dislocations within the plastic zone ahead of a crack tip form accelerated electric line dipoles which give rise to the EMR emissions. The dynamic motion of these dislocations becomes overdamped, underdamped or critically damped, depending upon the material/microstructural properties such as mass per unit length of dislocation, line tension, damping coefficient, and distance between the dislocation pinning points. The nature of the EMR signals, viz. exponential decay or damped sinusoidal, is decided essentially by these damping characteristics. The EMR emissions are followed by crack propagation in metallic materials. The EMR has a continuous frequency spectrum with a frequency bandwidth ranging from 10⁸ to 10¹² radians s⁻¹, depending upon the properties of the metals. Screw dislocations do not contribute to the EMR emissions. The paper also presents some experimental results on the EMR emissions in ASTM B265 grade 2 titanium sheets. The nature (damped sinusoidal and exponential decay), amplitude and frequency of the observed EMR emissions are in conformity with the predictions of the theoretical model.     

Thermosetting epoxy reinforced shape memory composite microfiber membranes: Fabrication,structure and properties

The thermosetting epoxy-based shape memory composite microfibers are successfully fabricated by means of coaxial electrospinning. The PCL/epoxy composite fiber shows core/shell structure, in which epoxy as the core layer is for an enhancing purpose. By incorporating epoxy and PCL, the mechanical strength of composite fibers is greatly reinforced. The deformation is via the heating and cooling process, and the shape memory effect can be demonstrated from the micro level to the macro level. The whole shape recovery performance takes only 6.2 s when triggered by the temperature being at 70 °C. The porosity of woven microfibers changes in response to temperature. In addition, the PCL/epoxy composite microfiber membranes are analyzed in an in vitro cytotoxicity test, which proves that PCL as the shell layer provides the composite microfibers potential capabilities in biomedical science.     

Effect of nitrogen partial pressure on the structure, physical and mechanical properties of CrB2 and Cr-B-N films

The investigation of structure and properties of Cr-B and Cr-B-N films deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering of CrB₂ target in argon and argon-nitrogen environments, respectively is presented. The nitrogen partial pressure was kept at 10, 15, and 25% of the total pressure. The microstructure, phase and chemical composition of Cr-B-(N) films were studied by means of X-ray diffraction, transmission- and scanning-electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electron probe microanalysis and secondary neutral mass-spectrometry. The films were characterized in terms of their electrical resistivity, optical reflectivity and transmittance. Measurements of hardness and elastic modulus were performed by depth sensing nanoindentation. The results obtained show that the films deposited in pure Ar had a hexagonal AlB₂-type structure with crystallites, 15-17 nm in lateral size, elongated in the direction of film growth. The Cr-B-N films consisted of nanocrystalline nc-CrB₂ and amorphous a-BN phases. As the nitrogen content in films was raised, the volume fraction of the nc-CrB₂ phase decreased and a-BN phase increased. When nitrogen was added to the gas discharge during deposition, the nc-CrB₂ crystallite size decreased down to 3-5 nm. Without nitrogen, the films exhibited a columnar morphology. Nitrogen introduction suppressed the columnar growth of films because formation of a-BN intergranular layers. The films deposited under optimal parameters showed hardness in the range of 36-43 GPa and Young's modulus below 300 GPa. For all films, electrical resistivity values between approximately 200 and 700 µΩ cm were recorded.     

Thermal stability, mechanical and corrosion behaviour of niobium-based coatings in the ternary system Nb-O-N

The influence of oxygen in the system Nb-O-N on properties like thermal, mechanical, corrosion and degradation behaviour was studied with respect to the O/N ratio in the films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering. With increasing O/N ratio the hardness, the Young's Modulus and the residual stress strongly decreased. Furthermore the friction coefficient decreased in pin-on-disk tests against a 100Cr6 ball and was lowest for NbON coatings with medium oxygen content. The thermal stability in vacuum was excellent for the coatings up to 800 °C except for coatings with an O/N ratio of ≥ 12.8. These high oxygen-containing coatings crystallised at about 600 °C. The corrosion resistance of the Nb-based coatings in NaCl-containing media strongly improved with increasing O/N ratio, presumably due to the amorphous structure of the oxygen-containing coatings.     

Atomic-resolution studies on reactions between basal dislocations and { 10(1)2 } coherent twin boundaries in a Mg alloy

Reactions between basal 〈a60〉 dislocations and {1012} coherent twin boundaries(CTBs) in a Mg alloy were studied with atomic resolution. Individual dislocation-CTB reactions produced steps with residual dislocations and multiple t winnin g dislocations(TDs) gliding away, consequently resulting in TB migration. Reactions between {1012} CTBs and low-angle grain boundaries composed of basal 〈a60〉 dislocations created either basal-prismatic/prismatic-basal interfaces or asymmetric tilt grain boundaries, depending on whether TDs gliding away or not. Not only the emission of TDs by dislocation-TB reactions may drive TB migration, but also the resultant steps or facets along TBs can act as TD sources to facilitate TB migration. Our results indicate that roughness or severe loss of local coherency induced by dislocation-TB reactions does not intrinsically impede TB migration in Mg alloys. Dislocation-TB reactions may provide another feasible strategy to improve the ductility of Mg alloys, in addition to other techniques like grain refinement and texture modification.     

Optimization of bond strength between gold alloy and porcelain through a composite interlayer obtained by powder metallurgy

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of a composite interlayer (at the metal-ceramic interface) on the shear bond strength of a metal-ceramic composite when compared with a conventional porcelain fused to metal (PFM).Several metal-ceramic composites specimens were produced by hot pressing. To identify which was the best composition for the interlayer several composites, with different relations of metal/ceramic volume fraction, were bonded to metal and to ceramic substrates. The bond strength of the composites to substrates was assessed by the means of a shear test performed in a universal test machine (crosshead speed: 0.5 mm/min) until fracture. Some interfaces of fractured specimens as well as undestroyed interface specimens were examined with optical microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM/EDS).The shear bond strength results for all composites bonded to metal and to ceramic substrates were significantly higher (>150 MPa) than those registered in the upper range of conventional porcelain fused to metal (PFM) techniques (∼80 MPa). The use of a composite interlayer proved to enhance metal/ceramic adhesion in 160%.