Microstructure and high temperature mechanical properties of laser rapidly formed Ti-6Al-4V alloy

Several tensile samples were prepared using laser rapid forming （LRF） with Ti-6Al-4V alloy as powder material, and the samples were annealed. The microstructure and high temperature mechanical properties of laser formed Ti-6Al-4V alloy through annealing treatment were investigated. The short-term and long-term tensile tests at 350 ℃ were performed. The results show that the microstructure of LRF samples consists of the large columnar prior β grains which grow epitaxially from the substrate along the deposition direction. There are Widmanstaitten a laths in prior β grains, but a laths in annealed microstructure are coarser, and their aspect ratio is lower than that in as-deposited microstructure. In addition, the prior β grain boundary is also coarsened and broken off through the annealing treatment. The high temperature mechanical properties of the annealed LRF samples exceed those of casting alloy significantly, especially the stress-rupture lifetime reaches 661.7 h even while the test stress increases from initial value of 490 MPa to the final stress of 800 MPa gradually.     

High-temperature mechanical properties of aluminium alloys reinforced with titanium diboride （TiB2） particles

The physical and mechanical properties of metal matrix composites were improved by the addition of reinforcements.The mechanical properties of particulate-reinforced metal-matrix composites based on aluminium alloys (6061 and 7015) at high temperatures were studied.Titanium diboride (TiB2) particles were used as the reinforcement.All the composites were produced by hot extrusion.The tensile properties and fracture characteristics of these materials were investigated at room temperature and at high temperatures to determine their ultimate strength and strain to failure.The fracture surface was analysed by scanning electron microscopy.TiB2 particles provide high stability of the aluminium alloys (6061 and 7015) in the fabrication process.An improvement in the mechanical behaviour was achieved by adding TiB2 particles as reinforcement in both the aluminium alloys.Adding TiB2 particles reduces the ductility of the aluminium alloys but does not change the microscopic mode of failure,and the fracture surface exhibits a ductile appearance with dimples formed by coalescence.     

Microstructure and creep properties of Mg-4Al-2Sn-1 （Ca,Sr） alloys

The effects of Ca and Sr addition on the microstructure and creep properties of Mg-4Al-2Sn alloys were examined.Tensile tests at 25℃ and 200℃ and creep tests at 150℃ and 200℃ were carried out to estimate the room temperature and high temperature mechanical properties of these alloys.The microstructure of the Mg-4Al-2Sn alloy showed dendriticα-Mg,Mg17Al12 and Mg2Sn phases.The latter two phases precipitated along the grain boundaries.The addition of Ca and Sr resulted in the formation of ternary CaMgSn and SrMgSn phases within the grain.The grain size was reduced slightly with the addition of Sr and Ca.The tensile strength was decreased by the addition of Ca and Sr at room temperature.However,the high temperature tensile strength was increased.The creep strength was improved by the addition of Ca and Sr.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of additive manufactured steel-Al structure materials with nickel gradient layers

The microstructure and mechanical properties of steel/Al structure material produced by additive manufacturing(AM) was investigated in this work based on the cold metal transfer welding.The results show that the microstructure gradually changed from the steel side to the aluminum side.The microstructure in the steel layer consisted of vermiform like 8ferrite and austenite structure,while in the aluminum layer the microstructure was constituted by α-Al grains and typical reticulate distributive Al-Si eutectic structure.Besides,a 7 μm thickness Ni-Al intermetallic compound layer was emerged at the interface of nickel and aluminum layer.The maximum room-temperature tensile strength of the Steel-Al structure materials was found to be 54 MPa,the rupture morphology showed a brittle fracture characteristic.     

Effect of heat treatments on failure mechanism of SiCp/2124 Al composite

The mechanical response of a 17% （volume fraction） silicon carbide particles reinforced 2124 Al composite prepared by powder metallurgy techniques was studied by altering the matrix strength with different heat treatments. The fracture mechanisms and the deformation microstructure were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The results show that matrix strength appears to play an important role in influcing the behaviour of the composite under hardness and tensile loading conditions and also fracture mechanisms. The high matrix strength results in a larger decrease in yield strength due to the increasing damage probability. The tensile yield strength values decrease under peak aged and overaged condition whereas under the solutinized condition the opposite effect can be seen.     

Effects of Homogenized Treatment on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of AlCoCrFeNi_(2.2) Near-Eutectic High-Entropy Alloy

A 4 kg AlCoCrFeNi_(2.2) near-eutectic high-entropy alloy ingot was prepared by vacuum medium frequency induction melting. The effects of homogenized treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of AlCoCrFeNi_(2.2) were studied. The results showed that all the alloys consisted of the primary FCC phases and eutectic FCC/B2 phases. After homogenized treatment, lots of precipitated phases appeared in the primary phase. The hardness of the as-cast alloy was HV296. The hardness values of samples were decreased and were around HV250 after homogenized treatment. The tensile fracture strength of the as-cast alloy reached 900 MPa, while the elongation was 18%. After homogenized treatment at 900 ℃, the alloy showed the most excellent mechanical properties with the fracture strength 880 MPa and the elongation was 29%, respectively. All the alloys displayed a mixture fracture mechanism, including ductile fracture in primary FCC phases and eutectic FCC phases, and brittle quasi-cleavage fracture in eutectic B2 phases. Through a simple heat treatment method, the strength of the alloy was not reduced but the plasticity was greatly enhanced, which was more conducive to the industrial application prospects.     

On the intergranular fracture behavior of high-temperature plastic deformation of 1420 A1-Li alloy

The tensile deformation hot simulation test of as-cast 1420 Al-Li alloy was performed on Gleeble-1500 Thermal Simulator in the deformation temperature range from 350 to 450℃, and the strain rate range from 0.01 to 10.0 s -1 .The tensile fracture behavior of the 1420 AI-Li alloy at high temperature was studied experimently. The results show that the tensile fracture mode of the 1420 Al-Li alloy at high temperature is changed from typical transgranular ductile fracture to intergranular brittle fracture with the increase of the deformation temperature and the strain rate. It is made out that the precipitation of LiH is the fundamental reason for the intergranular brittle fracture of the 1420 Al-Li alloy at high temperature. The mechanism of hydrogen embrittlement of the 1420 AI-Li alloy at high temperature was discussed, and it was proposed that the hydrogen embrittlement at high temperature is an integrated function of the dynamic and the static force, which enrichs the theories of hydrogen embrittlement.     

Effect of microstructure on tensile properties and fracture behavior of intermetallic Ti2AlNb alloys

The tensile properties and fracture behaviors of Ti-22Al-27Nb and Ti-22Al-20Nb-7Ta alloys were investigated in the temperature range of 25-800℃ Three typical microstructures were obtained by ifferent thermomechanical processing techniques.The results indicate that the duplex microstructure has an optimum combination of tensile yield strength and ductility both at room and elevated temperatures.Adding Ta to Ti2AlNb alloy can improve the yield strength,especially at high temperature while retain a good ductility.The study on crack initiation and propagation in dedformed microstructure of Ti2AlNb alloys indicates that microstructure has ikmportant effect on the tensile fracture mechanism of the alloys.The cracks initiate within primary O/α2 grains along O/B2 boundaries or O phase laths in B2 matrix,and propagate along primary B2 grain boundaries for the duplex microstructure.The fracture mode is transgranular with ductile dimples for the duplex and the equiaxed microstructures,but intergranular for the lath microstructure.     

Effects of Multiple Plastic Deformations on Microstruc-ture and Mechanical Properties of 7A04-T6

The influences of multiple plastic deformations on microstructure and mechanical properties of 7A04-T6 alloy by isothermal compression experiments in different passes deformation on the 6300 kN extrusion press. The experimental results showed that the strength and elongation of 7A04-T6 alloy were increased firstly and then decreased as the deformation pass increases at above 400 ℃. The grains of 7A04-T6 alloy was refined firstly and then grow, the grain was become refinement after four deformations under this experimental conditions. The second phase η (MgZn2) in the matrix would precipitate after solution, precipitation strengthening taking place. It is obvious that the number of second phase which dissolve into the matrix will increase as the deformation pass increasing. So the tensile strength reached the highest after four deformations, is 590.9 MPa, yield strength is 532.5 MPa, and elongation is 12.4%. After four deformations of 7A04-T6 alloy, tensile fracture surface of samples was composed of the deep and uniform dimples, belonging to ductile fracture. Therefore, 7A04-T6 alloy has better comprehensive mechanical properties after four deformations.     

Effect of anisotropy on microstructure and high temperature stress rupture properties of Ni3A1 base single crystal alloy

The effect of anisotropy on microstructure and high temperature stress rupture property of Ni3A1 base single crystal alloy was investigated. The single crystal specimens were produced by screw selection crystal method. The microstructures were examined by OM, SEM, TEM and X-ray EDS techniques. The stress rupture tests were can-led out in air by constant load creep machines under 1 100 ℃ and 130 MPa. The experimental results show that the dendrites preferential orientation deviates certain angles to heat flow orientation, and the secondary arms occur for different crystallographic orientations. The single crystal alloy with different orientations shows obvious anisotropy during tensile stress rupture tests under 1 100 ℃ and 130 MPa. The 〈111〉 orientation specimen has the best stress rupture life of 211 h. The high ductility at 1 100 ℃ of the 〈001〉 orientation specimen may be attributed to the most multiple equivalent slip systems.     

Mechanical Properties and Microstructural Evolution of Bulk UFG Al 2014 Alloy Processed Through Cryorolling and Warm Rolling

Tensile properties,microstructural evolution and fracture toughness of A1 2014 alloy subjected to cryorolling followed by warm rolling(CR + WR)have been investigated in the present study.The solution-treated(ST)A1 2014 alloy is cryorolled followed by warm rolling process at different temperatures(110,170 and 210 ℃).The mechanical properties and microstructural features of deformed and undeformed A1 2014 alloys were characterised by optical microscopy,transmission electron microscopy(TEM)and scanning electron microscopy(SEM).The CR + WR samples at 170 ℃ showed an improved hardness(179 HV),tensile(UTS 499 MPa,YS 457 MPa)and fracture toughness(K_Q= 37.49 MPa m~(1/2),K_(ee) = 37.39 MPa m~(1/2) and J integral= 33.25 kJ/mm~2)with respect to ST alloy as measured from the tensile and fracture toughness test.The improved mechanical properties of CR + WR alloy are attributed to grain boundary strengthening,combined recovery and recrystallisation,precipitation hardening and dynamic ageing effect during the deformation.The precipitation of metastable spherical phase Al_2Cu was responsible for the improved tensile and fracture properties of finegrained A1 2014 alloy observed in the present work.     

Inhomogeneity of microstructure and mechanical properties of a 500 mm diameter heavy section semi-continuous cast AZ61 magnesium alloy ingot简

For the large magnesium alloy ingot, there is a considerable difference in cooling rate of different parts in the ingot, which leads to non-uniform distribution of the secondary phases, solute segregation and tensile properties. In the present research, an heavy AZ61 alloy ingot with a diameter of 500 mm was made by semi-continuous casting. The microstructure and mechanical properties at different positions along the radial direction of the large ingot were investigated by using an optical microscope(OM), a scanning electron microscope(SEM), an energy dispersive spectroscope(EDS), and a micro-hardness tester. The results indicate that the microstructure of the AZ61 ingot is non-uniform in different locations. It changes from equiaxed to columnar grains from the center to the edge; the average grain size gradually reduces from 1,005 μm to 763 μm, the secondary dendrite arm spacing reduces from 78 μm to 50 μm, and the Mg17(Al,Zn)12 phase is also refined. The micro-hardness value increases from 55.4 HV at the center to 72.5 HV at the edge of the ingot due to the microstructure differences, and the distribution of micro-hardness at the edge of the ingot is more uniform than that in the center. The tensile properties at room temperature show little difference from the center to the edge of the ingot except that the elongation at the edge is only 3.5%, much lower than that at other areas. The fracture mechanism is ductile fracture at the center and cleavage fracture at the edge of the ingot, and at the 1/2 radius of the ingot, a mixture of ductile and cleavage fracture is present.     

Fabrication of carbon nanotubes reinforced AZ91D composites by ultrasonic processing

Magnesium matrix nanocomposite reinforced with carbon nanotubes （CNTs/AZ91D） was fabricated by mechanical stirring and high intensity ultrasonic dispersion processing. The microstructures and mechanical properties of the nanocomposite were investigated. The results show that CNTs are well dispersed in the matrix and combined with the matrix very well. As compared with AZ91D magnesium alloy matrix, the tensile strength, yield strength and elongation of the 1.5%CNTs/AZ91D nanocomposite are improved by 22%, 21% and 42% respectively in permanent mold casting. The strength and ductility of the nanocomposite are improved simultaneously. The tensile fracture analysis shows that the damage mechanism of nanocomposite is still brittle fracture. But the CNTs can prevent the local crack propagation to some extent.     

Influence of Cold Rolling Reduction on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of TWIP Steel

The influence of cold rolling reduction on microstructure and mechanical properties of the TWIP (ttwinning induced plasticity) steel was investigated. The results indicated that the steel had better comprehensive mechanical properties when cold rolling reduction was about 65.0% and the annealing temperature was 1000℃. The tensile strength of the steel is about 640MPa and the yield strength is higher than 255MPa, while the elongation is above 82%. The microstructure is composed of austenitic matrix and annealing twins at room temperature, at the same time, a significant amount of annealing twins and stacking faults are observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Mechanical twins play a dominant role during deformation, and result in excellent mechanical properties.     

Effect of pre-deformation on aging characteristics and mechanical properties of Mg-Gd-Nd-Zr alloy

The effect of plastic deformation prior to artificial aging on the aging characteristics and mechanical properties of a Mg-I lGd-2Nd-0.5Zr （mass fraction, %） alloy was investigated. After solution treatment at 525 ℃ for 4 h, the alloy was subjected to cold stretching deformation of 0%, 5% and 10%, respectively. The as-deformed specimens possess high density of dislocations and mechanical twins, which increase with elevated deformation. As compared with non-stretched alloy, the stretched alloy shows accelerated age-hardening response and slightly enhanced peak hardness when aged at 200 ℃. Comparison of the microstructures in undeformed and deformed specimens after 200 ℃, 24 h aging reveals that pre-deformation induces the heterogeneous nucleation of precipitations at dislocations and twin boundaries in addition to the homogeneous precipitation in the matrix. Room and high temperature tensile test results show that pre-deformation enhances the strength of the alloy, especially at room temperature, though the ductility declines. The improvement in strength of deformed and aged alloy is attributed to the combined strengthening effect of precipitates, deformation structures and grain boundaries.     

Strength evaluation of ultra-high strength steels and spot weld of automotive bodies

Cockcrofi-Latham fracture criterion was applied to predict the fracture of high strength steels. A Marciniak-type biaxial stretching test of the four classes of high strength steels was carried out to measure the material damage limit of Cockcrofi-Latham fracture criterion. Furthermore, in order to improve the simulation accuracy, the local anisotropic parameters depending on the plastic strain （strain dependent model of anisotropy ） were measured by digital image correlation method and incorporated into Hill＇ s anisotropic yield condition by authors. To confirm the validity of Cockcrofi-Latham fracture criterion, the uniaxial tensile tests based on JIS No. 5 tensile specimen were performed. The force-displacement history and fracture happening strokes were predicted with high accuracy. Then, Cockcrofi-Latham fracture criterion was applied to predict the failure of four types of spot welded joints. To simulate the local bending and warping deformations around the heataffected zone, the discrete Kirchhoff triangle element was adapted. FEM results for four classes of high strength steels and four types of spot welded joints had a good correlation with experimental ones.     

Orientation Dependence of the Micro-Pillar Compression Strength in an Electron Beam Melted Ti–6Al–4V Alloy

An α/β two-phase Ti-6 Al-4 V alloy was fabricated by electron beam melting to obtain a basketweave structure.The orientation dependence of the mechanical properties of Ti-6 Al-4 V alloy was studied by micro-pillar compression and post-mortem transmission electron microscopy analysis.The results indicate that different grains have different mechanical responses,and the possible attributions were discussed.Besides the orientation effect,due to the limited volumes of micropillars,the size of the a phases,dispersion of the β phases,and the presence of the free dislocation path also affect the mechanical properties of the micropillars to a large extent.Although no direct link was discovered between the mechanical properties and the parent βorientations,this work provided a promising method to further study the anisotropic mechanical behavior in Ti-6 Al-4 V alloy.     

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of 1,000 MPa Ultra-High Strength Hot-Rolled Plate Steel for Coal Mine Refuge Chamber

The 1,000 MPa ultra-high strength hot-rolled plate steel with low-carbon bainitic microstructure was developed in the laboratory for coal mine refuge chamber. The static recrystallization behavior, microstructure evolution, and mechanical properties of this hot-rolled plate steel were investigated by the hot compression, continuous cooling transformation, and tensile deformation test. The results show that the developed steel has excellent mechanical properties at both room and elevated temperature, and its microstructure mainly consists of lath bainite, granular bainite, and ferrite after thermal–mechanical control process(TMCP). The ultra-high strength plate steel is obtained by the TMCP process in hot rolling, strengthened by bainitic transformation, microstructure refinement, and precipitation of alloying elements such as Nb, Ti, Mo, and Cu. The experimental steel has relatively low welding crack sensitivity index and high atmospheric corrosion resistance index. Therefore, the developed steel has a good balance of strength and ductility both at room and elevated temperature, weldability and corrosion resistance, and it can suffice for the basic demands for materials in the manufacture of coal mine refuge chamber.     

Tensile and fracture behavior of DZ951 Ni-base superalloy

The tensile and fracture behavior of DZ951 directionally solidified Niobase superalloy was studied in the temperature range of 20-1 100 ℃. The fracture mode was examined by scanning electron microscopy. The results show the experimental temperature has no significant effect on the tensile strengths, which are greater than 1 000 MPa from room temperature to 800 ℃. The yield strength reaches its maximum （970 MPa） at 800 ℃. When the experimental temperature is higher than 800 ℃, the tensile and yield strengths decrease evidently and the ductility increases remarkably. The fractograph of fracture surface for the tensile specimen at room temperature shows a dimple-ductile fracture mode. The fractograph from 600 to 800 ℃ shows a slide fracture mode. The fractograph from 900 to 1 100 ℃ exhibits a creep rupture mode with uneven deformation.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-B_4C composite at elevated temperature strengthened with in situ Al_2O_3 network

This study evaluated the mechanical properties and thermal properties of Al-12 vol%B_4 C composite at elevated temperature strengthened with in situ Al_2 O_3 network.The composite was fabricated using powder metallurgy(PM) with raw materials of fine atomized aluminum powders,and the associated microstructures were observed.At 350 ℃,the composite had ultimate tensile strength of UTS=137 MPa,yield strength of YS_(0.2)=118 MPa,and elongation of ε=4%.Besides,the mechanical properties of the composite remained unchanged at 350℃ after the long holding periods up to 1000 h.The excellent mechanical properties and thermal stability at 350℃ were secured by in situ am-Al_2 O_3 network that strengthened the grain boundaries.The interfacial debonding and brittle cracking of B_4 C particles were the main fracture mechanisms of the composite.In addition,the influence of sintering temperature and rolling deformation on the microstructures and mechanical properties was studied.