Modeling of gas porosity and microstructure formation during dendritic and eutectic solidification of ternary Al-Si-Mg alloys

A two-dimensional(2-D)multi-component and multi-phase cellular automaton(CA)model coupled with the Calphad method and finite difference method(FDM)is proposed to simulate the gas pore for-mation and microstructures in solidification process of hypoeutectic Al-Si-Mg alloys.In this model,the pore growth,and dendritic and eutectic solidification are simulated using a CA technique.To achieve the equilibrium among multiple phases during ternary Al-based alloy solidification,the phase transition thermodynamics and kinetics are evaluated by adopting the Calphad method.The diffusion equations of hydrogen and two solutes are solved by FDM.The developed CA-FDM coupled model can be used for sim-ulating the evolution of gas microporosity and microstructures,involving dendrites and irregular binary and ternary eutectics,of ternary hypoeutectic Al-Si-Mg alloys.It has the capability of reproducing the interactions between the hydrogen microporosity formation and the growth of dendrites and eutectics,the competitive growth among the growing gas pores of different sizes,together with the time-evolving concentration fields of hydrogen and solutes.The simulated morphology of gas pore and microstructure has a good agreement with the experimental observation.The influences of the initial hydrogen concen-tration and cooling rate on the microporosity formation are investigated.It is found that the main portion of porosity formation occurs in the eutectic solidification stage through analyzing the profiles of porosity percentage and solid fraction varying with solidification time.The varying features of simulated porosity percentage,the maximum and average pores radii indicate that increasing initial hydrogen concentration promotes the formation of higher final porosity percentage and larger pores,while the size of gas pores will significantly reduce with increasing cooling rate,leading to a lower final porosity percentage.     

Tracking Twin Boundary Jerky Motion at Nanometer and Microsecond Scales

The jerky motion of twin boundaries in the ferromagnetic shape memory alloy Ni-Mn-Ga is studied by simultaneous measurements of stress and magnetic emissions (ME). A careful design of the experimental conditions results in an approximately linear relationship between the measured ME voltage and the nm-scale volumes exhibiting twinning transformation during microsecond-scale abrupt “avalanche” events. This study shows that the same distributions of ME avalanches, related to features of jerky twin boundary motion, are found both during and between stress drop events. Maximum likelihood analysis of statistical distributions of several variables reveals a good fit to power laws truncated by exponential functions. Interestingly, the characteristic cutoffs described by the exponential functions are in the middle of the distribution range. Further, the cutoff values can be related to the physical characteristics of the studied problem. Particularly, the cutoff of amplitudes of ME avalanches matches the value predicted by high rate magnetic pulse tests performed under much larger driving force values. This observation implies that avalanches during slow rate twin boundary motion and velocity changes observed by high rate tests represent the same behavior and can be described by the same theory.     

First-principles investigation on stability and electronic structure of Sc-doped θ′/Al interface in Al−Cu alloys

The properties of Sc-doped θ′ (Al₂Cu)/Al interface in Al−Cu alloys were investigated by first-principles calculations. Sc-doped semi-coherent and coherent θ′ (Al₂Cu)/Al interfaces (Sc doped in Al slab (S1 site), Sc doped in θ′ slab (S2 site)) were modeled based on calculated results and reported experiments. Through the analysis of interfacial bonding strength, it is revealed that the doping of Sc at S1 site can significantly decrease the interface energy and increase the work of adhesion. In particular, the doped coherent interface with Sc at S1 site which is occupied by interstitial Cu atoms has very good bonding strength. The electronic structure shows the strong Al—Cu bonds at the interfaces with Sc at S1 site, and the Al—Al bonds at the interfaces with Sc at S2 site are formed. The formation of strong Al—Cu and Al—Al bonds plays an important role in the enhancement of doped interface strength.     

Nanoporous Surface High-Entropy Alloys as Highly Efficient Multisite Electrocatalysts for Nonacidic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution in alkaline and neutral media offers the possibility of adopting platinum-free electrocatalysts for large-scale electrochemical production of pure hydrogen fuel, but most state-of-the-art electrocatalytic materials based on nonprecious transition metals operate at high overpotentials. Here, a monolithic nanoporous multielemental CuAlNiMoFe electrode with electroactive high-entropy CuNiMoFe surface is reported to hold great promise as cost-effective electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline and neutral media. By virtue of a surface high-entropy alloy composed of dissimilar Cu, Ni, Mo, and Fe metals offering bifunctional electrocatalytic sites with enhanced kinetics for water dissociation and adsorption/desorption of reactive hydrogen intermediates, and hierarchical nanoporous Cu scaffold facilitating electron transfer/mass transport, the nanoporous CuAlNiMoFe electrode exhibits superior nonacidic HER electrocatalysis. It only takes overpotentials as low as ≈240 and ≈183 mV to reach current densities of ≈1840 and ≈100 mA cm⁻² in 1 m  KOH and pH 7 buffer electrolytes, respectively; ≈46- and ≈14-fold higher than those of ternary CuAlNi electrode with bimetallic Cu–Ni surface alloy. The outstanding electrocatalytic properties make nonprecious multielemental alloys attractive candidates as high-performance nonacidic HER electrocatalytic electrodes in water electrolysis.     

Corrosion of structural constituents of 2017 aluminium alloy in acidic solutions containing inhibitors

The objective of this study is to establish the corrosion behaviour of the most important structural constituents of the aluminium alloy 2017 in orthophosphoric acid solutions containing heteropolyoxomolybdate, tungstate and vanadate. These are potential candidates for replacing toxic hexavalent chromium species in stripping solution for anodic coatings. The corrosion rate of the alloy is estimated with linear polarisation method. It decreases from 0.58 mA cm⁻² in uninhibited solution to 0.10 mA cm⁻² in a solution containing heteropolyoxomolybdate species. Microscopic studies reveal that heteropolyoxomolybdate species inhibit corrosion of the matrix and intermetallic Al₁₅(Fe,Mn)₃(Si,Cu)₂ but not Mg₂Si. Intermetallic Al₂Cu remains not corroded. Heteropolyoxotungstate species virtually do not inhibit the corrosion of the alloy. The solution containing vanadium species is not stable with time and the corrosion rate is not determined. Nevertheless, corrosion of the matrix is inhibited, but intermetallics Al₁₅(Fe,Mn)₃(Si,Cu)₂ together with Mg₂Si are dissolved. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is used for examination of a corrosion product precipitated on the surface.     

Grain refinement in low SFE and particle-containing nickel aluminium bronze during severe plastic deformation at elevated temperatures

The influence of particle size and morphology on grain refinement in low stacking fault energy(SFE)alloys was studied by comparing the grain structures in single-and multi-phase Al-bronze(AB)alloys following equal channel angular pressing(ECAP)between 350 and 500℃.In particular,nickel aluminium bronze(NAB)was chosen as it contained both coarse and fine rounded particles,as well as a lamellar phase which evolved during ECAP.Grain refinement in the single-phase alloy was achieved through dynamic recrystallisation initiated at deformed twin boundaries.By contrast,different mechanisms were observed in the particle-containing NAB.Recrystallisation around the coarse κⅡ particles(～5 μm)was promoted through particle stimulated nucleation(PSN),whereas recrystallisation in the region of the fine κⅣ(～0.4μm)was delayed due to the activation of secondary slip.Grain refinement in areas of the lamellar κⅢ showed significant variation,depending on the lamellar orientation relative to the shear plane of ECAP.As the lamellae deformed,numerous high angle grain boundaries were generated between fragments and served as nucleation sites for recrystallisation,while PSN occurred around spheroidised lamellae.The spreading of the κⅢ particles by ECAP then enhanced the total area of recrystallised grains.     

Hydrogen sorption behaviour of Mg-5wt.%La alloys after the initial hydrogen absorption process

In our earlier study, it has been shown that trace Na additions can improve the reaction kinetics of Mg–5%La (wt.%) alloys during the first absorption. However, the subsequent hydrogen desorption/absorption process of the Mg–5%La after the first absorption has not been investigated. In this study, we have investigated the hydrogen sorption behaviour of the Mg–5%La alloy after the first absorption in terms of phase evolution, and lattice expansion properties during desorption as function of temperature using in-situ synchrotron Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD) and in-situ High Voltage Transmission Electron Microscopy (HVTEM). Two distinct phase evolutions, a continuous phase transformation of LaH₃ → LaH₂ + ½ H₂ (from 250 °C) and decomposition of MgH₂ → Mg + H₂ (between 440 and 460 °C) were identified during the desorption. It is determined that this alloy is cyclable in the absence of Mg₁₂La intermetallic during the subsequent absorption/desorption cycling after the first hydrogen absorption.     

Polynomial regression and interpolation of thermodynamic data in Al–Si–Mg–Fe system

A numerical technique for constructing thermodynamic databases has been proposed. This technique offers accurate calculations of solidification temperature, phase fractions, and solute concentrations of specific alloys in quaternary systems. The thermodynamic data is extracted by calling the TQ-interface (Thermodynamic Calculation Interface) from Thermo-Calc software, and modeled through efficient computational approaches such as polynomial regression and interpolation. This method is described in three parts. First, the applicability of regression functions is demonstrated on the Al–Si binary phase diagram. Second, the way of combining polynomial regression and interpolation is applied to model the Al–Si–Mg ternary system. Finally, the A356 alloy, which belongs to the Al–Si–Mg–Fe system, is modeled by a series of sub-ternary systems using regression and interpolation. The valid accuracy of the method is demonstrated by comparing the present results with those calculated using Thermo-Calc software. The application of the TQ-interface to solidification processes in Scheil and lever-rule models is also included. The results indicate that this method can offer accurate thermodynamic parameters for the A356 alloy in Al–Si–Mg–Fe system and reduce CPU time significantly when applied to solidification simulation. Several problems and the corresponding strategies for high order functions, unsmooth variations of thermodynamic information and partition coefficients are discussed to improve this method. This technique can also be applied to other specific alloys with small variations of thermodynamic variables in quaternary systems.     

Dry forming of aluminum alloys – Wear mechanisms and influencing factors

Tribological contacts in sheet metal forming are accompanied by several wear phenomena. One of which is the transfer of material from the softer sheet material to the harder tool surface, namely adhesive wear. Forming of aluminum alloys makes high demands on forming processes. Aluminum alloys show a strong tendency of adhesion on common tool materials. Adhesions on tools reduce the surface quality, the dimensional accuracy of the parts and the process stability. In order to avoid adhesive wear during forming, nowadays a high amount of lubricant is applied to the aluminum sheets. Though economically and ecologically attractive, dry forming processes with aluminum sheets seem not to be possible. In order to develop advantageous tribological systems a comprehensive understanding of the acting mechanisms is necessary. This paper discusses the influence of the alloy composition and the influence of oxide layers on the adhesive wear in aluminum forming.