Deformation behaviour of closed-cell aluminium foams in tension

The mechanical behaviour of commercially available ALPORAS aluminium foam with two different densities was studied under tension loading. In addition to the common stress–strain measurements, local deformation, notch-opening displacement and damage evolution were determined. The deformation characteristics deviated from those observed in aluminium foams under compression. No deformation bands or plastic instabilities could be observed in tension, which are very frequent in compression of metallic foams. Four regimes were evident in the stress–strain curves and deformation maps: the linear elastic regime, the plastic regime with no significant crack initiation and propagation, the regime of formation of a fracture process zone and, finally, the regime of fracture, where a main crack propagates through the specimen and leads to failure. The fracture strain was only a few per cent, with the higher-density foam showing a larger fracture strain, and the plastic Poisson's ratio was about 0.35. The notched specimens showed increasing fracture strengths in terms of the net section stress with increasing notch depth. It is suggested that a change in stress state, caused by a non-vanishing Poisson's ratio, in front of the notch tip creates an increase of the fracture strength similar to the behaviour in ductile bulk metals.     

Experimental evaluation of strains in the tension–compression using a new tool geometry, X-Die

Sheet-metal forming involves a complex distribution of strains throughout the part. The strains occur due to tension, compression and a mix of both. A geometry has been developed, the X-Die, in order to gain insight into the strain behavior of different materials. The X-Die enables strain paths far into the tension–compression region, thus creating the possibility to extend the experimental base both for definition and for further extrapolation of the forming limit curve (FLC) in the tension–compression region, as well as to evaluate FE-simulation results for the same region.

The experimental results show that the strain signature is impacted by material quality. In qualities such as extra high strength steel (EHSS) and aluminum the strains do not reach as far into the tension–compression region as the strains do in e.g. mild steel. This is due to failure in plane strain tension. Strain paths in materials such as mild steel and high strength steel (HSS) reach far into the tension–compression region before failure. Use of the X-Die provides possibilities to reach farther into the tension–compression region compared with traditional test methods for creating a forming limit diagram (FLD).

Use of the X-Die yields well-defined strain signatures. These clearly defined strain signatures are favorable for comparison with numerical simulations, especially for strain signatures in the tension–compression region.

Furthermore, the experiments using the X-Die indicate that a possible additional forming limit curve, which intersects the original forming limit curve (shear failure), exists so far into the tension–compression region that it is not applicable.

Even though the experiments indicate compression strains >100% (material DX56D), the experiments show potential for an experimentally determined extrapolation of the FLC up to 75% compression strain. The results of the experiments indicate that the X-Die geometry is suitable as a supplementary tool in identifying the strain behavior of different materials far into the tension–compression region and is also a good tool for verification of numerical results in the tension–compression region.     

Compatibility stresses in fatigued bicrystals: Dependence on misorientation and small plastic deformations

Compatibility stresses are calculated for twist boundaries about [1¯49] and a “random” high angle boundary between a [1¯49] grain and a [100] grain, assuming piecewise homogeneous elastic fields and copper as model material. The “in-plane” compatibility stresses produced by uniaxial tension perpendicular to the boundary are a strong function of the crystallography of the grains and their misorientation. The effects of small plastic strains via crystallographic slip are also studied for three particular misorientations ([1¯49] 90° and 180° twist boundaries and the “random” misorientation) and the type and amount of slip close to the boundary predicted by minimizing the elastic energy and using experimental measurements of the axial component of the plastic strain. The predictions agree quite well with experimental observations of slip traces close to the boundaries of copper bicrystals with those misorientations tested under high cycle fatigue conditions.     

Shape-memory NiTi foams produced by solid-state replication with NaF

A martensitic NiTi foam was produced by hot isostatic pressing a blend of NiTi and NaF powders and subsequent dissolution of the NaF phase. The NiTi foam consists of 40 vol.% near-fully open pores, 240 μm in size, and with ragged surfaces due to incomplete NiTi powder densification. Near linear stress–strain curves are measured in compression with an average loading stiffness of 4 GPa, well below the unloading stiffness of 13 GPa because of detwinning on loading. Shape-memory recovery after unloading corresponds to 85–89% of the unloading plastic strain. After sintering at 1250 °C, the foam exhibits 20% porosity, smaller, smoother and partially-closed pores, and a shift in composition towards a martensite/austenite mixture at ambient temperature. This new composition allows for the activation of the superelastic effect in the austenite during loading and unloading resulting in average stiffnesses of 6–12 GPa, and the shape-memory effect in the martensite with 60–97% of the plastic strain recoverable.     

The influence of the reinforcing particle shape and interface strength on the fracture behavior of a metal matrix composite

A numerical analysis of the reinforcing particle shape and interface strength effects on the deformation and fracture behavior of an Al/Al₂O₃ composite is performed. Three-dimensional calculations are carried out for five elastic–brittle particles embedded into the elastic–plastic matrix, the reinforcing particle shape being varied from spherical to strongly irregular. It is shown that microstructural heterogeneity of the composite gives rise to a complex stress–strain state in the vicinity of particle boundaries and hence to near-interface areas undergoing tensile deformation both in tension and compression. Within the strain range under study, compressive strength is not achieved, either in compression or in tension, i.e., all cracks grow only under tensile stress. Particle fracture is found to occur by two mechanisms: interface debonding and particle cracking. Individual and combined effects of the particle shape, interface strength, and loading conditions on the fracture mechanisms are analyzed.     

Discrete dislocation plasticity analysis of single crystalline thin beam under combined cyclic tension and bending

The cyclic plastic response of a single crystalline thin beam subject to combined cyclic tension and bending is analyzed using two-dimensional discrete dislocation plasticity. In this contribution, special attention is paid to the difference in the inherent mechanism of the size effect for different cyclic loads. Results show that the cyclic plastic response has a strong size effect for both cyclic pure tension–compression and pure bending. However, the inherent mechanisms are different. The dislocation starvation mechanism dominates the cyclic tension–compression while the geometrically necessary dislocation dominates the cyclic pure bending. When the combined cyclic tension and bending are applied to the thin beam, the cyclic moment–rotation response shows strong size effect while the stress–strain response shows weak or even no size effect. In addition, it is also found that the cyclic loading paths have considerable influences on the shape of the cyclic stress–strain loops.     

Analysis of the interpretation of yielding and strengthening behavior in small-size samples

In recent literature related to mechanical testing of small-volume metal specimens, plastic strain bursts during apparent elastic loading have been reported for materials commonly known to exhibit smooth yielding. Interpretation of the observed plastic yielding effects in these tests have ignored a significant part of the actual experimental findings, and produced conclusions regarding dislocation structure that these tests do not unequivocally support. It is pointed out that the heterogeneity of dislocation debris left in the microstructure does not clearly represent deformation resistance, nor give a clear indication of strain within the specimen. The measured high rate of strain hardening and stability of plastic flow in the small-volume specimens are dependent on stress-state, and are shown to be not correlated with dislocation debris or dislocation-starvation concepts; rather the reason for the observed strengthening is related to the resistance to slip propagation through the specimen surface to form surface steps, viewed as an atomic-scale shear fracture process, elaborated in a companion paper. In a compression test the surface is closed under high compressive stress, thus repeatedly blocking the process, but in a tension test the surface separates more easily, causing loss of plastic stability.     

镁合金激光焊接气孔问题的实验研究

对变形镁合金AZ31B、AZ80A,砂铸镁合金AM60B、AZ91D及压铸镁合金AM50A激光焊接气孔倾向进行研究.研究表明:变形镁合金激光焊气孔倾向很小,在较宽的焊接工艺参数范围内均能得到无气孔的焊缝. 砂铸镁合金AM60B及AZ91D激光焊时气孔对气体保护条件非常敏感,在侧吹气体保护角度及流量选择不合适时气孔率非常高,在优化的气保护条件下可得到气孔率较低的焊缝.而压铸镁合金AM50激光焊缝中气孔问题非常突出,调整工艺参数无法解决气孔问题,焊接过程中的加热及添加填充材料可以在一定程度上减少气孔.     

Influence of the thermomechanical treatment on the microplastic behaviour of a wrought Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy

For plastic deformations smaller than the conventional limit of 0.2% for the yield stress, the so-called microplastic behaviour of a rolled Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy is investigated experimentally. Tension and compression responses are compared along the rolling and the transverse directions. The alloy shows an asymmetric response in tension and compression (i.e., compressive stress minus tensile stress for a given absolute plastic strain is non-zero). Moreover, this asymmetry changes sign between the rolling and the transverse directions. The difference between tension to compression is observed to decrease as the conventional limit is approached.The influence of the heterogeneous microstructure of the alloy and the fabrication process on these asymmetries is discussed. Modelling of the material response based on a self-consistent scheme is used to estimate the internal stresses resulting from the thermomechanical treatment, and also to investigate the influence of the heterogeneous elastoplastic behaviour of two types of constitutive grains (recrystallised and unrecrystallised). For a plastic strain smaller than 0.02%, the microplastic behaviour is not well described with the adopted model since the underlying assumption of uniform stress and strain fields per phase is questionable in this initial level of plasticity. However, the model shows that the asymmetries observed at plastic strains ranging from 0.02% to 0.2% are consistent with the intragranular stresses developed during the stretching step.     

Low-cycle fatigue behavior of permanent mold cast and die-cast Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloys

Fatigue failure is one of the main failure forms of Al-Si-Cu-Mg aluminum alloys.To feature their mechanical aspect of fatigue behavior,the low-cycle fatigue behavior of permanent mold cast and die-cast Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloys at room temperature was investigated.The experimental results show that both permanent mold cast and die-cast Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloys mainly exhibit cyclic strain hardening.At the same total strain amplitude,the die-cast Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloy shows higher cyclic deformation resistance and longer fatigue life than does the permanent mold cast Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloy.The relationship between both elastic and plastic strain amplitudes with reversals to failure shows a monotonic linear behavior,and can be described by the Basquin and Coffin-Manson equations,respectively.     

Deformation behavior of an ordered B2 phase in Ti–25Al–25Zr alloy

The mechanical behavior of the B2 phase in alloy Ti–25Al–25Zr has been studied under compression. True stress–strain curve exhibits similar behavior to those of typical B2 intermetallics such as NiAl and FeAl. The alloy exhibits highest yield strength in comparison to those reported in other titanium based B2 alloys with around 2% plastic strain. The microstructural characterization of specimen after compression reveals that the B2 phase transforms to an orthorhombic martensitic phase during compression.     

In Situ DIC Study on LCF Behavior of Retired Weld Joint Subjected to Prolonged Service at Elevated Temperature

By using digital image correlation(DIC), low-cycle fatigue(LCF) behavior of CrMoV weld joint taken from a retired gas turbine rotor after 15-year service was investigated at 500 °C and 540 °C. The most remarkable plastic strain was observed in the weld metal(WM), which was up to 6 times of the global strain at mid-life cycle. Due to the cyclic accumulation of local deformation, the stress–strain hysteresis loops relative to tensile or compressive strain concentration area in WM displayed the rat...     

Shape memory behavior and tension-compression asymmetry of a FeNiCoAlTa single-crystalline shape memory alloy

A 〈1 0 0〉 textured polycrystalline FeNiCoAlTa shape memory alloy was recently shown to possess large superelastic strain and stress levels. In this study, the shape memory behavior of a Fe-28Ni-17Co-11.5Al-2.5Ta (at.%) single-crystalline material oriented along the 〈1 0 0〉 direction was studied, for the first time, by thermal cycling under constant stress levels in both tension and compression. When γ′ precipitates with an average size of 5 nm are introduced by an aging heat treatment, the single crystals show fully recoverable transformation strains up to 3.75% in tension and 2% in compression. The change in transformation temperatures for a unit change in applied stress level was higher in compression than in tension, in accord with the lower transformation strains in compression obtained both from theoretical calculations and experimental observations. However, in all specimens, the observed transformation strain levels were lower than theoretically predicted, possibly owing to significant volume fraction of non-transforming precipitates, incomplete martensite reorientation due to martensite variant interactions, and a slightly higher-than-expected martensite c/a ratio in the samples used in this study. The ramifications of relevant structural parameters and microstructural features on reaching theoretical transformation strain and high strength levels are also discussed.     

Low cycle fatigue properties and cyclic deformation behavior of as-extruded AZ31 magnesium alloy

The low cycle fatigue(LCF)properties of as-extruded AZ31 Mg alloy were investigated under total strain amplitudes in the range of 0.4%-1.2%with strain rate of 1×10- 2s -1.Due to the twinning effect in compression during loading and the detwinning effect during unloading,the alloy showed an asymmetric hysteresis loop.The cyclic stress response exhibited cyclic hardening at high total strain amplitudes.The cyclic deformation behaviors were discussed using the Coffin-Manson plot,which divided the plastic strain amplitudes into the tension side and the compression side.Through the LCF tests that were started from either tension or compression under a total strain amplitude of 1.0%,the interaction between the twinning effect and dislocation was analyzed.The twinning effect during the LCF test and the variation of the dislocation density were investigated using optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy,respectively.     

热残余应变对金属基复合材料拉、压性能的影响

利用作者改进的等效夹杂理论定量研究了热残余应变对晶须增强金属基复合材料拉、压性能的影响，解释了非铸态复合材料拉、压性能存在差别的原因。对２０％ＳｉＣＷ／Ａｌ材料的拉、压性能和断口的ＳＥＭ观察表明，本文理论合理反映了晶须增强金属基复合材料的塑性强化规律，说明热残余应变是影响晶须增强金属基复合材料的重要因素，为该类材料的性能预报和优化设计提供了理论方法．     

Flow stress anisotropy and Bauschinger effect in ultrafine grained copper

The effect of strain path and magnitude on the flow stress anisotropy and Bauschinger effect (BE) in ultrafine grained (UFG) copper was investigated. The material billets were deformed via multipass equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) following several deformation routes. The monotonic stress–strain responses under tension and compression and forward compression/reverse tension response along three perpendicular directions were determined in each billet. It was observed that, in certain cases, the strong tension/compression asymmetry was in favor of tension as opposed to what has so far been reported for UFG materials, and an increase in the number of ECAE passes caused a decrease in yield strength along certain sample directions. Finally, the BE was found to be more pronounced for the lower number of passes. It was shown that crystallographic texture and grain size differences cannot be the only factors responsible for these unexpected observations. Grain morphology and grain boundary character are argued to be additional parameters that have to be taken into account. How these factors affect tension/compression asymmetry, flow anisotropy and BE in UFG copper and how they can help elucidating the observations are discussed.     

On the role of residual internal stresses and dislocations on Barkhausen noise in plastically deformed steel

The dependence of Barkhausen noise on elastic and plastic deformations, achieved in tension and in compression, has been investigated both in Armco iron and a low carbon steel. These materials exhibit quite different behaviours, especially with regard to the effect of plastic deformation: a tensile plastic deformation (>1%) induces a marked increase in Barkhausen noise for Armco iron while it induces a steep decrease in the low carbon steel. The comparison between the tensile and compressive behaviours, as well as between the elastic and plastic regimes of deformation enables us to attribute these effects to two underlying mechanisms, i.e. effect of residual internal stresses through magneto-elastic coupling and dislocation–domain wall interaction. In Armco iron, the latter mechanism seems to have the strongest influence on the Barkhausen noise, while in the low carbon steel the influence of residual internal stresses prevails.     

Mechanical and functional behavior of a Ni-rich Ni50.3Ti29.7Hf20 high temperature shape memory alloy

The mechanical and functional behaviors of a Ni-rich Ni_50.3Ti_29.7Hf₂₀ high temperature shape memory alloy were investigated through combined ex situ macroscopic experiments and in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Isothermal tension and compression tests were conducted between room temperature and 260 °C, while isobaric thermomechanical cycling experiments were conducted at selected stresses up to 700 MPa. Isothermal testing of the martensite phase revealed no plastic strain up to the test limit of 1 GPa and near-perfect superelastic behavior up to 3% applied strain at temperatures above the austenite finish. Excellent dimensional stability with greater than 2.5% actuation strain without accumulation of noticeable residual strains (at stresses less than or equal to −400 MPa) were observed during isobaric thermal cycling experiments. The absence of residual strain accumulation during thermomechanical cycling was confirmed by the lattice strains, determined from X-ray spectra. Even in the untrained condition, the material exhibited little or no history or path dependence in behavior, consistent with measurements of the bulk texture after thermomechanical cycling using synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Post deformation cycling revealed the limited conditions under which a slight two-way shape memory effect (TWSME) was obtained, with a maximum of 0.34% two-way shape memory strain after thermomechanical cycling under −700 MPa.     

Coherency and loss of coherency in lamellar Ti---Al

A grain of fully lamellar Ti---Al is modeled as a periodic multilayer which may contain any number of layers, each with different lattice parameters, different (isotropic) elastic constants and different thicknesses. Formulae are given for the coherence (plane) stress and strain tensors in any layer. The γ layers all have inplane shears and a biaxial tension whereas the ₂ layers have principally a biaxial compression. The coherence stresses expected in various forms of fully coherent Ti---Al are tabulated. Estimates are made of the lamellar thicknesses at which the material becomes semi- or partially- coherent and of the residual coherence stresses in these materials.     

螺旋压缩弹簧的加速贮存行为研究

为评价T9A螺旋压缩弹簧的室温松弛特性,利用小吨位电子式万能材料试验机,对其在不同温度条件下进行高温压缩加速试验,研究弹簧的应力松弛行为。基于粘弹性体模型,揭示应力松弛过程中弹性应变向塑性应变的转化特性与塑性应变随松弛时间的变化规律。结果表明:螺旋压缩弹簧的应力松弛行为与标准的金属相似,均分为2个阶段;温度对第二阶段的松弛速率具有显著影响。基于应力松弛过程的热激活特性,建立T9A螺旋压缩弹簧的贮存寿命预测方程,并对弹簧的室温贮存寿命进行合理预测:在保持126 N的压缩载荷条件下,弹簧在25 ℃室温下,满足载荷损失率（?P/P）小于12%的贮存20 a的寿命要求。