Phase Transition and Texture Evolution in the Ni-Mn-Ga Ferromagnetic Shape-Memory Alloys Studied by a Neutron Diffraction Technique

The phase transition and influence of the applied stress on the texture evolution in the as-cast Ni-Mn-Ga ferromagnetic shape-memory alloys were studied by the time-of-flight (TOF) neutron diffraction technique. The neutron diffraction experiments were performed on the General Purpose Powder Diffractometer (Argonne National Laboratory). Inverse pole figures were determined from the neutron data for characterizing the orientation distributions and variant selections of polycrystalline Ni-Mn-Ga alloys subjected to different uniaxial compression deformations. Texture analyses reveal that the initial texture for the parent phase in the as-cast specimen was composed of , , , and , which was weakened after the compression deformation. Moreover, a strong preferred selection of martensitic-twin variants (and ) was observed in the transformed martensite after a compression stress applied on the parent phase along the cyclindrical axis of the specimens. The preferred selection of variants can be well explained by considering the grain/variant-orientation-dependent Bain-distortion energy. This article is based on a presentation given in the symposium entitled “Neutron and X-Ray Studies for Probing Materials Behavior,” which occurred during the TMS Spring Meeting in New Orleans, LA, March 9–13, 2008, under the auspices of the National Science Foundation, TMS, the TMS Structural Materials Division, and the TMS Advanced Characterization, Testing, and Simulation Committee.     

The role of twinning in the cavitation erosion of cobalt single crystals

The deformation characteristics contributing to the superior cavitation erosion properties of HCP cobalt single crystals have been determined. Results indicate that its erosion response is highly orientation sensitive. A homogeneous distribution of and glide occurs in {0110} crystals, whereas slip in the (0001) crystals is much more heterogeneous and consists mainly of dislocations. Continued exposure to cavitation nucleates a large number of twins, predominantly on the and planes in the and (0001) crystals respectively. The former twins are finer and more needle-like than the latter. The crystals are also significantly more erosion resistant than the (0001) crystals. The twin density increases continuously with cavitation exposure until a dense network of twins spans the entire exposed area. This fine-scale twinning is considered responsible for the superior erosion resistance of the metal.     

Microscopic Properties of Long-Period Ordering in Al-Rich TiAl Alloys

The ordering mechanism of long-period superstructures (LPSs) in Al-rich TiAl alloys has been investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The LPSs are classified in terms of arrangements of base clusters with different shapes and compositions formed in Ti-rich (002) layers of L1₀-TiAl matrix: square Ti₄Al, fat rhombus Ti₃Al, and lean rhombus Ti₂Al type clusters. The HRTEM observations revealed that antiphase boundaries of long-range-ordered LPS domains and short-range-ordered microdomains are constructed by various space-filling arrangements of the base clusters. Such a microscopic property characterized by the base clusters and their arrangements is markedly analogous to that of the * special-point ordering alloys such as Ni-Mo. This article is based on a presentation given in the symposium entitled “Materials Behavior: Far from Equilibrium” as part of the Golden Jubilee Celebration of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, which occurred December 15–16, 2006 in Mumbai, India.

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Crystallography of directionally solidified magnesium alloy AZ91

The crystallographic direction of growth in directionally solidified magnesium alloy AZ91 has been studied by TEM and EBSP techniques in SEM. The main direction of growth is found to be . The dendrites have sixfold symmetry around the main direction, with secondary arms lying along the traces of the (0001), , and -planes, respectively. The secondary arms lying in the basal plane are crystallographically of the same type as the main direction: and .     

Heterogeneous nucleation of pb particles embedded in a Zn matrix

Zinc-10 and 20 wt pct Pb alloys have been rapidly solidified by melt spinning to obtain a very fine scale dispersion of nanometer-sized Pb particles embedded in Zn matrix. The microstructure and crystallography of the Pb particles have been studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Each embedded Pb particle is a single crystal, with a truncated hexagonal biprism shape with the 6/mmm Zn matrix point group symmetry surrounded by and facets. The Pb particles solidify with a well-defined orientation relationship with the Zn matrix of . The melting and solidification behavior of the Pb particle have been studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The Pb particles solidify with an undercooling of approximately 30 K, by heterogeneous nucleation on the {0001} facets of the surrounding Zn matrix, with an apparent contact angle of 23 deg.     

Measuring Stress Distributions in Ti-6Al-4V Using Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction

This article presents a quantitative strain analysis (QSA) study aimed at determining the distribution of stress states within a loaded Ti-6Al-4V specimen. Synchrotron X-rays were used to test a sample that was loaded to a uniaxial stress of 540 MPa in situ in the A2 experimental station at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS). Lattice-strain pole figures (SPFs) were measured and used to construct a lattice strain distribution function (LSDF) over the fundamental region of orientation space for each phase. A high-fidelity geometric model of the experiment was used to drastically improve the signal-to-noise ratio in the data. The three-dimensional stress states at every possible orientation of each α (hcp) and β (bcc) crystal within the aggregate were calculated using the LSDF and the single-crystal moduli. The stress components varied by 300 to 500 MPa over the orientation space; it was also found that, in general, the crystal stress states were not uniaxial. The maximum shear stress resolved on the basal and prismatic slip systems of all orientations within the α phase, was calculated to illustrate the utility of this approach for better identifying “hard” and “soft” orientations within the loaded aggregate. Orientations with low values of which are potential microcrack initiation sites during dwell fatigue conditions, are considered hard and were subsequently illustrated on an electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) map. This article is based on a presentation given in the symposium entitled “Neutron and X-Ray Studies for Probing Materials Behavior” which occurred during the TMS Spring meeting in New Orleans, LA, March 9–13, 2008, under the auspices of the National Science Foundation, TMS, the TMS Structural Materials Division, and the TMS Advanced Characterization, Testing, and Simulation Committee.

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Epsilon carbide precipitation during tempering of plain carbon martensite

Epsilon carbide precipitation in steel martensite has been investigated by means of transmission electron microscopy. The first stage of tempering initiates with the nucleation of very fine ε-carbide particles on the closely spaced parallel line defects, the morphology being so-called “cross-hatched” ε-carbide needles. The ε-carbide particles which produce the well-defined dif-fraction patterns are related to the martensite matrix with a Pitsch and Schrader orientation relationship.^[32] These particles subsequently grow into rods elongated in the direction parallel to the within the matrix. The final reaction in the first stage is the rearrangement of ε-carbide rods into a disklike morphology. The e-carbide rods elongated in the 〈100〉_ε di-rections coalesce on planes in a raftlike manner, as in the case of those formed in the quench-aged low-carbon ferrite, the tetragonality of martensite being completely lost. Although the deviation from hexagonal symmetry about the [0001]_ε axis exists, no evidence of orthorhombic η-carbide formation was obtained.