Yield stress of a copper single crystal containing B2O3 particles

The yield stress of a copper single crystal containing vitreous B₂O₃ particles was measured as a function of temperature (77–1073 K) and strain rate (5.6 × 10^–6–5.6 × 10^–4sec^–1). Although the B₂O₃ particles in the copper matrix are a plastically non-deformable solid at low temperatures, they became liquid-like at high temperatures, above approximately 550 K. The yield stress of the Cu-B₂O₃ alloy at low temperatures was explained by the Orowan mechanism and the modulus-corrected yield stress of the Cu-B₂O₃ alloy at 1073 K was about four-fifths of the values at low temperatures. It was found that the liquid B₂O₃ particles could be the effective hardening centres even at high temperatures. At 873 and 1073 K, the yield stresses of the Cu-B₂O₃ alloy varied with the logarithm of the strain rates.     

Superplasticity and associated activation energy in Ti-3Al-8V-6Cr-4Mo-4Zr Alloy

The high temperature deformation characteristics of a commercial β -titanium alloy Ti-3Al-8V-6Cr-4Mo-4Zr have been studied in the temperature range 830–925∘C. The alloy exhibited superplasticity in a narrow temperature and strain rate range i.e. 850–865∘C and 5× 10^{− 5}–3× 10^{− 3} s^{− 1} respectively, with a maximum elongation of 634% at 855∘C. The superplastic behaviour in the alloy is considered to arise as a result of subgrain formation at the higher strain rates (region III) which enhances diffusional creep at lower strain rates (region II). The activation energy values for regions II and III were found to be close to the lower of the two activation energy values (129.2 KJ/mole) proposed to describe self diffusion in β -phase suggesting that the rate controlling mechanism during high temperature deformation of the alloy was that for lattice diffusion.     

Effect of heat treatment on precipitation behaviour in a Cu-Ni-Si-P alloy

The effects of applying different solution and ageing conditions on the electrical resistivity and precipitation behaviour of a Cu-1.3Ni-0.3Si-0.03P (wt%) alloy were studied. The electrical resistivity of solution-treated material is greatly reduced, by about 50%, by the ageing processes. The reduction in resistivity is due to depletion of solute atoms from the copper matrix by the formation of precipitates. Double ageing peaks appeared during isothermal ageing due to the formation of Ni₃P and Ni₂Si precipitates. The first maximum, due to the precipitation of Ni₃P, appeared at about 1 h of ageing time, while the second peak, due to Ni₂Si, appeared at around 10 h of ageing time when aged at 450°C. The precipitate Ni₃P forms early and the alloy starts to over-age before Ni₂Si precipitates and the alloy reaches maximum hardness. The maximum hardness produced by the precipitations of Ni₃P and Ni₂Si decreased with increasing ageing temperature from 450 to 550°C. The time to reach the maximum hardness due to Ni₃P precipitation became shorter, while that of Ni₂Si became longer, as the solution treatment temperature increased from 780 to 1020° C. The apparent activation energy for Ni₂Si precipitation was found to be about 80 kJ mol^–1 while that for Ni₃P precipitation was about 25 kJ mol^–1.     

Total-reflection active-mirror amplifier for high pulse energy and high average power by using a composite ceramic

A total-reflection active-mirror (TRAM) amplifier is functionally designed by using a composite ceramic for high pulse energy and high average power. A chirped-pulse regenerative amplifier with a cryogenic TRAM has been successfully demonstrated as a feasibility study. A 3.5 mJ pulse energy is obtained at a repetition rate of 100 Hz. The corresponding energy fluence on the TRAM is as high as 1.5 J/cm² for 0.46 ns short pulses. The M²-factor is below 1.1 and no significant beam distortion is observed.     

Laser alloyed tin layers on GaAs

A Q-switched ruby laser has been used to alloy deposited layers of tin on (100) GaAs. The tin concentration in the GaAs substrates has been investigated by electrical measurements, electron probe microanalysis, Rutherford backscattering and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that a high concentration of tin diffuses into the GaAs for an energy density up to 0.6 J cm^–2 and the electrical properties improve with increasing energy density. However, at high energy densities this leads to the introduction of damage near the GaAs surface. At the highest energy density of 2 J cm^–2, very complex dislocation networks are produced and a cellular structure results along with microcracking of the surface. This produces high levels of residual strain in the surface.     

Experimental study on tensile property of AZ31B magnesium alloy at different high strain rates and temperatures

As the lightest metal material, magnesium alloy is widely used in the automobile and aviation industries. Due to the crashing of the automobile is a process of complicated and highly nonlinear deformation. The material deformation behavior has changed significantly compared with quasi-static, so the deformation characteristic of magnesium alloy material under the high strain rate has great significance in the automobile industry. In this paper, the tensile deformation behavior of AZ31B magnesium alloy is studied over a large range of the strain rates, from 700 s⁻¹ to 3 × 10³ s⁻¹ and at different temperatures from 20 to 250 °C through a Split-Hopkinson Tensile Bar (SHTB) with heating equipment. Compared with the quasi-static tension, the tensile strength and fracture elongation under high strain rates is larger at room temperature, but when at the high strain rates, fracture elongation reduces with the increasing of the strain rate at room temperature, the adiabatic temperature rising can enhance the material plasticity. The morphology of fracture surfaces over wide range of strain rates and temperatures are observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The fracture appearance analysis indicates that the fracture pattern of AZ31B in the quasi-static tensile tests at room temperature is mainly quasi-cleavage pattern. However, the fracture morphology of AZ31B under high strain rates and high temperatures is mainly composed of the dimple pattern, which indicates ductile fracture pattern. The fracture mode is a transition from quasi-cleavage fracture to ductile fracture with the increasing of temperature, the reason for this phenomenon might be the softening effect under the high strain rates.     

High temperature deformation behavior of a near alpha Ti600 titanium alloy

The high temperature deformation behavior of a near alpha Ti600 titanium alloy was investigated with isothermal compression tests at temperatures ranging from 800 to 1000 °C and strain rates ranging from 0.001 to 10.0 s⁻¹. The apparent activation energy of deformation was calculated to be 620.0 kJ mol⁻¹, and constitutive equation that described the flow stress as a function of the strain rate and deformation temperature was proposed for high temperature deformation of Ti600 titanium alloy in the α + β phase region. The processing map was calculated to evaluate the efficiency of the forging process in the temperatures and strain rates investigated and to recognize the instability regimes. High efficiency values of power dissipation over 55% obtained under the conditions of strain rate lower than 0.01 s⁻¹ and temperature about 920 °C was identified to represent superplastic deformation in this region. Plasticity instability was expected in the regime of strain rate higher than 1 s⁻¹ and the entire temperature range investigated.     

Superplastic properties of a TiAl based alloy with a duplex microstructure

The superplastic properties of a engineering TiAl based alloy with a duplex microstructure were investigated with respect to the effect of testing temperatures ranging from 950°C to 1075°C and strain rates ranging from 8 × 10^–5 s^–1 to 2 × 10^–3 s^–1. A maximum elongation of 467% was achieved at 1050°C and at a strain rate of 8 × 10^–5 s^–1. The apparent activation energy was calculated to be 345 kJ/mol. Also, the dependence of the strain rate sensitivity values on strain during superplastic deformation was examined through the jump strain rate tests, and microstructural analysis was performed after superplastic deformation. It is concluded that superplasticity of the alloy at relatively low temperature and relatively high strain rate results from dynamic recrystallization, and grain boundary sliding and associated accommodation mechanism is related to superplasticity at higher temperature and lower strain rate.     

Interfacial ultrafine-grained structures on aluminum alloy 6061 joint and copper alloy 110 joint fabricated by magnetic pulse welding

Magnetic pulse welding is a solid state impact welding process, similar to explosive welding, which produces metallurgical bond by oblique high-speed impact between two metal bodies. This violent impact removes the metal surface oxide layers and then joins the two atomic level clean metal surfaces together by the incidental compression pressure. The impact velocity is at 200–400 m/s and the being welded metal surface undergoes severe plastic deformation with strain rate in the order of 10⁶–10⁷ s⁻¹. The ultrafine-grained structure was observed on the welded interface. This article studied two types of similar material lap joint interfaces and the base metals were aluminum alloy 6061 and copper alloy 110. Nano-indentation testing shows that the welded interfaces have significantly greater hardness than the base metals. The interface microstructure was studied by optical microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The welded aluminum alloy 6061 interface exhibits extremely fine grains and an extremely high dislocation density. The impact welded copper alloy 110 interface presents nano-scale lamellar band structure and deformation twins. The interface hardness increasing was attributed to this impact-induced microstructural refinement.     

Hot workability of an Al-Mg alloy AA5182 with 1 wt% Cu

A comparative study of the hot workability of two aluminium alloys, alloy AA5182 used for automotive applications and a variant modified with 1 wt% copper, has been carried out. Hot torsion tests were performed on both alloys subjected to two different heat treatments: a low temperature preheat to 450 °C and a high temperature preheat at 540 °C. The results from the torsion experiments are interpreted in terms of microstructural features. Both treatments produce the same strength, but the high temperature preheat leads to better ductility. This improvement is related to the homogenization of solute elements in the matrix; and, concerning AA5182 + Cu, also to the dissolution of a non-equilibrium Al-Mg-Cu ternary eutectic present in the as-cast microstructure. The precipitation of (Fe, Mn)Al₆ precipitates in the matrix of both alloys is induced by the high temperature heat treatment. Comparison of the results obtained by hot torsion shows that at low deformation rates AA5182 + Cu has better ductility than the classical alloy, but its ductility is lower at strain rates above 0.6–0.8 s^–1. The null ductility transition temperature is lower compared with that in the classical alloy, restricting the range of hot working temperatures. Inside this range the strength of both alloys is approximately the same, although the strain rate sensitivity coefficient is increased by copper additions. The experimental strength values follow the classical sinus-hyperbolic constitutive equation for hot working.     

Fabrication of a composite powder and its application as an active brazing alloy

A copper-based active brazing alloy containing a high titanium content was produced by an electroless coating technique. Particles with a narrow density distribution were produced by deposition of nano-copper on a fine titanium powder. Both conventional titanium powder and sponge titanium were studied. The effects of pH and time on copper deposition were investiguated.Higher pH was found to increase the quantity of copper deposited. Using multiple depositions, a copper-titanium ratio of 75 wt% copper-25 wt% titanium could be achieved after several platings for pH varying between 12 and 12.8. The particle size distribution of the composite powder shows uniform growth of the copper shell and no agglomeration under pH 12. Major agglomeration of the final powder was observed for a bath pH of 12.8.Complete melting of the composite powder has been studied by DSC and the sessile drop technique. Melting began within the diffusion zone formed at the interface through the Cu₄Ti → Cu(s) + L peritectic reaction that occurs at 885^∘C. The melting process continued by successive peritectic reactions and dissolution of the remaining elements of the diffusion couple. The wetting behavior of this alloy was evaluated on different ceramic substrates (Al₂O₃, Si₃N₄) and found to be similar to literature observations.     

Research on the hot deformation behavior of Ti40 alloy using processing map

The deformation behavior of a Ti40 titanium alloy was investigated with compression tests at different temperatures and strain rates to evaluate the activation energy and to establish the constitutive equation, which reveals the dependence of the flow stress on strain, strain rate and deformation temperature. The tests were carried out in the temperature range between 900 and 1100 °C and at strain rates between 0.01 and 10 s⁻¹. Hot deformation activation energy of the Ti40 alloy was calculated to be about 372.96 kJ/mol. In order to demonstrate the workability of Ti40 alloy further, the processing maps at strain of 0.5 and 0.6 were generated respectively based on the dynamic materials model. It is found that the dynamic recrystallization of Ti40 alloy occurs at the temperatures of 1050-1100 °C and strain rates of 0.01-0.1 s⁻¹, with peak efficiency of power dissipation of 64% occurring at about 1050 °C and 0.01 s⁻¹, indicating that this domain is optimum processing window for hot working. Flow instability domains were noticed at higher stain rate (≥1 s⁻¹) and stain (≥0.6), which located at the upper part of the processing maps. The evidence of deformation in these domains has been identified by the microstructure observations of Ti40 titanium alloy.     

Deformation behavior of an Al–Cu–Mg–Mn–Zr alloy during hot compression

Deformation behavior of an Al–Cu–Mg–Mn–Zr alloy during hot compression was characterized in present work by high-temperature testing and transmission electron microscope (TEM) studies. The true stress–true strain curves exhibited a peak stress at a critical stain. The peak stress decreased with increasing deformation temperature and decreasing strain rate, which can be described by Zener–Hollomon (Z) parameter in hyperbolic sine function with the deformation activation energy 277.8 kJ/mol. The processing map revealed the existence of an optimum hot-working regime between 390 and 420 °C, under strain rates ranging from 0.1 to 1 s⁻¹. The main softening mechanism of the alloy was dynamic recovery at high lnZ value; continuous dynamic recrystallization (DRX) occurred as deformed at low lnZ value. The dynamic precipitation of Al₃Zr and Al₂₀Cu₂Mn₃ dispersoids during hot deformation restrained DRX and increased the hot deformation activation energy of the alloy.     

Field emission characteristics of carbon nanofibers grown on copper micro-tips at low temperature

Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were grown on copper micro-tips formed by electroplating. The nickel layer electroplated over the copper micro-tips was used as a catalyst. The CNFs were synthesized by using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of C₂H₂ and NH₃ at 480 °C. The copper micro-tips were formed by high current pulse electroplating, which played a significant role in characterizing our CNFs. The CNFs grown on the copper micro-tips showed outstanding field emission performance and stability, whose turn-on field, defined as one at the current density of 10 μA/cm², was 1.30 V/μm and the maximum current density reached 5.39 mA/cm² at an electric field of 4.9 V/μm.     

Properties of ultrafine copper-containing powders prepared by a sonoelectrochemical method

In this paper, we analyze the factors that influence the particle size and morphology of copper powders prepared by electrodeposition from solution at increased current densities (0.5–1.0 A/cm²) under ultrasonication (sonoelectrochemical method). The cathode current density and current pulse duration are shown to have the most significant effect on the particle size of the powders. Reducing the current density and pulse duration leads to a reduction in particle size. Our results demonstrate that the method allows one to obtain copper powders with an average particle size of 100 nm exhibiting high antibacterial activity and capable of suppressing the growth of pathogenic bacteria.     

Microtwin formation in the α phase of duplex titanium alloys affected by strain rate

The effect of tensile strain rate on deformation microstructure was investigated in Ti-6-4 (Ti-6Al-4V) and SP700 (Ti-4.5Al-3V-2Mo-2Fe) of the duplex titanium alloys. Below a strain rate of 10⁻² s⁻¹, Ti-6-4 alloy had a higher ultimate tensile strength than SP700 alloy. However, the yield strength of SP700 was consistently greater than Ti-6-4 at different strain rates. The ductility of SP700 alloy associated with twin formation (especially at the slow strain rate of 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹), always exceeded that of Ti-6-4 alloy at different strain rates. It is caused by a large quantity of deformation twins took place in the α phase of SP700 due to the lower stacking fault energy by the β stabilizer of molybdenum alloying. In addition, the local deformation more was imposed on the α grains from the surrounding β-rich grains by redistributing strain as the strain rate decreased in SP700 duplex alloy.     

Joining and wetting of CaO-stabilized ZrO2 with Al-Cu alloys

The contact angles of molten Al-Cu alloys on CaO-stabilized ZrO₂ have been measured using a sessile drop technique at 1373 K under a vacuum. The work of adhesion, W _ad, of an alloy against ZrO₂ was evaluated from the equilibrium contact angle of the alloy. The W _ad values Al-Cu alloys with copper contents up to 10 at% are the same or slightly higher than the value of 1.25 J m^–2 for pure aluminium. On further increase in copper content, W _ad gradually decreases to 0.8 J m^–2 for pure copper at 1373 K. The general trend in the work of adhesion against copper content of Al-Cu alloys is in accordance with the copper-content dependence of the joining strength of ZrO₂ joints brazed with the Al-Cu alloys. A ZrO₂ joint brazed with Al-1.7 at% Cu filler provides the maximum fracture strength of 105 MPa at room temperature, and this improved strength of ZrO₂ is maintained at elevated temperatures up to 773 K. The joining strength of a ZrO₂ joint brazed with an Al-Cu alloy is dominated by the mechanical properties of the alloy in addition to the wettability of the alloy against ZrO₂.     

A study on the hot workability of wrought NiTi shape memory alloy

The hot workability of a wrought 49.8 Ni-50.2 Ti (at pct) alloy was assessed using the hot compression tests in temperature range of 700-1000 °C, strain rate of 0.001-1 s⁻¹, and the total strain of 0.7. The constitutive equations of Arrhenius-type hyperbolic-sine function was used to describe the flow stress as a function of strain rate and temperature. The preferable regions for hot workability of the alloy were achieved at Z (Zener-Holloman parameter) values of about 10⁹-10¹³ corresponding to the peak efficiency of 20-30% in the processing map. However, a narrow area in the processing map including the deformation temperature of 1000 °C and strain rate of 1 s⁻¹ is inconsistent with the related Z values. A flow instability region was observed at high Z values. Further instability regions were found at low temperature of 700 °C and low strain rates of 0.01-0.001 s⁻¹ as well as at high temperature of 1000 °C and high strain rate of 1 s⁻¹. The apparent feature of flow curves, the low value of peak efficiency, the similarity between the estimated apparent activation energy of deformation and that of the self diffusion of Ti in Ni, and the stress exponent of higher than 5, suggested that dynamic recovery (DRV) is the dominant restoration phenomenon during the hot working of the alloy.     

Brittle-to-ductile transition temperature and its strain rate sensitivity in a two-phase titanium aluminide with near lamellar microstructure

The temperature dependence of tensile properties of a two-phase titanium aluminide with nearly lamellar microstructure has been investigated and brittle-to-ductile transition (BDT) temperatures (T_BDS) have been determined under different strain rates from 10^–5 to 10^–1 s^–1. It is found that T_BD rises with the increase of strain rate. From the positive strain rate sensitivity of T_BD, the apparent activation energy of BDT is determined to be 324 kJ/mol by means of Zener-Hollomon factor. The determined activation energy approximates to the activation energies of self-diffusion of Ti atoms, and inter-diffusion of Ti and Al atoms in TiAl phase. The approximation, fractography analysis and theoretical calculation using the Nabarro Model add up to the speculation that the BDT of the alloy is controlled by dislocation climbing.     

Combined effect of strain-rate and mode-ratio on the fracture of lead-free solder joints

The critical strain energy release rate for the solder joint fracture was measured as a function of the strain rate and the mode ratio of loading. These data are useful in predicting the fracture of solder joints loaded under arbitrary combinations of tension and shear during the impact conditions typical of falling portable electronic devices. In this study, strain rates from quasi-static (close to 0 s^− 1) to 61 s^− 1 were investigated at phase angles from 0 to 60°, typical of the range found in microelectronic devices. Copper–solder–copper double cantilever beam (DCB) model specimens were prepared using SAC305 solder at cooling rates and times above liquidus typical of actual ball grid arrays (BGAs). A drop tester was designed and built to achieve different strain rates at various mode ratios. The critical initiation strain energy release rate, J_ci, increased about 70% from quasi-static to intermediate strain rates, before decreasing by more than 67% from intermediate strain rates to 42 s^− 1.