Split Hopkinson pressure bar multiple reloading and modeling of a 316 L stainless steel metallic hollow sphere structure

The high strain rate (600 s⁻¹) compression deformation of a 316 L metallic hollow sphere (MHS) structure (density: 500 kg m⁻³; average outer hollow sphere diameter: 2 mm and wall thickness: 45 μm) was determined both numerically and experimentally. The experimental compressive stress–strain behavior at high strain rates until about large strains was obtained with multiple reloading tests using a large-diameter compression type aluminum Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) test apparatus. The multiple reloading of MHS samples in SHPB was analyzed with a 3D finite element model using the commercial explicit finite element code LS-DYNA. The tested MHS samples showed increased crushing stress values, when the strain rate increased from quasi-static (0.8 × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹) to high strain rate (600 s⁻¹). Experimentally and numerically deformed sections of MHS samples tested showed very similar crushing characteristics; plastic hinge formation, the indentation of the spheres at the contact regions and sphere wall buckling at intermediate strains. The extent of micro-inertial effects was further predicted with the strain rate insensitive cell wall material model and with the strain rate sensitive behavior of MHS structure similar to that of the cell wall material. Based on the predictions, the strain rate sensitivity of the studied 316 L MHS sample was attributed to the strain rate sensitivity of the cell wall material and the micro-inertia.     

Effect of Sb addition on the tensile deformation behavior of lead-free Sn–3.5Ag solder alloy

Tensile deformation behavior of Sn–3.5Ag and Sn–3.5Ag–1.5Sb alloys was investigated at temperatures ranging from 298 to 400 K, and strain rates ranging from 5 × 10⁻⁴ to 1 × 10⁻² s⁻¹. After melting and casting, the samples were rolled to sheets, from which tensile specimens were punched and pulled to fracture in uniaxial tension tests. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the microstructure and fracture surface of the samples. Addition of 1.5% Sb into the binary alloy resulted in an increase in both ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and ductility. The enhanced strength was attributed to the solid solution hardening effects of Sb in the Sn matrix. The improved ductility was, however, caused by the structural refinement which results in the higher strain rate hardening of the Sb-containing alloy. This was manifested by the higher strain rate sensitivity (SRS) indices (m) of 0.14–0.27, as compared to 0.11–0.20 found for the Sn–3.5Ag alloy.     

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.     

Extrusion properties of a Zr-based bulk metallic glass

The extrusion behavior of Zr_41.2Ti_13.8Cu_12.5Ni₁₀Be_22.5 metallic glasses in the supercooled liquid region was investigated. Good extrusion formability was observed under low strain rates at temperatures higher than 395 °C. The metallic glasses were fully extruded without crystallization and failure within the range of T = 395-415 °C under strain rates from 5 × 10^− 3 s^− 1 to 5 × 10^− 2 s^− 1, and the deformation behavior of the metallic glasses during the extrusion was found to be in a Newtonian viscous flow mode by a strain rate sensitivity of 1.0.     

Constitutive modeling for the dynamic recrystallization evolution of AZ80 magnesium alloy based on stress-strain data

In order to improve the understanding of the dynamic recrystallization (DRX) behaviors of as-cast AZ80 magnesium alloy, a series of isothermal upsetting experiments with height reduction 60% were performed at the temperatures of 523 K, 573 K, 623 K and 673 K, and the strain rates of 0.01 s⁻¹, 0.1 s⁻¹, 1 s⁻¹ and 10 s⁻¹ on a Gleeble 1500 thermo-mechanical simulator. Dependence of the flow stress on temperature and strain rate is described by means of the conventional hyperbolic sine equation. By regression analysis, the activation energy of DRX in the whole range of deformation temperature was determined to be Q = 215.82 kJ mol⁻¹. Based on dσ/d? versus σ curves and their processing results, the ?ow stress curves for AZ80 magnesium alloy were evaluated that they have some characteristic points including the critical strain for DRX initiation (?_c), the strain for peak stress (?_p), and the strain for maximum softening rate (?*), which means that the evolution of DRX can be expressed by the process variables. In order to characterize the evolution of DRX volume fraction, the modified Avrami type equation including ?_c and ?* as a function of the dimensionless parameter controlling the stored energy, Z/A, was evaluated and the effect of deformation conditions was described in detail. Finally, the theoretical prediction on the relationships between the DRX volume fractions and the deformation conditions were validated by the microstructure graphs.     

Experimental investigation on strain rate sensitivity of ultra-fine grained copper at elevated temperatures

Quasi-static and dynamic compression tests on ultra-fine grained (UFG) copper (Cu 99.9) were performed at temperatures ranging from 77 to 573 K and strain rates ranging from 10⁻³ to 5 × 10³ 1/s using an electronic universal testing machine and the split Hopkinson pressure bar system, respectively. We focused on the strain rate sensitivity and its dependence on experimental temperatures. The results show that UFG-Cu has enhanced strain rate sensitivity that is apparently temperature dependent. The activation volume of UFG-Cu is estimated to be on the order of ∼10b³ at current experimental temperature and strain rate range. The plastic deformation mechanism is suggested to be dislocation-grain boundary interactions.     

Effect of eutectic particles on the grain size control and the superplasticity of aluminium alloys

Aluminium alloys containing eutectic particles of the Al-Ni, Al-Mg-Si, Al-Ni-Ce and Al-Cu-Ce systems are investigated. The particles which control grain growth and stimulate grain nucleation are studied. The Zener-Smith law about dependence between grain size and particle parameters is confirmed and experimental coefficients are found. Experimental coefficients of the Zener-Smith equation obtained in this study depend on the particle size and differ from theoretical coefficients proposed by Zener and Smith. Some alloys with grain size about 3 μm demonstrate very good superplasticity indicators, namely: the strain rate sensitivity index m = 0.5-0.6 and the elongation over 400% at constant strain rate 5 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹.     

Deformation and strain rate sensitivity of a Zr-Cu-Fe-Al metallic glass

The deformation behaviour of Zr₆₅Cu₂₀Fe₅Al₁₀ bulk metallic glass has been studied at room temperature under uniaxial compression conditions at the strain rate of 5 × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹ and performing jump tests for the strain rates (SR) ranging between 5 × 10⁻⁶ s⁻¹ and 5 × 10⁻² s⁻¹. The alloy always shows the formation of shear bands and exhibits serrated flow. In the SR range of 5 × 10⁻⁶ to 5 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹ absence of strain rate sensitivity within the experimental error is observed. However, when the SR changes from 5 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹ to 5 × 10⁻² s⁻¹ the alloy exhibits a negative strain rate sensitivity of −0.0026. The number of shear bands on the side view appears to be correlated with the range of stress softening from the maximum stress to the stress at which the sample fails.     

Deformation behavior in isothermal compression of the TC11 titanium alloy

Isothermal compression of the TC11 titanium alloy has been conducted on Gleebe-1500 hot-simulator at the deformation temperatures ranging from 1023 K to 1323 K, the strain rates ranging from 0.001 s⁻¹ to 10.0 s⁻¹, and the height reductions ranging from 50% to 70%. The effect of deformation temperature, strain rate and strain on the flow stress and the apparent activation energy for deformation is in depth analyzed. The experimental results show that the apparent activation energy for deformation in isothermal compression of the TC11 titanium alloy decreases with the increasing of strain. Moreover, the apparent activation energy for deformation in α + β two-phase region of the TC11 titanium alloy increases with the increasing of deformation temperature and decreases with the increasing of strain rate. A power dissipation efficiency map in isothermal compression of the TC11 titanium alloy is constructed at a strain of 0.6, in which three domains with higher power dissipation efficiency are observed, and deformation characteristics of the above-mentioned domains are analyzed. Finally, optical micrographs of the TC11 titanium alloy obtained on a Leica DMLP microscope showed the evidence of deformation in three domains.     

Strain rate sensitivity of unequal grained nano-multilayers

Nanoscaled bimetallic Cu/Ta multilayers were fabricated and their deformation behaviors characterized under nanoindentation. The individual Cu and Ta layers had equal thickness (∼30 nm) but quite different grain sizes. By evaluating the hardness of the bi-metal system at various strain rates, a transitional point of its strain rate sensitivity at the strain rate of 10⁻³ s⁻¹ was observed. Contributions from dislocation and grain boundary (GB) motions to plastic deformation are found to be strongly dependent upon strain rate as well as grain size in alternative constituent layers. Whilst dislocation-mediated motions take up the majority of deformation in a Cu/Ta multilayer at high strain rates, GB motions occurring mainly in the Ta layers take over at low strain rates.     

Effect of hot working on flow behavior of Ti–6Al–4V alloy in single phase and two phase regions

Hot deformation behavior of the alloy Ti–6Al–4V was investigated via conducting hot compression tests at temperatures of 800–1150 °C and at strain rates, ranging from 0.001 s⁻¹ to 1 s⁻¹, at an interval of an order of magnitude. The apparent differences of flow stress curves obtained in dual phase α + β and single phase β regions were analyzed in term of different dependence of flow stress to temperature and strain rate and different microstructural evolutions. The values of strain rate sensitivity and apparent activation energy were obtained respectively as 0.20 and 530 kJ/mol for two phase microstructure. However, for single phase β microstructure they were approximated as 0.19 and 376 kJ/mol, respectively. It was found that in two phase region the values of strains corresponding to peak point, ε_p, and the highest rate of flow softening, ε^*, are almost independent to Zenner–Hollomon parameter. In single phase region, ε_p and ε^* exhibited a direct relationship to Z parameter and the corresponding empirical equations were proposed.     

Hot deformation behavior and microstructural evolution of Ag-containing 2519 aluminum alloy

The hot deformation behaviors of Ag-containing 2519 aluminum alloy were studied by isothermal compression at 300–500 °C with strain rates from 0.01 s⁻¹ to 10 s⁻¹. The microstructural evolution of the alloy was investigated using Polyvar-MET optical microscope and Tecnai G² 20 transmission electron microscope (TEM). It has been shown that the flow stress of the alloy increases with increasing the strain rate and decreasing the deformation temperature. When the strain rate is lower than 10 s⁻¹, the flow stress increases with increasing strain until the stress reached the peak value, after which the flow stress remains almost constant. This result indicates that dynamic recovery happens during deformation. When the strain rate is 10 s⁻¹ and the temperature is higher than 300 °C, serrated flow behavior is generally observed with the stress decreasing with increasing strain, a typical phenomenon of dynamic recrystallization.     

Hot compressive deformation behavior of a new hot isostatically pressed Ni–Cr–Co based powder metallurgy superalloy

The hot compressive deformation behavior of a new hot isostatically pressed Ni–Cr–Co based powder metallurgy (P/M) superalloy was studied in the temperature range of 950–1150 °C and strain rate range of 0.0003–1 s⁻¹ using Gleeble-1500 thermal simulator. The dynamic recrystallization-time–temperature (RTT) curve was developed and the constitutive equation of flow stress during hot deformation was established. The results show that the flow stress decreases with increasing deformation temperature and decreasing strain rate. The flow stress represents as the characteristic of dynamic crystallization with the increasing of strain at the deformation temperatures lower than 1100 °C and strain rates higher than 0.0003 s⁻¹. The beginning time of dynamic crystallization has no linear relationship with deformation temperature in the condition of strain rate lower than 0.01 s⁻¹. Besides, the experiments verify that the hyperbolic sine model including the variable of strain reflects the changing law of flow stress during the hot deformation process.     

Prediction of the flow stress of Al6061 at hot deformation conditions

Isothermal compression tests were carried out on Al6061 using a Gleeble-1500 thermal simulator at temperatures ranging from 573 to 723 K and strain rates from 0.5 to 30 s⁻¹. The flow stress of Al6061 was characterized based on an analysis of the true stress-true strain curves. A mathematical mode coupling flow stress with strain, strain rate and temperature for Al6061 has been proposed by using a hyperbolic sinusoidal type equation. The material constant α is 0.01 MPa⁻¹ in the model, whereas other material constants n, lnA and Q are found to be functions of strain. The predicted results from this proposed model are found to be in good agreement with the experimental flow stress curves which can be used to predict the required deformation forces in hot deformation processes.     

Hot working behavior of 2205 austenite-ferrite duplex stainless steel characterized by constitutive equations and processing maps

The hot deformation characteristics of the 2205 duplex stainless steel were analyzed using constitutive equations and processing maps. The hot compression tests were performed at temperature range of 950-1200 °C and strain rate of 0.001-1 s⁻¹. Flow stress was modeled by the constitutive equation of hyperbolic sine function. However, the stress exponent and strain rate sensitivity were different at low and high deformation temperatures where austenite and ferrite are dominant, respectively. It was recognized that strain at the peak point of flow curve increases with the Zener-Hollomon parameter, Z, at low temperature deformation while at high temperature deformation it actually decreases with Z. The power dissipation map, instability map and processing map were developed for the typical strain of 0.3. It was realized that dynamic restoration mechanisms could efficiently hinder the occurrence of flow instability at low and medium strain rates. Otherwise, the increase in strain rate at low and high temperatures could increase the risk of flow instability.     

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.     

Hot deformation behavior of an extruded Mg-Li-Zn-RE alloy

A new Mg-7.8%Li-4.6%Zn-0.96%Ce-0.85%Y-0.30%Zr alloy has been developed. α phase, β phase and RE-containing intermetallics formed in the alloy. It is found that the alloy can easily be extruded at 260 °C with σ_0.2 = 256 MPa, σ_b = 260 MPa and δ = 14%. Hot deformation behavior of the extruded alloy was studied using the processing map technique. Compression tests were conducted in the temperature range of 250-450 °C and strain rate range of 0.001-10 s⁻¹ and the flow stress data obtained from the tests were used to develop the processing map. The different efficiency domains and flow instability region corresponding to various microstructural characteristics have been identified as follows: (1) Domain I occurs in the temperature range of 250-275 °C and strain rate range of 1-10 s⁻¹, with a peak efficiency of about 50% at 250 °C/10 s⁻¹. Incomplete DRX process has occurred in β phase and DRX process hardly occurs in α phase; (2) Domain II occurs in the temperature range of 250-275 ?C and strain rate range of 0.001-0.003 s⁻¹, with a peak efficiency of about 42% at 250 °C/0.001 s ⁻¹. Incomplete DRX process has occurred in β phase and α phase; (3) Domain III occurs in the temperature range of 400-450 °C and strain rate range of 1-10 s⁻¹, with a peak efficiency of about 42% at 450 °C/10 s⁻¹. Complete DRX process has occurred in β phase and α phase. No cracking, cavity and band of flow localization are observed in flow instability region. The optimum parameters for hot working of the alloy are 250 °C/10 s⁻¹ and 250 °C/0.001 s⁻¹, at which fine dynamic recrystallization microstructure will be achieved. RE-containing intermetallics and α phase accelerate the DRX process in β phase. The softer β phase reduces the driving force for DRX process in α phase, so DRX process in α phase is retarded.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of ZA62 Mg alloy by equal-channel angular pressing

The Mg-6Zn-2Al alloy was processed by ECAP and microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloy before and after ECAP were studied. The results revealed that the microstructure of the ZA62 alloy was successfully refined after two-step ECAP (2 passes at 473 K and 2-8 passes at 423 K). The course bulk interphase of Mg₅₁Zn₂₀ was crushed into fine particles and mixed with fine matrix grains forming “stripes” in the microstructure after the second step of ECAP extrusion. A bimodal microstructure of small grains of the matrix with size of ∼0.5 μm in the stripes and large grains of the matrix with size of ∼2 μm out of stripes was observed in the microstructure of samples after 4-8 passes of ECAP extrusion at the second step. The mechanical properties of the alloy studied were significantly improved after ECAP and the highest yield strength and elongation at room temperature were obtained at the samples after 4 and 8 ECAP passes at the second step, respectively. Tensile tests carried out at temperature of 473 K to 573 K and strain rate of 1 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹ to 3 × 10⁻² s⁻¹ revealed that the alloy after 8 ECAP passes at the second step showed superplasticity and the highest elongation and strain rate sensitivity (m-value) reached 520% and 0.45, respectively.     

Effect of temperature on deformation behavior and microstructures of TC11 titanium alloy

The isothermal compression deformation behavior of TC11 titanium alloy with beta microstructure was studied between 750 °C and 1100 °C under the strain rate ranging from 0.001 s⁻¹ to 10 s⁻¹ by THERMECMASTOR-Z simulator. In addition, the effect of temperature on microstructure was observed using optical microscope. The results showed that the temperature greatly affected the flow stress and microstructure of TC11 titanium alloy cooled from beta phase region in air. During hot deformation of TC11 titanium alloy, the steady state flow characteristic was observed at higher temperature or lower strain rate. In the α + β phase region, spheroidization fraction of α lamellar decreased with increasing temperature, while in near-β and β phase regions, dynamic recrystallization fraction increased with increasing temperature in all strain rates except at the strain rate of 0.001 s⁻¹.     

Tensile deformation behavior of nano-sized Mo particles reinforced SnAgCu solders

In this work, tensile deformation of Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu (SAC387) solder and composite of SAC387 reinforced with nano-sized Mo particles have been studied with strain rates from 10⁻⁵ to 10⁻¹ s⁻¹ and temperatures of 25, 75 and 125 °C. It is found that the yield strength (σ_Y.S) and strain hardening exponent (n) are increased with the strain rate, but the n values decrease with increasing temperatures. The n values of the composite solder are also increased with the percentage of the Mo nano-particles (up to 1 wt.%) and thereafter decrease with further increasing of the Mo particle. The strain rate dependence of the Hollomon parameters is found to be stronger at higher temperatures for SAC387 solder, but it is weaker for the composite solders. Empirical equations for σ_Y.S and Hollomon parameters with strain rate and temperatures have been found for both SAC387 and composite solders. Finally, the fracture surfaces of the solders are examined.