Effects of sensitisation-induced martensitic transformation on the tensile behaviour of 304 austenitic stainless steel

The effects of sensitisation-induced martensitic transformation on the tensile behaviour of 304 austenitic stainless steel have been investigated. Yield strength is reduced by sensitisation, but ultimate tensile strength is nearly unaffected. Strain-hardening behaviour is changed by sensitisation, too. Although sensitisation may induce martensite formation near grain boundary, twin boundary, and austenite/martensite interface, the sensitisation-induced martensite does not exert a great influence on tensile behaviour in the 304 steel. In the unsensitised condition, martensitic transformation in the steel bulk induced by prior deformation and liquid-nitrogen immersion also does not change strain-hardening behaviour in the present steel.     

High strength-superplasticity combination of ultrafine-grained ferritic steel:The significant role of nanoscale carbides

There is currently a gap in our understanding of mechanisms that contribute to high strength and high plasticity in high strength UFG ferritic steel with nano-size Fe3C carbides in situations that involve com-bination of various strain rates and high temperature.In this regard,we describe the mechanistic basis of obtaining high strength-high plasticity combination in an ultrafine-grained(UFG)(～500±30 nm)ferritic steel with nano-size carbides,which sustained large plastic deformation,exceeding 100％elon-gation at a temperature significantly below 0.5 of the absolute melting point(Tm).To address the missing gap in our knowledge,we conducted a series of experiments involving combination of strain rate and temperature effects in conjunction with electron microscopy and atom probe tomography(APT).Strain rate studies were carried out at strain rates in the range of 0.0017-0.17 s-1 and at different temperatures from 25℃to 600℃.Dynamic recrystallization occurred at 600℃,resulting in a significant decrease in yield and tensile strength.Nevertheless,the UFG ferritic steels had an advantage in tensile strength(σUTS)and elongation-to-failure(εf)at 600℃,especially at strain rate of 0.0017 s-1,with high σUTS of 510 MPa and excellent low temperature(＜0.42Tm)superplasticity(εf=110％).These mechanical properties are significantly superior compared to similar type of steels at identical temperature.A mechanistic under-standing of mechanical behavior of UFG ferritic steels is presented by combining the effect of strain rate,temperature,and nano-size carbides.     

Effect of Ni content on the tensile properties and strain-induced martensite transformation for 304 stainless steel

The effect of Ni content (8.3-12 wt.%) on the tensile properties and strain hardening behavior was studied on type 304 stainless steels (STS) used for the membrane of LNG storage tanks. The tensile test temperature was varied from 25 °C to −196 °C. At room temperature, the hardening and ductility indices (tensile strength, strain hardening exponent and elongation) increased with decreasing Ni content. For the 8.3-9.0 wt.% Ni STS, a lower yield point was observed at temperatures below −60 °C. It was due to the dynamic strain softening and/or transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) that accompanied the rapid increase in the amount of strain-induced martensite (α′) at low strains. Neither dynamic strain softening nor TRIP was observed for the 12 wt.% Ni STS because only the ?-martensite transformation was produced at the low strains.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg–4.5Al–1.0Zn alloy sheets produced by twin roll casting and sequential warm rolling

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg–4.5Al–1.0Zn (designated as AZ41M in short) alloy sheets produced by twin roll casting, sequential warm rolling and post annealing at 350 °C were studied in this paper. Microstructure of twin roll casting strip consisted of dendrite structure, eutectics and intermetallic compounds located in the interdendritic region. AZ41M alloy sheets showed higher strength and lower elongation after sequential warm rolling, while post annealing after warm rolling induced the decrease of strength and increase of elongation. This results in the balance of strength and elongation in AZ41M alloy sheets. The grain refinement during manufacturing processes was attributed to the formation of heavy shear bands, high dislocation density, twinning, and precipitates of Al₂Ca/Mg₂Ca or Al₈Mn₅ and the Ca dissolution into Mg₁₇Al₁₂ phase.     

Influences of tensile pre-strain and bending pre-deflection on bending and tensile behaviors of an extruded AZ31B magnesium alloy

This paper focused on the influences of tensile pre-strain and bending pre-deflection on the three point bending and uniaxial tensile properties of an extruded AZ31B magnesium alloy. The influences of pre-strain/deflection on bending/tensile curves could be divided into three stages. The results show that: (1) In the elastic stage, considering the variation of specimen’s cross sectional area, the pre-strain/deflection did not affect the measured elastic modulus obtained from both bending and tensile tests. (2) In the transition hardening stage, the specimen presented obvious hardening behaviors on basis of the pre-strain/deflection, the phenomenon was mainly caused by the strain hardening effects produced from previous uniaxial tensile and bending processes. (3) In the large plastic deformation stage/necking stage, as the accumulation of plastic deformations caused by pre-strain/deflection were significant, the specimen’s ability to resist plastic deformation was weakened. Specially, as the tensile pre-strain increased, the bending load decrement rate gradually decreased, and as the bending pre-deflection increased, both the tensile strength and elongation sharply decreased, the accumulated irreversible plastic work promoted the damage process of the magnesium alloy. The influences of tensile pre-strain on the bending behaviors of the magnesium alloy were also analyzed via finite element method.     

Formation of ultrafine grained microstructure in the austenitic stainless steel and its impact on tensile properties

Commercial grade AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel was heavily cold rolled to 90% of thickness reduction. The cold rolled material was subjected to repetitive annealing treatment for short duration of 45-60 s at various temperatures. The microstructure of the cold rolled and after annealing was studied by optical as well as transmission electron microscope. The microstructural examination of the specimens after repetitive annealing process revealed the formation of ultrafine grain size microstructure. It was also noted that depending on the processing condition the grain size distribution varied widely. The tensile testing of the annealed specimen showed that the yield strength increased by 4-5 times that of the coarse grained material. However, a loss in the strain hardening ability was observed in these specimens. A good combination of yield strength and ductility for ultrafine grained stainless steel as compared to the coarse grained material could be obtained by the optimization of the microstructure.     

热处理和热暴露后Ti-46Al-8Ta合金的显微组织和拉伸性能

铸造Ti-46Al-8Ta合金经过专门设计的组合热处理,实现了晶粒细化.对晶粒细化的Ti-46Al-8Ta合金开展了在700℃大气环境中的热暴露5000h的热稳定性评定.采用光学显微镜、扫描电镜、透射电镜、X射线衍射等技术研究晶粒细化工艺以及热暴露对合金组织的影响,并进行了室温拉伸性能测试.研究发现,铸造Ti-46Al-8Ta合金经热等静压和α单相区固溶+空冷,以及随后的双相区退火能获取晶粒细小的"旋绕态"全片层组织.在700℃长期大气热暴露后,该细化组织发生明显的晶团融合、粗化,并生成出相当数量的B2(ω)和γ新相,导致屈服强度和塑性下降.     

Effects of processing parameters on tensile properties of selective laser melted 304 stainless steel

Selective laser melting (SLM) technology based on powder bed has been used to manufacture 304 stainless steel samples. The effects of slice thickness, overlap rate, building direction and hatch angle on tensile properties of SLMed 304 stainless steel samples are investigated. It is found that tensile properties of SLMed 304 stainless steel are independent of slice thickness and overlap rate, but increase slowly with increasing interval number of deposited layers. The hatch angle of 105° with the maximum interval number of deposited layers and vertical building direction are preferred to get excellent tensile properties. Importantly, all the SLMed samples feature much higher σ_0.2/UTS values of nearly 0.8. The tensile strengths and ductility of SLMed samples at proper parameters are higher than those of the wrought 304 stainless steel.     

Effect of initial microstructure on mechanical properties in warm caliber rolling of high carbon steel

In this study, the effect of initial microstructure on change of mechanical properties was investigated by warm caliber rolling (WCR) of high carbon steel. Experiments were carried out with two different kinds of initial microstructures of pearlite and tempered martensite at the temperature of 500 °C. For comparison, the microstructure of austenite phase obtained from the conventional hot rolling at the temperature of 900 °C up to about 83% of the accumulative reduction in area was assumed to be a reference case. It was found that the WCR provided better mechanical properties in terms of strength and toughness compared to the conventional hot rolling based on experimental results of micro-hardness, tension, and Charpy impact tests. The improvement of strength and toughness was attributed to smaller ferrite grain and dispersed cementite particles with smaller interspacing aligned to the rolling direction after the WCR owing to field emission scanning electron microscopy. The investigated WCR might be useful in obtaining the high strength material with better toughness without adding new alloying elements for industrial applications according to the present investigation.     

轧制工艺对D6A钢微观组织和力学性能的影响

为了研究轧制工艺对D6A钢组织及力学性能的影响,分别制备了87％和93％压下量的D6A钢,并通过EBSD和拉伸性能测试进行了分析.结果表明,随轧制压下量由87％增加至93％,D6A钢中晶粒尺寸显著减小,由5 μm减至1 μm,小角度晶界含量则大幅增加,由55％增至80％.随轧制压下量的增加,D6A钢的抗拉强度及屈服强度...     

Effect of temperature and strain rate on tensile behavior of ultrafine-grained aluminum alloys

Ultrafine-grained Al–4Y–4Ni and Al–4Y–4Ni–0.9Fe (at.%) alloys were synthesized by the consolidation of atomized powders and subsequent hot extrusion. The mechanical behavior of these two alloys has been studied by performing uniaxial tension tests ranging from room temperature to 350 °C. These alloys, with high volume fraction of second-phase particles, exhibited ambient temperature tensile strength ranging from 473 to 608 MPa and plastic elongation ranging from 6.7 to 9.6% at an initial strain rate of 1 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹. However, lower ductility was observed with decreasing strain rate at the intermediate temperature ranging from 150 to 250 °C for Al–Y–Ni–Fe alloys due to limited work hardening.     

Influence of strain rate on ultimate tensile stress of coarse-grained and ultrafine-grained copper

In the present paper OFHC (oxygen free high conductivity) copper was tested by static and dynamic tensile tests at room temperature owing to strain rate investigation. Because of coarse-grained (CG) and ultrafine-grained (UFG) microstructure observation the copper was subjected to drawing and ECAP processes. The investigation of strain rate and microstructure was focused on the ultimate tensile stress (UTS) after the tensile tests. Following this study, it was found that strain rate is an important characteristic influencing the mechanical properties of copper. The ultimate tensile stress grew with strain rate increasing and this effect is more visible at high strain rates ( ~ 10² s⁻¹). Moreover, it was revealed that strain rate hasn't got any influence on the failure mechanism of the copper on the other hand it has an influence on the values of dimple size. While strain rate increases the dimple size decreases.     

Microstructural refinement and tensile properties enhancement of Mg-3Al alloy using charcoal additions

Significant grain refinement in Mg-3Al alloy is achieved with the addition of charcoal due to the formation of Al₄C₃ particles, which act as effective nuclei for magnesium grains. Addition of 0.5 wt% charcoal has lead to reduced grain size of Mg-3Al alloy from 500 to 80 μm and no substantial grain refinement is obtained on further addition of charcoal. The results further reveal that the prolonged holding of the melt after the addition of charcoal has not affected the grain refining efficiency of Al₄C₃. Steady increase in tensile properties observed with increasing amount of charcoal addition has been attributed to the grain refinement and the presence of fine Al₄C₃ particles. The strengthening mechanisms due to charcoal addition are discussed in terms of Hall-Petch relation and dispersion strengthening. The predicted values are in good agreement with experimental results.     

Effect of strain rate on tensile behavior of carbon fiber reinforced aluminum laminates

In this paper, the tensile behavior of carbon fiber reinforced aluminum laminates (CRALL) has been determined at a strain rate range from 0.001 s^− 1 to 1200 s^− 1. Experimental results show that CRALL composite is a strain rate sensitive material, and the tensile strength and failure strain both increased with increasing strain rate. A linear strain hardening model has been combined with Weibull distribution function to establish a constitutive equation for CRALL at different strain rates. The analysis of the model shows that the Weibull scale parameter, σ₀, increased with increasing strain rate, but Weibull shape parameter, β, can be regarded as a constant.     

Effects of coarser fine aggregate on tensile properties of ultra high performance concrete

This experimental research investigates the mechanical properties and shrinkage of ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) incorporating coarser fine aggregates with maximum particle size of 5 mm. To adequately design UHPC mixtures using various sizes of solid constituents, particle packing theory was adopted. UHPC mixtures containing either dolomite or basalt, and four fiber volume fractions up to two volume percent were investigated. Uniaxial tension test was performed to evaluate the first cracking tensile strength, ultimate tensile strength, tensile strain capacity and cracking pattern. The UHPC mixtures with dolomite and steel fibers with more than one volume percent achieved more than 150 MPa of compressive strength at the age of 56 days, and showed strain hardening behavior and limited decrease in tensile strength compared to typical UHPC without coarser fine aggregates. The experimental results highlight the potential of dolomite used as coarser fine aggregate in UHPC.     

Effects of calcium on the microstructures and tensile properties of Mg-5Li-3Al alloys

The as-cast Mg-5Li-3Al-xCa (x = 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 wt.%) was prepared with vacuum induction melting furnace, then processed by hot extrusion. The microstructures and tensile properties were investigated. The results show that the grains of as-cast alloys were refined gradually with the increase of Ca content from 0.5 wt.% to 1 wt.%, while the Ca content increases to 1.5 wt.%, the grain size increases. The microstructures of investigated alloys were further refined after hot extrusion. Both as-cast and as-extruded Mg-5Li-3Al-0.5Ca alloys have the highest mechanical properties, which is mainly attributed to the grain refinement caused by the addition of Ca and the formation of strengthening phase, Al₄Ca. When the addition of Ca is up to 1-1.5 wt.%, the tensile properties of alloys are worsened due to the excessive (Mg, Al)₂Ca eutectic phase forming at grain boundary.     

Influence of pre-strain on the wear resistance of a plain carbon steel

Dry sliding wear behaviour of a plain carbon steel in different pre-strained conditions was examined in the severe wear regime using a pin-on-disk wear testing machine. The severe wear regime was ascertained by determining wear rates of the unstrained material at different loads. The primary experiments were supplemented by microstructural characterization, hardness assessment of specimens before and after wear tests, determination of tensile properties of the pre-strained specimens and SEM examination of the worn-out surfaces and subsurfaces. The results indicate that the wear rate of the specimens first increases up to 15% pre-strain and then decreases, while the hardness and tensile strength of the specimens monotonically increases with increased pre-strain. The mechanism of wear is observed to be subsurface cracking and delamination aided by oxidative wear. The imposed pre-strain on a specimen is considered to aggravate the nucleation of voids and microcracks resulting in degradation of wear resistance of the pre-strained specimens. The results infer that wear rates of pre-strained materials are governed by ductility or toughness apart from hardness and strength.     

Vacuum heat treatment of iron parts produced by selective laser melting: Microstructure,residual stress and tensile behavior

Selective laser melted parts easily accumulate a large amount of residual stress due to their rapid heating and cooling, which is deleterious to their mechanical properties and limits their applications. In this work iron parts, as the basic industry material, were produced by the new emerging additive manufacturing technology, selective laser melting (SLM). SLM-fabricated iron parts were heat-treated under vacuum to eliminate the residual stress. Results have shown that the crystalline structure of iron (α-Fe) was not modified after the selective laser melting process and after the heat treatment. The broadening of XRD spectra appeared and the micro-stain decreased after the vacuum heat treatment. Columnar grains appeared in the building direction due to the temperature gradient in the molten pool during SLM process. After the vacuum annealing treatment, the grain refinement has occurred due to the residual stress as the driving force although a residual amount of the columnar microstructural architecture could be observed. Although the as-fabricated iron part possesses a higher tensile strength even than that of bulk iron material, the elastic modulus of the annealed specimens decreased to 188 ± 10 GPa and the ultimate tensile strength was much improved from 357 ± 22 MPa up to 401 ± 23 MPa. The yield strength increased from 256 ± 17 MPa up to 352 ± 21 MPa. By means of the micro-indentation method, the tensile residual stress was found in the as-fabricated iron sample.     

Texture and mechanical properties of ultrafine-grained Mg-3Al-1Zn alloy sheets prepared by high-ratio differential speed rolling

Mechanical properties and textures of the ultrafine grained (UFG) Mg-3Al-1Zn (AZ31) alloy with a mean grain size of 1 μm produced by high-ratio differential speed rolling were investigated. The resulting material exhibited high strength and relatively high ductility at ambient temperature. The high strength was attributed to grain-size and texture strengthening, while the high ductility was attributed to suppression of inhomogeneous twinning and increased strain-rate-sensitivity. The rolling temperature and the amount of shear strain accumulated during HRDSR affected the basal texture intensity and the rotation angle of the basal poles. Bimodal grain-size distribution obtained by annealing the UFG AZ31 at 573 K for a short time period resulted in considerable improvement of uniform elongation.