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.     

Twins as barriers to basal slip in hexagonal-close-packed metals

The boundary structure of , , , and twins in hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) metals and the interaction of crystal dislocations with the first two twin types have been studied previously using atomic-scale computer simulation. The interaction of crystal dislocations with and twin boundaries is described here and compared with the results for and twins. These four twins are found to create barriers to the motion of crystal dislocations gliding on the basal plane, and the strength of the barrier depends in a relatively complex manner on crystallographic parameters and details of the atomic structures of the interfaces. In some circumstances, crystal dislocations can be transmitted through the twin boundary, thereby creating twinning dislocations. This article is based on a presentation made in the symposium entitled “Defect Properties and Mechanical Behavior of HCP Metals and Alloys” at the TMS Annual Meeting, February 11–15, 2001, in New Orleans, Louisiana, under the auspices of the following ASM committees: Materials Science Critical Technology Sector, Structural Materials Division, Electronic, Magnetic & Photonic Materials Division, Chemistry & Physics of Materials Committee, Joint Nuclear Materials Committee, and Titanium Committee.     

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.     

Interaction of deformation twin and 120 deg-rotational order fault domain boundary in the lamellar structure of two-phase TiAl-based alloys

Interactions between deformation twin and 120 deg-rotational domain boundary were studied by transmission electron microscopy in a two-phase TiAl-based alloy with fully lamellar structure deformed at room temperature. Three types of the interaction were observed, depending on the interaction geometry and crystallography faced by the incident twinning Shockleys. It was found that the incident twinning shear could be accommodated into the barrier domain by a reaction involving emission of 1/2 {111} _B slip in all the three types of interactions presumably since the slip required a small critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) and was always favored by the pile-up stress. Several reaction schemes involving 1/2 {111} _B slip for each type of the interactions were proposed by considering whether the reaction resulted in a reduced elastic energy and if the dissociated dislocations were able to glide away to minimize the total elastic energy associated with a long-range stress field of a pileup of the incident twinning partials. It is suggested that whether a reaction scheme is feasible would depend on behavior of other product dislocation except 1/2 {111} _B .     

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.     

The development of the deformation texture in zirconium during rolling in sequential passes

Slip and twinning systems activated by rolling in sequential passes were observed on a coarse grained zirconium polycrystal. At least five independent deformation modes are activated; slip and twinning systems occur simultaneously. For low degrees of deforma-tion the main slip system is prism slip , even when the orientation is not favorable. The lattice rotations caused by slip proceed gradually with increasing defor-mation; they are relatively small although the strain achieved can be large. On the other hand, twinning causes spontaneous, large-scale lattice rotations, even for low degrees of deformation. The type of twinning depends largely on the crystallographic orientation of the matrix. For basal pole orientations of the undeformed grains in the area 0 to 50 deg from the normal direction twinning becomes preferentially operative. For basal pole orientations of the undeformed grains in the area 50 to 90 deg from the normal direction, however, twinning becomes preferentially operative. In both orientation areas as a complementary system twinning is operative. For all deformation sys-tems their operation is independent of the azimutal position of the basal pole in these areas. The lattice rotations alter the orientation of the crystallites in such a way that the basal poles all become aligned more or less in the direction of the deforming compres-sive force. For higher degrees of deformation pyramidal slip with a (c + a) type Burgers Vector can explain why this preferred orientation is maintained as final position, which for zirconium shows a split of basal poles of ±30 to 50 deg towards the transverse direc-tion. The method of following the complicated interactions between different slip and twinning systems in a stepwise deformed, coarse grained sheet by 1) trace analysis of the deformation modes, 2) by correspondingly derived lattice rotations, and 3) by texture measurements leads to an explanation of the texture development in zirconium. It is dis-cussed on the basis of basal pole rotations.     

Molecular Dynamics simulation of 〈 c + a 〉 dislocation core structure in hexagonal-close-packed metals

The core structures of 〈c+a〉 dislocations in hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) metals have been investigated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation using a Lennard-Jones-type pair potential. The 〈c+a〉 edge dislocation has two types of core at 0 K; one is a perfect dislocation (type A), and the other has two 1/2 〈c+a〉 partials (type B). Type A transforms to type B by abruptly increasing temperature from 0 K to 293 K, while type B is stable in temperature range from 0 K to 293 K. In contrast, type A extends parallel to (0001) at 30 K, and this extended core is still stable at 293 K. These results suggest that the 〈c+a〉 edge dislocation glides on the as two 1/2 〈c+a〉 partial dislocations and becomes sessile, due to changes of the core structure. The 〈c+a〉 screw dislocation spreads over two planes at 0 K. The core transforms into a unsymmetrical structure at 293 K, which is spread over and , and core spreading occurs parallel to at 1000 K. A critical strain to move screw dislocations depends on the sense of shear strain. The dependence of the yield stress on the shear direction can be explained in terms of these core structures. This article is based on a presentation made in the symposium entitled “Dect Properties and Mechanical Behavior of HCP Metals and Alloys” at the TMS Annual Meeting, February 11–15, 2001, in New Orleans, Louisiana, under the auspices of the following ASM committees: Materials Science Critical Technology Sector, Structural Materials Division, Electronic, Magnetic & Photonic Materials Division, Chemistry & Physics of Materials Committee, Joint Nuclear Materials Committee, and Titanium Committee.