On the hydration of grain boundaries and bulk of proton conducting BaZr0.7Pr0.2Y0.1O3-δ

We report here for the first time bulk and grain boundary conductivities from impedance spectra of a ceramic proton conductor (BaZr_0.7Pr_0.2Y_0.1O_3-δ) taken during hydration and H/D isotope exchange transients (at 400 °C). The results suggest that water moves quickly along grain boundary cores, and then interact from there with the space charge layers and, in turn, grain interiors. Hydration and H/D isotope exchange have simple monotonic effects on the bulk conductivity in line with what is expected from it being dominated by protons. The transients for grain boundary conductivity exhibit however hysteresis: During hydration, the core charge and grain boundary resistance appear to go through transient minima related to non-equilibrium distributions of defects between the core and grain interior – notably because protons diffuse faster than oxygen vacancies between the grain boundary and grain interior. At equilibrium, hydration increases the core charge and the depletion of positive charge carriers in the space charge layers. During H/D isotope exchange relatively fast hysteretic transients indicate that the space charge layers experience changes in charge carrier (D⁺ vs. H⁺) mobility as well as in D₂O vs. H₂O hydration thermodynamics.     

Grain boundary transformation character in Fe-N austenite

The morphology and crystallography of the isothermal transformation of Fe-N austenite at 225 °C were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and scanning electronic microscope. Fe-N austenite was produced by through-nitriding thin pure iron sheets at 640 °C. Lath-shaped and periodically distributed (γ-austenite + γ′-Fe₄N + α-Fe) microstructures formed at the prior austenite grain boundaries, this kind of microstructure was shown to be bainite in nature and kept a Greninge-Troiano orientation relationship between the γ-austenite (γ´-Fe₄N) and α-ferrite. The formation mechanism of the grain boundary microstructure was shown to be the preferential precipitation of the proeutectoid γ′-Fe₄N at the grain boundary, followed by the transformation of the N-depleted austenite into α-ferrite and γ′-Fe₄N, thus forming a periodic γ-γ′-α-γ′-γ-γ′-α-γ′-γ-γ′ arrangement.     

Influence of grain-boundary pre-precipitation and corrosion characteristics of inter-granular phases on corrosion behaviors of an Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy

In this paper the influence of high-temperature pre-precipitation treatment on corrosion behaviors of 7055 aluminum alloy is investigated. High-temperature pre-precipitation treatment enhances the discontinuing distribution of the coarse precipitates along the grain boundary, and increases the Cu content of grain-boundary precipitates, which obviously improves stress corrosion resistance, suppresses the serve fracture of sub-grain boundary under the stress corrosion and reduces inter-granular corrosion (IGC) susceptibility with the same strength and ductility. The electrochemical corrosion results of inter-granular phases indicate that the Cu-rich, discrete and coarse grain-boundary precipitates and the decreasing potential difference among inter-granular phases in the grain boundary are responsible for the enhancement of corrosion resistance of 7055 alloy.     

Grain growth prediction with inclination dependence of 〈1 1 0〉 tilt grain boundary using multi-phase-field model with penalty for multiple junctions

Multi-phase-field (MPF) model with a higher-order term representing energetic penalty for multiple junctions was proposed to predict the grain growth accompanying the inclination dependence of grain boundary (GB) energy and mobility. The inclination effect was introduced on the basis of GB energy obtained from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The preliminary grain growth simulation of an isolated grain surrounded by Σ3 GB certified that the analytical equilibrium shape was well reproduced. The augmented higher-order term added to conventional MPF model could improve convergence and stability of numerical calculations around triple junction (TJ) region even if there exists the large GB energy gap at the TJ. Moreover, the present MPF model can realize well the Young’s relation with no GB inclination effect and further extend to the case with that effect. For the polycrystalline grain growth simulations with the GB energy distribution according to the misorientation angle of Al 〈1 1 0〉 tilt GB, Σ3 GB inclination lead the weak anisotropy characterized by Σ3{111} twin boundary. Besides, the inclination dependence can effectively drive the GBs with low GB energy like the low-angle GB during grain growth.     

Percolation on grain boundary networks: Application to fission gas release in nuclear fuels

The percolation behavior of grain boundary networks is characterized in two- and three-dimensional lattices with circular macroscale cross-sections that correspond to nuclear fuel elements. The percolation of gas bubbles on grain boundaries, and the subsequent percolation of grain boundary networks is the primary mechanism of fission gas release from nuclear fuels. Both radial cracks and radial gradients in grain boundary property distributions are correlated with the fraction of grain boundaries vented to the free surfaces. Our results show that cracks surprisingly do not significantly increase the percolation of uniform grain boundary networks. However, for networks with radial gradients in boundary properties, the cracks can considerably raise the vented grain boundary content.     

Analytical Investigation of Prior Austenite Grain Size Dependence of Low Temperature Toughness in Steel Weld Metal

Prior austenite grain size dependence of the low temperature impact toughness has been addressed in the bainitic weld metals by in situ observations.Usually,decreasing the grain size is the only approach by which both the strength and the toughness of a steel are increased.However,low carbon bainitic steel with small grain size shows a weakening of the low temperature impact toughness in this study.By direct tracking of the morphological evolution during phase transformation,it is found that large austenite grain size dominates the nucleation of intragranular acicular ferrite,whereas small austenite grain size leads to grain boundary nucleation of bainite.This kinetics information will contribute to meet the increasing low temperature toughness requirement of weld metals for the storage tanks and offshore structures.     

油田钻具接头用钢AISI4330M的研制

文章介绍了油田钻具接头用钢AISI4330M钢冶炼及加工研制生产工艺,分析了生产过程各工艺生产控制要点,并对生产及用户使用中容易产生的非金属夹杂物及残余元素含量超标、淬火处理开裂、调质性能不合格等质量问题进行了逐项分析,提出了针对各项质量问题的控制措施。     

Grain refinement of Al-Cu alloy in low voltage pulsed magnetic field

The effect of a low voltage pulsed magnetic field (LVPMF) on grain refinement of Al-Cu alloy was investigated at different solidification stages. The cooling curve was also studied to investigate the grain refinement mechanism of LVPMF. The fine grains are obtained by applying the LVPMF during the nucleation stage. The LVPMF has no obvious influence on the solidification structure when it is applied during liquid phase stage or crystal growth stage. Application of LVPMF increases the nucleation temperature of the isomorphous transformation, and also decreases the recalescence magnitude of the alloy. The refining mechanism was proposed that the LVPMF provides extra energy for nucleation, which decreases the energy barrier and the critical radius for nucleation, leading to high nucleation rate and grain refinement.     

Predictive modeling of grain refinement during multi-pass cold rolling

Recently, grain refinement and grain misorientation have been experimentally studied for various materials with ultra-fine grained microstructures, which are achieved by the multi-pass cold rolling process. In this paper, a numerical framework is developed to model the evolution of grain size and grain misorientation based on a dislocation density-based material model. Novel finite element models embedded with the dislocation density-based material subroutine are developed to model the plastic deformation and microstructural evolution during the multi-pass cold rolling process. The multi-pass cold rolling processes of commercially pure titanium (CP Ti) and aluminum (AA 1200) are simulated in order to assess the validity of the numerical solution through comparison with experiments. The dislocation density-based material models are developed for CP Ti and AA 1200, which reproduce the observed material constitutive mechanical behavior under various strains, strain rates and temperatures occurring in the cold rolling process. It is shown that the developed model captures the essential features of the material mechanical behaviors and predicts a minimum grain size of below 100 nm after five-pass cold rolling of CP Ti with equivalent strains up to 2.07 and the average incidental dislocation boundary (IDB) misorientation angle increased to 4.6° after six-pass cold rolling of AA 1200 with equivalent strains accumulated to 5.77.     

Analysis of grain growth process in melt spun Fe-B alloys under the initial saturated grain boundary segregation condition

A grain growth process in the melt spun low-solid-solubility Fe-B alloys was analyzed under the initial saturated grain boundary (GB) segregation condition. Applying melt spinning technique, single-phase supersaturated nanograins were prepared. Grain growth behavior of the single-phase supersaturated nanograins was investigated by performing isothermal annealing at 700 °C. Combined with the effect of GB segregation on the initial GB excess amount, the thermo-kinetic model [Chen et al., Acta Mater. 57 (2009) 1466] was extended to describe the initial GB segregation condition of nanoscale Fe-B alloys. In comparison of pure kinetic model, pure thermodynamic model and the extended thermo-kinetic model, an initial saturated GB segregation condition was determined. The controlled-mechanism of grain growth under initial saturated GB segregation condition was proposed using two characteristic annealing times (t₁ and t₂), which included a mainly kinetic-controlled process (t ≤ t₁), a transition from kinetic-mechanism to thermodynamic-mechanism (t₁ < t < t₂) and pure thermodynamic-controlled process (t ≥ t₂).