Dislocation Pile-ups Research Articles

Atomistic and Theoretical Insights on Nanoprecipitates-Controlled Strengthening Behavior for Optimum Mechanical Performance in Nanotwinned NiCoCr Alloys

Abstract The nanoprecipitates and nanotwins enable to improve the mechanical performance of NiCo-based alloys. In this work, the molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are performed to investigate the strengthening mechanisms of nanotwinned medium-entropy NiCoCr alloys with various distributions and volume fractions of nanoprecipitates. MD simulations reveal that mechanical performance for the precipitates located in twin boundaries is better than that located in the twin lamellae. The precipitate-induced strengthening makes the nanotwinned NiCoCr alloys to achieve the maximum flow stress during increasing the precipitate volume fraction. The influences of volume fraction and distribution of the precipitate on winding and cutting mechanisms are analyzed comprehensively. The dislocation winding behavior, hindered twin boundaries deformation, and the adjacent precipitates connection control the precipitate strengthening mechanisms. A dislocation-based theoretical model is developed to forecast the size-dependent flow stress of nanotwinned metals with nanoprecipitates, in which the Orowan bypass mechanism and the dislocation pile-up behaviors are involved. The relationship between the microstructural size and the flow stress of nanotwinned metallic materials with nanoprecipitates is explored. The predictions for the flow stresses varied with the precipitate volume fraction are agreeable well with the results of MD simulation. The predicted maximum flow stresses and the corresponding critical volume fractions of nanoprecipitates are sensitive to the microstructural sizes.

Modelling of dislocations pile-ups at crack tip. Application to silicon

ABSTRACT The mechanical analysis of plastic zones at crack tip has progressed very little since the publication of the founding BCS model, 60 years ago. This two-dimensional model, and those that followed, consider the plastic zone as a pile-up of dislocations of one sign only. They assume that the crack absorbs the part of the dislocation loop of the opposite sign. Here the real three-dimensional problem is addressed and we demonstrate that the crack front behaves as an obstacle. This change of paradigm requires the plastic zone to be modelled as a two-sign dislocation pile-up. The model fits well with experimental observations in bulk silicon. In addition, the presence of dislocations of opposite signs completely modifies the amplitude of crack shielding. The closer the dislocation is to the crack front, the more significant the effect. Therefore, the increase in toughness observed experimentally is linked to the part of the loop attached to the crack front, and not to the expanding part of the loop. This conclusion is in direct contradiction to that provided by previous models.

Compressive creep damage of Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy with bimodal structure at room temperature

The compressive creep performance of Ti alloy is critical for the application of submersibles due to the pressure hull of deep-diving equipment mainly subjected to the seawater pressure during its service. The compressive creep behaviors and the corresponding deformation mechanism of Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy under different applied stress amplitudes were investigated. It was found that the stress threshold for Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy produced significant compressive creep damage was 0.8 times yield strength (Rp0.2), and the primary mechanism was prismatic slip. Specifically, a large number of prismatic slips were preferentially activated in the αp grains with a relative high Schmid factor when the applied stress amplitude was greater than 0.8Rp0.2. As the applied stress amplitude increases, the prismatic slips were also activated in the αlath. Meanwhile, the Burgers relationship between αlath and βlamellae gradually destroyed due to the dislocation pile-up at the αlath/βlamellae interface. This investigation provides data support for the compressive creep performance evaluation of Ti-6Al-4V ELI pressure hull.

Heterogeneous phase deformation in a dual-phase tungsten alloy mediated by the tungsten/matrix interface: Insights from compression experiments and crystal plasticity modeling

Tungsten heavy alloy (WHA) is a typical multiphase alloy material consisting of hard tungsten (W) and soft matrix (γ) phases. When loaded, the two phases deform quite differently due to the large difference in their mechanical properties. At present, our understanding of phase deformation and behavior in the multiphase context is relatively poor compared to the single phase case. Such insight is necessary, however, for the design of multiphase alloys having optimal phase microstructure and corresponding material behavior. By combining mechanical testing and crystal plasticity modeling, the relationship between phase microstructure and multiphase alloy deformation behavior is systematically investigated in this work. The results demonstrate that deformation in the W and γ phases is quite different and related to the contrast in material properties between the two phases. Deformation heterogeneity in the multiphase alloy is characterized by the strain gradient near/across the W/γ interface and differences in phase deformation states in relation to the contrast in phase material properties and phase volume fraction. It is found that dislocation pile-up and twinning are the main mechanisms mediating heterogeneous deformation in the region around W/γ interfaces. Based on this insight, a novel design strategy for multiphase alloys is proposed based on optimization of the contrast in phase mechanical properties and the phase volume fractions. This strategy can be employed to design new tungsten alloys and other multi-phase alloys.

Research on the Heterogeneous Deformation Behavior of Nickel Base Alloy Based on CPFEM

AbstractIn this paper, a crystal plasticity finite element method (CPFEM), considering the grain morphology and orientation, as well as the dislocation density, is used to research the tensile deformation behavior of GH4169 based on Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD). The stress, plastic strain, and dislocation density distributions are obtained for different levels of deformation. Results show that the stress, plastic strain, and dislocation density exhibit obvious heterogeneous plastic deformation, and stress concentration and dislocation pileup mainly occurs near grain boundaries. The initial dislocation density mainly affects the stress–strain curve of the material, and it can obviously effect the yield strength but cannot influence the hardening ability of the material. The total dislocation density increases with plastic strain. However, the texture evolution has no evident change with increasing plastic strain, except for the increase of texture content in Cube (001)[100].

Grain disintegration and dynamic recrystallization during impact tests of additively manufactured nickel-based alloy 718

The high-temperature dynamic mechanical response of Alloy 718 produced via laser-powder bed fusion (LPBF) was investigated through compressive Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) tests. Simulating the typical service conditions of Alloy 718, the tests were conducted at temperatures ranging from 298 K to 773 K and at strain rates of 1000 s−1 to 1500 s−1. Phenomenological material constitutive models, such as the modified versions of Johnson-Cook and Hensel-Spittel models, were developed based on the SHPB test results. Analysis of microstructural evolution under impact conditions highlighted that columnar grains with high Schmid factors tend to undergo preferential activation and dislocation pile-up. This process leads to the formation of adiabatic shear bands, grain disintegration, and intense lattice rotation, particularly at higher strain rates. Furthermore, increasing the dynamic deformation temperature facilitates the activation of discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DRX), with strain accumulation promoting localized grain nucleation along heavily dislocated dendritic boundaries. Recognizing the limitations of phenomenological material constitutive models in accurately representing the underlying microstructural evolution, an artificial neural network (ANN)-based constitutive model employing a three-layer backpropagation learning algorithm was implemented, reducing the Average Absolute Relative Error (AARE) to 0.17%.

Research on the electromagnetic ultrasonic detection method of initiation crack based on multi-acoustic coefficients fusion

Abstract The traditional single acoustic coefficient cannot judge the different degrees of fatigue damage such as initiation crack and crack extension. Based on the law between the structural evolution of dislocation pile-up initiating crack and acoustic coefficients, a multi-acoustic coefficients fusion feature-fatigue damage stage detection method is proposed. By extracting the nonlinear features as well as linear features of the multi-point detection signals for a single fatigue-damaged aluminum plate, achieves the fatigue damage state. Experiments verified multi-acoustic coefficients with different features corresponding to different fatigue stages such as initiation crack and crack extension.The peak points of the acoustic nonlinear coefficients are used for the judgment of the initiation crack stage, and the peak-to-peak amplitude of the acoustic linear coefficients are used for the judgment of the crack extension stage. Comparing and analyzing the results of electromagnetic ultrasonic detection and microscopic observation of different fatigue damage stages, the proposed method provides early warning of the initiation crack and crack extension by studying the characteristics of acoustic coefficients of different fatigue damage stages. This study provides theoretical and experimental basis for the application of electromagnetic ultrasonic assessment of fatigue damage in metallic materials.

Fatigue reliability analysis methodology based on fatigue life and failure mechanism for carburized gear

Gears are one of the important components in mechanical products, and their fatigue reliability determines the safety performance of mechanical products. In this paper, the fatigue characteristics of carburized gears under different torque and constant rotational speed conditions are investigated by using a gear contact fatigue testing machine, and combined with the dynamic maximum contact stress distribution on the subsurface of the meshing gears, the very-high cycle fatigue P-S-N curves of carburized gears under a stress ratio of −1 is established. Local stress concentration in the surface or subsurface of carburized gears causes grain dislocation movement under the combined influence of maximum contact and residual stresses, and then causes dislocation pileup and transcrystalline rupture after being hindered by grain boundaries, ultimately leading to pitting and fatigue failure of gears. Based on the dislocation energy method and combined with the fatigue failure mechanism of gears, a life prediction model of gears with good prediction results is established by considering the interaction of factors such as dynamic load, grain size, initial crack length, residual stress, slip band length and width. A fatigue reliability analysis method of gears is established based on the life state equation of gears considering the life prediction model. Further analyses of the influence of rotational speed, grain size, residual stress, slip band width, slip band length and initial crack size on the fatigue life reliability index of the gears resulted in the conclusion that the fatigue reliability of the gears not only decreases with the increase of the above-mentioned parameters, but also shows decreasing trend with the increase of time. This is of significance for evaluating the fatigue reliability of gears under very-high cycle fatigue conditions.

Enhanced cryogenic mechanical properties of heterostructured CrCoNi multicomponent alloy: Insights from in-situ neutron diffraction

Heterostructured materials (HSMs) has been shown to improve the strength-ductility trade-off of conventional alloys but their cryogenic performance has not been studied during real-time deformation. We investigated heterostructured CrCoNi medium-entropy alloy by in-situ neutron diffraction at cryogenic (77 K) and room (293 K) temperatures. The significant mechanical mismatch at interfaces between fine and coarse grains, due to pronounced grain size disparity, resulted in exceptional yield strength of 918 MPa at 293 K. The yield strength further increased to 1244 MPa at 77 K with an excellent uniform elongation of 34 %. The exceptional strength–ductility combination at 77 K can be attributed to enhanced geometrically necessary dislocation pile-up density boosted from high-mechanical mismatch interfaces, as well as higher planar faults, and martensitic phase transformation. Comparison with homogenous counterparts demonstrates the potential of HSMs as a new strategy to improve the mechanical performance of different materials, including medium-/high-entropy alloys for cryogenic applications.

On the nature of nano twin-induced shear band formation in a dispersion strengthened copper alloy under micro-mechanical loading

A key challenge in metallic alloys with high ductility is understanding how microstructural inhomogeneities influence shear localization, leading to localized plastic deformation and material failure. In this study, we explore the phenomenon of shear localization in coarse-grained copper, a material traditionally regarded as having low susceptibility to such behavior. Contrary to conventional understanding, our findings reveal that microstructural inhomogeneities play a pivotal role in inducing extensive strain localization during low strain rate micro-mechanical loading. The presence of fine precipitate particles leads to strain localization at small strains and low strain rates by activating shear localization driven by void formation mechanisms. Furthermore, nanoscale precipitates act as sites for dislocation pile-up within deformed structures of shear bands, leading to the formation of nano twins within these bands. Consequently, precipitate particles serve a dual role: contributing to strain localization and potential cracking, while also enhancing the alloy’s strength and ductility through nano-twinning mechanisms. This investigation offers a novel perspective on the interplay between material microstructure and deformation behavior, challenging existing paradigms in materials science.

Enhancing the strength-ductility synergy of dual-phase Al0.3CoCrFeNiTi0.3 high-entropy alloys through the regulation of B2 phase content

In this study, Al0.3CoCrFeNiTi0.3 high-entropy alloys (HEAs) with different phase contents and microstructures were prepared through cold rolling and recrystallization annealing. This method achieved a synergistic combination of strength and ductility, with the CR1000-1 HEA attaining an ultimate tensile strength of 1175 MPa and a uniform elongation of 21.5 %. In Al0.3CoCrFeNiTi0.3, there exist two distinct phase morphologies: dispersed structure and clustered structure. Using in-situ high-resolution digital image correlation at the microscale, it was observed that local strain in the dispersed structure tends to concentrate along the phase boundaries when a small strain is applied. As the applied strain increases, strain rapidly concentrates in the FCC phase and subsequently in the B2 phase. For the clustered structure, the strain initially concentrates rapidly within the B2 phase and then gradually diffuses into the FCC phase. The low degree of inhomogeneity of the dispersed structure reduces the likelihood of stress concentration and the risk of damage initiation. Furthermore, we observed the synergistic strain hardening effect produced by various deformation mechanisms, such as dislocation pile-ups, dislocation networks, interacting stacking faults, and deformation twins. This study provides valuable insights for the fabrication of dual-phase HEAs with enhanced strength-ductility synergy, applicable to a wide range of engineering applications.

Quantitative mechanism of abnormal hardening behavior of Ti6Al4V alloy strengthened by ultrasonic surface rolling

In general, the outermost region of a metallic material has the highest hardness after surface mechanical strengthening. However, an abnormal surface hardening behavior was observed in Ti6Al4V alloy after the ultrasonic surface rolling process (USRP) in this work. The region with the highest surface hardening was not at the top surface but at the subsurface. By analyzing the distribution of grain size, dislocation density, texture, and kernel average misorientation (KAM) at different depths from the surface, and combining these findings with finite element analysis (FEA), the microstructural evolution underlying this abnormal surface hardening was elucidated. The microstructural characterization and FEA results indicate that the subsurface region underwent the most significant deformation. Subsequently, through the application of theoretical analysis, the potential mechanism of abnormal hardening of USRP treatment is described quantitatively for the first time. The results demonstrated that the hardening effect resulting from grain refinement was less pronounced, whereas the hardening effect resulting from dislocation pile-up was more prevalent. At the subsurface region of the USRP sample, a large number of interfaces resulted in the highest accumulation of dislocations in this area. Consequently, the subsurface region exhibited the highest microhardness, leading to the abnormal surface hardening phenomenon.

Rotation bending high cycle fatigue behaviors of TC21 alloy with bimodal microstructure

The TC21 alloy has been extensively utilized in the aerospace structural components, making it crucial to investigate the fatigue damage mechanism of this alloy. In this study, a comprehensive investigation was conducted into the high-cycle fatigue damage mechanism of TC21 alloy under rotation bending, considering variations in primary equiaxed α (αp) phase contents and size in bimodal microstructure (BM). Results demonstrate that the TC21 alloy exhibits optimal strength-ductility and fatigue life at approximately 25 percent of the αp phase content. The content and dimension of the αp phase play a significant role in regulating the onset of fatigue fractures. Dislocation pile-up around the αp phase promotes the formation of microvoids and microcracks. Notably, when the content of the αp phase falls below 15%, there is an increased influence from secondary α phase (αs) on crack initiation. Moreover, excessive amounts of αp coupled with decreased size lead to a reduction in fatigue life. The aforementioned factors contribute to an intensified concentration of stress, facilitate a more uniform path for crack extension, and expedite the rate of fatigue crack propagation.

Unusual deformation mechanisms evoked by hetero-zone interaction in a heterostructured FCC high-entropy alloy

Understanding the synergistic mechanical effects of heterostructured materials remains challenging due to the complexities in the underlying deformation mechanisms, which are usually diverse, activated at different length scales and possibly interacting. Here, we unravel a deformation fundamental for heterostructures: in addition to the direct contribution on strength, hetero-zone interaction and the development of long-range internal stress could assist in evoking extra plastic mechanisms that are difficult to activate in their homogeneous counterparts. Specifically, the deformation of a heterostructure in Al0.1CoCrFeNi alloy, featuring nanostructured hard lamellae embedded in fine-grained soft matrix, is taken as an example for study. Drawing from experimental insights, the long-range internal stress buildup at elastoplastic transition stage due to intense dislocation pile-ups against hetero-zone boundary, which increases yield strength significantly, is theoretically analyzed. At the plastic stage, the high internal stress helps to activate phase transformation in the fine-grained zones, and the inter-zone constraint leads to form dispersed stable strain bands in the nanostructured zones. These extra mechanisms, together with enhanced deformation twinning, facilitate work hardening and coordinate the strain partitioning between zones, imparting improved ductility at high flow stress. These findings indicate a principle for heterostructural design: introducing strong hetero-zone interaction to enhance internal stress and thereby invoke new deformation mechanisms.

Achieving superior strength-ductility balance by tailoring dislocation density and shearable GP zone of extruded Al-Cu-Li alloy

Pre-stretching is commonly employed to accelerate ageing precipitation kinetics in wrought Al-Cu-Li alloys, but uneven precipitation resulting from dislocation pile-ups often degrades ductility. Herein, the strength and ductility of extruded Al-Cu-Li alloy are significantly improved through a novel thermomechanical treatment, involving pre-ageing and pre-stretching, followed by low-temperature interrupted ageing. A superior balance between high yield strength (∼ 657 MPa) and good ductility (elongation to fracture of ∼ 13.5 %) is obtained, with elongation increased by 105 % compared to the conventional T8 temper, while maintaining a respectable yield strength. Microstructure analysis reveals that dense Guinier–Preston (GP) zones induced by pre-ageing effectively dissipate energy from dislocation sliding, resulting in a uniform dislocation configuration even at 8 % pre-stretching. However, the GP zone density is greatly reduced due to their dissolution following pre-stretching. Upon interrupted ageing, the reprecipitation of GP zones forms a homogeneous mixture of δ′, GP zones, and T1 phases. This combination alleviates local stress concentrations and lengthens the dislocation mean free path during tensile testing by shearing the GP zones at multiple sites, thereby improving ductility. Simultaneously, T1 precipitates strengthen the alloy by pinning dislocations and promoting dislocation cross-slip, improving work hardening capacity. The dissolution of GP zones also redistributes the Cu atoms within the matrix, further enhancing the intrinsic ductility of the Al matrix. These findings offer valuable insights for developing high-performance wrought Al-Cu-Li alloys.

Nanotwinning grain refinement induced by micro-needle peening in arc-welded ultra-high strength steel sheet

Generally, the fatigue strength of ultra-high strength steel (UHSS) and high strength steel (HSS) arc-welded joints are comparable regardless of base metal's strength. Still, the micro-needle peening (MNP) method can improve the fatigue strength to the level of those of base metals. To understand the mechanism of this improvement, this paper investigates the microstructure of UHSS (tensile stress grade of 980 MPa) arc-welded joints treated with MNP and compares it to HSS (tensile stress grade of 440 MPa) joints. We focus on the presence of nanotwins, which exhibited a minimum thickness of 4.7 nm, observed in the UHSS joints following the MNP treatment. Importantly, these nanotwins demonstrated remarkable stability even under cyclic loading conditions (nominal stress σn = 600 MPa, N = 3 × 106 cycles). This indicates that the nanotwins contribute to the significant improvement in fatigue strength demonstrated by MNP. However, the nanotwins were not observed in the HSS joints, suggesting sufficient driving stress is necessary for their occurrence. The dislocation pileup stress at the grain boundary during twinning was estimated by the thickness of the twin, which was 8.1 GPa. This value is of the same order of magnitude as the 3.7 GPa estimated by the Hall-Petch coefficient for ferritic steel. The lower levels of C, Si, and Mn can contribute to the lower pileup stress, resulting in absence of the nanotwins in the 440 MPa joint. Overall, this study provides insights into the microstructural changes induced by MNP treatment and their impact on the fatigue strength.

Influence of hydrogen on the elastic properties and dislocation behavior in Fe–Cr and Fe–Ni alloys by DFT calculations

The effect of interstitial hydrogen on the elastic properties of bcc Fe, bcc Fe–Cr, and bcc Fe–Ni was investigated using density functional theory calculations. Our results indicate that the elastic moduli decrease linearly with increasing hydrogen concentration. The consequences of hydrogen for the mechanical properties of bcc Fe, bcc Fe–Cr, and bcc Fe–Ni were analyzed, considering various factors such as the ideal shear stress, Peierls stress, number of dislocation pile-ups, and critical crack growth lengths. At the same hydrogen concentration, compared to the bcc Fe and bcc Fe–Ni systems, fewer dislocation pile-ups and shorter critical crack growth lengths can facilitate the nucleation and propagation of cracks in the bcc Fe–Cr system. Finally, we propose a mechanism to explain the influence of Cr and Ni on hydrogen embrittlement.

New insights from crystallography into the effect of Ni content on ductile-brittle transition temperature of 1000 MPa grade high-strength low-alloy steel

The significant effect of Ni content (0.92, 1.94 and 2.94 wt%) on ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) and microstructure in a 1000 MPa grade high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steel was studied. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Charpy impact test and low-temperature tensile test to study the fundamental reasons for the effect of Ni content on toughness. The results indicated that increasing the Ni content can reduce the DBTT of HSLA steel and improve the impact toughness at low temperatures. EBSD data post-processing analysis revealed that the key reason for the increase in low-temperature toughness is the refinement of the microstructural crystallographic structure, specifically the significant increase in the boundary density of the block and packet. With the increase of Ni content, the density of grain boundary with an orientation difference greater than 5° between two adjacent {110} crystal planes was higher, which can form a higher density of dislocation pile-up group, thus better reducing local stress concentration. Meanwhile, the stacking fault energy (SFE) increases with the increase of Ni content, which made the screw dislocation more prone to cross slip at low temperature, resulting in an increase in plasticity at low temperatures. These observed phenomena and reasons provided a theoretical explanation for the role of Ni content in reducing DBTT and enhancing the toughness of the core in heavy gauge plates.

Complexity of segregation behavior at localized deformation sites formed while in service in a 316 stainless steel baffle-former bolt

Post-irradiation evaluation was performed on a 316 stainless steel baffle former bolt harvested after 40 years of service in a pressurized water reactor. Microstructure analysis revealed the presence of defect-free dislocation channels and strain-induced twins, indicative of loading at a stress level close to yield stress at least once while in service. Primary radiation-induced Ni/Si precipitates were likely destroyed during channel and twin formation, and secondary, significantly coarser Ni/Si precipitates formed inside the newly formed dislocation channels and along ∑3 boundaries during the continued irradiation. Complex chemistry inside the strain-induced features may overlap with dislocation pileups and impact localized corrosion and material long-term performance.

Effects of Thermal Exposure Temperature on Room-Temperature Tensile Properties of Ti65 Alloy.

As a critical material for high-temperature components of aero-engines, the mechanical properties of Ti65 alloy, subjected to high-temperature and long-term thermal exposure, directly affect its service safety. The room-temperature tensile properties of the Ti65 alloy after thermal exposure to temperatures ranging from 450 °C to 650 °C for 100 h were investigated. The results indicate that as the thermal exposure temperature increases, the strength of Ti65 alloy initially increases and then decreases, while ductility exhibits a decreasing trend. The strength of the thermally exposed alloy positively correlates with the size and content of the α2 phase. The ductility of the thermally exposed alloy is comprehensively influenced by the surface oxidation behavior, α2 phase, and silicides. After the prolonged thermal exposure, stress concentration at the crack tips within the oxide layer was enhanced with the increased thickness of the surface TiO2 oxide layer, leading to premature fracture due to reduced alloy ductility. Furthermore, the α2 phase in the matrix promotes the planar slip of dislocations, while silicides at the α/β phase boundaries hinder dislocation motion, causing dislocation pile-ups. Both behaviors facilitate crack nucleation and deteriorate alloy ductility.