Hardenability Research Articles

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].

Data-driven predictions of retained austenite content and yield strength and elucidation of the sliding wear performance of carbide-free bainitic steels

Carbide-free bainitic (CFB) steels have drawn much attention due to their high strength and toughness. The present work aims to build machine learning (ML) based surrogate models to predict retained austenite (RA) content and yield strength (YS) of isothermal transformed CFB steels and study the sliding wear performance. The input data for ML prediction were related to compositions, heat treatment process, and phases. The Random Forest regression and Gaussian process regression were respectively selected to build the predictive models for RA content and YS. Result shows that the predicted RA content agrees well with the experimentally determined ones in steel with high stability of untransformed austenite. For YS prediction, the present surrogate model can predict YS of CFB steels even without additional microstructural information such as dislocation and effective substructure size. Steels with different YS and RA content were designed to study the sliding wear performance. Result shows that the dominant wear mechanism of the tested steels is abrasive wear and the weight loss is inversely proportional to hardness when the load and wear distance are constant. Increasing YS and RA content can increase the initial hardness and work hardening ability at the worn surface, thereby enhancing wear resistance.

Effects of stirring friction on the microstructure, texture and mechanical properties of 7055 aluminum alloy

Aluminum alloys are widely used in aerospace, transportation, and many other fields due to their excellent properties such as lightweight, ultra-strength, and high toughness. This paper analyzed the influence mechanism of friction stir on the microstructure, texture, and mechanical properties to realize the strength and toughness of 7055 aluminum alloys and optimize their deformation process. The results show that the aluminum alloys change from uneven banded grains to uniform and fine equiaxed grains after friction stir processing, and the grain size is refined from 14 μm to 0.71 μm. The high-angle grain boundary and texture intensity present an initial increase but a subsequent decrease due to the combined effect of recrystallization and high-temperature softening caused by the heat input of friction stir processing. The total texture intensity and volume fraction of the friction stir processed aluminum alloys decrease significantly, and the intensity of RtG {110} <110>, A {110} <111>, E {110} <111>, and F {111} <112> texture significantly decrease or disappear, while the Brass (B) {110} <112> texture increases. The yield strength of FSP aluminum alloys decreases with increasing heat input (w/v), which mainly depends on the weakening of the texture strengthening effect. However, the increase of geometrically necessary dislocations (GND) caused by grain boundary sliding leads to the significant improvement of the deformation hardening ability and plasticity of the material. In addition, the effect of texture on the plasticity of aluminum alloys was calculated by using Schmid law. It is found that the equivalent slip factor (ESF) and maximum Schmid factor (μmax) of A, E, and Cu textures are equal to 0. The small ESF and μmax of the S texture are not conducive to the plastic deformation property of materials, while the 1000 × 70 sample with more ESF (8) and μmax (0.41) of the Cube texture ({001} <100>) shows better plasticity.

Cryogenic tribological behavior of coarse, ultrafine grained and heterogeneous Fe-18Cr-8Ni austenitic stainless steel

Commonly used austenitic stainless steels (ASSs) have some limitation in sliding wear conditions due to their relatively low yield strength and hardness. To improve the wear resistance, three kinds of microstructure (coarse grain (CG), heterogeneous structure (HS), and ultrafine grain (UFG)) are prepared, to investigate the grain size on the dry sliding tribological behavior, as well as wear mechanisms of Fe-18Cr-8Ni ASSs at room temperature (RT) and cryogenic temperature (−120 °C). The results indicate that at RT the UFG specimen exhibits the lowest wear rate during the wear tests, where the wear mechanisms are mainly oxidation wear and abrasive wear. While, when tested at −120 °C, the CG specimen exhibits the best wear resistance compared with that of the other two specimens due to its superior plastic deformation ability and strain hardening ability. Moreover, the HS specimen exhibits the lowest coefficient of friction (CoF), which is due to the abrasive particles generated on the contact surface provide a certain level of friction reduction, while the wear rate increases as these particles serve as third-party abrasives, which further removing material.

Deformation strengthening mechanism of laser remelted high manganese steel

In order to further improve the deformation hardening ability of high manganese steel (HMnS) under low stress or small deformation, a low speed laser remelting technology was proposed to process the HMnS surface. Through parameters optimization, microstructure characterization, wear testing, and deformation strengthening analysis, the deformation strengthening mechanism of laser remelted HMnS (LR-HMnS) was systematically studied, and excellent wear resistance properties was also achieved. Firstly, by optimizing the parameters of laser remelting, high-quality microstructures with large remelting depth and fewer porosities were obtained. Then, the sliding wear tests showed that although the surface hardness of LR-HMnS (252.83HV0.3) was only 2.56 % higher than that of continuous casting HMnS (CC-HMnS) (246.53HV0.3), its volume wear rate (1.87×10−5 mm3/N·m) was only 10 % of CC-HMnS (18.71×10−5 mm3/N·m), which exhibited excellent wear resistance properties. Finally, for quantitative evaluating its work hardening at high strain rates, Hopkinson compression test of LR-HMnS was conduced according to the operating conditions of HMnS parts. The microstructure after small compression deformation was analyzed using EBSD and TEM. It was found that the larger grain size of LR-HMnS was helpful of reducing the nucleation stress of twins, forming high-density nano-twins, high-density stacking faults, and high-density dislocations. The synergistic effect of stacking faults, dislocations, and twins which segmented the matrix and refined the grains, and achieved the dynamic Hall-Petch effect. The superior deformation strengthening and wear resistance exhibited by larger grain HMnS were called the inverse grain size effect. Additionally, the large number of C-Mn strong bond networks formed by element segregation could enhance the pinning effect of dislocations, promote deformation hardening rate and wear resistance properties under low stress or small deformation. The research results provided a new method for pre-hardening of HMnS, and will also expand the application potential of HMnS in combined conditions of high, medium, and low impact.

Excellent high temperature mechanical properties of Fe2Ni2CrAlx (x= 0.9 to 1.3) multi-principal elements alloys

The high temperature mechanical properties of a family of Fe2Ni2CrAlx (x=0.9, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 in molar ratio) multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) were determined. The initial microstructure and grain size of Fe2Ni2CrAlx MPEAs were characterized. Effect of Al on the density, melting point and mechanical properties at elevated temperature were investigated. Fe2Ni2CrAl1.3 MPEA exhibit the lowest density of 6.78 g/cm3 and highest melting point of (1337.7 ∼ 1392.6 °C). The as-cast Fe2Ni2CrAl1.3 MPEA showed an excellent combination of strength and plasticity at elevated temperatures. Fe2Ni2CrAl1.3 MPEA showed high strength of 2119 MPa and 1722 MPa at 200 °C and 400 °C, respectively. The Fe2Ni2CrAlx alloys exhibited exceptional high-temperature plasticity, no fracture occurred even at a compressive strain above 70%. Recrystallization softening appeared at above 600 °C, the transformation of coarse equiaxed grains into subgrains were captured during plastic deformation. Significantly, the specific yield strength of the Fe2Ni2CrAl1.3 MPEA was comparable with traditional Ti based alloys and Ni-based superalloy. The fracture mechanism of Fe2Ni2CrAlx MPEAs was a combination of cleavage and slip separation. Deformation behavior and work hardening ability at elevated temperature were discussed. Finally, finite element method (FEM) was performed to capture the evolution of stress and strain under high-temperature compression.

Effect of Zr addition on mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of Ti-6Al-7Nb-xZr (x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 wt%) alloy

The effects of Zr addition on mechanical properties and corrosion properties of hot-rolled Ti-6Al-7 Nb-xZr (x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 wt%) (TANZ) alloys were investigated. As the Zr content increases, the phase evolution of alloy is α phase → α + α″ phase → α + metastable β + α″ phase. The results show that the simultaneous existence of initial α phase and metastable phase was beneficial to increase the uniform elongation and work hardening ability of the alloy. Ti-6Al-7 Nb-20Zr alloy exhibit the best combined mechanical properties, including tensile strength of 862 MPa, uniform elongation of 9.1%, and total elongation of 16.8%. Compared with Ti-6Al-7 Nb alloy, the improvement is 96%, 98%, and 65%, respectively. At the same time, the addition of Zr improves the passivation ability of the alloy and the corrosion resistance of the alloy. This study illustrates the broad application potential of titanium alloys in the field of medical device manufacturing.

Exceptional combination of mechanical properties and cavitation erosion-corrosion resistance in a Fe23.7Co23.8Ni23.8Cr23.7Mo5 multi-principal element alloy

This study analyzed cavitation erosion (CE) and cavitation erosion-corrosion (CE-C) of single-phase face-centered cubic structured Fe23.7Co23.8Ni23.8Cr23.7Mo5 multi-principal element alloy (MPEA) with varying grain sizes obtained through post-deformation annealing (PDA). The average grain sizes of the samples after annealing at 1100 °C for 60 s, 1150 °C for 60 s, and 1100 °C for 200 s are 4.1 µm, 10.3 µm, and 15.2 µm, respectively. Among them, the 4.1 µm sample exhibits the best combination of high ultimate tensile strength (889 MPa) and large elongation (40.3%), as well as good electrochemical corrosion resistance in NaCl solution. Under the conditions of CE and CE-C for a duration of 10 h, the 4.1 µm specimen exhibits cumulative mass losses of approximately 1.4 mg and 2.6 mg, respectively. In contrast, under identical conditions, the 316 L SS registers cumulative mass losses of approximately 16.7 mg and 24.8 mg, respectively. Due to the excellent mechanical properties and work hardening ability of the 4.1 µm sample, it can effectively resist the plastic deformation caused by cavitation erosion, reducing mass loss. In addition, the stable passivation film enhances its resistance to Cl- destruction, thus demonstrating notable corrosion resistance. Ultimately, under conditions where cavitation erosion and corrosion coexist, these combined properties enable the 4.1 µm sample to exhibit the least mass loss and damage.

Coupled effect of prestrain and intermediate annealing on mechanical properties and microstructural evolution of GH5188 superalloy

The forming of sheet metal parts with complex structures often requires multiple processing. The Co-based superalloy GH5188 sheet is taken as the research object for two-stage uniaxial tensile experiments including intermediate heat treatment, where the prestrain is 10%, 20% and 30%, respectively, in the first stage. The results indicate that the macroscopic residual stress increases with increasing prestrain, which is manifested as the increase of the initial yield strength, the deterioration of ductility and work hardening ability. The increase in dislocation density in the plastic deformation process is the decisive factor. After annealing, the number of deformed grains greatly reduces, and the grain size is refined, resulting in a corresponding reduction in dislocation density. Intermediate heat treatment can eliminate dislocation stacking and stress concentration in the alloy and reduce the influence of internal stress generated during work hardening. Furthermore, the intermediate annealing can decrease the initial yield stress and increase the elongation of the predeformed sheet, while retaining desirable work hardening ability and tensile strength, ultimately enhancing the subsequent work performance.

Simultaneously enhancing strength and ductility of coarse grain Cu–Al alloy via a macro dual-cable structure

The trade-off relationship of strength and ductility of metals leads to a strength increase accompanied by a ductility decrease. In the past two decades, despite significant efforts to increase strength while minimizing the ductility loss by tailoring microstructures, it has been rare to achieve simultaneous enhancement in strength and ductility, i.e., to disrupt the trade-off relationship. Here via rotary swaging and subsequent annealing, we prepared a macro dual-cable structured Cu–Al alloy rod with an inner micro-grain (MG) core (2.2 mm in diameter, 54% volume fraction) wrapped in an outer ultrafine-grain (UFG) shell (a thickness of 0.4 mm). Tensile tests revealed that the inner core has a yield strength of 472 MPa and a ductility of 29.1%, while the wrapping of the outer shell simultaneously enhances the yield strength to 552 MPa and ductility to 31.9%, respectively. The analysis of strain during the stretching process shows that the shell has a strong restraining effect on the core. Microstructure characterization indicates that the core blocks the propagation of the shear bands of shell and maximizes its density. At the same time, the restriction of the shell increases the lattice defect accumulation and work hardening ability as well as ductility of the core. Our research not only provides a method for preparing macro dual-cable structured materials with industrial scale and clean interface, but also explores a new strategy for simultaneously enhancing strength and ductility of metals, which designs macro millimeter-scale structures instead of adjusting microstructure from the micrometer scale.

Unexpected strengthening of the Mo-containing low-density steel achieved through a novel nano-ordered phase

Mo element has been considered as an effective element to regulate the nano-precipitation behavior in low-density steel. In this work, a novel nano-ordered phase was found in austenite of the Fe–28Mn–10Al-1.2C (wt.%) low-density steels with 3 wt% and 5 wt% Mo addition. HRTEM characterization indicated that this nano-ordered phase had a chemical composition similar to austenite matrix and a L′12 structure similar to κ-carbides. Although the Mo addition suppressed the precipitation and growth of κ-carbides in austenite, the nano-hardness testing showed that the formation of the novel nano-ordered phase caused by Mo addition resulted in a higher hardness of austenite. Based on the tensile property analysis of the Mo-containing steels, although the Mo addition decreased the precipitation strengthening of intragranular κ-carbides, the novel nano-ordered phase resulted in an additional strength contribution of 309 MPa. In addition, the formation of this novel nano-ordered phase had significant improvement on the strain hardening rate. Consequently, the Mo addition simultaneously increased the strength and plasticity of the low-density steels. The novel nano-ordered phase caused by Mo has rarely been reported in literatures, its contribution on the strength and strain hardening ability indicated its potential application in the regulation of mechanical properties.

Integration of Artificial Intelligence into Metallography: Area-wide Analysis of Microstructural Components of a Jominy Sample

Abstract Analysing the microstructure is an essential part of quality control in many steel manufacturing and processing operations. In this work, a promising method for autonomous analysis of microstructures in low-alloy steels based on artificial intelligence image analysis is presented. This study focuses on the classification of different microstructure components in metallographic images of steel microstructures using a Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) model. Since the accuracy of the model strongly depends on the size of the data set, a data set consisting of two million optical microscopy images was created to ensure the presence of different microstructure components and their combinations for training the system. The Jominy test was performed to verify the accuracy and capability of the microstructure analysis software. The AI makes it possible to analyse large amounts of image data with high precision and at the same time with less effort than conventional methods of microstructure components analysis.

Refractory high-entropy alloys with ultra-high strength and strain hardening ability induced by heterogeneous deformation and microbands

Refractory high-entropy alloys (RHEAs) are potential materials for high-temperature structural applications due to their excellent high-temperature performance. However, the early onset of plastic instability in RHEAs is a critical issue to be addressed. In this study, a novel Zr35Ti30Nb20Al10V5 RHEA was subjected to 95% cold rolling and annealing, achieving outstanding mechanical properties. Notably, the cold-rolled alloy exhibited the highest reported tensile strength (∼2.0 GPa) among RHEAs with a moderate ductility of ∼8.5%. Moreover, Additionally, the subsequent annealing process enabled the alloy to achieve an outstanding combination of yield strength (1.1 GPa) and fracture elongation (20%). The cold-rolled alloy has a heterogeneous lamella structure with high-density dislocation cells and dislocation pile-ups, and lattice distortion in the locally chemically ordered structure. The high work hardening behavior originates from the heterogeneous deformation-induced (HDI) hardening, which makes the HDI stress and hardening rate increase with increasing strain. In the annealed alloy, lattice distortion increases significantly with increasing strain, promoting dislocation cross-slip. The dislocation pile-ups and interactions facilitate the transition of microbands, and the relatively stable work-hardening behavior of the alloy is mainly attributed to the microband-induced plasticity effect. This study provides novel insights into the design and optimization of highly formable RHEAs with excellent mechanical properties.

Correlation between microstructure, mechanical properties, and slurry erosion behavior of hot-rolled dual-phase steel

A low alloy dual-phase steel was produced via a thermo-mechanical control process to improve production efficiency and reduce costs. The study investigates the influence of martensite volume fractions on the mechanical properties and slurry erosion behavior of the hot-rolled dual-phase steel, and the correlation between the mechanical properties and slurry erosion behavior was revealed to provide insights into the material's wear resistance. Microstructure of dual-phase steel with varying martensite were characterized, and nanohardness, Vickers hardness, tensile propertiy, and slurry erosion were tested. Result indicates that martensite content significantly affects the mechanical propertiy of the hot-rolled dual-phase steel. Hardness and strength increase with increased martensite content, exhibiting a linear relationship. The main strengthening mechanisms are dislocation and solid solution strengthening. Slurry erosion result reveals that matrix hardness, martensite content/size, and work hardening ability significantly impact the slurry erosion performance of hot-rolled dual-phase steel. Martensite plays a crucial role in resisting wear failure, with higher content and larger size providing better protection to the soft ferrite and reducing erosion weight loss. Work hardening ability also leads to a decrease in periodic erosion weight loss.

High entropy Fe–Mn–Ni–Co–Al–C alloys from an industrial steel

High entropy alloys (multiprinciple element alloys) were produced by dilution of the base component in a Fe–Mn–Al–C alloy. The studied Fe–Mn–Ni–Al–C and Fe–Mn–Ni–Co–Al–C alloys were treated thermally and mechanically. These alloys were studied by X-ray diffractometry and electron microscopy, while mechanical properties were tested by mechanical loading. A dual-phase cF4 and cP2 structure was formed. The alloys showed high-hardness values and high-strain hardening ability but when hot rolled exhibited precipitation of carbides. These alloys are considered to be model alloys for the development of future high-entropy alloys based on industrial steels.

Influence of microstructure on slurry erosion resistance of medium carbon high silicon steels

The present study compares slurry erosion resistance of austempered and tempered medium carbon high silicon steels. A 0.62C-1.91Si-0.85Mn-0.23Cr steel was subjected to austempering at 300, 350 and 400 °C for 10 min to develop a microstructure comprising of bainite and retained austenite. With the increase in the austempering temperature, the mechanical stability of retained austenite decreased, and the size of bainitic ferrite laths increased. As a result, strain hardening ability and toughness of the steels decreased with austempering temperature. Another set of steel with the same composition was quenched and tempered at 300, 450 and 550 °C for 60 min. An increase in the tempering temperature led to an increase in the size and fraction of carbides and a decrease in the mean free path and dislocation density. Strain hardening ability and toughness of tempered steels was substantially small than austempered steels. Both the austempered and tempered steels were subjected to slurry erosion. Austempered steels exhibited higher slurry erosion resistance as compared to tempered steels. Slurry erosion resistance of austempered steels has been noted to depend on the mechanical stability of retained austenite and the size of bainitic ferrite laths. Due to the difference in the extent of deformation-induced transformation of retained austenite into martensite in the steels austempered at different temperatures, number of mobile dislocations generated (to accommodate the dilatation due to transformation) in bainitic ferrite laths differed. A large number of mobile dislocations in the specimens austempered at 300 °C blunted the propagating crack and delayed the material loss during erosion. The erosion resistance of tempered steels was observed to decrease with an increase in tempering temperature. A large fraction of coarse carbides led to the formation of many decohesion sites in steels tempered at 450 and 550 °C. Further, a small number of mobile dislocations present per unit volume in the steels tempered at high temperatures could not resist the propagation of cracks nucleated from the decohesion sites leading to a high erosion rate in these steels.

Effect of rapid tempering at high temperature on microstructure, mechanical properties and stability of retained austenite of medium carbon ultrafine bainitic steel

Rapid tempering at high temperature is beneficial to release residual stress. However, the evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties of ultrafine bainitic steel after rapid tempering at high temperature is still unclear. In this research, the effect of rapid tempering at high temperature on microstructure, mechanical properties and mechanical stability of retained austenite (RA) of a medium-carbon ultrafine bainitic steel were studied in detail. Results show that after a rapid tempering at 550 °C, the volume fraction of RA decreased gradually, and the carbon atoms in bainitic ferrite (BF) gradually diffused out of the lattice and finally formed carbides, and the BF plate gradually coarsened. When the tempering time is only 2 min, the carbon clusters formed, strengthening the matrix and stabilizing the RA, which result in the highest yield strength, and the highest impact toughness of the steel. With the extension of tempering time, nano-carbides precipitated and gradually grew up, and the dislocation density in steel decreased, resulting in a gradual decrease in the yield strength of the steel and the mechanical stability of RA. However, the deformation ability and strain hardening ability of the BF matrix gradually increase, so that the tensile strength of the steel gradually increases. The decomposition of RA and the formation of brittle martensite making the impact toughness of the steel gradually decrease. This study can provide theoretical support for the development of rapid tempering process of ultrafine bainitic steel.

Tailoring microstructure and twin-induced work hardening of a laser powder bed fusion manufactured Haynes 188 alloy

Co-based and Ni-based superalloys have been widely used in aerospace, with much attention given to additive manufactured Ni-based superalloys. However, the equally important Co-based superalloys have received less attention. In this work, a Co-based Haynes 188 superalloy is fabricated using Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF). This research shows the impressive mechanical properties of Haynes 188 superalloy before and after heat treatment at both room and high temperatures for the first time. In the as-built specimen, arrayed stacking faults, Lomer–Cottrell locks, dislocations, and M6C/M23C6 eutectic carbides are found. The yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and elongation of the as-built specimen are 642 MPa, 928 MPa, and 57.3 %, respectively. For the heat-treated specimen, the grain size increases, dislocation density reduces and the eutectic carbides dissolve into the matrix, which reduces the yield strength to 488 MPa. However, annealing twins are found in the heat-treated specimen, and the twin-twin interaction networks further enhance the pile-up of dislocations and work hardening ability during the deformation, which leads to an increase in the ultimate tensile strength and elongation to 1002 MPa and 68.1 %, respectively. This work provides an effective method to improve the mechanical properties of Co-based superalloys by additive manufacturing, which is essential for the development of high-performance superalloys and their manufacturing methods.

Transition of low and high-angle grain boundaries during strain rate-induced dislocation storage and annihilation

This work explores the characteristics of dislocation storage and annihilation behavior in heterogeneous metal welded joints under different strain rates. It forms the micro-strain gradient alternating between the strain and strain-free zones due to the annihilation of dislocations and transition of substructure in welded joints. This gradient structure keeps the strain values at a lower level by limiting the slip of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) in the fine-grained region, while most of the plastic strain is accommodated in the coarse-grained region, thus promoting the storage of GNDs and low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs). The strain rate enhances the degree of transition among GNDs, LAGBs, and high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) by promoting the transition from LAGBs to HAGBs in the fine-grained region, which accelerates the annihilation of GNDs. More importantly, the formation of micro-strain gradient improves the strength and strain hardening ability of welded joints. This work will provide a better understanding of the substructure transition behaviors of heterogeneous metals under different strain rates.

Continuous Cooling Transformation Diagram of Case Hardening Steel by Instrumented Jominy Test

Abstract Determining the phase transition data of technological materials used for example to design heat treatment processes is generally a complex and labor-intensive process if high data fidelity is required. This work presents a method based on the standard Jominy end quench test with additional instrumentation that can generate many temperature histories required for the generation of continuous cooling diagrams at the same time, greatly simplifying the process. This method is applied to a simple 16MnCr5 case hardening steel to show the practical execution. The resulting diagram and microstructure is consistent with more complex test methods, showing good performance of the much simpler test method.