Deformation Incompatibility Research Articles

Seismic performance enhancement of underground structure influenced by CFRP wrapping schemes

The seismic failure mechanism of underground structures showing structural collapse is attributed to the deformation incompatibility between the central columns and the sidewalls, especially the insufficient deformation capacity of the central columns. Therefore, the approaches to improve the seismic performance of underground structures mainly aim at avoiding the damage of central columns. This paper presents a comparative study on the seismic performance of underground structures with the central columns retrofitted with different numbers of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) layers. Seismic capacity of the CFRP retrofitting reinforced concrete (RC) columns was explored in detail through experimental and numerical approaches. Then numerical models were built and verified to simulate the behaviors of the CFRP retrofitting RC columns, and the seismic performance of the CFRP retrofitting underground structures was numerically simulated. Based on the numerical results, the damage of the CFRP retrofitting underground structures was calculated, and damage classification illustrated that the seismic performance of underground structures was enhanced remarkably. Finally, parametric studies were conducted to discuss about how the number of CFRP layers and the earthquake intensity affect the earthquake-induced damage of underground structures. Conclusions from this study could be referenced for seismic retrofitting of existing underground structures.

Exploring the brittle-to-ductile transition and microstructural responses of [formula omitted]−TiAl alloy with a crystal plasticity model incorporating dislocation and twinning

γ−TiAl alloy, with its high specific strength and creep resistance, is ideal for aerospace engines and gas turbines, but its brittleness poses significant manufacturing and processing challenges. To address these issues, this study employs a crystal plasticity finite element method incorporating dislocation and twinning to analyze the brittle-to-ductile transition behavior of γ−TiAl alloy at different temperatures. Additionally, the Bayesian optimization methods are employed to efficiently and accurately obtain parameters related to numerical calculations of crystal plasticity. The results indicate that at room temperature, the high activation resistance of the slip systems in the α2 phase leads to limited slip activity, resulting in poor plasticity. However, at 750 °C and 850 °C, the strength of the slip systems decreases significantly, allowing more α2 phase lamellae in the γ-TiAl alloy to undergo greater plastic deformation. This enhancement in the plastic deformation capacity of the α2phase lamellae reduce the overall deformation incompatibility in the TiAl alloy, thereby improving the overall ductile of the γ-TiAl alloy.

Digital Image Correlation Analysis of Fatigue Degradation of Layered Polymer Composites (Polyetheretherketone/Polyetherimide, PEEK/PEI) with Carbon-Fiber Fabric Prepreg

In this work, the relationship was considered between the structure and cyclic loading resistance of a layered composite consisting of PEI (PEEK) plate/PEI (PEEK) film/PEI-impregnated carbon-fiber fabric prepreg/PEI (PEEK) film/PEI (PEEK) plate by analyzing the time variation in the parameters of mechanical hysteresis loops calculated using digital image correlation. It was shown that the polyetherimide-based layered composite has low fatigue life under cyclic loading (0.8 of the yield strength), resulting from incompatible deformation between the PEI plates and the prepreg due to a layer interface formed by low-melting TecaPEI film. In the PEEK layered composite, the layer interface was formed by neat PEEK energy director and therefore had a little amount of defects, due to which the load was well transferred from the PEEK plates to the middle reinforcement layer. As a result, the fatigue life at a load level of 0.8 of the yield strength corresponded to high-cycle fatigue (more than 86000 cycles).

In-situ investigation of coordinated deformation behavior of Ti-6242S alloy with duplex microstructure

In this work, the coordinated deformation behavior related to slip activation, slip transfer and microcrack growth of Ti-6242S alloy with duplex microstructure was investigated through the in-situ tensile testing. It was found that the deformation process of duplex microstructure can be divided into three stages: slip deformation, the formation of slip band and microcrack nucleation, crack propagation and fracture. And single slip was the dominant slip mode, and multiple slip was the auxiliary slip mode. During the initial tensile stage, the slip lines appearing within colony α were shallower than those within primary α owing to the hindering of α/β interface. The slips penetrated across the entire colony region by straight line. This was because there existed a Burgers orientation relationship between lamellar α and β layer, and the orientation of lamellar α was similar. Meanwhile, the common crystal plane between adjacent grains can still provide good condition for slip transfer when the grain boundary was greater than 15°. Moreover, the slip transfer between adjacent slip systems was more prone to occur when there existed good geometric compatibility and high Schmid factor of exit slip system, which provided coordinated deformation between adjacent grains and avoided stress concentration. However, due to the existence of incompatible deformation, the cracks were generated at the stress concentration areas and then grew along the grain boundary or localized slip band.

Effects of intergranular deformation incompatibility on stress state and fracture initiation at grain boundary: Experiments and crystal plasticity simulations

The heterogeneous deformation of polycrystalline metals inherently originates from the intergranular deformation incompatibility. This paper proposes physical parameters related to the crystal orientations, the Schmid factor of the most activated slip system, and the misorientation angle to characterize the deformation incompatibility between the adjacent grain couple. A comprehensive multiscale investigation is conducted to reveal the mechanism from intergranular deformation incompatibility to fracture initiation at grain boundaries. At the specimen scale, experimental and numerical uniaxial tensile tests are performed on smooth and pre-notched dog-bone specimens to achieve different loading paths on the materials. The heterogeneous fields of stress triaxiality explains the heterogeneous size of the dimples observed in fractography. At the grain scale, electron backscatter diffraction analysis is conducted to characterize the microstructural properties around the nucleated voids within the materials. Voids are captured at the grain boundaries with directions parallel to the loading direction and intergranular deformation incompatibility is characterized using the proposed parameters. Simulations on the plastic deformation of realistic microstructures are performed to clarify the phenomenon. The results reveal that the fluctuation in stress triaxiality at grain boundaries is ascribed to intergranular deformation incompatibility, leading to fracture initiation at these sites. The relationships between the proposed physical parameters of intergranular deformation incompatibility and fluctuation in stress triaxiality are summarized in all circumstances. Finally, the ductile damage at the grain scale is predicted by the Rice–Tracey model, and the results show that the effects of microstructures on heterogeneous plastic deformation and stress state can be well considered.

Influence of interface on deformation compatibility of a heterogeneous Cu/Al nanoscale multilayer

The incompatible deformation among the constituent layers usually results in extremely low tensile ductility in nanoscale metallic multilayers. Here, molecular dynamics simulations are conducted to investigate the deformation compatibility of a heterogeneous Cu/Al multilayer with various interface structures under compression. The results show that, by selecting an appropriate thickness of thin interlayers, the heterogeneous Cu/Al nanolayered composite with (1¯1¯1) interface exhibits excellent compatible deformation between the soft and hard layers while the homogeneous counterpart does not. The excellent deformation compatibility of the heterogeneous structure originates from the presence of the thin soft interlayer that can enhance the dislocation activities of the hard layers. Unlike that with (1¯1¯1) interface, the heterogeneous structure with (001) interface shows obvious incompatible deformation among the component layers. Such a scenario can be attributed to the stable dislocation network on the (001) interface, making the dislocations in the soft phase difficult to cross the interface into the hard phase. These findings may deepen our understanding of the deformation compatibility of heterogeneous nanoscale metallic multilayers.

Preparation of a novel 316 L/(316 L-2.5 wt%Gd)/316 L neutron shielding laminated metal composites by composite rolling and subsequent solution treatment to achieve excellent mechanical properties and neutron shielding properties synergy

Laminated metal composites have become a key strategy for the design and manufacture of metal parts with multiple combinations of excellent properties. This paper utilizes the differences in mechanical properties and recrystallization behavior of component metals to prepare a novel 316 L/(316 L-2.5 wt%Gd)/316 L neutron shielding laminated metal composites (LMCs) through composite rolling and solution treatment processes. LMCs have an excellent combination of properties: high strength (tensile strength: 571.36 MPa), sufficient tensile ductility (fracture elongation: 60 %) and high neutron shielding properties (thermal neutron shielding rate: > 90 %). Specifically, compared to the non-composite 316 L-2.5 wt%Gd neutron shielding material, the strength of the hot-rolled LMCs has increased by 2.0 times, and the elongation at fracture has improved by 3.3 times. After solid solution treatment, the elongation of LMCs is further increased, which is 6 times higher than non-composite 316 L-2.5 wt%Gd neutron shielding materials. The specially designed soft-hard matched 316 L/(316 L-2.5 wt%Gd) heterogeneous interfaces achieved good metallurgical bonding, with significant differences in grain sizes and strains. The main reasons for the enhanced strength and plasticity of LMCs are the geometric constraints caused by the layered structure composed of ductile and brittle metallic components, as well as the back-stress strengthening and strain hardening induced by deformation incompatibility at the heterogeneous interface.

Effect of extrusion ratio on microstructures, mechanical properties, and high cycle fatigue behavior of Mg–5Zn–1Mn alloy

The effects of extrusion ratio (ER) on the microstructures, static mechanical properties, and tension-compression high cycle fatigue (HCF) behavior of the as-extruded Mg–5Zn–1Mn (ZM51) alloy was investigated systematically, and the HCF mechanism was discussed. The results show that texture weakening and grain refinement caused by increasing the ER can effectively enhance the static mechanical properties and alleviate the tensile-compressive asymmetry of the alloy. The fatigue strength at 107 cycles is 124 ± 5, 138 ± 4, and 142 ± 5 MPa for ER8, ER11.5, and ER23, respectively, and the corresponding fatigue ratio is approximately 0.45, 0.49, and 0.50, which means that the as-extruded ZM51 alloy possesses outstanding fatigue resistance. The failure analysis and microstructure evolution of post-fatigued samples demonstrated that the stress amplitudes and microstructure characteristics strongly influence the HCF mechanism of the alloy. At high-stress load, close to the tensile yield strength 160–180 MPa, abundant {101‾2} residual twin bands were observed near the fracture surface. Twinning/detwinning deformation is the dominant fatigue mechanism due to the plastic deformation incompatibility between the matrix and the residual twins. At low-stress load, close to the fatigue strength 125–145 MPa, the fatigue crack initiation mechanism transits from twinning/detwinning to dislocation slip. Grain refinement and texture weakening inhibit the activation of {101‾2} twins, alleviate the twin-dislocation interaction, and promote dislocation slip to dominate the fatigue deformation, thereby enhancing the fatigue life of the alloy. This work provides new insight into the design and development for enhancing the fatigue resistance of wrought Mg alloy to ensure the long-term service safety of structural materials.

Carbon addition and temperature dependent tensile deformation resistance and capacity of a low-cost 3rd-generation Ni-based single crystal superalloy

A balance between the mechanical performance and castability of Ni-based single crystal superalloys is expected to be achieved by doping with appropriate carbon content. In this study, the influences of carbon content on the tensile properties of a novel low-cost 3rd-generation Ni-based single crystal superalloy at 760 °C and 1120 °C were investigated. Results showed that minor carbon addition could slightly increase the strength and plasticity of the experimental alloy at 760 °C, whereas it led to the decrease of strength and plasticity at an elevated temperature of 1120 °C. This variability was discussed in terms of the microscopic resistance for dislocation movement and the macroscopic deformation capacity associated with damage accumulation. It was found that the solid solution strength and interface strength were enhanced with increasing carbon content, however, the strength at high temperature was compromised by the enormous consumption of refractory elements, even though the precipitation of blocky M6C carbides provided additional hindrance. As for the macroscopic deformation capacity, interdendritic carbides could hinder the extension and/or trigger the activation of slip bands at 760 °C. Nonetheless, the initiation tendency and propagation behavior of microcracks at 1120 °C were facilitated due to the strong stress concentration and severe deformation incompatibility of interdendritic carbides. Overall, future compositional optimization should focus on reducing the formation of Ta-enriched MC carbides to minimize the loss of refractory element reinforcement and the reduction of deformability at high temperatures.

Crystallographic texture and multiscale boundaries mediated creep anisotropy in additively manufactured Ni-based Hastelloy C276 superalloy

The microstructure and high-temperature creep mechanisms of Ni-based Hastelloy C276 superalloy fabricated using wire and arc-based directed energy deposition were investigated systematically and innovatively. The microstructural investigation revealed that the as-fabricated samples comprise γ-Ni matrix and topologically close-packed (TCP) P phase precipitates. The γ matrix subgrains and grains are spread over multiple highly textured columnar dendrites, with a majority of γ <001> crystallographic orientations closely aligned along the deposition direction. Moreover, the interdendritic regions exhibit severe Mo segregation, P phase particles, and dislocation bands. Creep tests were conducted on miniature samples under various temperature and stress conditions, loaded either in the deposition direction (DD) or travel direction (TD). DD samples exhibit lower minimum strain rates, greater strains-to-failure, and longer creep rupture lifetimes than TD samples, indicating significant creep anisotropy. Dislocation creep was identified as the primary creep mechanism for both DD and TD conditions. During creep, dynamic precipitation of TCP phases occurred in the interdendritic regions, resulting in varying creep resistance between interdendritic and dendritic core regions. Isostress and isostrain models, considering both crystallographic texture and precipitation strengthening, reasonably predicted the observed creep anisotropy during the secondary creep stage. Additionally, variations in the Schmid factor led to significant deformation incompatibility among dendrites in TD samples. Dislocation accumulation in TD sample interdendritic regions promoted new grain nucleation, triggering dynamic recrystallisation, facilitating grain boundary sliding, and accelerating tertiary creep. Furthermore, TCP phase particles in the interdendritic regions contributed to microcrack development, further accelerating creep fracture, especially in the TD condition.

Heterogeneous grain structure in biodegradable Zn prepared via mechanical alloying and laser powder bed fusion for strength-plasticity synergy

ABSTRACT This study presented a unique process of mechanical alloying (MA) and laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) to prepare heterogeneous grain structure (HGS) Zn with strength-plasticity synergy. The results showed that the MA-treatment significantly refined the grain sizes of Zn to nano-scale and contributed to the formation of HGS powders. Moreover, the ultra-fast heating and cooling of LPBF process inhibited the grain growth and resulted in a specific core/shell HGS, wherein the cores (micron-grains) were surrounded by interconnected shells (nano-grains). Notably, the prepared HGS Zn demonstrated synergistically improved compressive yield strength (2.1 times) and plasticity (58%) compared with the homogeneous coarse-grained counterparts. This impressive strength-plasticity synergy was primarily attributed to high back stress and dislocation pile-ups generated by the deformation incompatibility between the nano-grained shells and micron-grained cores. These findings open up new fields for MA and LPBF in the preparation of HGS metals and their applications in solving strength-plasticity tradeoff.

Incompatible Deformations in Hyperelastic Plates

The design of thin-walled structures is commonly based on the solutions of linear boundary-value problems, formulated within well-developed theories for elastic plates and shells. However, in modern appliances, especially in MEMS design, it is necessary to take into account non-linear mechanical effects that become decisive for flexible elements. Among the substantial non-linear effects that significantly change the deformation properties of thin plates are the effects of residual stresses caused by the incompatibility of deformations, which inevitably arise during the manufacture of ultrathin elements. The development of new methods of mathematical modeling of residual stresses and incompatible finite deformations in plates is the subject of this paper. To this end, the local unloading hypothesis is used. This makes it possible to define smooth fields of local deformations (inverse implant field) for the mathematical formalization of incompatibility. The main outcomes are field equations, natural boundary conditions and conservation laws, derived from the least action principle and variational symmetries taking account of the implant field. The derivations are carried out in the framework of elasticity theory for simple materials and, in addition, within Cosserat’s theory of a two-dimensional continuum. As illustrative examples, the distributions of incompatible deformations in a circular plate are considered.

Vibration fatigue properties and deterioration mechanism of diffusion bonded TC4 titanium alloy

To analyze the effect of diffusion bonding process on vibration fatigue properties, a series of fatigue tests and microstructure characterization of as-received and diffusion bonded TC4 titanium alloy were conducted. The results show that the thermal cycling of diffusion bonding process results in microscopic change and deteriorates vibration fatigue lifetime of TC4 alloy. For bonded TC4 alloy, the increased grain size inhomogeneity stimulates incompatible deformation of differently oriented α grains and leads to micro-void formation at boundaries of small/large α grain pairs or inside large α grains. Meanwhile, the orientation variation of α grains promotes activation of prismatic slip systems for earlier crack initiation. In addition, the increased fraction of β phase provides more nucleation locations for micro-voids. Thus, the increase of the grain size inhomogeneity, grain orientation change, and the increase of β phase fraction due to the thermal cycling result in fatigue performance deterioration of diffusion bonded TC4 titanium alloy.

Influence of strain rate on the compressive behavior of heterogeneous Cu/Ta multilayer: A molecular dynamics simulation study

Atomistic simulations are performed to study the compressive response of heterogeneous Cu/Ta multilayer at a wide range of strain rates. The results show that the yield strength and yield strain both increase with the increasing strain rate while the elastic modulus essentially remains invariant. The yield strength increases sharply when the strain rate exceeds the critical value of 109s−1. The yield of the sample at lower strain rate is primarily determined by the dislocation evolution in the hard phase (i.e. Ta layers), while dominated by the atomic amorphization of hard phase at higher strain rate. We show that the heterogeneous nanolayered composite exhibits a good deformation compatibility at lower strain rate but an obvious deformation incompatibility at higher strain rate.

Effects of aluminised-coating on microstructure and properties of Ni–Co-base superalloys

A Ni–Co-base superalloy was subjected to three different pack aluminising procedures (1000 °C for 3.5 h, 890 °C for 8 h and 620 °C for 10 h) to produce the Al-rich coating with simultaneously improved oxidation and wear resistance. All samples showed a multi-layer coating made up of (Ni, Fe, Co)Al phase, (Ni, Fe, Co)3Al phase and transition layer. The AT620 sample possessed the lowest oxidation rate but the highest double-edge-notched (DEN) strain during high-temperature stress rupture. The high oxidation resistance might be associated with the creation of Al2O3 layer (∼5.6 μm), contributing to an inhibition of oxygen permeation. However, a premature failure was caused by the strong deformation incompatibility between the substrate and alumina layer. The AT890 samples had higher oxidation and creep-induced-crack resistance than those of the AT1000 samples, which was the result of the effective Al inter-diffusions in the transition layer suppressing the undesirable Cr-rich σ phase.

Semi in-situ investigations on deformation-induced micro-damage in high-strength dual-phase steels

This work investigates deformation-induced micro-damage modes in ferrite-martensite dual-phase (DP) steels utilizing a state-of-the-art semi in-situ deformation apparatus integrated with scanning electron microscope. By integrating secondary electron imaging, electron backscatter diffraction, and electron channeling contrast, we provide comprehensive statistical results on micro-damages and strain localization events of their formation in DP780 and DP980 steels. The current observations indicate that interface decohesion plays a critical role in DP780, particularly under plastic instability. Based on maps of Kernel averaged misorientation, interface decohesion arises from the accumulation of geometrically necessary dislocations, which serve to compensate for the deformation incompatibility between ferrite and martensite. In contrast, the dominant damage mode in DP980 under plastic instability involves ferrite cracking within martensite-surrounded ferritic grains. This type of micro-damage is a result of strain localization by shear bands that accommodate the global deformation while the grain is constrained by martensite islands. Martensite cracking does not show as predominate sites under the condition of plastic instability in both steels. In summary, our findings highlight the importance of deformation incompatibility and constraint on occurrence of micro-damages through distinct strain localization events, which are determined by both microstructure of damage site and its environmental microstructure. In this work, we shed light on the role of microstructural engineering as a critical strategy for enhancing the resistance of DP steels or hetero-phase steels against deformation-induced damage.

Phase-field description of fracture in NiTi single crystals

A phase-field model for thermomechanically-induced fracture in NiTi at the single crystal level, i.e., fracture under loading paths that may take advantage of either of the functional properties of NiTi–superelasticity or shape memory effect–, is presented, formulated within the kinematically linear regime. The model accounts for reversible phase transformation from austenite to martensite habit plane variants and plastic deformation in the austenite phase. Transformation-induced plastic deformation is viewed as a mechanism for accommodation of the local deformation incompatibility at the austenite–martensite interfaces and is accounted for by introducing an interaction term in the free energy derived based on the Mori–Tanaka and Kröner micromechanical assumptions and the hypothesis of martensite instantaneous growth within austenite. Based on experimental observations suggesting that NiTi fractures in a stress-controlled manner, damage is assumed to be driven by the elastic energy, i.e., phase transformation and plastic deformation are assumed to contribute in crack formation and growth indirectly through stress redistribution. The model is restricted to quasistatic mechanical loading (no latent heat effects), thermal loading sufficiently slow with respect to the time rate of heat transfer by conduction (no thermal gradients), and a temperature range below Md, which is the temperature above which the austenite phase is stable, i.e., stress-induced martensitic transformation is suppressed. The numerical implementation of the model is based on an efficient scheme of viscous regularization in both phase transformation and plastic deformation, an explicit numerical integration via a tangent modulus method, and a staggered scheme for the coupling of the unknown fields. The model is shown able to capture transformation-induced toughening, i.e., stable crack advance attributed to the shielding effect of inelastic deformation left in the wake of the growing crack under nominal isothermal loading, actuation-induced fracture under a constant bias load, and crystallographic dependence on crack pattern.

High strength-ductility synergy of Inconel 625 alloy with a layered bimodal grain-structure

The mechanical properties and deformation behaviors of a bimodal grain structured Inconel 625 alloy were systematically investigated over a wide temperature range from 25 °C to 900 °C. As compared with conventional Inconel 625 alloys, the heterogeneous Inconel 625 alloy exhibits superior strength-ductility synergy until 600 °C. The yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and elongation at room temperature reach 617 MPa, 1057 MPa and 56.9%, respectively. The grain boundary strengthening and twin boundary strengthening introduced by numerous fine grains result in high yield strength. Electron backscattered scattering diffraction and transmission electron microscopy results reveal different densities of geometrically necessary dislocations between coarse grains and fine grains. The strain gradients induced by incompatible deformation of bimodal grains produce large back stress work hardening, which not only significantly increases the ultimate tensile strength but also prevents early necking during tensile testing, improving tensile ductility. When temperature exceeds 600 °C, stress relaxation induced by dynamic recrystallization significantly decreases the strength of alloys but increases its ductility. This study demonstrates the strength and ductility of Inconel 625 alloy can be simultaneously improved by introducing heterogenous lamella structure and the great mechanical properties can retain until 600 °C.

Plastic deformation capacity obtained by the process of strain delocalization in Hf0.5Nb0.5Ta0.5Ti1.5Zr multi-principal-element alloy

Multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) with body-centered-cubic (BCC) structures composed of elements of IVB, VB, and VIB usually exhibit high compressive strength and superior high-temperature performance. However, premature necking under tensile loading at ambient temperature limits their applications. Herein, we report the Hf0.5Nb0.5Ta0.5Ti1.5Zr MPEA with a single BCC phase, which performs considerable tensile plasticity by the process of strain delocalization. The formation of dispersed slip bands and two major strain localized regions suppress premature necking. The strain-localized region with a larger strain gradient realized strain delocalization during non-uniform deformation, resulting in considerable tensile plasticity (∼20%) with a yield strength of 922 MPa. Two dominated work hardening mechanisms were revealed. One is the geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) produced by non-uniform deformation which can coordinate deformation incompatibility, thus enhancing plastic deformation capability. The other is the lattice distortion which can provide an easy path for the cross slip of dislocations and realize strain delocalization. These two kinds of work-hardening mechanisms jointly contribute to the significant plastic deformation capacity of the Hf0.5Nb0.5Ta0.5Ti1.5Zr MPEA.

Strain delocalization in a gradient-structured high entropy alloy under uniaxial tensile loading

Suppressing strain localization in hard layers was crucial for making gradient alloys ductile. Here, a typical structure in CrFeCoNiMn0.75Cu0.25 high entropy alloy (HEA), which combines gradient distributions along the depth for grain width and twin density, was fabricated using the laser shock peening (LSP) treatment. In situ digital image correlation methods elucidated the mechanisms of the excellent mechanical properties in HEAs treated by LSP for 4 cycles from the perspective of local strain. Dense shear bands were nucleated at the low-strain stage, and remained stable evolution during the entire plastic deformation, thus, leading to an excellent tensile ductility (∼40 %). The plastic deformation incompatibility results in two-dimensional stress states and lateral strain gradient near the plastic-elastic interfaces, which stimulates the interaction and accumulation of micro-defects, thus, improving the strain hardening capacity of alloys. These observations will reveal the mechanistic origin of the gradient structured alloys with superior strength-ductility from a new perspective, which also provide a guidance for optimizing mechanical performances of HEAs.