Large Softening Research Articles

Homeostatic collagen remodeling: enzymatic strain stabilization and large strain softening in pressurized thick-walled cylindrical vessels

Homeostatic collagen remodeling: enzymatic strain stabilization and large strain softening in pressurized thick-walled cylindrical vessels

Indications of flat bands driving the δ to α volume collapse of plutonium

On cooling from the melt, plutonium (Pu) undergoes a series of structural transformations accompanied by a ≈ 28% reduction in volume from its δ phase to its α phase at low temperatures. While Pu's partially filled 5f-electron shells are known to be involved, their precise role in the transformations has remained unclear. By using calorimetry measurements on α-Pu and gallium-stabilized δ-Pu combined with resonant ultrasound and X-ray scattering data to account for the anomalously large softening of the lattice with temperature, we show here that the difference in electronic entropy between the α and δ phases dominates over the difference in phonon entropy. Rather than finding an electronic specific heat characteristic of broad f-electron bands in α-Pu, as might be expected to occur within a Kondo collapsed phase in analogy with cerium, we find it to be indicative of flatter subbands. An important role played by Pu's 5f electrons in the formation of its larger unit cell α phase comprising inequivalent lattice sites and varying bond lengths is therefore suggested.

Mesoscopic fluctuating domains in strontium titanate

Spatial correlation between atoms can generate a depletion in the energy dispersion of acoustic phonons. Two well known examples are rotons in superfluid helium and the Kohn anomaly in metals. Here we report on the observation of a large softening of the transverse acoustic mode in quantum paraelectric SrTiO$_3$ by means of inelastic neutron scattering. In contrast to other known cases, this softening occurs at a tiny wave vector implying spatial correlation extending over a distance as long as 40 lattice parameters. We attribute this to the formation of mesoscopic fluctuating domains due to the coupling between local strain and quantum ferroelectric fluctuations. Thus, a hallmark of the ground state of insulating SrTiO$_3$ is the emergence of hybridized optical-acoustic phonons. Mesoscopic fluctuating domains play a role in quantum tunneling, which impedes the emergence of a finite macroscopic polarisation.

Size effect on nonlinear unloading behavior and Bauschinger effect of Ni-based superalloy ultrathin sheet

• Cyclic deformation behavior of superalloy foil is represented by cyclic shear test. • Nonlinear unloading behavior at microscale becomes evident. • Bauschinger effect are affected by both geometric and grain size effect. • Size effect on instantaneous and permanent softening is revealed. • Work hardening stagnation is related to dislocation evolution and size effect. Superalloy ultrathin sheet is widely utilized in thin-walled components of aero-engine because of its excellent comprehensive performance. Nevertheless, it is hard to precisely predict the springback phenomenon during the plastic deformation of superalloy ultrathin sheet due to the size effect. To explore size effect on nonlinear unloading behavior and Bauschinger effect of Ni-based superalloy sheets, the uniaxial tensile, cyclic loading and unloading, and cyclic shearing tests were conducted on superalloy ultrathin sheets with diverse grain sizes and thicknesses of 0.2 and 0.25 mm. The experimental results demonstrated that the increasing grain size is accompanied with the decrease of flow stress of superalloy ultrathin sheet and the change of density of forest dislocation and moving dislocation. The dislocation annihilation rate of superalloy ultrathin sheet increases with decreasing t / d ratio, and the nonlinear unloading behavior becomes more obvious. Meanwhile, the degradation of elastic modulus becomes more evident with the increasing grain size. Driven by back stress, Bauschinger effect of superalloy ultrathin sheet becomes more apparent with larger t / d ratio. In addition, the fine-grained superalloy ultrathin sheet shows obvious earlier re-yielding and large instantaneous softening rates and the variation of t / d ratio also affect the permanent softening and work-hardening stagnation of superalloy ultrathin sheet.

Effect of the external beveled tip angle of the bucket foundation in clay on its penetration resistance considering soil large deformation and strain softening

In offshore wind energy industry, the bucket foundation in clay has been considered as an alternative to conventional foundations due to their unique features such as high overturning resistance. However, it cannot be installed to the pre-determined depth due to the soil plug generated during the penetration, which will significantly affect its bearing capacity. By setting the external beveled tip at the bottom of the bucket, the height of the soil plug can be reduced effectively. In order to study the influence of external beveled tip on the soil plug, soil softening and penetration resistance, the Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian approach is used in this study to establish the bucket foundation penetration resistance models in correlation with different angles of external beveled tip considering soil large deformation and strain softening. It was found that as the angle increases, more soil are directed and flows out of the bucket, and the height of soil surface inside the bucket obviously decreases. When the angle increases to 60°, the soil plug inside the bucket is very small and hardly changes. As the angle increases from 0° to 60°, the degree of softening and amount of soil inside the bucket decreases, while that the trend is opposite for the soil outside the bucket. In addition, due to the influence of soil flow and strength degradation, the end bearing capacity factor and the frictional coefficient of inner side wall decrease as the angle increases, while the coefficient of outer side wall increases due to the reduction of softening effect. However, the total penetration resistance of the bucket foundation does not obviously change with the external beveled tip angle. 60° is recommended as the optimal angle for the external beveled tip in order to avoid the soil plug inside the bucket.

Thermo-elastic behavior of hexagonal Sc–Ti–Zr–Hf high-entropy alloys

Recent advances in tuning the long-standing strength-ductility tradeoff have drawn attention to high-entropy alloys (HEAs), and the appearance of hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structures has been emphasized. However, few studies have explored the elastic moduli of hcp HEAs, which is of prime importance for improved understanding of the outstanding mechanical properties. In this work, we focus on a set of equiatomic rare-earth-free HEAs with hcp structures, i.e. ScTiZr, ScTiHf, ScZrHf, TiZrHf, and ScTiZrHf, and their thermo-elastic properties are studied using quantum mechanical first-principles methods. It is found that, for all considered HEAs, the hexagonal axial ratio shows a weak dependence on the temperature effect, and the thermal expansion coefficient remains almost unchanged above room temperature. From the calculated temperature-dependent single-crystal elastic constants, we analyzed the mechanical stability, elastic anisotropy, and derived polycrystalline moduli. Results indicate that the present HEAs exhibit rather high elastic isotropy and large elastic softening resistance. The ab initio predicted Young’s modulus, shear modulus, and specific modulus do not obey the rule of mixture, which indicates that there exists a strong intrinsic hardening effect in all of the considered HEAs. The calculated results are in good agreement with the available experimental measurements.

New Degree of Freedom in Determining Superior Piezoelectricity at the Lead-Free Morphotropic Phase Boundary: The Invisible Ferroelectric Crossover.

The morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) in lead-free ferroelectrics, starting from a quadruple point (QP), often displays large piezoelectric responses due to the flattened free-energy profiles. In this work, we found that the QP composition rendering most flattened energy profiles could also exhibit abnormally low piezoelectric constants in Hf-doped BaTiO3. Such an anomaly in the strength of piezoelectricity can be ascribed to the progressive influence of additional strain heterogeneity induced by the substitution of Hf4+ for Ti4+ in BaTiO3, which was overlooked previously. An intermediate level of strain heterogeneity can form an invisible ferroelectric crossover consisting of both micro- and nanodomains, resulting in a large elastic softening and high piezoelectricity. With a further increase in the level of strain heterogeneity, the extinction of regular ferroelectric domain structures and pinned polar dynamics resulted in the feeble piezoelectric outputs near the QP composition. Impressively, a giant d33 of ∼610 pC/N has been accordingly obtained through employing a ferroelectric crossover at off-QP composition in Zr-doped BaTiO3, further underpinning the critical role of uncovered ferroelectric crossover on piezoelectricity along MPB. This work offers another degree of freedom in the design of high-performance eco-friendly piezoelectric ceramics.

Infrared phonon spectroscopy on the Cairo pentagonal antiferromagnet Bi2Fe4O9 : A study through the pressure-induced structural transition

Magnetic and crystallographic transitions in the Cairo pentagonal magnet ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{4}{\mathrm{O}}_{9}$ are investigated by means of infrared synchrotron-based spectroscopy as a function of temperature (20--300 K) and pressure (0--15.5 GPa). One of the phonon modes is shown to exhibit an anomalous softening as a function of temperature in the antiferromagnetic phase below 240 K, highlighting spin-lattice coupling. Moreover, under applied pressure at 40 K, an even larger softening is observed through the pressure-induced structural transition. Lattice dynamical calculations reveal that this mode is indeed very peculiar as it involves a minimal bending of the strongest superexchange path in the pentagonal planes, as well as a decrease in the distances between second-neighbor irons. The latter confirms the hypothesis made by Friedrich et al., [J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 24, 145401 (2012)] about an increase in the oxygen coordination of irons being at the origin of the pressure-induced structural transition. As a consequence, one expects a new magnetic superexchange path that may alter the magnetic structure under pressure.

Possible experimental test of the nonlinear phononics interpretation of light-induced superconductivity

Experimental evidence for a transient enhancement of the superconducting critical temperature of YBa2Cu3O6+x in the presence of an intense THz or infrared pump pulse was ascribed to nonlinear phononics effects. Here, I introduce a simple phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau model of this phenomenon, to explore further consequences and possible experimental tests of this interpretation. This treatment predicts that, upon cooling below Tc in the absence of pumping, (a) an abrupt softening of a Raman-active mode frequency and (b) a spontaneous lattice distortion, growing linearly with (Tc−T) should occur. Numerical estimates for YBa2Cu3O6+x indicate that the frequency softening could likely be observable, whereas the lattice distortion may be too small. A comparison with Raman experiments for the relevant phonon modes in YBa2Cu3O6+x does not lend support to the nonlinear phononics interpretation. On the other hand, however, a very large (up to 18%) phonon frequency softening just below Tc, qualitatively similar to the predictions of the present model for its size and abrupt temperature dependence, was observed over 20 years ago in HgBa2Ca3Cu4O10+x; its explanation in terms of Josephson plasmons has been controversial. Light-induced superconductivity still needs to be investigated in this material and it may be of interest to explore if it is present and possibly connected, via the mechanism discussed here, to the observed anomalous phonon behavior.Received 12 March 2020Revised 20 August 2020Accepted 21 August 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033384Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by the Max Planck Society.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasDynamical phase transitionsSuperconducting phase transitionTransition temperatureCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Chemical ordering controlled thermo-elasticity of AlTiVCr1-xNbx high-entropy alloys

The stability of constituent phases in multi-component system always plays a prominent role in tailoring their mechanical performance at elevated temperatures. In this work, we highlight a chemical ordering feature in the AlTiVCr1-xNbx (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) alloys with body-centered cubic crystal structure. The quantum-mechanical first-principle investigations of these alloys on the elemental distribution identify a family of B2 type of partially ordered configurations. We map out the elastic parameters in detail as a function of composition and temperature for disordered and partially ordered phases. A great sensitivity to the order-disorder transformation is revealed, especially for the Cr-rich system. Our results demonstrate that a proper control of the ordering level in these alloys can facilitate the optimal tuning of their mechanical performance while keeping the density almost unchanged. The study presented here further predicts that these alloys possess high specific stiffness, low thermal expansion, and large elastic softening resistance. It is demonstrated that the considered alloys have thermal and mechanical properties that compete with superalloys and other high temperature structural materials.

Electronically driven collapse of the bulk modulus in δ-plutonium

Plutonium metal exhibits an anomalously large softening of its bulk modulus at elevated temperatures that is made all the more extraordinary by the finding that it occurs irrespective of whether the thermal expansion coefficient is positive, negative, or zero-representing an extreme departure from conventional Grüneisen scaling. We show here that the cause of this softening is the compressibility of plutonium's thermally excited electronic configurations, which has thus far not been considered in thermodynamic models. We show that when compressible electronic configurations are thermally activated, they invariably give rise to a softening of the bulk modulus regardless of the sign of their contribution to the thermal expansion. The electronically driven softening of the bulk modulus is shown to be in good agreement with elastic moduli measurements performed on the gallium-stabilized δ phase of plutonium over a range of temperatures and compositions and is shown to grow rapidly at small concentrations of gallium and at high temperatures, where it becomes extremely sensitive to hydrostatic pressure.

Nonlinear Analysis and Performance of Electret-Based Microcantilever Energy Harvesters

An energy harvester composed of a microcantilever beam with a tip mass and a fixed electrode covered with an electret layer is investigated when subject to an external harmonic base excitation. The tip mass and fixed electrode form a variable capacitor connected to a load resistance. A single-degree-of-freedom model, derived based on Newton’s and Kirshoff’s laws, shows that the tip mass displacement and charge in the variable capacitor are nonlinearly coupled. Analysis of the eigenvalue problem indicates the influence of the electret surface voltage and electrical load resistance on the harvester linear characteristics, namely the harvester coupled frequency and electromechanical damping. Then, the frequency–response curves are obtained numerically for a range of load resistance, electret voltage and base excitation amplitudes. A softening nonlinear effect is observed as a result of decreasing the load resistance and increasing the electret voltage. It is found that there is an optimal electret voltage with the highest harvested electrical power. Below this optimal value, the bandwidth is very small, whereas the bandwidth is large when the electret voltage is above this optimal value. In addition, it is noted that for a certain excitation frequency, the harvested power decreases or increases as a function of electrical load resistance when the coupled frequency is closer to short- or open-circuit frequency, respectively. However, when the coupled frequency is between the short-circuit and open-circuit frequencies, the harvested power has an optimal resistance with the highest power. Increasing the excitation amplitude to raise the harvested power could be accompanied with dynamic pull-in instability and/or softening behavior depending on the electrical load resistance and electret voltage. However, large softening behavior would prevent the pull-in instability, increase the level of the harvested power, and broaden the bandwidth. These observations give a deeper insight into the behavior of such energy harvesters and are of great importance to the designers of electrostatic energy harvesters.

Alloys-by-design: Application to titanium alloys for optimal superplasticity

An alloy design approach for titanium alloys is presented. New alloys are isolated, manufactured and tested with an emphasis on the superplastic response. The superplastic effect is found to be optimal between 650 to 750∘C at strain rates between 8.3×10−2 and 8.3×10−3/s – this is a substantial improvement in terms of temperature and deformation rates over traditional titanium alloys such as Ti–6Al–4V. Elongations approaching ∼2000% are demonstrated. Electron backscatter diffraction studies confirm a randomisation of texture and absence of significant intragranular dislocation density, confirming superplasticity and thus grain-boundary sliding as the overarching deformation mechanism. At strain rates faster than 0.01/s, the alloys exhibit large elongations (∼200–500%) but softening is evident and lower ductility results. Our results reveal that the physical factors controlling the alloy composition/property/manufacturing interrelationship are understood and quantified. Physically-based constitutive equations are presented and used to demonstrate the practical advantages of the designed alloys.

Complete determination of elastic stiffness coefficients and local symmetry breaking in the paraelectric barium titanate

The temperature dependence of all independent elastic stiffness coefficients of cubic BaTiO3 was determined over a wide temperature range from 400 °C to the Curie point (Tc ∼ 131 °C) by using Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy. Among the two elastic eigen-modes corresponding to the two measured transverse acoustic waves, (C11-C12)/2 showed a large softening in the paraelectric phase, while the change in C44 was very small. This result caused the elastic anisotropy A, defined as 2C44/(C11-C12), to increase from ∼2.1 to ∼2.7 upon cooling toward the phase transition temperature. The large elastic anisotropy was attributed to the tetragonal instability and the associated anisotropic polarization fluctuations of precursor polar clusters formed by the correlated Ti motions. The elastic anisotropy was fitted by using the Curie-Weiss law resulting in a significant deviation in a certain temperature range between Tc and ∼Tc + 50 °C, similar to the dielectric permittivity.

Magnetic phase diagram and crystal-field effects in the kagome-lattice antiferromagnet U3Ru4Al12

We report on the magnetic phase diagram of the distorted kagome-lattice antiferromagnet ${\mathrm{U}}_{3}{\mathrm{Ru}}_{4}{\mathrm{Al}}_{12}$ determined through measurements of magnetic and elastic properties. For field applied along the [100] and [120] axes of the hexagonal crystal structure, we find pronounced anomalies in the magnetization and elastic moduli that signal the existence of unknown magnetic phases. Our crystal-electric-field (CEF) analysis evidences interlevel quadrupolar interactions between the ground-state singlet and the first excited doublet. These interactions lead to a large softening of the shear elastic modulus ${C}_{44}$. The large number of phases and pronounced elastic softening suggest that geometric frustrations and CEF effects play an important role in the physical properties of ${\mathrm{U}}_{3}{\mathrm{Ru}}_{4}{\mathrm{Al}}_{12}$.

Anisotropic Grüneisen Parameter and Diverse Order Parameter Fluctuations in Iron-Based Superconductor Ba(Fe1−xCox)2As2

In this study, the temperature dependence of elastic constants $C_{11}$, $C_{33}$, $C_{\rm E} = (C_{11}-C_{12})/2$, $C_{66}$ and $C_{44}$ of the iron-based superconductor Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_{x}$)$_{2}$As$_{2}$ (0 $\leqq x \leqq$ 0.245) have been measured. This system shows a large elastic softening in $C_{66}$ towards low temperatures. In addition to $C_{66}$, which originates from orthorhombic structural fluctuation, the samples near the optimal concentration show remarkable structural fluctuation in $C_{11}$ and $C_{33}$ elastic modes, which correspond to $\Gamma_{1}$ (C4) symmetry. It suggests the existence of diverse fluctuations in this system. Gr{\" u}neisen parameters were analyzed under some assumptions for structural and magnetic transition temperatures. Results showed that the Gr{\" u}neisen parameters for the inter-plane strain are remarkably enhanced toward the QCP, while those for the in-plane stress tend to turn down near the QCP. Gr{\" u}neisen parameters for the superconducting transition are anisotropic and shows remarkable Co-concentration dependence, suggesting that the in-plane isotropic compression and inter-layer elongation enhance the superconductivity. The correlation of Gr{\" u}neisen parameters between $T_{\rm S}$, $T_{\rm N}$ and $T_{\rm sc}$ shows $c$-axis elongation and its relevant role in the emergence of superconductivity in this system.

Synthesis and optical properties of La1−XCeXMnO3 studied by infrared reflectivity measurements

The bulk polycrystalline La1−xCexMnO3 (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.8) manganites were synthesized through citrate sol-gel auto-combustion method for a wide range of composition 0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.8. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis suggests the single phase rhombohedral (R-3c) symmetry for parent LaMnO3 compound, however a secondary cubic (Fm-3 m) phase of cerium oxide (CeO2) is appeared when Ce is incorporated into the LaMnO3. A detailed XRD study of these materials were discussed, and specifically the infrared reflectivity measurements on La1−xCexMnO3 materials are discussed in this study for the first time. The phonon softening and hardening was observed for different modes but softening was found to be more pronounced which implied strong electron–phonon coupling. The most affected phonon mode was appeared for the doping range 0.2 ≤ x ≤ 0.4, in which the largest softening was observed. The Lyddane–Sachs–Teller relation is verified by experimental FTIR data.

Ti6Al4V metal cutting chip formation experiments and modelling over a wide range of cutting speeds

Measured forces, chip geometry and tool temperatures from machining a mill annealed Ti6Al4V at cutting speeds mainly from 1 to 100 m/min, but in some cases down to 0.1 m/min, are reported, as well as mechanical testing of the material. Finite element simulations with inputs the measured flow stress, and subsequently a small high temperature strain hardening recovery correction, and a failure model calibrated from the cutting tests at speeds from 1 to 10 m/min, give satisfactory agreement with the higher speed tests once surface strain hardening and damage from the previous pass of the tool are taken into account. This paper’s originality is firstly to show that more complicated flow stress models involving large strain softening are not needed provided shear failure is included; and secondly its failure model: this proposes a non-zero failed shear stress depending on local pressure and temperature. The simulations provide relations between tool mechanical and thermal loading and cutting conditions to aid process improvement.

Effects of Fe substitution on B3-B1 phase transition and structural, vibrational, and electronic properties of ZnS from DFT calculations

Naturally occurring zinc sulfide (ZnS) contains a substantial amount of iron (Fe) in its crystal structure. This study explores the possible effects of such Fe impurity on the physical properties of its two phases: B3 and B1, crystallizing in a cubic system with zinc blend (ZB, space group: F-43m) and rock salt (RS, space group: Fm-3m) structures. We have performed ab-initio calculations within density functional theory (DFT) to determine the equilibrium volumes of B3- and B1-ZnS phases, doped with Fe in varying concentrations (0% to 25%), and their corresponding lattice structures. Using the enthalpy cross-over, we determine the pressure-dependent B3 to B1 transition as a function of Fe concentration. Our DFT calculations suggest an inverse relation of the transition pressure with Fe content. For pure ZnS, the transition occurs at 17 GPa, which drops to ∼12 GPa for 25% Fe. This study also provides a first-hand analysis of the elastic constants (C11, C12, and C44) to show the effects of Fe impurity on the mechanical properties of ZnS phases. Their values generally drop due to Fe and the differences widen with increasing pressure. Fe causes large softening of C44, especially for the B1 phase. We have also performed phonon calculations to characterize the vibrational properties and explain the pressure dependent structural instability of the B3- ZnS. Finally, our calculations of the electronic structures show a transition of semi-conductor to conductor behavior of ZnS with incorporation of Fe impurity.

N-body simulations of collective effects in spiral and barred galaxies

We present gravitational N-body simulations of the secular morphological evolution of disk galaxies induced by density wave modes. In particular, we address the demands collective effects place on the choice of simulation parameters, and show that the common practice of the use of a large gravity softening parameter was responsible for the failure of past simulations to correctly model the secular evolution process in galaxies, even for those simulations where the choice of basic state allows an unstable mode to emerge, a prerequisite for obtaining the coordinated radial mass flow pattern needed for secular evolution of galaxies along the Hubble sequence. We also demonstrate that the secular evolution rates measured in our improved simulations agree to an impressive degree with the corresponding rates predicted by the recently-advanced theories of dynamically-driven secular evolution of galaxies. The results of the current work, besides having direct implications on the cosmological evolution of galaxies, also shed light on the general question of how irreversibility emerges from a nominally reversible physical system.