Limited Elongation Research Articles

Effect of cold working and annealing on microstructure and properties of powder metallurgy high entropy alloy

An equiatomic CoCrFeNiMn high entropy alloy (HEA) was produced by powder metallurgy method. Cold rolling followed by subsequent annealing was conducted to further optimize the microstructure and mechanical properties. The results show that the SPSed CoCrFeNiMn HEA has an equiaxed single fcc phase microstructrue. Cold rolling results in extensive dislocation pile-up and twinning within the grains. The 80% cold-rolled alloy shows very high yield strength of 1292 MPa, but a limited elongation of 3%. Subsequent annealing produces recrystallization and precipitation of fine σ particles with particle size of 30–100 nm. The annealed alloy has a yield strength of 540 MPa, which is about two to three times of the cast CoCrFeNiMn HEA, while still maintains a high tensile ductility of 41%. The improvement of the tensile properties is caused by the grain boundary strengthening, solid solution strengthening, and precipitation strengthening.

Microstructure and performance evaluations on Q&P hot stamping parts of several UHSS sheet metals

Hot stamping (press hardening) is widely used to fabricate safety components such as door beams and B pillars with increased strength via quenching. However, parts that are hot-stamped from ultra-high-strength steel (UHSS) have very limited elongation, i.e., low ductility. In the present study, a novel variant of hot stamping technology called quenching-and-partitioning (Q&P) hot stamping was developed. This approach was tested on several UHSS sheet metals, and it was confirmed that this method can be used to overcome the drawbacks associated with conventional hot stamping. The applicability of Q&P hot stamping to each of these steels was also assessed. The part properties and performances of three widely used ultra-high-strength sheet metals, B1500HS, 27SiMn, and TRIP780, were evaluated through tensile testing and microstructural observations. The results demonstrated that the ductility of Q&P hot-stamped sheet metals was notably higher than that of the conventionally hot-stamped parts because Q&P hot stamping gives rise to a dual-phase structure of both martensite and austenite. Further, material tests demonstrated that the Q&P treatment had positive effects on all three selected materials, of which TRIP780 had the best ductility and the highest value of the product of strength and plasticity. Scanning electron microscopy images indicated that the silicon in the steels could limit the formation of cementite and would, therefore, improve the mechanical properties of Q&P hot-stamped products.

Design and characterization of a hyperelastic tubular soft composite.

Research in the field of human mobility assistive devices, aiming to reduce the metabolic cost of daily activities, is seeing the benefits of the exclusive use of passive actuators to store and release energy during the gait cycle. Current devices commonly employ either mechanical springs or Pneumatic Artificial Muscles as the primary method of passive actuation. The Pneumatic Artificial Muscle has proven to be a superior actuation choice for these devices, when compared to its alternatives. However, challenges regarding muscle pressure loss and limited elongation potential have been identified. This paper presents a hyperelastic tubular Soft Composite that replicates the distinctive mechanical behaviour of the Pneumatic Artificial Muscle without the need for internal pressurization. The proposed Soft Composite solution is achieved by impregnating a prefabricated polyethylene terephthalate braided sleeve, held at a high initial fibre angle, with a silicone prepolymer. A comprehensive experimental evaluation is achieved on numerous prototypes for a variety of customizable design parameters including: the initial fibre angle, the silicone stiffness, and the braided sleeve style. This research has successfully developed, tested, and validated a novel Soft Composite that can achieve the desired nonlinear stiffness and elongation potential for optimal use as passive actuation in human mobility assistive devices.

High strength titanium with a bimodal microstructure fabricated by thermomechanical consolidation of a nanocrystalline TiH2 powder

A titanium rod with a novel bimodal microstructure consisting of α-Ti plates of 1–5µm in width and 10–15µm in length and ultrafine grained (UFG) α-Ti regions with grain sizes in the range of 100–300nm was fabricated by in-situ dehydrogenation and thermomechanical consolidation of a nanocrystalline TiH2 powder. The consolidation process combined spark plasma sintering at 800°C for 5min and hot extrusion at 1100°C, and took less than 15min in total. The titanium rod had a high tensile yield strength of 1052MPa and a limited elongation to fracture of 2.0%. The high yield strength of the titanium rod can be attributed to the high strength of the UFG regions due to grain boundary strengthening and the increased strength of the α-Ti plates due to O solid solution strengthening associated with the high O content of 0.85wt% in the titanium rod. A microstructural evolution model involving nucleation and growth of the α-Ti plates, partition of H between α-Ti and β-Ti phases and Ti-H eutectoid reaction has been proposed to elucidate the mechanism for the formation of the bimodal microstructure.

Optimizing ductility and fracture of amorphous metal thin films on polyimide using multilayers

Aluminum–manganese (Al–Mn) thin films with manganese concentration up to 20.5 at.% were deposited on polyimide (PI) substrates. A variety of phases, including supersaturated fcc (5.2 at.% Mn), duplex fcc and amorphous (11.5 at.% Mn), and completely amorphous phase (20.5 at.% Mn) were obtained by adjusting alloying concentration in the film. Tensile deformation and subsequent fracture of strained Al–Mn films on PI were investigated experimentally and by finite element simulations. Compared with crystalline and dual phase counterparts, amorphous thin film exhibits the highest fracture stress and fracture toughness, but limited elongation. Based on the fracture mechanism model, a multilayer scheme was adopted to optimize the ductility and the fracture properties of the amorphous film/PI system. It was found that by sandwiching the amorphous film (20.5 at.% Mn) between two ductile Cu layers, the elongation can be improved by more than ten times, and the interfacial fracture toughness by more than twenty times. This design provides important guidelines to obtain optimized mechanical properties of future flexible electronics devices.

Temperature-Controlled Forming of 7075-T6 Aluminum Using Linearly Decaying Direct Electric Current

7075-T6 aluminum suffers from limited elongation during tensile forming; electrically assisted forming (EAF), which uses direct current to improve formability, is a viable candidate process to improve this effect. In past electrical tension testing by various authors, two types of waveforms have been examined: continuous current and square waveforms. For tension, it was shown that the applying current using square waveforms was able to extend formability beyond what continuous current could do, due to reducing the overheating in the necking region. The goal of this paper is to model the temperature and flow stress effects of saw tooth waves by modifying an existing square wave temperature prediction model and combining it with a theoretical flow stress model. Nondecaying and linearly globally decaying saw tooth waveforms are used in an attempt to control the temperature of the necking zone to allow for increased strain at fracture. Comparisons between saw tooth waveforms and square waveforms are exhibited, and it is found that the saw tooth waveforms are inferior to square waves for increasing strain at fracture for 7075-T6.

Effect of Uniformly Applied Force and Molecular Characteristics of a Polymer Chain on Its Adhesion to Graphene Substrates

The force-induced desorption of a polymer chain from a graphene substrate is studied with molecular dynamics (MD). A critical force needs to be exceeded before detachment of the polymer from the substrate. It is found that for a chain to exhibit good adhesive properties the chain configuration should consist of fibrils-elongated, aligned sections of polymers and cavities which dissipate the applied energy. A fibrillation index is defined to quantify the quality of fibrils. We focus on the molecular properties of the polymer chain, which can lead to large amounts of fibrillation, and find that both strong attraction between the polymer and substrate and good solvency conditions are important conditions for this. We also vary the stiffness of the chain and find that for less stiff chains a plateau in the stress-strain curve gives rise to good adhesion however for very stiff chains there is limited elongation of the chain but the chain can still exhibit good fibrillation by a lamella-like rearrangement. Finally, it is found that the detachment time, t, of a polymer from the adsorbed substrate is inversely proportional to force, F (i.e., t ∝ F(-γ)), where exponent γ depends on the solvent quality, polymer-substrate attraction, and chain stiffness.

A new strategy to simultaneous increase in the strength and ductility of AA2024 alloy via accumulative roll bonding (ARB)

Nano/ultrafine grained (NG/UFG) AA2024 alloy produced by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) showed high strength (420MPa) and very limited elongation (about 1.3%). A new strategy via ARB was developed to improve elongation (about 10%) of AA2024 alloy with a relatively high strength (365MPa). The present strategy produced a bimodal structure consisting of coarse and ultrafine elongated grains in comparison to the UFG alloy. Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) revealed that after 4 ARB cycles, the fraction of high angle grain boundaries and mean misorientation angle of the boundaries in the bimodal grain structure were 61% and 27.34°, respectively, in comparison to that of annealed (54% and 24.96°) and UFG (79% and 34.27°) alloy. The crystallographic texture results indicated that, unlike the annealed AA2024 alloy, the intensity of Brass {011}<211> and S {123}<634> components remarkably increased in the UFG and bimodal alloy. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations demonstrated that failure mode in bimodal alloy was ductile fracture with a combination of deep and shallow dimples.

Treatment of hypophosphatasia by muscle-directed expression of bone-targeted alkaline phosphatase via self-complementary AAV8 vector

Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is an inherited disease caused by genetic mutations in the gene encoding tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNALP). This results in defects in bone and tooth mineralization. We recently demonstrated that TNALP-deficient (Akp2−/−) mice, which mimic the phenotype of the severe infantile form of HPP, can be treated by intravenous injection of a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) expressing bone-targeted TNALP with deca-aspartates at the C-terminus (TNALP-D10) driven by the tissue-nonspecific CAG promoter. To develop a safer and more clinically applicable transduction strategy for HPP gene therapy, we constructed a self-complementary type 8 AAV (scAAV8) vector that expresses TNALP-D10 via the muscle creatine kinase (MCK) promoter (scAAV8-MCK-TNALP-D10) and examined the efficacy of muscle-directed gene therapy. When scAAV8-MCK-TNALP-D10 was injected into the bilateral quadriceps of neonatal Akp2−/− mice, the treated mice grew well and survived for more than 3 months, with a healthy appearance and normal locomotion. Improved bone architecture, but limited elongation of the long bone, was demonstrated on X-ray images. Micro-CT analysis showed hypomineralization and abnormal architecture of the trabecular bone in the epiphysis. These results suggest that rAAV-mediated, muscle-specific expression of TNALP-D10 represents a safe and practical option to treat the severe infantile form of HPP.

Influence of Mg Content, Grain Size and Strain Rate on Mechanical Properties and DSA Behavior of Al-Mg Alloys Processed by ECAP and Annealing

Ultrafine-grained (UFG) binary Al-xMg (x=1, 5 and 7 wt %) alloys were processed by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at room temperature via route Bc combined with inter-pass annealing. The effects of Mg content, grain size and strain rate on mechanical properties and dynamic strain aging (DSA) behaviour of the Al-Mg alloys upon tensile testing at room temperature were studied. An increase in Mg content from 5 to 7 wt % leads to a pronounced increase in strength and uniform elongation in both the as-homogenized and as-ECAP Al-Mg alloys. Thereby, the Al-7Mg alloy, either prior to or after ECAP processing, possess significantly higher strength and comparable or even higher uniform elongation than the more dilute Al-Mg alloys. However, the as-ECAP Al-Mg alloys exhibit significantly higher strength but little work hardening and hence rather limited uniform elongation. In general, decreasing grain size leads to significant increase in strength while dramatic decrease in ductility. Moreover, DSA serration amplitudes increase with reducing grain size in the micrometer range. However, the UFG Al-Mg alloys exhibit much less DSA effect than the micrometer scaled grain size counterparts, i.e. probably due to the high dislocation densities and special grain boundary features in the UFG materials. Also, the Al-Mg alloys, especially those with a UFG structure, exhibit higher strength and ductility at lower strain rate than at higher strain rate, due mainly to enhanced DSA effect and hence work hardening at a lower strain rate.

Effects of the Strain Rate and Temperature on the Microstructural Evolution of Twin-Rolled Cast Wrought AZ31B Alloys Sheets

This article investigates the effects of the strain rate and temperature on the microstructural evolution of twin-rolled cast wrought AZ31B sheets. This was achieved through static heating and through tensile test performed at strain rates from 10−4 to 10−1 s−1 and temperatures between room temperature (RT) and 300 °C. While brittle fracture with high stresses and limited elongation was observed at the RT, ductile behavior was obtained at higher temperatures with low strain rates. The strain rate sensitivity and activation energy calculations indicate that grain boundary diffusion and lattice diffusion are the two rate-controlling mechanisms at warm and high temperatures, respectively. An analysis of the evolution of the microstructure provided some indications of the most probable deformation mechanisms in the material: twinning operates at lower temperatures, and dynamic recrystallization dominates at higher temperatures. The static evolution of the microstructure was also studied, proving a gradual static grain growth of the AZ31B with annealing temperature and time.

Effects of chromium and nitrogen content on the microstructures and mechanical properties of as-cast Co–Cr–Mo alloys for dental applications

The microstructure and mechanical properties of as-cast Co–(20–33)Cr–5Mo–N alloys were investigated to develop ductile Co–Cr–Mo alloys without Ni addition for dental applications that satisfy the requirements of the type 5 criteria in ISO 22674. The effects of the Cr and N contents on the microstructure and mechanical properties are discussed. The microstructures were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and electron back-scattered diffraction pattern analysis. The mechanical properties were evaluated using tensile testing. The proof strength and elongation of N-containing 33Cr satisfied the type 5 criteria in ISO 22674. ε-phase with striations was formed in the N-free (20–29)Cr alloys, while there was slight formation of ε-phase in the N-containing (20–29)Cr alloys, which disappeared in N-containing 33Cr. The lattice parameter of the γ-phase increased with increasing Cr content (i.e. N content) in the N-containing alloys, although the lattice parameter remained almost the same in the N-free alloys because of the small atomic radius difference between Co and Cr. Compositional analyses by EDS and XRD revealed that in the N-containing alloys Cr and Mo were concentrated in the cell boundary, which became enriched in N, stabilizing the γ-phase. The mechanical properties of the N-free alloys were independent of the Cr content and showed low strength and limited elongation. Strain-induced martensite was formed in all the N-free alloys after tensile testing. On the other hand, the proof strength, ultimate tensile strength, and elongation of the N-containing alloys increased with increasing Cr content (i.e. N content). Since formation of ε-phase after tensile testing was confirmed in the N-containing alloys the deformation mechanism may change from strain-induced martensite transformation to another form, such as twinning or dislocation slip, as the N content increases. Thus the N-containing 33Cr alloy with large elongation is promising for use in dentures with adjustable clasps through one piece casting.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of nickel based superalloy IN718 produced by rapid prototyping with electron beam melting (EBM)

A nickel alloy of a composition similar to that of the nickel based superalloy Inconel alloy 718 (IN718) was produced with the electron beam melting (EBM) process developed by Arcam AB. The microstructures of the as processed and heat treated material are similar to that of conventionally produced IN718, except that the EBM material showed some porosity and the δ phase did not dissolve during the solution heat treatment because the temperature of 1000°C apparently was too low. Mechanical testing of the layer structured material, parallel and perpendicular to the built layers, revealed sufficient strength in both directions. However, it showed only limited elongation when tested perpendicular to the built layers due to local agglomerations of pores. Otherwise, data for the hardness, Young’s modulus, 0·2% yield tensile strength and ultimate tensile strength match those recommended for IN718.

Biomechanical Comparison of Four Soft Tissue Replacement Materials: An In Vitro Evaluation of Single and Multilaminate Porcine Small Intestinal Submucosa, Canine Fascia Lata, and Polypropylene Mesh

To compare mechanical performance of 4 soft tissue replacement materials. Experimental. Polypropylene mesh (PM), single-layer porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS), multilaminate (4-layer) porcine small intestinal submucosa (MLSIS), and canine fascia lata (FL). The mechanical properties of each material were determined by testing to failure on a materials testing machine. Samples of each material (n=10) were tested in 3 different modes: resistance to suture pullout, tensile testing, and push-through testing. PM was tested both parallel (PMa) to and perpendicular (PMb) to its longitudinal cord orientation. SIS and FL were similarly tested in 2 orthogonal directions. With some exceptions, the following generalizations can be made regarding the mechanical performance of the materials tested: Suture pullout-FL>PMa=PMb>MLSIS>SIS (P< or =.04). Tensile testing-FL>PMa>PMb>MLSIS>SIS (P< or =.02). Push-through testing-FL>PM>MLSIS>SIS (P< or =.003). PM accommodated a significantly higher load and energy to yield when its longitudinal cords were oriented parallel with the tension axis (PMa). FL performed similarly to the PM, with the exception of limited elongation in tension. MLSIS had biomechanical characteristics that were inferior to FL and PM but superior to SIS. PM's orientation may need to be considered when used clinically. FL is a biomechanically suitable soft tissue replacement material but its use may be limited by currently available sizes. SIS cannot be recommended in high-strain environments.

Short telomeres are preferentially elongated by telomerase in human cells

Short telomeres have been shown to be preferentially elongated in both yeast and mouse models. We examined this in human cells, by utilising cells with large allelic telomere length differentials and observing the relative rates of elongation following the expression of hTERT. We observed that short telomeres are gradually elongated in the first 26 PDs of growth, whereas the longer telomeres displayed limited elongation in this period. Telomeres coalesced at similar lengths irrespective of their length prior to the expression of hTERT. These data indicate that short telomeres are marked for gradual elongation to a cell strain specific length threshold.

Grain Refinement and Deformation Behavior of Ultrafine Grained Pd and Pd-Ag Alloys Produced by HPT

Investigations of mechanical properties of nanocrystalline (nc) materials are still in interest of materials science, because they offer wide application as structural materials thanks to their outstanding mechanical properties. NC materials demonstrate superior hardness and strength as compared with their coarse grained counterparts, but very often they possess a limited ductility or show low uniform elongation due to poor strain hardening ability. Here, we present the results of investigation of the microstructure and mechanical properties of nc Pd and Pd-x%Ag (x=20, 60) alloys. The initially coarse grained Pd-x% Ag samples were processed by high pressure torsion, which resulted in formation of homogenous ultrafine grain structure. The increase of Ag contents led to the decrease of the resulted grain size and change in deformation behavior, because of decreasing of stacking fault energy (SFE). The samples with larger Ag contents demonstrated the higher values of hardness, yield stress and ultimate stress. Remarkably the uniform elongation had also increased with increase of strength.

Analytical Approach to Predict Anisotropic Material Properties from Cup Drawings

Typical beverage can alloys have limited elongation (about 3–5%) under uniaxial tension. However, in order to obtain correct material properties, it is recommended to have elongations over 10 percent. Thus, it is very difficult to predict stable r-value and stress directionalities experimentally, which are essential for FE simulation of rigid-packing sheet forming operation. An innovative simplified analytical approach that relates the earing profile to r-values and yield stress directionalities is presented in this work. Rvalue and yield stress data were predicted from earing profiles of two separate cup drawing processes. By doing so, concerns for the limited elongation along a uniaxial direction can be eliminated. The new methodology can conveniently be used as a supplementary tool when the uniaxial testing is limited. The model was verified with a can stock material.

Enhancement of a hybridization analysis efficiency by the controlled DNA fragmentation

The influence of a DNA amplicon fragmentation on the efficiency of detecting a specific sequence by heterophase hybridization analysis was investigated. The nucleotide sequence was detected colorimetrically after biotinylation of an oligonucleotide probe immobilized on a solid carrier via limited elongation in complex with the sample DNA with the use of Taq polymerase. Two simple and reproducible techniques of amplicon fragmentation were proposed. The techniques are based on the introduction of apurinic/apyrimidinic sites in DNA and their subsequent thermal degradation. DNA was depurinated by a mild acidic treatment. Apyrimidinic sites were generated by treating a DNA fragment containing dUMP in place of some dTMP in various proportions with uracil-DNA glycosylase (UDG). The DNA sample treated by either method proved to be suitable for hybridization analysis with Taq polymerase without additional purification. The efficiency of hybridization analysis was higher with the fragmented than with the native DNA amplicon. DNA fragmentation makes it possible to use bridged oligonucleotides, having a lower hybridization ability, as highly selective hybridization probes.

Flow of a yield stress fluid over a rotating surface

We study the flow of yield stress fluids over a rotating surface when both the viscoelastic solid behavior below a critical deformation (γ c) and liquid properties beyond γ c can play a significant role. We review the detailed characteristics of the flow in the solid regime in the specific case of a pure elongational strain (large height to radius ratio). We, in particular, show that there exists a critical rotation velocity (ω c) associated with the transition from the solid to the liquid regime. We then consider the specific case of lubricational regime (small height to radius ratio) in the liquid regime. In that case we describe the different possible evolutions of the equilibrium shape of the material as a function of the rotation velocity (ω), from which we extrapolate the transient shape evolutions as ω increases. We show that for a sufficiently large rotation velocity the sample separates into two parts, one remaining at rest around the rotation axis, the other going on moving radially. These predictions are then compared with systematic spin-coating tests under increasing rotation velocity ramps followed by a plateau at ω f with typical yield stress fluids. It appears that there exists a critical velocity below which the material undergoes a limited elongation and beyond which it starts to spread significantly over the solid surface. For a larger ω f value the sample forms a thick peripheral roll, leaving behind it a thin layer of fluid at rest relatively to the disc. These characteristics are in qualitative agreement with the theoretical predictions. Beyond a sufficiently large ω f value this roll eventually spreads radially in the form of thin fingers. Moreover, in agreement with the theory in the lubricational regime, the different curves of deformation vs ω fall along a master curve when the rotation velocity is scaled by ω c for different accelerations, different sample radii, or different material yield stress. The final thickness of the deposit seems to be mainly governed by the displacement of the roll, the characteristics of which take their origin in the initial stage of the spreading, including the solid–liquid transition.

Microstructural design and high temperature tensile deformation behaviour of 8 mol% yttria stabilized cubic zirconia (8YCSZ) with SiO 2 additions

In the present study, the microstructural evolution and high temperature deformation behaviours of 8 mol% Y 2O 3 stabilized cubic zirconia (8YCSZ) containing up to 10 wt% SiO 2 is investigated. The experimental results show that the SiO 2 doped specimens sintered at 1400 °C contain only the cubic crystalline phase and SiO 2 has the very limited solubility of 0.3 wt% in cubic zirconia. This suggests that only small part of the SiO 2 dissolves in the cubic zirconia and the rest of SiO 2 segregates at grain boundaries and multiple junctions as amorphous (glassy) phase. This glassy phase prevents the grain growth by minimizing grain boundary energy and mobility, which results from solute segregation at the grain boundary and its drag. The deformation of the undoped 8YCSZ is characterized by large strain hardening with limited elongation. This is mainly due to severe grain growth during high temperature deformation. The addition of the SiO 2 results in a decrease in strain hardening and enhanced tensile elongation. These effects have been further improved with the increase of the SiO 2 addition reaching the elongation to failure of 152% for 10 wt% SiO 2 doped specimen in tension at a temperature of 1400 °C and strain rate of 1.3 × 10 −4 s −1. The decreased strain hardening and increased ductility in the SiO 2 doped specimens are due to the segregation of amorphous glassy phase to the grain boundaries, thus hindering grain growth and facilitating grain boundary sliding, which is the primary mechanism of deformation in fine grained materials at high temperatures.