Metadynamic Recrystallization Research Articles

Quantification of static softening process and its effects on work hardening characteristics of a typical high strength steel during multi-pass deformation

Heavy components of 300 M steel are usually manufactured by multi-pass forging. It is necessary to study the flow characteristics of 300 M steel during multi-pass deformation, which helps to regulate the flow behaviors during the actual forging process. In the study, multi-pass compression experiments are conducted on the Gleeble-3500 device to mimic the forging process of 300 M steel. Results show that the deformation parameters and inter-pass holding parameters can affect the work hardening rate significantly. It can be ascribed to coupling effects of dynamic softening and static softening behaviors. A unified static softening kinetics model is established to evaluate the coupling effects of static recovery, static recrystallization, and metadynamic recrystallization on the static softening behaviors. The established static softening kinetics model shows high prediction accuracy with a reliability of 0.99605. Furthermore, a new constitutive model is established to describe the effects of dynamic softening and static softening on the flow stress during multi-pass deformation. The prediction accuracy of the new constitutive model is 0.98897 with a mean absolute error of 4.075%, which demonstrates that the established constitutive model is reliable.

Microstructural and Mechanical Analysis of Seamless Pipes Made of Superaustenitic Stainless Steel Using Cross-Roll Piercing and Elongation

The cross-roll piercing and elongation (CPE) is a forming process performed at high temperatures and high strain rates. The final product quality is strongly dependent on its microstructure. In this study, a finite element method (FEM) model was developed to better understand plastic deformation effects on microstructure during CPE and to analyze alternative thermo-mechanical processing routes. Specific models were used to simulate dynamic and meta-dynamic recrystallization (DRX and MDRX) for the processing of superaustenitic stainless steel (SASS). In addition, the CPE of SASS was investigated experimentally. The microstructure, mechanical properties, and chemical changes of the final product were assessed using optical microscopy, hardness testing, X-ray diffraction, and SEM-EDS. The results revealed higher temperatures and strain rates in the exterior area of the shell after piercing, and MDRX occurred in the whole thickness. However, an average grain size reduction of 13.9% occurred only in the shell middle and inner diameters. During elongation, the highest values of the strain rate and DRX were observed in the inner region, exhibiting a grain size reduction of 38%. Spread in terms of grain size and grain shape anisotropy was found to be less accentuated for tube samples as compared to the pierced shells.

Meta-Dynamic Recrystallization in the Ni-Based Superalloy Haynes 282

Forging on an industrial scale often involves slow, size-limited cooling rates or high temperature hold times between, or after, deformation. This enables the dynamic recrystallization (DRX) initiated during forging to further progress under static conditions, a phenomenon called meta-dynamic recrystallization (mDRX). As mDRX will influence the final grain size, and thus properties, it is critical to understand and control it during processing. Here, we study the mDRX evolution in Ni-based superalloy Haynes 282 during post-deformation hold times of up to 120 s at 1080 °C after partial DRX. We find that mDRX is the dominating mechanisms responsible for the microstructure evolution the hold time. The very rapid mDRX kinetics in the initial stages suggest that quench delays (the time between the end of the deformation and the onset of the quenching intended to arrest the microstructure evolution) must be kept well below 1 s in order to allow reliable conclusions to be drawn from post-deformation microstructure investigations. A larger prior strain (larger DRX fraction) leads to faster mDRX kinetics and a larger final grain size. Larger strains leads to earlier impingement of the growing grains, which, in combination with smaller remaining deformed regions into which the grains can grow, limits the maximum size of the mDRX grains. We also note a close correlation between static recovery and stress relaxation during the hold time, whereas no such correlation between mDRX and stress relaxation can be observed.

Dynamic and Postdynamic Recrystallization Behavior of GWZ Magnesium Alloy Under Double‐Hit Hot Compression

Herein, dynamic and postdynamic recrystallization behaviors of GWZ magnesium are investigated. Toward this end, the single‐hit and double‐hit hot compression tests are conducted under strain rate of 0.001 s−1 at 400 °C. The prestrains of 0.1 and 0.5 are considered to investigate the effect of interpass time (5–300 s) on the compressive strength level. At the low strain level of 0.1, the contribution of Hall–Petch effect is considerable due to the occurrence of static recrystallization. In addition, the rare earth texture component is eliminated during interpass annealing. This causes increasing the strength of the material during second pass of hot compression. In contrast, at higher imposed strain, the strength level decreases with increasing the interpass time of annealing. The high amount of strain is completely consumed and the remaining stored energy is not high enough to trigger the occurrence of static recrystallization. The occurrence of metadynamic recrystallization and subsequent growth are characterized. In addition, the texture does not change in respect of the intensity or numbers/types of components. Accordingly, the observed decreasing trend of the strength is justified relying on the occurrence grain growth.

Dynamic recrystallization during hot compression of Ni-based superalloy Haynes 282

Understanding the microstructural behaviour of materials during thermomechanical processing is a vital step towards optimizing the mechanical properties. One important aspect during forming processes, such as forging, is dynamic recrystallization (DRX), which sets the starting microstructure for the subsequent manufacturing steps. Here we investigated the DRX behaviour of Ni-base superalloy Haynes 282 during hot compression with a strain rate of 0.05 s−1 at 1080 °C, with care taken to minimize the effects of meta-dynamic recrystallization (mDRX) and adiabatic heating. Small DRX grains could be observed already at ε = 0.1, i.e. before the peak strain εp = 0.15. The DRX process accelerated significantly above ε = 0.2, and the material was fully recrystallized at ε = 1.5. Up to ε = 0.8 DRX occurred through continuous nucleation of new grains, whereas above ε = 0.8 the number density of DRX grains decreased and the increase in recrystallized fraction was due to growth of existing grains. Contrary to common assumptions of DRX nuclei being essentially dislocation free, many of the DRX grains contained pronounced dislocation substructures, even at small strains where they are not expected to have undergone deformation.

Metadynamic Recrystallization Behavior of Cr-Ni-Mo Alloy Steel

In order to study the metadynamic recrystallization behavior of 34CrNi3MoV steel, a double-pass isothermal compression experiment and a single-pass thermal interval experiment were designed and conducted to obtain the stress–strain curves under different deformation conditions and to explore the action law of deformation parameters during the compression process. The softening rate was calculated by the compensation method, and the grain size in the recrystallization region was measured. Based on the obtained data, the effects of deformation temperature (T), interval time (t), and strain rate (ε˙) on the softening rate and grain size of 34CrNi3MoV steel during metadynamic recrystallization were analyzed. The results show that increasing the deformation temperature, extending the interval time, and increasing the strain rate are all beneficial to the improvement of the metadynamic recrystallization softening rate and that fine and uniform new grains can be obtained under a high strain rate. However, in high-temperature conditions, mixed crystallization can easily occur, which is not conducive to grain refinement. Based on the true stress–strain data and experimental data on the grain size, a relevant model for metadynamic recrystallization of 34CrNi3MoV steel was established using mathematical analysis of regression equations. The average relative error AARE between the constructed dynamic model and the grain size model and the experimental results are 6.48% and 1.30%, respectively. This indicates that the model has high predictability.

Strain Rate Dependence and Recrystallization Modeling for TC18 Alloy during Post-Deformation Annealing.

In this paper, the dependence of dynamic recrystallization (DRX) and post-dynamic recrystallization (PDRX) of TC18 alloy on strain rate within the range of 0.001 s-1~1 s-1 was investigated through isothermal compression and subsequent annealing in the single-phase region. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) characterization was employed to quantify microstructure evolution and to reveal the recrystallization mechanism. At the thermo-deformation stage, the DRX fraction does not exceed 10% at different strain rates, due to the high stacking fault energy of the β phase. During the subsequent annealing process, the total recrystallization fraction increases from 10.5% to 79.6% with the strain rate increasing from 0.001 s-1 to 1 s-1. The variations in the geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density before and after annealing exhibit a significant discrepancy with the increasing strain rate, indicating that the GND density is a key factor affecting the PDRX rate. The PDRX mechanisms, namely meta-dynamic recrystallization (MDRX), continuous static recrystallization (CSRX) and discontinuous static recrystallization (DSRX), were also revealed during the annealing process. A new kinetic model coupling DRX and PDRX was proposed to further describe the correlation between recrystallization and the strain rate during continuous deformation and annealing. This new model facilitates the prediction of recrystallization fraction during isothermal deformation and annealing of titanium alloys.

The coupling machine learning for microstructural evolution and rolling force during hot strip rolling of steels

Microstructural evolution during hot rolling, which is complex and unperceptive but has direct effects on rolling forces, determines the final microstructure and mechanical properties of steel products. In this paper, a comprehensive set of machine learning (ML) models was developed through rolling forces to reveal the evolutions of recrystallization and grain size of austenite, in which the grain size was estimated by considering the grain shape effect after each rolling pass. By using the backpropagation neural network (BPNN) and genetic algorithm (GA) combined with industrial data, the quantitative connections of parameters in the models for static recrystallization (SRX), meta-dynamic recrystallization (MDRX), and mean flow stress (MFS) were established with steel chemical compositions and deformation conditions. Through the machine learning (ML) approach, softening kinetics and rolling forces can be more accurately predicted than traditional models. Also, the recrystallization behavior and evolution of austenite grain size during hot rolling were analyzed by using the proposed ML models, which are consistent with experimental results.

Effectiveness of the indigenously developed static shoulder friction stir welding tool on textural characteristics of Al6061 alloy – A comparison to external cooling media friction stir welds

• A novel static shoulder friction stir welding tool has been developed. • Developed tool is both rotating and non-rotating shoulder tool without sub shoulder. • The tool's effectiveness in lowering HAZ width is compared to cooling media FSW. • Texture components reflect different recrystallization types for both processes. A novel in-house friction stir welding (FSW) tool that can act as both static shoulder and rotating shoulder was developed. In this article, two Al6061 plates were subjected to static shoulder FSW (SSFSW) and external cooling media FSW (ECFSW) using the indigenously developed tool. To investigate the effectiveness of the developed tool, microstructural and textural aspects of SSFSW were compared with that of ECFSW. Electron backscattered diffraction results revealed a significant reduction in the percentage of low angle grain boundaries from 61.4% (base material) to 28.4 % (ECFSW), and 8.6 % (SSFSW). The evolved texture components after FSW are completely different from base material and the overall texture strength increased after FSW. Pole figures of SSFSW revealed the presence of A, B components with maximum intensity of 10.489 while in ECFSW, presence of A 2 *, B ¯ components with maximum intensity of 7.913 were observed. Oriental distribution function showed strong orientations of {0 3 1} 〈2 1 3〉, {0 0 1} 〈1 1 0〉,{1 1 2} 〈0 1 1〉, {1 2 3} 〈6 3 4〉 and moderate Cube components in case of ECFSW. In the instance of SSFSW, there was dominant presence of γ fibre. Correlation between the microstructure and texture has revealed the occurrence of meta-dynamic recrystallization in ECFSW and continuous dynamic recrystallization in SSFSW.

Optimization of Thermomechanical Processing under Double-Pass Hot Compression Tests of a High Nb and N-Bearing Austenitic Stainless-Steel Biomaterial Using Artificial Neural Networks

Physical simulation is a useful tool for examining the events that occur during the multiple stages of thermomechanical processing, since it requires no industrial equipment. Instead, it involves hot deformation testing in the laboratory, similar to industrial-scale processes, such as controlled hot rolling and forging, but under different conditions of friction and heat transfer. Our purpose in this work was to develop an artificial neural network (ANN) to optimize the thermomechanical behavior of stainless-steel biomaterial in a double-pass hot compression test, adapted to the Arrhenius–Avrami constitutive model. The method consists of calculating the static softening fraction (Xs) and mean recrystallized grain size (ds), implementing an ANN based on data obtained from hot compression tests, using a vacuum chamber in a DIL 805A/D quenching dilatometer at temperatures of 1000, 1050, 1100 and 1200 °C, in passes (ε1 = ε2) of 0.15 and 0.30, a strain rate of 1.0 s−1 and time between passes (tp) of 1, 10, 100, 400, 800 and 1000 s. The constitutive analysis and the experimental and ANN-simulated results were in good agreement, indicating that ASTM F-1586 austenitic stainless steel used as a biomaterial undergoes up to Xs = 40% of softening due solely to static recovery (SRV) in less than 1.0 s interval between passes (tp), followed by metadynamic recrystallization (MDRX) at strains greater than 0.30. At T > 1050 °C, the behavior of the softening curves Xs vs. tp showed the formation of plateaus for long times between passes (tp), delaying the softening kinetics and modifying the profile of the curves produced by the moderate stacking fault energy, γsfe = 69 mJ/m2 and the strain-induced interaction between recrystallization and precipitation (Z-phase). Thus, the use of this ANN allows one to optimize the ideal thermomechanical parameters for distribution and refinement of grains with better mechanical properties.

Effect of deformation pass on softening mechanism and microstructure of 7085 alloy

Thermal deformation plays a key role in improving the comprehensive performance of 7085 aluminium alloy. We simulated the thermal deformation with a Gleeble-3800 thermal simulator under various deformation passes. The results showed that the softening mechanism in every deformation pass is principally recovery, and recrystallisation is relatively low. The sample compression by the single pass deformation at 673 K has the maximum recrystallisation fraction of 27.4%. The recrystallisation fraction of the sample compressed by three passes at 673 K and holding time of 120s reaches 23.2% due to the activation of meta-dynamic recrystallisation. Meanwhile, static recovery is more sufficient and more regular sub-grains (73.8%) are observed. Additionally, multi-pass deformation process is adopted to decrease the texture intensity and grain anisotropy.

Microstructural evolution and kinetic characteristics during metadynamic recrystallization in a Ni-Cr-Mo alloy

The metadynamic recrystallization (MDRX) characteristics of a Ni-Cr-Mo alloy are investigated using the double-pass thermal compression tests. The impacts of double-pass compression parameters on the kinetic features and microstructural changes are clarified. Results signify that the MDRX softening behaviors are remarkably accelerated with increasing of compression temperature, first-pass strain or strain rate. The bulging of the MDRX grain boundary and the annihilation/interaction of substructures become weaken at low compression temperature or small first-pass strain, enhancing the grain refining during MDRX. However, the MDRX grains coarsen rapidly with decrease of strain rate. Based on the comprehensive impact of double-pass compression parameters on softening fraction and grain size, the MDRX kinetic model and MDRX grain size model are developed. The predicted results are well matched the experimental data, which suggests that the established models can precisely characterize the changes of softening characteristics and grain size of the researched alloy during MDRX.

Coupling crystal plasticity and cellular automaton models to study meta-dynamic recrystallization during hot rolling at high strain rates

Predicting microstructure and (micro-)texture evolution during thermo-mechanical processing requires the combined simulation of plastic deformation and recrystallization. Here, a simulation approach based on the coupling of a full-field dislocation density based crystal plasticity model and a cellular automaton model is presented. A regridding/remeshing procedure is used to transfer data between the deformed mesh of the large-strain crystal plasticity model and the regular grid of the cellular automaton. Moreover, a physics based nucleation criterion has been developed based on dislocation density difference and changes in orientation due to deformation. The developed framework is used to study meta-dynamic recrystallization during double-hit compression tests and multi-stand rolling in high-resolution representative volume elements. These simulations reveal a good agreement with experimental results in terms of texture evolution, mechanical behaviour and growth kinetics, while enabling insights regarding the effect of nucleation on kinetics and crystallographic texture evolution.

Numerical Simulation of Microstructure Evolution of Large GCr15 Bar during Multi-Pass Rough Rolling

Severe temperature gradients and inhomogeneous strain distribution exist in the large cross-section of GCr15 bearing steel during the hot bar rolling process, resulting in a complex microstructure evolution in the bar. To promote the performance of the bar, a thermal-mechanical coupled finite element (FE) model was developed to capture the variations in temperature and deformation strain. A subroutine, considering the dynamic recrystallization (DRX), meta-dynamic recrystallization (MDRX), static recrystallization (SRX), and grain growth (GG) of austenite grains of GCr15 steel, was developed and coupled to the FE model to predict the microstructure’s evolution during rough rolling. The simulation implies that the inner part of the bloom is deformed at high temperatures due to the heat generated by plastic deformation and slow heat conduction, while the surface temperature decreases along with the passes. The heavy reduction design with 11 passes was found to introduce higher strains at the center regions than those of the same rough rolling reduction divided into 13 passes. The higher strains at the center regions refined the grain size and promoted microstructure homogeneity. The observation of the microstructures after hot bar rolling confirmed the refinement of the heavy reduction design for rough rolling. Furthermore, the heavy rough rolling reduction was found to be beneficial for alleviating the macrosegregation of the casting bloom.

Metadynamic recrystallization in A5083 aluminum alloy with homogenized and as-extruded initial microstructures

The static softening behavior of A5083 aluminum alloy with different initial microstructures was studied using various characterization techniques. To calculate the recrystallized fraction, in the compression test, a new method based on the offset yield stress method and the Hall–Petch relationship was proposed, which is more accurate than the conventional methods and applicable even when the initial microstructure is complex. And in the stress relaxation test, a method proposed in our previous study was applied, indicating that this method could be employed in materials with incomplete recrystallization or a complex initial microstructure. Although the as-extruded initial microstructure led to a more developed metadynamic recrystallization, the recrystallization became heterogeneous, compared with the homogenized initial microstructure. When the anvil was not unloaded during the interpass time, the resulting external stress accelerated static recovery but impeded metadynamic recrystallization. New insights were discussed that challenge the conventional view in metadynamic recrystallization. First, metadynamic recrystallization always required an incubation time, unless the experimental conditions were sufficiently favorable for recrystallization. Second, when recovery was active, not only the dynamic recrystallized grains but also the recovery-enhanced subgrains were the potential nuclei for the subsequent metadynamic recrystallization.

Further understanding of metadynamic recrystallization through thermomechanical tests and EBSD characterization

To further understand metadynamic recrystallization, various measurement techniques were performed with two materials: SUS316 austenitic steel and A5083 aluminum alloy, which were selected to represent materials with low to medium and high stacking fault energies, respectively. Microstructure characterization using electron backscatter diffraction with the grain orientation spread approach was utilized as a direct measurement technique to study metadynamic recrystallization. Additionally, indirect measurement techniques, including double-pass compression, stress relaxation, and microhardness tests, were conducted. A new approach, including its simplified version, is proposed to determine the recrystallized fraction from the stress relaxation test, which is effective even in the case of incomplete recrystallization. A comparison between various approaches for determining the recrystallized fraction shows their advantages and disadvantages. A further understanding of the metadynamic recrystallization is achieved. First, with careful setup of water cooling, unlike the conventional understanding that metadynamic recrystallization does not require an incubation time, the incubation time is approximately 1 s in both materials and can be reduced to 0 s at high temperatures in SUS316. Second, the retardation effect of external stress on recrystallization in both materials is different because on the one hand recovery competes with recrystallization, while on the other hand recovery promotes the nucleation of recrystallization.

Coupling Crystal Plasticity and Cellular Automaton Models to Study Meta-Dynamic Recrystallization During Hot Rolling at High Strain Rates

Coupling Crystal Plasticity and Cellular Automaton Models to Study Meta-Dynamic Recrystallization During Hot Rolling at High Strain Rates

The metadynamic recrystallization behavior of ultrahigh-strength stainless steel: effects of precipitates and shear bands

The metadynamic recrystallization behavior of Cr-Co-Ni-Mo ultrahigh-strength martensitic stainless steel was studied in a double-pass isothermal compression test, and a metadynamic recrystallization kinetics model for softening was established. The results showed that the metadynamic recrystallization softening rate of the steel not only depended on the deformation temperature and strain rate but was also related to the dynamic precipitation and the local shear bands in the steel. When the deformation temperature was below 1050 °C, the dynamically precipitated M6C carbides pinned the grain boundaries and hindered metadynamic recrystallization. When the steel was deformed at a deformation temperature of 1000∼1050 °C and a strain rate of 1.0∼5.0 s−1, a large number of local shear bands were generated. The local shear bands increased the number of nucleation sites for dynamic recrystallization and enhanced the softening rate of metadynamic recrystallization.

Hierarchical layered and refined grain structure of Inconel 718 superalloy produced by rolling-assisted directed energy deposition

Additive manufacturing (AM) of nickel superalloys typically leads to large columnar grains forming along the build direction, resulting in poor and anisotropic tensile performance. In this work, a novel AM process involving directed energy deposition (DED) combined with in-situ rolling was applied to fabricate a typical nickel superalloy – Inconel 718. The results revealed hierarchical layered refined grains formed in the microstructure, due to the unique dynamic and meta-dynamic recrystallization induced by the in-situ rolling during DED. Through this, an average grain size of ∼8 µm and much weaker texture was achieved for the in-situ rolled samples. Tensile test showed that a significant increase of over 50% in the yield strength was achieved for the in-situ rolled samples at both room temperature and 650°C, while maintaining a good uniform elongation above 10%. • A rolling-assisted DED process has been applied to fabricate Inconel 718 superalloy. • Columnar to equiaxed transition of grains is achieved. • The refined grains (∼8 µm in size) exhibited hierarchical layered distribution. • Over 50% yield strength increment is achieved at both room temperature and 650°C. .

Effects of processing heterogeneities on the micro- to nanostructure strengthening mechanisms of an alloy 718 turbine disk

Advancements in thermo-mechanical processing of Ni-based superalloys enable manufacturing of engineering parts with superior mechanical properties. Forged aeroengine disks exhibit radial microstructural heterogeneities from both pre-materials and prior processing. Here we correlate microstructural variations in an industrially forged alloy 718 aeroengine disks to their processing history via finite element simulations. We examine a disk intentionally manufactured to exhibit hardness variations. Several radial positions are characterized to reveal twin boundaries and δ phase fractions prior to ageing and grain size, geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) densities, chemical compositions, γ′ and γ′′ precipitates in both as-forged and direct aged conditions. We find that localized meta-dynamic recrystallization causes accelerated grain growth in low hardness regions, while highly strained areas accelerate precipitation of strengthening phases. In these areas, the direct ageing effect is weakened by the presence of non-shearable coarsened γ′′ precipitates. Overall, direct ageing is shown to successfully mitigate radial property heterogeneities. We underpin this by a strengthening model elucidating the direct ageing effect on the reduction of hardness heterogeneity. Variations in grain boundary strengthening, work hardening, and solid solution strengthening after direct ageing have low impact on hardness variations, where precipitation strengthening provides as much as 44% of the strength after direct ageing.