Strain-induced Phase Transformation Research Articles

Strain-Assisted Phase Transformation in Two-Dimensional Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides.

Two-dimensional polymorphic transition-metal dichalcogenides have drawn attention for their diverse applications. This work explores the complex interplay between strain-induced phase transformation and crack growth behavior in annealed nanocrystalline MoS2. Employing molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, this research focuses on the effect of grain size, misorientation, and annealing on phase evolution and their effects on the mechanical behavior of MoS2. First, examining phase transformation in monocrystalline MoS2 under various stress states reveals distinct behaviors depending on the initial phase (1T or 2H) and crystallographic orientation with respect to loading directions. Notably, transformation from a layered hexagonal to a body-centered tetragonal structure is more noticeable when strain in a zigzag direction is applied to the 1T sample. As such, single crystalline MoS2 with a 1T phase exhibits a 16% lower fracture stress in the armchair direction compared to that with a 2H phase. On the other hand, the 1T phase shows a 5% higher phonon lifetime compared to the 2H phase with similar phonon group velocities. Next, the influence of thermal energy and mechanical stress on the phase transformation of nanocrystalline MoS2 is investigated through annealing and quenching cycles, uncovering 60 and 44% irreversibility of phase transformation for an average grain size of 3 and 11 nm, respectively. Besides, the evolution of nanocrystalline samples with different initial phases and grain sizes is studied under uniaxial and biaxial stress. This study shows an inverse pseudo-Hall-Petch effect with exponents of 0.11 and 0.09 for 2H and 1T, respectively. The study reveals that phase transformation can occur concurrently with crack initiation and propagation with the 1T phase exhibiting a 19% lower grain size sensitivity of fracture stress compared to the 2H phase.

Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of Al/Mg–Li/Al laminate metallic composites via hot roll bonding and subsequent cryorolling

Hot roll (HR) bonded Al/Mg–Li laminated metallic composites (LMCs) were subsequent processed using room-temperature rolling (RTR) and cryorolling (CR), respectively. Afterward, the mechanical properties and the microstructure evolution of these LMCs under different rolling temperatures and reductions were studied. The results revealed that the Al/Mg–Li LMCs in the HR + CR1 group (a total reduction of 67 %) exhibited the best comprehensive mechanical properties, with the ultimate tensile strength and elongation ratio of 176.8 MPa and 10 %, respectively. The SEM and EBSD results revealed that the intermediate Mg–Li layer underwent an intense strain-induced phase transformation from the β-Li phase to the α-Mg phase during the RTR, while the strain-induced phase transformation during CR was inhibited due to the gradual atomic diffusion and insufficient driving energy. Therefore, the fraction of the β-Li phases in the Mg–Li layer was higher in HR + CR LMCs compared to HR + RTR LMCs, with the α-Mg phases in the former being evenly distributed in its β-Li matrix. Both β-Li and α-Mg phases in the Mg–Li layer held the stress and strain to ensure the ductility of the Mg–Li layer, which could consequently co-deform with the Al layers, thereby increasing the tensile strength and the elongation simultaneously in HR + CR LMCs. The XRD results revealed that during CR, multiple prismatic <a> slip systems and pyramidal <c+a> slip systems were activated in α-Mg phases, and the slip systems {110}<111>, {123}<111>, and {112}<111> were activated in β-Li phases simultaneously. The activation of a greater number of slip systems in both β-Li and α-Mg phases improved the overall ductility of the LMCs.

Improvements in bonding through ultrasonic additive manufacturing of titanium by stabilizing displacive phase transformations

The development of advanced materials to operate in extreme environments (temperature, pressure, strain rate, irradiation, etc.) is essential to meet future energy challenges. In addition to being an advanced solid state bonding technique, ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM) can be considered as a type of extreme environment due to the high strain and high strain rate deformation that is created. Understanding the physical processes that occur in this extreme environment can be valuable to creating new desirable microstructures and/or phase changes. Although UAM has demonstrated great success in bonding a variety of materials, the underlying science mechanisms controlling the bonding are not well quantified. We observed crystal structure changes from hexagonal closed packed (HCP) to body centered cubic (BCC) in Ti and Ti alloy specimens occurring within ∼0.5 s following UAM bonding with an estimated peak temperature of ∼400 °C. Extensive interdiffusion of elements (0.2 µm – 2 µm depending on location) occurred that does not conform to thermal equilibrium bulk or grain boundary diffusion. We present evidence that a significant concentration of deformation induced vacancies Xv (between 10−4 - 10−6 atomic fraction) was created during UAM, approximately ten orders of magnitude higher than the Xv value of ∼10−15 expected for thermal equilibrium conditions. This caused pronounced metallurgical changes including rapid elemental diffusion, strain induced phase transformation, and bonding. We examined this UAM-induced severe plastic deformation on a variety of materials and performed uncertainty calculations from the measurements.

Effects of mechanical deformation on dislocation density and phase partitioning in 4130 steel

Interrupted tensile tests were performed on an AISI 4130 pressure vessel steel and investigated by neutron diffraction and scanning microscopy techniques. Analysis of the neutron diffraction patterns reveal a partitioning of ferrite and martensite phases resulting from deformation. A modified Williamson-Hall approach was used to model the broadening of Bragg peaks associated with the two phases as a function of applied strain, revealing an order of magnitude increase in their dislocation densities when the material was strained beyond the ultimate tensile strength (UTS). Lattice strains measured in the ferrite phase were consistently larger than those measured in the martensite phase for all the applied strain levels investigated. Moreover, a strain-induced phase transformation from a predominately martensitic steel to a ferritic steel was observed, with the average martensite phase fraction of an as-received specimen going from 78% to 22% when pulled to failure. Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) and Scanning Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (SKPFM) were used to characterize the microstructure and phase fractions of ferrite and martensite associated with the various strain levels. These results agree well with those obtained from neutron diffraction and demonstrate the utility of SKPFM to distinguish between metallic phases with similar crystal structures that may be difficult to detect using conventional methods such as EBSD.

Relationship between β→α dynamic transformation and dynamic recrystallization under thermomechanical coupling in Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe alloy

The thermal simulation compression tests of near-β titanium alloy Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe were performed within the range of deformation temperatures of 710–860 °C and strain rates of 0.001–1 s–1. Based on electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) characterization and analysis technology, the interaction between dynamic phase transformation (DPT) of β-to-α and dynamic recrystallization (DRX) under thermal-mechanical coupling is deeply and systematically explored. We clarify the effects of temperatures and strain rates on the orientation relationship during dynamic precipitation of α-phase within β grain interiors possessing special orientation. The results show that the intragranular α-phase precipitated on the subgrain boundaries near {001}β with a high degree of dynamic recovery (DRV) deviates more from Burgers Orientation Relationship (BOR) than the α-phase that precipitates near {111}β as temperature increases. The proportion of α-phase precipitated by strain-induced on β recrystallized equiaxed grains for the deviating angle from BOR (θBOR) in the range of 20°–30° increases to 40% with the increase of strain rates below 800 °C. In addition, the α-phase is dynamically precipitated on the grain boundaries with {110}β orientation, which undergoes continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX), exhibiting epitaxial recrystallization, namely {110}β//{0001}α. Furthermore, the morphology of grain boundaries α phase (αGBs) precipitated by strain-induced phase transformation (SIPT) on specific types of β grain boundaries (βGBs), as well as the crystallographic orientation relationship and variant selection effect between adjacent α-variant within β grains are elucidated. The orientation relationships between α variants in {111}β grain are related with each other by 50°–60°/<–12–10> and 60°–70°/<–48–43> rotation. The “necklace” αGBs of recrystallization exhibit mainly the rotation of 50°–70° around the 〈2–310〉 zone axis, while the adjacent α-variant in the grain interiors is mainly 60° or 90°/<12−30>. In summary, the study has contributed to a deeper understanding of the deformation behavior and DPT laws of β-to-αp in near-β titanium alloy, which lays a foundation for the optimization of the hot deformation process and mechanical properties.

Structural and Functional Properties of Si and Related Semiconducting Materials Processed by High-Pressure Torsion

We report on the HPT processing of Si and related semiconducting materials, and discuss the phase transformation and the electrical, thermal, and optical properties. In-situ synchrotron x-ray diffraction revealed that the metastable bc8-structure Si-III and r8-structure Si-XII in the HPT-processed Si samples gradually disappeared and hexagonal-diamond Si-IV appeared during annealing up to 473 K. The formation of Si-III/XII in the samples processed at a nominal pressure of 6 GPa indicated the strain-induced phase transformation from Si-I to a high-pressure tetragonal Si-II phase during HPT processing, and a following phase transformation from Si-II to Si-III/XII upon decompression. The resistivity decreased with increasing the number of anvil rotations due to the formation of semimetallic Si-III. The thermal conductivity of Si was reduced to ~3 W m–1 K–1 after HPT processing. A weak and broad photoluminescence peak associated with Si-I nanograins appeared in the visible light region after annealing. Metastable bc8-Si0.5Ge0.5 with a semimetallic property was formed by HPT processing of a traveling-liquidus-zone-grown Si0.5Ge0.5 crystal. These results indicate that the application of HPT processing to Si and related semiconductors pave the way to novel devices utilizing nanograins and metastable phases.

Development of two-dimensional temperature field solution method based on the stress–strain response of 316LN stainless steel at cryogenic temperatures

To better understand the tensile fracture behavior and temperature variation during the tension testing of the 316LN at cryogenic temperatures, a two-dimensional temperature field solution method is developed based on two-dimensional strain field measured by the digital image correlation technology combined with the Taylor Quinney coefficient model and the intrinsic model of strain-induced martensitic phase transformation. The method allows for visualization of the strain field and temperature variation of the 316LN austenitic stainless steel at cryogenic temperature. By numerical simulation, the localized temperature elevation of the 316LN is determined to be 13.3 K during the tensile test at 77 K, which is in good agreement with the experimental result of 10.2 K. This model reconstructed the two-dimensional temperature field variation throughout the entire tensile test, which is beneficial for facilitating the analysis of the mutual relation between the mechanical properties and microstructural evolution of the 316LN and other metastable austenitic stainless steels in cryogenic temperatures.

Influence of Plastic Anisotropy and Strain path on strain-induced Phase Transformation of Cobalt

Influence of Plastic Anisotropy and Strain path on strain-induced Phase Transformation of Cobalt

Orientation dependence of the effect of short-range ordering on the plastic deformation of a medium entropy alloy

Multi-principal-element alloys (also known as medium and high entropy alloys) offer a much larger and richer design space than conventional alloys, providing opportunities for discovering new functionalities and their governing physics. Some of these alloys exhibit an outstanding combination of high strength and ductility, linked to the activation of various deformation modes triggered by low-energy stacking faults. However, a pressing question remains: Is the plasticity of medium- and high-entropy alloys governed only by stacking fault energy, or does atomic short-range order (SRO) play a role? To answer this, we investigated how SRO affects the deformation in single-crystalline NiCoCr, with previous contradictory findings. First, we established unique experimental evidence for SRO formation in bulk single crystals using high-energy synchrotron transmission X-Ray Diffraction. By tuning the degree of SRO by aging at high temperatures, twinning density and strain-induced martensitic phase transformation can be significantly increased in the [110] and [111] orientations under tension, increasing the tensile ductility; yet, no increase was observed along the [001] orientation due to lack of TWinning-Induced Plasticity (TWIP) or TRansformation-Induced Plasticity (TRIP), indicating a strong crystallographic orientation dependence. Our first-principles thermodynamic calculations unequivocally show SRO exists and governs the observed microstructural evolution and deformation hardening behavior. Here we find direct proof that SRO triggers a simultaneous TWIP and TRIP in NiCoCr, a rare microstructural evolution path. Our findings establish that the interplay of SRO and plasticity could be exploited to alter deformation modes and yield unprecedented mechanical response in medium- and high-entropy alloys.

The effect of strain induced phase transformation on the thermal expansion compatibility of plasma sprayed spinel coating on SOFC metallic interconnect – A study using in-situ high temperature X-ray diffraction

A new and novel approach has been adopted in this study to evaluate thermal mismatch induced by thermal expansion in substrate-coating contact pairs using in-situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction (HT-XRD). Atmospheric plasma sprayed (APS) Mn1.0Co1.9Fe0.1O4(MCF) coating on Crofer 22 APU steel interconnect was investigated. In-situ HT-XRD was performed individually for substrate and coating from 25 °C to 900 °C. Diffraction data were recorded for different temperatures to obtain lattice parameters and strain as a function of temperature. The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of MCF coating was slightly higher than steel substrate and showed no significant thermal expansion mismatch till 700 °C. The increasing lattice strain measured by Scherrer and Williamson-Hall methods indicates strain-induced phase transformation of MCF coating with temperature, supporting the phase transformation-induced self-healing phenomenon of MCF coating. The merit of in-situ HT-XRD as a tool for optimizing operating temperature and measuring thermal mismatch of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stacks has been discussed.

Strain-Induced Phase Transformation Modeling of QP980 Steel and Its Application to Complex Loading Paths

Quenching and partitioning (QP) steel has attracted much focus due to the effect of phase transformation induced plasticity (TRIP). However, the TRIP behavior makes it difficult to accurately predict the strain and stress distribution as well as the phase transformation behavior of QP steel. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the QP980 microstructure were produced in this study, characterized by a combination of lath martensite, polygonal ferrite and retained austenite. The volume fraction evolution of retained austenite with equivalent plastic strain (EPS) of uniaxial tension was obtained by electron-backscatter diffraction. The phase transformation kinetics equations of QP980 were deduced based on the phase transformation model proposed by Olson and Cohen (simplified as O-C theory), considering the effects of strain rate, deformation temperature and stress state. A constitutive model on the dependence of the phase transformation was proposed to reveal the relation between metallographic characteristics and mechanical performance of QP980 steel during deformation. The User subroutine VUMAT in ABAQUS/Explicit was implemented to describe the volume fraction of retained austenite (VFRA) under different stress states. The established phase transformation and constitutive model were applied to three kinds of complex path loading tests. The variation in the retained austenite under complex strain paths was obtained and compared with the experimental results.

Anomalous fatigue crack propagation behavior in near-threshold region of L-PBF prepared austenitic stainless steel

Laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) process produces a specific non-equilibrium microstructure with properties significantly different from those of conventionally processed materials. In the present study, the near-threshold fatigue crack propagation in austenitic stainless steel 304L processed by L-PBF was investigated. Three series of specimens with different orientation of initial notch with respect to build direction were manufactured in order to evaluate the effect of specimen orientation on the near-threshold fatigue crack propagation behavior. The results showed absence of the orientation dependence of the fatigue crack propagation behavior. In addition, abnormally low threshold stress intensity factor values were recorded, which were attributed to the absence of crack closure even at low load ratio (R = 0.1). In order to explain observed behavior, the specimens of selected orientation were heat treated to relieve build-in residual stresses (HT1) and to create recrystallized microstructure (HT2) comparable to conventionally processed (wrought) stainless steels. It was found that the characteristic microstructure produced by L-PBF is the main reason for the absence of crack closure and the low threshold values at low load ratios. As-built microstructure containing sub-micron dislocation cell-substructure is prone to cyclic instability. In the crack tip region, cyclic plasticity results in strain-induced phase transformation and continuous thin martensitic layer is formed in the crack vicinity. The induced martensite phase is softer compared to the austenite matrix strengthened by cell-substructure. Together with cyclic instability of the matrix, the macroscopic cyclic softening occurs as the result within the crack tip region. Under such conditions, the formation of the plasticity-induced and roughness-induced crack closure is significantly reduced and macroscopic resistance to the fatigue crack propagation is low.

Microscale Strain Localizations and Strain-Induced Martensitic Phase Transformation in Austenitic Steel 301LN at Different Strain Rates

Microscopic strain and strain-induced phase transformation during plastic deformation in metastable austenitic steel were investigated at different strain rates. Quasi in-situ tension tests were performed sequentially with well-defined elongation intervals at room temperature at strain rates of 10−3 s−1 and 10−1 s−1. The tests were monitored by high-resolution optical imaging with a microscopic lens at a resolution of 0.23 µm/pixel. The macroscopic temperature was also measured with an infrared (IR) camera. The microstructure-level strain localizations were observed on the surface of the etched specimens by means of microscale digital image correlation (µDIC). Additionally, the microstructure was characterized by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) at the same location before and after deformation. The results of the study indicated that microscopic strain localizations favored the formation of α′-martensite particles. At the lower strain rate, high local strain concentrations formed at several locations in the microstructure, correlating with the areas where the formation of large martensite islands occurred. Martensite particles of various sizes formed nearby each other at the lower strain rate, whereas at the higher strain rate, martensite islands remained small and isolated. Although the macroscopic increase in temperature at both the studied strain rates was very low, at the higher strain rate, local heating on the microscopic scale could take place at the newly nucleated martensite embryos. This inhibited the further growth of the martensite particles, and local strain distribution also remained more homogeneous than at the lower strain rate.

Alternative Sample Preparation of Co-28Cr-6Mo to Avoid Strain-induced Phase Transformation

Alternative Sample Preparation of Co-28Cr-6Mo to Avoid Strain-induced Phase Transformation

Deformation behaviors of a Fe-20Mn-3Al-3Si TRIP steel under quasi-static compression and dynamic impact

Strain induced phase transformation is one of the fundamental strengthening methods for transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels with low stacking fault energy. In this study, the deformation products of a Fe-20Mn-3Al-3Si TRIP steel after quasi-static compression and dynamic impact were investigated comparatively, to elucidate the effect of strain rate on the deformation mechanisms of this steel. Compared to quasi-static compressive deformation, the strain induced martensitic transformation including the formation of ε-martensite and α'-martensite is significantly inhibited under the dynamic loading, and the dynamic recovery of dislocation is promoted as well. Moreover, large quantities of strain induced ε-martensite twins including {101¯1} and {101¯2} ε-twins are formed at the intersections of two ε-martensite laths instead of the formation of α'-martensite in the dynamic impact sample. Due to the transformation of deformation mechanism and lower dislocation density increment, the impact deformation sample shows a lower strain hardening ability during the process of plastic deformation compared with the quasi-static compression sample. Our findings clarify the deformation behavior of the Fe-Mn-Al-Si TRIP steel subjected by dynamic deformation and enrich the theories of strain induced phase transformation.

A large deformation constitutive model for plastic strain-induced phase transformation of stainless steels at cryogenic temperatures

In this paper, a new constitutive model for plastic behavior of the metastable austenitic stainless steels at cryogenic temperatures is presented. The constitutive model is a phenomenological hyperelastic-based large deformation model developed in the framework of continuum damage mechanics considering the dissipative phenomena of strain-induced phase transformation and damage growth during plastic deformation. To solve the coupled nonlinear set of equations, incremental equations and the related implicit integration method have been developed. Numerical analysis is performed by implementing the constitutive model in a UMAT subroutine in ABAQUS/STANDARD. In addition, experiments have been conducted to identify the material model parameters for AISI304 steel at the 77K temperature. In addition to calibration, the constitutive model was validated via a tensile test of a notched sample. Also, the model has been compared with the experimental data at 4.2 K available in the literature. The results show that the model is well able to predict the hardening behavior, martensite evolution, and damage growth during the plastic deformation until the fracture with acceptable accuracy.

Macro-Scale strain localization in highly irradiated stainless steel investigated using digital image correlation

Low-temperature radiation hardening and embrittlement is a major life-limiting radiation effect in austenitic stainless steels (AuSS). A strain-induced phase transformation to martensite is observed during plastic deformation of low-Ni AuSS, often increasing strain hardening and reducing ductility. However, in this paper we show an unexpectedly high ductility of 18–37% during room-temperature mechanical testing of a 0.12C–18Cr–10Ni–0.8Ti AuSS (AISI 321 analogue) cut from the hexagonal wrapper of a fuel assembly irradiated in the BN-350 sodium-cooled fast reactor located in Aktau, Kazakhstan. Using digital image correlation, we reveal two completely different deformation mechanisms in samples with the same chemical composition, irradiated to very similar doses. The roles of the martensitic γ→α′ transformation and neutron irradiation parameters explain the differences between plastic deformation mechanisms in the specimens.

Synergistic Effects of Crystal Phase and Strain for N2 Dissociation on Ru(0001) Surfaces with Multilayered Hexagonal Close-Packed Structures.

The synergistic effects of strain and crystal phase on the reaction activity of nitrogen molecule dissociation have been studied using density functional theory calculations on Ru(0001) surfaces with multilayered hexagonal close-packed structures. The phase transformation from hexagonal close-packed phase (2H) to face-centered cubic (3C) phase or unconventional phases (4H, DHCP, 6H1, and 6H2) would occur under the uniaxial tensile strain loaded along the c axis. The close-packed surfaces of unconventional crystal phases show an enhanced chemical reactivity for N adsorption due to the upshifted d-band center of Ru. However, the N2 adsorption energy is almost independent of the applied strain and crystal phase. The optimized catalytic activity of Ru(0001) surfaces with the unconventional phases is found for the N2 dissociation through breaking the scaling relationships between the reaction barrier and reaction energy. Our results indicate that the strain-induced phase transformation is an effective method to improve the catalytic activity of noble metal catalysts toward the N2 dissociation reaction.

Crystal plasticity modeling of transformation plasticity and adiabatic heating effects of metastable austenitic stainless steels

Strain induced phase transformation in metastable 301LN stainless steel generates a heterogeneous multiphase microstructure with a capability to achieve excellent strain hardening. The microstructural deformation mechanisms, prior deformation history and their dependency on strain rate and temperature determine much of the desired dynamically evolving strength of the material. To analyze microscale deformation of the material and obtain suitable computational tools to aid material development, this work formulates a crystal plasticity model involving a phase transformation mechanism together with dislocation slip in parent austenite and child martensite. The model is used to investigate microstructural deformation with computational polycrystalline aggregates. In this context, material’s strain hardening and phase transformation characteristics are analyzed in a range of quasi-static and dynamic strain rates. Adiabatic heating effects are accounted for in the model framework to elucidate the role of grain level heating under the assumption of fully adiabatic conditions. The model’s temperature dependency is analyzed. The modeling results show good agreement with experimental findings.

Investigation of Correlation Between Fracture Toughness and Charpy Impact Energy of Cryogenic Steel Welds.

The high manganese steel was developed to improve the fracture toughness and safety at cryogenic temperatures, the austenite structure was formed by increasing the manganese (Mn) content. The developed weld high manganese steel was alloyed with austenite stabilizing elements (e.g., C, Mn, and Ni) for cryogenic toughness and fluxes contained less than 10% of acidic slag formers such as rutile (TiO₂) and silica (SiO₂). This paper describes the work carried out to enhance the fracture toughness of Mn contents in an economical way by means of increase of manganese up to 23% instead of using nickel (Ni) which has unique element to improve fracture toughness especially at cryogenic steel. The new cryogenic steels should be carefully evaluated in terms of safety for application in real structures including LNG ships. In this study, the fracture toughness performance was evaluated for recently developed cryogenic steels (high-Mn steels), especially the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) parameter was evaluated using the prediction formula proposed by conventional equation. The CTOD value was investigated the effect of microstructure and mechanical properties of Fe-C-Mn and Fe-C-Mn-Ni high manganese steel, it was revealed that the e-martesnsite phase formed in high manganese steel of 0.2C-20Mn and 0.4C-20Mn as a result of a low stability of austenite upon strain-induced phase transformation.