Effect of Al_(2)O_(3)on the Mechanical Properties of(B_(4)C+Al_(2)O_(3))/Al Neutron Absorbing Materials

B_(4)C/Al composites are widely utilized as neutron absorbing materials for the storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel.In order to improve the high-temperature mechanical properties of B_(4)C/Al composites,in-situ nano-Al_(2)O_(3)was introduced utilizing oxide on Al powder surface.In this study,the Al_(2)O_(3)content was adjusted by utilizing spheroid Al powder with varying diameters,thereby investigating the impact of Al_(2)O_(3)content on the tensile properties of(B_(4)C+Al_(2)O_(3))/Al composites.It was found that the pinning effect of Al_(2)O_(3)on the grain boundaries could hinder the recovery of dislocations and lead to dislocation accumulation at high temperature.As the result,with the increase in Al_(2)O_(3)content and the decrease in grain size,the high-temperature strength of the composites increased significantly.The finest Al powder used in this investigation had a diameter of 1.4μm,whereas the resultant composite exhibited a maximum strength of 251 MPa at room temperature and 133 MPa at 350℃,surpassing that of traditional B_(4)C/Al composites.

Tensile Strength and Electrical Conductivity of Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composites Fabricated by Powder Metallurgy Combined with Friction Stir Processing

A route combining powder metallurgy and subsequent friction stir processing was utilized to fabricate carbon nanotube （CNT） reinforced AI （CNT/AI） and 6061AI （CNT/6061AI） composites. Microstructural observations indicated that CNTs were uniformly dispersed in the matrix in both CNT/AI and CNT/6061AI composites. Mg and Si elements tended to segregate at CNT-AI interfaces in the CNT/6061AI composite during artificial aging treatment. The tensile properties of both the AI and 6061AI were increased by CNT incorporation. The electrical conductivity of CNT/AI was decreased by CNT addition, while CNT/6061AI exhibited an increase in electrical conductivity due to the Mg and Si segregation.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of double-side friction stir welded 6082Al ultra-thick plates

In the present work,80 mm thick 6082Al alloy plates were successfully double-side welded by friction stir welding(FSW).The relationship between the microstructures and mechanical properties was built for the double-side FSW butt joint with more attention paid to the local characteristic zones.It was shown that a phenomenon of microstructural inhomogeneity existed in the nugget zone(NZ)through the thickness direction.The grain size presented an obvious gradient distribution from the top to the bottom for each single-pass weld,and the microhardness values decreased from both surfaces to the middle of the NZ.The lowest hardness zone(LHZ)exhibited a"hyperbolical"-shaped distribution extending to the middle of the NZ.Similar tensile properties were obtained in the three sliced specimens of the FSW joint,and the joint coefficient reached about 70%which achieved the same level as the conventional FSW Al alloy joints.Finite element modeling proved that the"hyperbolical"-shaped heat affected zone(HAZ)was beneficial to resisting the strain concentration in the middle layer specimen which helped to increase the tensile strength.Based on the analysis of the hardness contour map,tensile property and microstructural evolution of the joints,an Isothermal Softening Layer(ISL)model was proposed and established,which may have a helpful guidance for the optimization on the FSW of ultra-thick Al alloy plates.

Effects of welding speed on the multiscale residual stresses in frictionstir welded metal matrix composites

The effects of welding speed on the macroscopic and microscopic residual stresses(RSes) in friction stir welded 17 vol.% SiCp/2009 Al-T4 composite plates were studied via neutron diffraction and an improved decoupled hierarchical multiscale modeling methods. Measurements showed that the macroscopic and total RSes had the largest variations in the longitudinal direction(LD). Increasing the welding speed led to higher values of measured LD macroscopic and total RSes in the matrix. The welding speed also significantly influenced the distributions and magnitudes of the microscopic RSes. The RSes were predicted via an improved hierarchical multiscale model, which includes a constant coefficient of friction based thermal model. The RSes in the composite plates before friction stir welding(FSW) were computed and then set as the initial states of the FSW process during modeling. This improved decoupled multiscale model provided improved predictions of the temperature and RSes compared with our previous model.

Effect of heat-input on pitting corrosion behavior of friction stir welded high nitrogen stainless steel

In this study, different welding param eters were selected to investigate the effects of heat-in put on the microstructure and corrosion resistance of the friction stir welded high nitrogen stainless steel joints. The results show ed that, the welding speed had major influence on the duration at elevated tem perature rather than the peak tem perature. The hardness distribution and tensile properties of the nugget zones (NZs) for various joints were very similar while the pitting corrosion behavior of various NZs showed major differences. Large heat-input resulted in the ferrite bands being the pitting location, while tool wear bands were sensitive to pitting corrosion in the low heat-input joints. Cr diffusion and tool wear were the main reasons for pitting. The mechanisms of pitting corrosion in the NZs were analyzed in detail.

Simulations of deformation and damage processes of SiCp/Al composites during tension

The deformation, damage and failure behaviors of 17 vol.% SiCp/2009AI composite were studied by micro- scopic finite element （FE） models based on a representative volume element （RVE） and a unit cell. The RVE having a 3D realistic microstructure was constructed via computational modeling technique, in which an interface phase with an average thickness of 50 nm was generated for assessing the effects of interracial properties. Modeling results showed that the RVE based FE model was more accurate than the unit cell based one. Based on the RVE, the predicted stress-strain curve and the fracture morphology agreed well with the experimental results. Furthermore, lower interface strength resulted in lower flow stress and ductile damage of interface phase, thereby leading to decreased elongation. It was revealed that the stress concentration factor of SiC was -2.0： the average stress in SiC particles reached -1200 MPa, while that of the composite reached -600 MPa.

Microstructural Evolution and Mechanical Behavior of Friction-Stir-Welded DP1180 Advanced Ultrahigh Strength Steel

Friction stir lap welding of a DP1180 advanced ultrahigh strength steel was successfully carried out by using three welding tools with different pin lengths. The effects of the welding heat input and material flow on the microstructure evolution of the joints were analyzed in detail. The relationship between pin length and mechanical properties of lap joints was studied. The results showed that the peak temperatures of all joints exceeded A c3, and martensite phases with similar morphologies were formed in the stir zones. These martensite retained good toughness due to the self-tempering effect. The formation of ferrite and tempered martensite was the main reason for the hardness reduction in heat-affected zone. The mechanical properties of the lap joints were determined by loading mode, features of lap interface and the joint defects. When the stir pin was inserted into the lower sheet with a depth of 0.4 mm, the lap joint exhibited the maximum tensile strength of 12.4 kN.

Microscopic stresses in carbon nanotube reinforced aluminum matrix composites determined by in-situ neutron diffraction

One of the most desired strengthening mechanisms in the carbon nanotube reinforced aluminum matrix composites(CNT/Al)composites is the load transfer strengthening mechanism(LTSM).However,a fundamental issue concerning the LTSM is that quantitative measurements of load partitioning in these composites during loading are very limited.In this study,in-situ neutron diffraction study on the tensile deformation of the 3 vol.%CNT/2009 Al composite and the unreinforced 2009 Al alloy was conducted.The{311}and{220}diffraction elastic constants(DECs)of the 2009 Al alloy were determined.Using those DECs the average stress in the 2009 Al matrix of the composite was calculated.Then the average stress in the CNTs was separated by using the stress equilibrium condition.Computational homogenization models were also applied to explain the stress evolution in each phase.Predicted results agree with experimental data.In the present case,the average stress in the CNTs reaches 1630 MPa at the yield strength of the composite based on linear regression of the measured data,which leads to an increment of yield strength by about 37 MPa.As the result of this work,an approach to quantify load partitioning in the CNTs is developed for the CNT/Al composites,which can be applied to optimize the mechanical properties of the composites.

Evolution of the Microstructure and Strength in the Nugget Zone of Friction Stir Welded SiCp/Al-Cu-Mg Composite

A 6 mm-thick SiCp/2009AI composite plate was successfully joined by friction stir welding （FSW） using an ultrahard material tool to investigate the evolution of the microstructure and the strength in the nugget zone （NZ）. While some SiC particles were broken up during FSW, most of them rotated in the matrix. Large compound particles on the interfaces were broken off during FSW, whereas the amorphous layer and small compound particles remained on the interfaces. The dynamically recrystallized AI grains nucleated on the surface of fractured SiC particles during FSW, forming nano-sized grains around the SiC particles. The yield strength of the NZ decreased slightly due to the variation in the size, shape, and distribution of the SiC particles. The clean interfaces were beneficial to the load transfer between SiC particles and AI matrix and then increased the ultimate tensile strength of the NZ.

Achieving a strong polypropylene/aluminum alloy friction spot joint via a surface laser processing pretreatment

Strong metal/non-polar plastic dissimilar joints are highly demanded for the lightweight design in many fields,which,however,are rather challenging to achieve directly via welding.In this study,we designed a laser processing pretreatment on the Al alloy to create a deep porous Al surface structure,which was successfully joined to the polypropylene(PP) via friction spot welding.A maximum joint strength of29 MPa was achieved,the same as that of the base PP(i.e.the joint efficiency reached 100%),much larger than ever reported.The joining mechanism of the Al alloy and the PP was mainly attributed to the large mechanical interlocking effect between the laser processed Al porous structure and the re-solidified PP and the formation of chemical bond at the interface.The deep porous Al surface structure modified by laser processing largely changed the Al-PP reaction feature.The evidence of the C-O-Al chemical bond was first time found at the non-polar plastic/Al joint interface,which was the reaction result between the oxide on the Al alloy surface and thermal oxidization products of the PP during welding.This study provides a new way for enhancing metal-plastic joints via surface laser treatment techniques.

Effect of Carbon Nanotube Orientation on Mechanical Properties and Thermal Expansion Coefficient of Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composites

Carbon nanotube-reinforced 2009Al （CNT/2009Al） composites with randomly oriented CNTs and aligned CNTs were fabricated by friction stir processing （FSP） and FSP-rolling, respectively. The CNT/2009A1 composites with aligned CNTs showed much better tensile properties at room temperature and elevated temperature compared with those with the randomly oriented CNTs, which is mainly attributed to larger equivalent aspect ratio of the CNTs and avoidance of preferential fracture problems. However, much finer grain size was not beneficial to obtaining high strength above 473 K. The aligned CNTs resulted in tensile anisotropy, with the best tensile properties being achieved along the direction of CNT aligning. As the off-axis angle increased, the tensile properties were reduced due to the weakening of the load transfer ability. Furthermore, aligned CNTs resulted in much lower coefficient of thermal expansion compared with randomly oriented CNTs.

Microstructure evolution and hot deformation behavior of carbon nanotube reinforced 2009Al composite with bimodal grain structure

The hot deformation behaviors of the bimodal carbon nanotube reinforced 2009Al(CNT/2009Al)composite were studied by establishing processing map and characterizing the microstructure evolution.The results indicate that the grain size in the ultra-fine grained zones was stable during hot deformation,while the coarse grained zones were elongated with their long axis directions tending to be perpendicular to the compression direction.Low temperature with high strain rate(LTHR),as well as high temperature with low strain rate(HTLR)could increase the length/width ratio of the coarse grained zones.However,LTHR and HTLR could cause the instable deformation.The instable deformation at LTHR was induced by severe intragranular plastic deformation and the localized shear crack,while the instable deformation at HTLR resulted from the more deformation component at the coarse grained zones,and the micro-pore initiation due to CNT re-agglomeration at the boundaries between the coarse and the ultra-fine grained zones.

Achieving ultra-high strength friction stir welded joints of high nitrogen stainless steel by forced water cooling

The microstructure and properties of water-cooled and air-cooled friction stir welded（FSW） ultra-high strength high nitrogen stainless steel joints were comparatively studied. With additional rapid cooling by flowing water, the peak temperature and duration at elevated temperature during FSW were significantly reduced. Compared to those in the air-cooled joint, nugget zone with finer grains（900 nm） and heat affected zone with higher dislocation density were successfully obtained in the water-cooled joint,leading to significantly improved mechanical properties. The wear of the welding tool was significantly reduced with water cooling, resulting in better corrosion resistance during the immersion corrosion test.

Effect of static annealing on superplastic behavior of a friction stir welded Ti-6Al-4V alloy joint and microstructural evolution during deformation

Structural integration is one of the most critical developing directions in the modern aerospace field,in which large-scale complex components of Ti alloys are proposed to be fabricated via the method of welding + superplastic forming.However,the undesired strain localization appeared during superplastic deformation of the entire joint has largely hindered the development of this method.In our study,a combination process of friction stir welding(FSW) + static annealing+ superplastic deformation was first time proposed to eliminate severe local deformation.To achieve this result,a fully fine lamellar structure was obtained in the nugget zone(NZ) via FSW,which was totally different from the mill-annealed structure in the base material(BM).After annealing at 900℃ for 180 min,the BM and NZ then exhibited the similar elongation of> 500% and similar flow stress at 900 ℃,3 × 10^(-3)s^(-1),which was the precondition for achieving uniform superplastic deformation in the entire joint.Moreover,the different microstructures in the BM and NZ tended to become the similar equiaxed structure after deformation,which was the result of different microstructural evolution mechanisms in the NZ and BM.For the NZ,there was a static and dynamic spheroidization of the fully lamellar structure during the process,which could largely reduce the flow softening of the fully lamellar structure.For the BM,a new view of "Langdon-CRSS theory"(CRSS,critical resolved shear stress) was proposed to describe the fragmentation of the coarse equiaxed structure,which established the relationship between grain boundary sliding and intragranular deformation during deformation.

A fast numerical method of introducing the strengthening effect of residual stress and strain to tensile behavior of metal matrix composites

Thermal residual stress and strain(TRSS)in particle reinforced metal matrix composites(PRMMCs)are believed to cause strengthening effects,according to previous studies.Here,the representative volume element(RVE)based computational homogenization technique was used to study the tensile deformation of PRMMCs with different particle aspect ratios(AR).The influence of TRSS was assessed quantitatively via comparing simulations with or without the cooling process.It was found that the strengthening effect of TRSS was affected by the particle AR.With the average strengthening effect of TRSS,a fast method of introducing the strengthening effect of TRSS to the tensile behavior of PRMMCs was developed.The new method has reduced the computational cost by a factor 2.The effect of TRSS on continuous fiber-reinforced metal matrix composite was found to have a softening-effect during the entire tensile deformation process because of the pre-yield effect caused by the cooling process.

Influencing mechanism of pre-existing nanoscale Al5Fe2 phase on Mg-Fe interface in friction stir spot welded Al-free ZK60-Q235 joint

Al-free ZK60 magnesium (Mg) alloy sheet was selected as substrate material of Mg-steel pinless friction stir spot welding (FSSW), avoiding the effect of the Al element in the substrate on the alloying reaction of Mg-iron (Fe) interface. The sound FSSW joint of ZK60 Mg alloy and Q235 steel with a hot-dipped aluminum (Al)-containing zinc (Zn) coating was successfully realized. The detailed microstructural examinations proved that Al5Fe2 phase at the Mg-Fe interface came from the pre-existing Al5Fe2 phase in the coating and acted as the transition layer for promoting the metallurgical bonding of Mg and Fe. The interfaces with well-matched lattice sites among Fe, Al5Fe2 and Mg were formed during FSSW. A low energy interface with good match of lattice sites ((002)Al5Fe2//(110)Fe, [110]Al5Fe2//[113]Fe) between Al5Fe2 and Fe was identified. For the interface between Al5Fe2 and Mg, an orientation relationship of (622)Al5Fe2//(3112)Mgand[158]Al5Fe2//[2423]Mg was observed. The tensile-shear load of the ZK60-steel joint could reach 4.6 kN. Moreover, the joint fracture occurred at the interface between the Al5Fe2 layer and the Mg alloy substrate, suggesting the brittle fracture characteristic.

Friction Stir Welding of Discontinuously Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composites:A Review

Friction stir welding （FSW） is considered a promising welding technique for joining the aluminum matrix composites （AMCs） to avoid the drawbacks of the fusion welding. High joint efficiencies of 60%-100% could be obtained in the FSW joints of AMCs. However, due to the existence of hard reinforcing particles in the AMCs, the wearing of welding tool during FSW is an unavoidable problem. Moreover, the low ductility of the AMCs limits the welding process window. As the hard materials such as Ferro-Titanit alloy, cermet, and WC/Co were applied to produce the welding tools, the wearing of the tools was significantly reduced and the sound joints could be achieved at high welding speed for the AMCs with low reinforcement volume fraction. In this article, current state of understanding and development of welding tool wearing and FSW parameters of AMCs are viewed. Furthermore, the factors affecting the microstructure and mechanical properties of the joints are evaluated in detail.

Achieving superior mechanical properties of selective laser melted AlSi10Mg via direct aging treatment

For additive manufactured aluminum alloys,the inferior mechanical properties along the building direction have been a serious weakness.In this study,an optimized heat treatment was developed as a simple and effective solution.The effects of direct aging on microstructure and mechanical properties along the building direction of AlSi10Mg samples produced via selective laser melting(SLM)were investigated.The results showed that,compared with the conventional heat treatment at elevated temperatures,direct aging at temperatures of 130-190℃ could retain the fine grain microstructure of SLM samples and promote further precipitation of Si phase,however,the growth of pores occurred during direct aging.With increasing aging temperature,while finer cell structures were obtained,more and larger pores were developed,resulting in decreased density of the samples.Two types of pore formation mechanisms were identified.Considering the balance between the refinement of cell structure and the growth of pores,aging at 130℃ was determined as the optimized heat treatment for SLM AlSi10Mg samples.The tensile strength along the building direction of the 130℃ aged sample was increased from 403 MPa to 451 MPa,with relatively high elongation of 6.5%.

Evolution mechanisms of microstructure and mechanical properties in a friction stir welded ultrahigh-strength quenching and partitioning steel

Ultrahigh-strength quenching and partitioning(Q&P) steels have attracted strong interests in the auto manufactory,while the comprehensive understanding in the microstructure and mechanical behavior of their welded joints is highly needed to enrich their applications.In the present work,it is designed to make an insight into these imperative conundrums.Equal strength Q&P 1180 steel joints to parent metal were successfully fabricated via friction stir welding(FSW) technique under different parameters. Apparent hardening and softening were observed in stir zone(SZ) and heat-affected zone(HAZ) respectively,whose microstructures strongly depended on the peak temperature and cooling rate during welding.The formation of fresh martensite was the main mechanism for the SZ hardening,while the decomposition of metastable phases played key roles in the microhardness drop of the HAZ.A heat source zone-isothermal phase transition layer model was proposed to clarify the impregnability of the joint strength under parameter variation.The dual-phase structure,nano-carbide particles,tempered initial martensite,and ultrafine-grained ferrite synergistically improved the strain hardening ability of the HAZ,which eventually resulted in the equal strength FSW joints.

Dispersion and Damage of Carbon Nanotubes in Carbon Nanotube/7055Al Composites During High-Energy Ball Milling Process

High-energy ball milling(HEBM)combined with powder metallurgy route was used to fabricate carbon nanotube(CNT)reinforced 7055 Al composites.Two powder morphology evolution processes(HEBM-1 and HEBM-2)were designed to investigate the dispersion and damage of CNTs during HEBM process.HEBM-1 evolution process involved powder fl attening,cold-welding and fracture,while HEBM-2 evolution process consisted of powder fl attening and fracture.For HEBM-1,the repetitive fracture and cold-welding process was effective for dispersing CNTs.However,the powder fl attening process in HEBM-2 was unsuccessful in dispersing CNTs due to two reasons:(1)the thickness of fl aky Al powders exceeded the critical value,and(2)the clustered CNTs embedded in fl aky Al powders could not be unravelled.Because of the broadening of D band and the appearance of a new defect-related D’band,product of I D/I G and full width half maximum of D band,rather than I D/I G,was used to evaluate the actual damage of CNTs.It indicates that the damage of CNTs was severe in powder fl attening and fracture stages,while the damage of CNTs was small in powder cold-welding stage.