Stress-assisted corrosion mechanism of 3Ni steel by using gradient boosting decision tree machining learning method

Traditional 3Ni weathering steel cannot completely meet the requirements for offshore engineering development,resulting in the design of novel 3Ni steel with the addition of microalloy elements such as Mn or Nb for strength enhancement becoming a trend.The stress-assisted corrosion behavior of a novel designed high-strength 3Ni steel was investigated in the current study using the corrosion big data method.The information on the corrosion process was recorded using the galvanic corrosion current monitoring method.The gradi-ent boosting decision tree(GBDT)machine learning method was used to mine the corrosion mechanism,and the importance of the struc-ture factor was investigated.Field exposure tests were conducted to verify the calculated results using the GBDT method.Results indic-ated that the GBDT method can be effectively used to study the influence of structural factors on the corrosion process of 3Ni steel.Dif-ferent mechanisms for the addition of Mn and Cu to the stress-assisted corrosion of 3Ni steel suggested that Mn and Cu have no obvious effect on the corrosion rate of non-stressed 3Ni steel during the early stage of corrosion.When the corrosion reached a stable state,the in-crease in Mn element content increased the corrosion rate of 3Ni steel,while Cu reduced this rate.In the presence of stress,the increase in Mn element content and Cu addition can inhibit the corrosion process.The corrosion law of outdoor-exposed 3Ni steel is consistent with the law based on corrosion big data technology,verifying the reliability of the big data evaluation method and data prediction model selection.

Understanding the Li diffusion mechanism and positive effect of current collector volume expansion in anode free batteries

In anode free batteries(AFBs), the current collector acts as anode simultaneously and has large volume expansion which is generally considered as a negative effect decreasing the structural stability of a battery. Moreover, despite many studies on the fast lithium diffusion in the current collector materials of AFB such as copper and aluminum, the involved Li diffusion mechanism in these materials remains poorly understood. Through first-principles calculation and stress-assisted diffusion equations, here we study the Li diffusion mechanism in several current collectors and related alloys and clarify the effect of volume expansion on Li diffusion respectively. It is suggested that due to the lower Li migration barriers in aluminum and tin, they should be more suitable to be used as AFB anodes, compared to copper, silver, and lead. The Li diffusion facilitation in copper with a certain number of vacancies is proposed to explain why the use of copper with a thickness≤100 nm as the protective coating on the anode improves the lifetime of the batteries. We show that the volume expansion has a positive effect on Li diffusion via mechanical–electrochemical coupling. Namely, the volume expansion caused by Li diffusion will further induce stress which in turn affects the diffusion. These findings not only provide in-depth insight into the operating principle of AFBs, but also open a new route toward design of improved anode through utilizing the positive effect of mechanical–electrochemical coupling.

CRITICAL ISSUES OF POWDER METALLURGY TURBINE DISKS

P/M superalloy disks obtain their final strength by appropriate heat treatments; the maximum attainable strength depends on the rapid cooling rate from the solution annealing. A rapid quench of a large disk forging can cause two problems, surface cracking and shape distortion.In the past,many attempts employ the finite element code to model and to predict temperature evolution and induced stress distribution in a large turbine disk. The major difficulty was the correct description of alloy behavior; particularly the thermomechanical properties and the failure criteria of material during the cooling. High temperature fatigue resistance is always the key requirement for disk materials. New methodology of residual life management emphasizes the initiation as well as the propagation of the cracks developed under the service conditions. One of major challenges to P/M superalloys is the time-dependent behavior of fatigue cracking, which relates to the well-known SAGBO (stress-assisted grain boundary oxidation) phenomenon.A great effort has been done to understand the micro-mechanism of time-dependent fatigue crack propagation resulted in the second generation of P/M superalloys. Further improvement on temperature capability of disk alloys at rim area may lead to the idea of dual-property disks.Different grain structures at different portions of a large disk are possible,as the property requirements for different locations are different. This goal is achievable if the thermal history at specific disk locations can be controlled to develop desirable microstructures and properties.Some suggestions on the future direction of research efforts will be discused.