Toughening ultrastrong low-density steel by textured δ-ferrite lamellas

By both the Charpy V-notched impact and the projectile tests, we here investigated the dynamic fracture behavior of a recently developed ultrastrong lightweight steel comprising a hierarchical martensitic matrix, dispersed ultra-fine-retained austenite grains and oriented δ-ferrite lamellas, the latter being due to high Al and Si contents employed for low-density design. This steel shows a superior combination of specific ultimate tensile strength and impact toughness to other ultrastrong steels and has successfully arrested a real steel-cored bullet shot. These are attributed to the densely textured δ-ferrite lamellas that can deflect the propagating cracks until they are trapped and enclosed besides austenite-to-martensite transformation crack closure, leading to more energy consumed before failure. These results suggest a new pathway for toughening ultrastrong lightweight steels.

Exact solution of free vibration of adjacent buildings interconnected by visco-elastic dampers

With consideration of a high-rise coupled building system,a flexible beams-based analytical model is setup to characterize the dynamic behavior of the system.The general motion equation for the two beams interconnected by multiple viscous/visco-elastic dampers is rewritten into a non-dimensional form to identify the minimal set of parameters governing the dynamic characteristics.The corresponding exact solution suitable for arbitrary boundary conditions is presented.Furthermore,the methodology for computing the coefficients of the modal shape function is proposed.As an example,the explicit expression of the modal shape function is derived,provided only one damper is adopted to connect the adjacent buildings.Finally,to validate the proposed methodologies,three case studies are performed,in which the existence of the overdamping and the optimal damping coefficient are revealed.In the case of using one damper in connecting two similar buildings,the estimating equations for the first modal damping ratio are formulated.

Ultrahigh tensile strength achieved in a lightweight medium Mn steel via prominent work hardening

We develop a new ultrastrong medium Mn steel with a density reduced to 7.39 g cm^(-3).It has a novel tri-phase microstructure comprising a hierarchical martensitic matrix(α’),dispersed ultra-fine-retained austenite grains(γ),and both compressed and{200}orientedδ-ferrite lamellas,the latter’s formation is due to the alloying of high Al and Si contents for reducing density.As a result,both ultrahigh ultimate tensile strength of 2.1 GPa and good ductility of 16%are achieved after an extraordinary plastic strain hardening increment of about 1.4 GPa.The in-situ synchrotron-based high-energy(HE)X-ray diffraction(XRD)examinations during the tensile deformation revealed that the initial presence of residual com-pressive stress inδ-ferrite could increase the stress required to initiate the plastic tensile deformation of the specimen,leading to the isolatedδ-ferrite lamellas mostly deformed elastically to coordinate the plastic deformation of the martensitic matrix during yielding.During the plastic deformation,the gradual release of residual compressive stress inδandα’,the dislocation multiplication in all the three phases and the successiveγ-to-α’transformation all contribute to such a prominent work hardening increment.This study facilitates the development of novel strategies for fabricating ultrastrong but light steels.