Effects of Grain Size and Cryogenic Temperature on the Strain Hardening Behavior of VCoNi Medium‑Entropy Alloys

The mechanical behavior of VCoNi medium-entropy alloys with five different grain sizes at three different temperatures was investigated.The VCoNi alloys with different grain sizes exhibit a traditional strength–ductility trade-off at 77 K,194 K and 293 K.Both the yield strength and the uniform elongation of the VCoNi alloys with similar grain size increase with decreasing the deformation temperature from 293 to 77 K.Obvious strain hardening rate recovery characterized by an evident up-turn behavior at stage II is observed in VCoNi alloys with the grain size above 11.1μm.It is found that the extent of the strain hardening rate recovery increases with increasing grain size or decreasing deformation temperature.This may mainly result from the faster increase in the dislocation multiplication rate caused by the decrease in the dislocation mean free path,the decrease in the absorption of dislocations by grain boundaries and the dynamic recovery from the cross-slip with increasing grain size,as well as the suppressed dynamic recovery at cryogenic temperatures.The critical grain sizes for the occurrence of the recovery of strain hardening rate are determined to be around 9.5μm,8.3μm and 3μm for alloys deformed at 293 K,194 K and 77 K,respectively.The basic mechanism for the strain hardening behavior of the VCoNi alloys associated with grain size and deformation temperature is analyzed.

Evaluation of Tensile and Fatigue Properties of Metals Using Small Specimens

Small specimens are increasingly being used in getting mechanical properties directly when there are limited materials to facilitate standard specimens,which play a great role in the rapid measurement of mechanical properties and residual life assessment of in-service reactor components.Although tensile and fatigue properties of the small specimens are investigated extensively,theoretical models for describing the mechanical properties of small specimens need to be established.Here,we conduct a systematic investigation of tensile and fatigue properties of pure Cu specimens with thicknesses ranging from 3 to 0.2 mm.The results show that the decrease in uniform elongation of the 0.2 mm-thick specimens is mainly due to the efects of grain boundary and free surface on the strain hardening rate.A modifed theoretical model correlated with the ratio of the surface grain layer thickness to the grain size is proposed to predict variation in yield strength of the small specimens more accurately.Furthermore,the mechanism for the diference in fatigue life between the 0.2 mm-thick specimen and other thicker specimens is elucidated.The Basquin equation-based model is presented as a potential way to evaluate the fatigue life of metals using small specimens.