Contribution of ultrasonic to microstructure and mechanical properties of tilt probe penetrating friction stir welded joint

Tilt probe penetrating friction stir welding(PFSW)was an innovative technology proposed in recent years to avoid the formation of kissing bond in the root of joint.However,with the heat input decreasing,"S"line or zigzag line was easily introduced in the PFSW joint.In this study,ultrasonic enhanced tilt probe penetrating friction stir welding(U-PFSW)was developed to solve this problem and achieve improved joint mechanical properties.The experimental results confirmed that U-PFSW was a potent technology to completely clear the original butt surface,providing a crucial prerequisite for the achievement of highstrength joint.The application of ultrasonic improves the joint tensile strength and fracture elongation from 336 MPa and 4.3%to 359 MPa and 6.8%,respectively.Furthermore,the strength of stir zone was also increased from 391 MPa in PFSW to 420 MPa in U-PFSW.Analyses of texture and precipitate indicated that the dynamic recrystallization(DRX)and precipitation strengthening were both enhanced by the ultrasonic.Ultrasonic-enhanced DRX enabled a complete elimination of the"S"line;the enhanced precipitation strengthening by vacancy-induced mechanism in U-PFSW was the intrinsic reason for the significantly improved mechanical properties.

Simultaneous enhancement of strength and ductility in friction stir processed 2205 duplex stainless steel with a bimodal structure:experiments and crystal plasticity modeling

Achieving excellent strength-ductility synergy is a long-lasting research theme for structural materials.However,attempts to enhance strength usually induce a loss of ductility,i.e.,the strength-ductility trade-off.In the present study,the strength-ductility trade-off in duplex stainless steel(DSS)was overcome by developing a bimodal structure using friction stir processing(FSP).The ultimate tensile strength and elongation were improved by 140%and 109%,respectively,compared with those of the asreceived materials.Plastic deformation and concurrent dynamic recrystallization(DRX)during FSP were responsible for the formation of bimodal structure.Incompatible deformation resulted in the accumulation of dislocations at the phase boundaries,which triggered interpenetrating nucleation between the austenite and ferrite phases during DRX,leading to a bimodal structure.The in situ mechanical responses of the bimodal structure during tensile deformation were investigated by crystal plasticity finite element modeling(CPFEM).The stress field distribution obtained from CPFEM revealed that the simultaneous enhancement of strength and ductility in a bimodal structure could be attributed to the formation of a unique dispersion-strengthened system with the austenite and ferrite phases.It is indicated that the present design of alternating fine austenite and coarse ferrite layers is a promising strategy for optimizing the mechanical properties of DSSs.

Global nonequilibrium energy criterion for predicting strength of 316L stainless steel under complex loadings:Theoretical modeling and experimental validation

Classical strength criteria are developed based on some empirical assumptions and have been widely used in engineering to predict material strength owing to their simplicity. In some cases, however, considerable discrepancies arise between classicalstrength-criteria-based theoretical predictions and experimental results. Recently, a global nonequilibrium thermodynamics model has made important progress over classical models without resorting to any empirical assumptions. A prominent advance of this rational energy model is that it straightforwardly determines the dissipation energy density function, which is pertinent to inherent material ductility, through simple uniaxial and equi-biaxial tensions. In this study, a brief introduction of the nonequilibrium energy model was followed by systematic experimental investigation to determine the dissipation energy function and predict the material strength of pristine 316 L stainless steel-commonly used in engineering-under complex loadings. The results indicated that the strength contours predicted by the nonequilibrium energy criterion for complex loadings are consistent with the experimental results obtained for biaxial tension, implying that the nonequilibrium thermodynamics model is both reasonable and reliable. The prediction error was presumed to be induced by the anisotropy of the 316 L stainless steel sheets.