Superplasticity of fine-grained Mg-10Li alloy prepared by severe plastic deformation and understanding its deformation mechanisms

The superplastic behavior and associated deformation mechanisms of a fine-grained Mg-10.1 Li-0.8Al-0.6Zn alloy(LAZ1011)with a grain size of 3.2μm,primarily composed of the BCCβphase and a small amount of the HCPαphase,were examined in a temperature range of 473 K to 623 K.The microstructural refinement of this alloy was achieved by employing high-ratio differential speed rolling.The best superplasticity was achieved at 523 K and at strain rates of 10^(-4)-5×10^(-4)s^(-1),where tensile elongations of 550±600%were obtained.During the heating and holding stage of the tensile samples prior to tensile loading,a significant increase in grain size was observed at temperatures above 573 K.Therefore,it was important to consider this effect when analyzing and understanding the superplastic deformation behavior and mechanisms.In the investigated strain rate range,the superplastic flow at low strain rates was governed by lattice diffusion-controlled grain boundary sliding,while at high strain rates,lattice diffusion-controlled dislocation climb creep was the rate-controlling deformation mechanism.It was concluded that solute drag creep is unlikely to occur.During the late stages of deformation at 523 K,it was observed that grain boundary sliding led to the agglomeration of theαphase,resulting in significant strain hardening.Deformation mechanism maps were constructed forβ-Mg-Li alloys in the form of 2D and 3D formats as a function of strain rate,stress,temperature,and grain size,using the constitutive equations for various deformation mechanisms derived based on the data of the current tests.

Plastic deformation behavior of a Cu-10Ta alloy under strong impact loading

In this work,a Cu-10Ta alloy with a copper to tantalum mass ratio of 9:1 is prepared using powder metallurgy technology.Physical properties of the alloy,including density,microstructure,melting point,and constant-volume specific heat,are tested.Via the split Hopkinson pressure bar(SHPB)and flyerplate impact experiments,the relationship between equivalent stress and equivalent plastic strain of the material is studied at temperatures of 298-823 K and under strain rates of 1×10^(-3)-5.2×10^(3)s^(-1),and the Hugoniot relationship at impact pressures of 1.46-17.25 GPa and impact velocities of 108-942 m/s is obtained.Evolution of the Cu-10Ta microstructure that occurs during high-strain-rate impact is analyzed.Results indicate that the Cu-10Ta alloy possesses good thermal stability,and at ambient temperatures of up to 50%its melting point,stress softening of less than 15%of the initial strength is observed.A modified J-C constitutive model is employed to accurately predict the variation of yield strength with strain rate.Under strong impact,the copper phase is identified as the primary source of plastic deformation in the Cu-10Ta alloy,while significant deformation of the high-strength tantalum particles is less pronounced.Furthermore,the longitudinal wave speed D is found to correlate linearly with the particle velocity u upon strong impact.Analysis reveals that the sound speed and spallation strength of the alloy increase with increasing impact pressure.

Study on creep deformation and energy development of underground surrounding rock under four‐dimensional support

There is an urgent need to develop optimal solutions for deformation control of deep high‐stress roadways,one of the critical problems in underground engineering.The previously proposed four‐dimensional support(hereinafter 4D support),as a new support technology,can set the roadway surrounding rock under three‐dimensional pressure in the new balanced structure,and prevent instability of surrounding rock in underground engineering.However,the influence of roadway depth and creep deformation on the surrounding rock supported by 4D support is still unknown.This study investigated the influence of roadway depth and creep deformation time on the instability of surrounding rock by analyzing the energy development.The elastic strain energy was analyzed using the program redeveloped in FLAC3D.The numerical simulation results indicate that the combined support mode of 4D roof supports and conventional side supports is highly applicable to the stability control of surrounding rock with a roadway depth exceeding 520 m.With the increase of roadway depth,4D support can effectively restrain the area and depth of plastic deformation in the surrounding rock.Further,4D support limits the accumulation range and rate of elastic strain energy as the creep deformation time increases.4D support can effectively reduce the plastic deformation of roadway surrounding rock and maintain the stability for a long deformation period of 6 months.As confirmed by in situ monitoring results,4D support is more effective for the long‐term stability control of surrounding rock than conventional support.

Structure,strength and superplasticity of ultrafine-grained 1570C aluminum alloy subjected to different thermomechanical processing routes based on severe plastic deformation

A comparative study of the structure and mechanical behavior of an Al-5 Mg-0.18 Mn-0.2 Sc-0.08 Zr-0.01 Fe-0.01 Si(wt.%)alloy ingot subjected to multidirectional isothermal forging(MIF)to a strain of 12 or equal-channel angular pressing(ECAP)to a strain of 10 at 325℃,and subsequent warm and cold rolling(WR and CR)at 325 and 20℃,was performed.The results showed that the MIF process of ultrafine-grained structure with a(sub)grain size dUFG=2μm resulted in enhanced room-temperature ductility and superplastic elongation up to 2800%.Further grain refinement under WR as well as development of a heavily-deformed microstructure with high dislocation density by subsequent CR resulted in a yield/ultimate tensile strength increase from 235/360 MPa after MIF to 315/460 and 400/515 MPa after WR and CR,respectively.Simultaneously,WR led to improved superplastic elongation up to 4000%,while after CR the elongation remained sufficiently high(up to 1500%).Compared with MIF,ECAP resulted in more profound grain refinement(dUFG=1μm),which promoted higher strength and superplastic properties.However,this effect smoothed down upon WR,ensuring equal properties of the processed sheets.CR of the ECAPed alloy,in contrast,led to higher strengthening and slightly better superplastic behavior than those after CR following MIF.

Molecular dynamics simulation on plasticity deformation mechanism and failure near void for magnesium alloy

The plastic deformation processes of magnesium alloys near a void at atomic scale level were examined through molecular dynamics(MD)simulation.The modified embedded atom method(MEAM)potentials were employed to characterize the interaction between atoms of the magnesium alloy specimen with only a void.The void growth and crystal failure processes for hexagonal close-packed(hcp)structure were observed.The calculating results reveal that the deformation mechanism near a void in magnesium alloy is a complex process.The passivation around the void,dislocation emission,and coalescence of the void and micro-cavities lead to rapid void growth.

Influence of niobium and yttrium on plastic deformation energy and plasticity of Ti-based amorphous alloys

Many amorphous alloys have been developed to date,but the low plasticity has limited their application.To achieve an amorphous alloy with high plasticity,a series of(Ti_(40)Zr_(25)Cu_(9)Ni_(8) Be_(18))_(100-x)TM_(x)(x=0,1,2,3,4 at.%,TM=Nb,Y)alloys were designed to study the influence of Nb and Y addition on the plasticity.The amorphous samples were prepared using the vacuum melting and copper mold casting process.The microstructures,glass forming ability and mechanical properties of the alloys were investigated by X-ray diffractometry(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),high-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM),depth-sensitive nanoindentation,and uniaxial compressive test.The plasticity of different bulk amorphous alloys was investigated by measuring the plastic deformation energy(PDE)during loading.The relationship between the PDE value and plasticity in bulk amorphous alloys was explored.Results show that Nb addition decreases the PDE value and promotes the generation of multiple shear bands,which significantly increases the fracture strength and plasticity,while the addition of Y element reduces the fracture strength and plastic strain of the alloy.

Simulation of bulk metal forming processes using one-step finite element approach based on deformation theory of plasticity

The bulk metal forming processes were simulated by using a one-step finite element(FE)approach based on deformation theory of plasticity,which enables rapid prediction of final workpiece configurations and stress/strain distributions.This approach was implemented to minimize the approximated plastic potential energy derived from the total plastic work and the equivalent external work in static equilibrium,for incompressibly rigid-plastic materials,by FE calculation based on the extremum work principle.The one-step forward simulations of compression and rolling processes were presented as examples,and the results were compared with those obtained by classical incremental FE simulation to verify the feasibility and validity of the proposed method.

Electro-chemo-mechanical analysis of the effect of bending deformation on the interface of flexible solid-state battery

Flexible solid-state battery has several unique characteristics including high flexibility,easy portability,and high safety,which may have broad application prospects in new technology products such as rollup displays,power implantable medical devices,and wearable equipments.The interfacial mechanical and electrochemical problems caused by bending deformation,resulting in the battery damage and failure,are particularly interesting.Herein,a fully coupled electro-chemo-mechanical model is developed based on the actual solid-state battery structure.Concentration-dependent material parameters,stress-dependent diffusion,and potential shift are considered.According to four bending forms(k=8/mm,0/mm,-8/mm,and free),the results show that the negative curvature bending is beneficial to reducing the plastic strain during charging/discharging,while the positive curvature is detrimental.However,with respect to the electrochemical performance,the negative curvature bending creates a negative potential shift,which causes the battery to reach the cut-off voltage earlier and results in capacity loss.These results enlighten us that suitable electrode materials and charging strategy can be tailored to reduce plastic deformation and improve battery capacity for different forms of battery bending.

Revealing the grain size dependent hot workability and deformation mechanisms in a Mg-Zn-Y alloy

Despite the industrial significance of grain size for enhancing mechanical properties and formability,the in-depth deformation mechanisms at elevated temperature are still unclear.To investigate the functions of grain size on hot workability and deformation mechanisms,three groups of Mg-1.2Zn-0.2Y alloy specimens with different grain sizes were hot compressed and then studied by combining constitutive model,processing map and microstructural observations.The results showed that the enhanced hot workability accompanying low deformation activation energy and small instability regime was obtained with refined grain size.During hot deformation,the decreased grain size in Mg1.2Zn-0.2Y alloy mainly improved the plastic deformation homogeneity,especially for the weakened local straining around grain boundaries.As a result,the dynamic recrystallization nucleation and texture development at lower strain level were influenced by the initial grain size.At higher strain magnitude,the growth and coarsening of dynamic recrystallized grains would further release strain localization and improve hot workability,while the texture was less impacted.Further,unlike the primary basal slip and deformation twinning in the specimen with coarse grain at low temperature,non-basal slips of dislocations were initiated with less deformation twins in the specimens with refined grain size.

THE VARIATIONAL INEQUALITY FORMULATION FOR THE DEFORMATION THEORY IN PLASTICITY AND ITS NON-ITERATIVE SOLUTION

In this paper, the deformation theory in plasticity is formulated in the variational inequality, which can relax the constraint conditions of the constitutive equations. The new form makes the calculation more convenient than general energy forms and have reliable mathematical basis. Thus the plasticity theory may be solved by means of the quadratic programming instead of the iterative methods. And the solutions can be made in one step without any diversion of the load.

Plastic deformation modelling of tempered martensite steel block structure by a nonlocal crystal plasticity model

The plastic deformations of tempered martensite steel representative volume elements with different martensite block structures have been investi- gated by using a nonlocal crystal plasticity model which considers isotropic and kinematic hardening produced by plastic strain gradients. It was found that pro- nounced strain gradients occur in the grain boundary region even under homo- geneous loading. The isotropic hardening of strain gradients strongly influences the global stress-strain diagram while the kinematic hardening of strain gradi- ents influences the local deformation behaviour. It is found that the additional strain gradient hardening is not only dependent on the block width but also on the misorientations or the deformation incompatibilities in adjacent blocks.

On Numerical Modelling of Industrial Powder Compaction Processes for Large Deformation of Endochronic Plasticity at Finite Strains

Compaction processes are one the most important par ts of powder forming technology. The main applications are focused on pieces for a utomotive, aeronautic, electric and electronic industries. The main goals of the compaction processes are to obtain a compact with the geometrical requirements, without cracks, and with a uniform distribution of density. Design of such proc esses consist, essentially, in determine the sequence and relative displacements of die and punches in order to achieve such goals. A.B. Khoei presented a gener al framework for the finite element simulation of powder forming processes based on the following aspects; a large displacement formulation, centred on a total and updated Lagrangian formulation; an adaptive finite element strategy based on error estimates and automatic remeshing techniques; a cap model based on a hard ening rule in modelling of the highly non-linear behaviour of material; and the use of an efficient contact algorithm in the context of an interface element fo rmulation. In these references, the non-linear behaviour of powder was adequately desc ribed by the cap plasticity model. However, it suffers from a serious deficiency when the stress-point reaches a yield surface. In the flow theory of plasticit y, the transition from an elastic state to an elasto-plastic state appears more or less abruptly. For powder material it is very difficult to define the locati on of yield surface, because there is no distinct transition from elastic to ela stic-plastic behaviour. Results of experimental test on some hard met al powder show that the plastic effects were begun immediately upon loading. In such mater ials the domain of the yield surface would collapse to a point, so making the di rection of plastic increment indeterminate, because all directions are normal to a point. Thus, the classical plasticity theory cannot deal with such materials and an advanced constitutive theory is necessary. In the present paper, the constitutive equations of powder materials will be discussed via an endochronic theory of plasticity. This theory provides a unifi ed point of view to describe the elastic-plastic behaviour of material since it places no requirement for a yield surface and a ’loading function’ to disting uish between loading an unloading. Endochronic theory of plasticity has been app lied to a number of metallic materials, concrete and sand, but to the knowledge of authors, no numerical scheme of the model has been applied to powder material . In the present paper, a new approach is developed based on an endochronic rate independent, density-dependent plasticity model for describing the isothermal deformation behavior of metal powder at low homologous temperature. Although the concept of yield surface has not been explicitly assumed in endochronic theory, it is shown that the cone-cap plasticity yield surface (Fig.1), which is the m ost commonly used plasticity models for describing the behavior of powder materi al can be easily derived as a special case of the proposed endochronic theory. Fig.1 Trace of cone-cap yield function on the meridian pl ane for different relative density As large deformation is observed in powder compaction process, a hypoelastic-pl astic formulation is developed in the context of finite deformation plasticity. Constitutive equations are stated in unrotated frame of reference that greatly s implifies endochronic constitutive relation in finite plasticity. Constitutive e quations of the endochronic theory and their numerical integration are establish ed and procedures for determining material parameters of the model are demonstra ted. Finally, the numerical schemes are examined for efficiency in the model ling of a tip shaped component, as shown in Fig.2. Fig.2 A shaped tip component. a) Geometry, boundary conditio n and finite element mesh; b) density distribution at final stage of

Crystallization of amorphous NiTi shape memory alloy fabricated by severe plastic deformation

Based on the local canning compression,severe plastic deformation（SPD） is able to lead to the almost complete amorphous nickel-titanium shape memory alloy（NiTi SMA）,in which a small amount of retained nanocrystalline phase is embedded in the amorphous matrix.Crystallization of amorphous NiTi alloy annealed at 573,723 and 873 K was investigated,respectively.The crystallization kinetics of the amorphous NiTi alloy can be mathematically described by the Johnson-MehlAvrami-Kolmogorov（JMAK） equation.NiTi SMA with a complete nanocrystalline phase is obtained in the case of annealing at 573 K and 723 K,where martensite phase transformation is suppressed due to the constraint of the grain boundaries.Crystallization of amorphous NiTi alloy at 873 K leads to the coarse-grained NiTi sample,where（001） martensite compound twin is observed at room temperature.It can be found that the martensitic twins preferentially nucleate at the grain boundary and they grow up towards the two different grains.SPD based on the local canning compression and subsequent annealing provides a new approach to obtain the nanocrystalline NiTi SMA.

Aging behavior and mechanical properties of 6013 aluminum alloy processed by severe plastic deformation

Structural features, aging behavior, precipitation kinetics and mechanical properties of a 6013 Al–Mg–Si aluminum alloy subjected to equal channel angular pressing （ECAP） at different temperatures were comparatively investigated with that in conventional static aging by quantitative X-ray diffraction （XRD） measurements, differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） and tensile tests. Average grain sizes measured by XRD are in the range of 66-112 nm while the average dislocation density is in the range of 1.20×10^14-1.70×10^14 m^-2 in the deformed alloy. The DSC analysis reveals that the precipitation kinetics in the deformed alloy is much faster as compared with the peak-aged sample due to the smaller grains and higher dislocation density developed after ECAP. Both the yield strength （YS） and ultimate tensile strength （UTS） are dramatically increased in all the ECAP samples as compared with the undeformed counterparts. The maximum strength appears in the samples ECAP treated at room temperature and the maximum YS is about 1.6 times that of the statically peak-aged sample. The very high strength in the ECAP alloy is suggested to be related to the grain size strengthening and dislocation strengthening, as well as the precipitation strengthening contributing from the dynamic precipitation during ECAP.

Effects of plastic deformation on precipitation behavior and tensile fracture behavior of Mg-Gd-Y-Zr alloy

The effects of plastic deformation on precipitation behavior and tensile fracture behavior of Mg-10Gd-3Y-0.6Zr alloy were investigated.The results indicate that more precipitation cores can be provided by the crystal defects caused by the plastic deformation,as well as increasing the amount of β＇ phases,and the formation of precipitations at grain boundaries and interfaces between the twins and matrix.Because of an increase in precipitations,the dislocation slipping during deformation process is effectively hindered and the matrix is strengthened,especially for the 2% deformed alloy which can achieve a good combination of strength and ductility.With increasing the plastic deformation,the microcracks occur at the interface between grain boundary precipitations and matrix,and then propagate intergranularly.When intergranular fracture combines with the formation of smoothing facets on the fracture surface,the tensile properties decrease.

Numerical simulation of ductile fracture behavior for aluminum alloy sheet under cyclic plastic deformation

A numerical analysis of mechanical behavior of aluminum alloy sheet under cyclic plastic deformation was investigated.Forming limit at fracture was derived from Cockcroft-Latham ductile damage criterion.The strain path of bending center of incremental roller hemming could be accepted as a kind of plane strain bending deformation process.Incremental rope roller hemming could be used to alleviate ductile fracture behavior by changing the stress state of the hemming-effected area.SEM observation on the fracture surface indicates that cyclic plastic deformation affects ductile fracture mechanism.

Deformation defects and electron irradiation effect in nanostructured Al-Mg alloy processed by severe plastic deformation

In order to explore the exact nature of deformation defects previously observed in nanostructured Al-Mg alloys subjected to severe plastic deformation, a more thorough examination of the radiation effect on the formation of the planar defects in the high pressure torsion （HPT） alloys was conducted using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM）. The results show that high density defects in the HRTEM images disappear completely when these images are exposed under the electron beam for some duration of time. At the same time, lattice defects are never observed within no-defect areas even when the beam-exposure increases to the degree that holes appear in the areas. Therefore, it is confirmed that the planar defects observed in the HPT alloys mainly result from the significant plastic deformation and are not due to the radiation effect during HRTEM observation.

Refining 18R-LPSO phase into sub-micron range by pre-kinking design and its prominent strengthening effect on Mg_(97)Y_(2)Zn_(1)alloy

In this study,a composite deformation strategy of pre-kinking(equal channel angular pressing(ECAP))followed by large-ratio hot extrusion(HE)was designed to refine the 18R long period stacking ordered(LPSO)phase into sub-micron range in a Mg_(97)Y_(2)Zn_(1)(at.%)alloy.After the composite processing,the mechanical properties of the alloy are significantly enhanced,superior to the majority of reported Mg_(97)Y_(2)Zn_(1) and other LPSO-containing Mg alloys.Among the composite deformed alloys,the 16P-HE alloy exhibits the best mechanical properties with tensile yield strength(TYS)of 475 MPa,ultimate tensile strength(UTS)of 526 MPa,and fracture elongation(FE)of 14.5%.Quantitative analysis of 18R phase indicates that increasing ECAP pass from 1 to 16 gradually decreases the average size of 18R phase from 5.1μm to 2.3μm.After HE,the 18R phase is further refined with a corresponding decrease in the average size in the descending order of 1P-HE(4.3μm),4P-HE(3.2μm),and 16P-HE(1.4μm)alloys.Calculation of the strengthening contributions confirms that the superior mechanical properties of 16P-HE alloy are mainly due to its strongest interface strengthening(145 MPa)and grain boundary strengthening(189 MPa)from the sub-micron 18R phase andα-Mg grains.Moreover,the strengthening effect of 18R phase decreases gradually with their morphology changing from particles to fibers,and to blocks.The obtained results further deepen and broaden the strengthening-toughening theory of 18R phase.

Generalizing J_2 flow theory: Fundamental issues in strain gradient plasticity

It has not been a simple matter to obtain a sound extension of the classical J2 flow theory of plasticity that incorporates a dependence on plastic strain gradients and that is capable of capturing size-dependent behaviour of metals at the micron scale. Two classes of basic extensions of classical J2 theory have been proposed： one with increments in higher order stresses related to increments of strain gradients and the other characterized by the higher order stresses themselves expressed in terms of increments of strain gradients. The theories proposed by Muhlhans and Aifantis in 1991 and Fleck and Hutchinson in 2001 are in the first class, and, as formulated, these do not always satisfy thermodynamic requirements on plastic dissipation. On the other hand, theories of the second class proposed by Gudmundson in 2004 and Gurtin and Anand in 2009 have the physical deficiency that the higher order stress quantities can change discontinuously for bodies subject to arbitrarily small load changes. The present paper lays out this background to the quest for a sound phenomenological extension of the rateindependent J2 flow theory of plasticity to include a de- pendence on gradients of plastic strain. A modification of the Fleck-Hutchinson formulation that ensures its thermo- dynamic integrity is presented and contrasted with a comparable formulation of the second class where in the higher or- der stresses are expressed in terms of the plastic strain rate. Both versions are constructed to reduce to the classical J2 flow theory of plasticity when the gradients can be neglected and to coincide with the simpler and more readily formulated J2 deformation theory of gradient plasticity for deformation histories characterized by proportional straining.

Application of crystal plasticity modeling in equal channel angular extrusion

Some applications of crystal plasticity modeling in equal channel angular extrusion（ECAE） of face-centered cubic metals were highlighted.The results show that such simulations can elucidate the dependency of grain refinement efficiency on processing route and the directionality of substructure development,which cannot be explained by theories that consider only the macroscopic deformation behavior.They can also capture satisfactorily the orientation stability and texture evolution under various processing conditions.It is demonstrated that crystal plasticity models are useful tools in exploring the crystallographic nature of grain deformation and associated behavior that are overlooked or sometimes erroneously interpreted by existing phenomenological theories.