Strain rate sensitivity and activation volume of electrodeposited nanocrystalline Ni and Ni-Co alloys

Tensile deformation behaviors of the electrodeposited 40 nm grain sized Ni,25 nm Ni-1.7 wt.%Co,and 13 nm Ni-8.6 wt.%Co alloys at various strain rates and room temperature were reviewed with emphasis on strain rate sensitivity and activation volume,respectively.It is found that the strain rate sensitivity and activation volume were strongly grain size dependent.An analytic model based on the bow out of a single dislocation well predicted the relationship between the strain rate sensitivity and the activation volumes for these nanocrystaline metals.

Fabrication and characterization of electrodeposited nanocrystalline Ni-Fe alloys for NiFe_2O_4 spinel coatings

Nanocrystalline Ni-Fe FCC alloy coatings with Fe content of 1.3%-39%（mass fraction） were fabricated on the nickel substrates using a DC electrodeposition technique. The crystal structure, lattice strain, grain size and lattice constant of the Ni-Fe alloy coatings were studied by X-ray diffraction technique. The chemical composition and surface morphology of the FCC Ni-Fe alloy coatings were investigated with the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy（EDS） and atomic force microscopy（AFM）. The results show that the Fe content of the Ni-Fe alloy coatings has a great influence on the preferred orientation, grain size, lattice constant and lattice strain. FCC Ni-Fe alloy coatings exhibit preferred orientations of（200） or（200）（111）. With an increase of Fe content, the preferred growth orientation of（200） plane is weakened gradually, while the preferred growth orientation of（111） increases. An increase of the Fe content in the range of 1.3%-25%（mass fraction） results in a significant grain refinement of the coatings. Increasing the Fe content beyond 25% does not decrease the grain size of FCC Ni-Fe alloys further. The lattice strain increases with increasing the Fe content in the FCC Ni-Fe alloys. Since the alloys with Fe content not less than 25% has similar grain size（~11 nm）, the increase in the lattice strain with the increase of Fe content cannot be attributed to the change in the grain size.

Study on Nanocrystalline Rare Earth Mg-Based System Hydrogen Storage Alloys with AB_3-Type

A sort of rare earth Mg-based system hydrogen storage alloys with AB3-type was prepared by double-roller rapid quenching method. The alloys were nanocrystalline multi-phase structures composed of LaNi3 phase and LaNi5 phase by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analyses, and the suitable absorption/desorption plateau was revealed by the measurement of P-C-I curve. Electrochemical studies indicate that the alloys exhibit good electrochemical properties such as high capacity and stable cycle life, and the discharge capacity is 369 mAh·g-1 at 0.2 C (72 mA·g-1). after 460 cycles, the capacity decay was only 19.4% at 2 C (720 mA·g-1).

Investigation of the effects of misch metal in RS Al-Fe-V-Si-Mm nanocrystalline alloys by PAT

The positron lifetime spectra of severalAl_(93.3-x)Fe_(4.3)V_(0.7)Si_(1.7)Mm_x (x = 0.5%, 1.0%, 3.0%, atom fraction) alloys with differentcontent of misch metal prepared by rapid solidification were measured, and the variations on theinterfacial defects with the content of misch metal were revealed by an analysis of the lifetimeresults. The interface characteristics derived from the lifetime results could be used to give asatisfactory interpretation of the dependence of mechanical properties on the content of mischmetal.

Interfacial Characteristics of Nanocrystalline FeMoSiB Alloys

By using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) and transmission Mssbauer spectroseopy (TMES), the formation, structure and properties including microhardness and electrical resistivity of nanocrystalline FeMoSiB alloys have been investigated. By annealing the as-quenched FeMoSiB sample at 833-1023K for 1 h, nanocrystalline materials with grain sizes of 15 to 200 nm were obtained. Mssbauer spectroscopy results reveal a quasi-continuous distribution feature of P(H)-H curves for 15 nm-and 20 nm-grained samples. Also, it was found that resistivity and microhardness of nanocrystalline Fe-Mo-Si-B alloys exhibit strong grain size effect.

Electrochemical Hydrogen Storage Performance of the Nanocrystalline and Amorphous Pr-Mg-Ni-based Alloys Synthesized by Mechanical Milling

The PrMg12-type composite alloy of PrMg_(11)Ni + x wt% Ni (x=100,200) with an amorphous and nanocrystalline microstructure were synthesized through the mechanical milling.Effects of milling duration and Ni content on the microstructures and electrochemical hydrogen storage performances of the ball-milled alloys were methodically studied.The ball-milled alloys obtain the optimum discharge capacities at the first cycle.Increasing Ni content dramatically enhances the electrochemical property of alloys.Milling time varying may obviously impact the electrochemical performance of these alloys.The discharge capacities show a significant upward trend with milling duration prolonging,but milling for a longer time more than 40 h induces a slight decrease in the discharge capacity of the x=200 alloy.As milling duration increases,the cycle stability clearly lowers,while it first declines and then augments under the same condition for the x=200 alloy.The high-rate discharge abilities of the ball-milled alloys show the optimum values with milling time varying.

Anisotropic Magnetoresistance Effect in Amorphous and Nanocrystalline Fe(Cu,Nb)-Si-B Alloys

The magnetoresistance effect and magnetic properties in amorphous and nanocrystalline Fe(Cu, Nb)-Si-B ribbons have been investigated, it was observed that the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) of nanocrystalline alloy is much smaller than that of amorphous alloy, Indicating that the anisotropy of nanocrystalline alloy becomes smaller after crystallizing, and the smallest AMR is coincident with the excellent soft magnetic characteristics. It is believed that the smaller magnetic crystalline anisotropy is the origin of the excellent soft magnetic characteristics of nanocrystalline alloy.

Behavior of Medium-frequency Core Loss in Fe-based Nanocrystalline Soft Magnetic Alloys

The dependences of the power loss per cycle on frequency have been investigated in the ranges of 100 Hz<= f<=25000 Hz and 0.1 T< =Bm <=1.0 T for three main original magnetic states in five sorts of Fe-based nanocrystalline soft magnetic alloys. The measured and calculated results showed that the total power loss per cycle clearly exhibited a nonlinear behavior in the range below 3 kHz～5 kHz depending on both the magnetic state and the value of Dm, whereas it showed a quasi-linear behavior above this range. The total loss was decomposed into hysteresis loss, classical eddy current loss and excess loss, the obvious nonlinear behavior has been confirmed to be completely determined by the dependence of the excess loss on frequency. It has been indicated that the change rate of the excess loss per cycle with respect to frequency sharp decreases with increasing frequency in the range below about 3 kHz～5 kHz, wherease the rate of change slowly varies above this range, thus leading to the quasilinear behavior of the total loss per cycle. In this paper, some linear expressions of the total loss per cycle has been given in a wider medium-frequency segment, which can be used for roughly estimating the total loss.

General Properties of Low-frequency Power Losses in Fe-based Nanocrystalline Soft Magnetic Alloys

The dependences of the power loss per cycle on frequency f and amplitude flux density Bm have been investigated for the three main original magnetic states in five sorts of Fe-based nanocrystalline soft magnetic alloys in the ranges of 10 Hz<=f<=1000 Hz and 0.4 T<= Bm <=1.0 T. The total loss P is decomposed into the sum of the hysteresis loss Physt, the classical eddy current loss Pel and the excess loss Pexc. Physt has been found to be proportional to Bm^2 and f. The behavior of Pexc/f vs f being equivalent to P/f vs f clearly exhibits nonlinearity in the range not more than about 120 Hz, whereas the behavior of P/f vs f roughly shows linearity in the range far above 100 Hz and not more than 1000 Hz. In the range up to 1000 Hz, Physt is dominant in the original high permeability state and the state of low residual flux density, whereas Pexc in the state of high residual flux density is dominant in the wider range above about 100 Hz. The framework of the statistical theory of power loss has been used for representing the behavior of Pexc/f vs f. It has been found that the number n of the simultaneously active 'Magnetic Objects' linearly varies as n = n0 + Hexc/H0 as a function of the dynamic field Hexc in the range below about 120 Hz, whereas n approximately follows a law of the form n = n0 + (Hexc/H0)^m with 1 < m < 2 in the range far above 100 Hz and not more than 1000 Hz. The values of the field HO in principle related to the microstructure and the domain structure have been calculated for the three states.

Microstructure and performance of electrodeposited nanocrystalline Ni-W alloys

The electro-deposition method was used for preparation of nanocrystalline Ni-W alloys coating. The formation, microstructure and performance of the nanocrystalline were investigated. X-ray diffraction results show that Ni-W alloys are crystallized in scale of 1730nm. Changing with the depositional time, the coating varies with different surface morphology. The observation on the formation of the coating implies that, the alloys preferentially deposit and grow on the scratch and corrosion pit edges. The hardness of the alloy coatings is related to the solution composition, pH value and current density, and the pH value and current density are mainly concerned. The corrosion resistance of Ni-W alloy coating is excellent compared with that of Cr and Ni coatings.

Structural Characterization of Nanocrystalline Ni_(50-x)Ti₅₀Cu_x(X = 5, 9 wt%) Alloys Produced by Mechanical Alloying

Nanocrystalline Ni(50-x)Ti50Cux(X = 5, 9 wt%) alloys were successfully produced by mechanical alloying. Mechanical activation was performed at different milling times under a high purity argon (99.998 vol%) atmosphere. Phase analysis and structural features of the samples were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results revealed that NiTiCu (B2) phase was achieved after 600 min of milling. The formation of this phase was mostly related to the critical factors in determining the site replacement of elements in Ni-Ti-Cu ternary system. After 600 min of milling, the average crystallite size and lattice strain of the samples were about 5 - 10 nm and 1.057% - 1.967%, respectively. Evaluation of the full width at half maximum (FWHM) values for all the samples indicated the occurrence of anisotropic line broadening. The determined amounts of crystallinity revealed that the fraction of crystalline phase decreased with increasing weight percentage of copper up to 9% and reached a minimum value after 600 min of milling. The lattice parameters and the unit cell volume of the milled samples were always larger than the standard values. In addition, lattice parameter deviation influenced by the weight percentage of copper. Based on the obtained data, mechanical alloying process can be used for production of nanocrystalline NiTiCu alloys with different structural features.

Effect of Co-Deposited Iron on Microstructures and Properties of Electroplated Nanocrystalline Nickel-Iron Alloys

Nickel-iron nanocrystalline alloys with different compositions and grain sizes were fabricated by electroplating for MEMS devices. The iron content of the deposits was changed by varying the nickel/iron ion ratio in the electrolyte. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was applied for measuring the strength of the texture and grain size of the deposits. The nickel/iron atom ratio of the deposits was analyzed by EDS. The hardness of the alloys was evaluated by Vickers hardness indenter. The internal stress of the deposits was measured by thin film stress measurement using Stoney's formula. Surface morphology and roughness were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Hardness and internal stress mechanism of the electroplated structure as a function of Fe ion content and current density were revealed. With increasing the iron content, the hardness and internal stress of the deposits increase. An excellent correlation between the increase in the internal stress and the loss of (200) texture were found.

Effect of melt spinning on gaseous hydrogen storage characteristics of nanocrystalline and amorphous Nd-added Mg_2Ni-type alloys

Nanocrystalline and amorphous Mg-Nd-Ni-Cu quaternary alloys with a composition of(Mg_(24)Ni_(10)Cu_2)_(100-x)Nd_x(x=0, 5, 10, 15, 20) were prepared by melt spinning technology and their structures as well as gaseous hydrogen storage characteristics were investigated. The XRD, TEM and SEM linked with EDS detections reveal that the as-spun Nd-free alloy holds an entire nanocrystalline structure but a nanocrystalline and amorphous structure for the as-spun Nd-added alloy, implying that the addition of Nd facilitates the glass forming in the Mg_2Ni-type alloy. Furthermore, the degree of amorphization of the as-spun Nd-added alloy and thermal stability of the amorphous structure clearly increase with the spinning rate rising. The melt spinning ameliorates the hydriding and dehydriding kinetics of the alloys dramatically. Specially, the rising of the spinning rate from 0(the as-cast was defined as the spinning rate of 0 m/s) to 40 m/s brings on the hydrogen absorption saturation ratio(R_5~a)(a ratio of the hydrogen absorption quantity in 5 min to the saturated hydrogen absorption capacity) increasing from 36.9% to 91.5% and the hydrogen desorption ratio(R_(1 0)~d)(a ratio of the hydrogen desorption quantity in 10 min to the saturated hydrogen absorption capacity) rising from 16.4% to 47.7% for the(x=10) alloy, respectively.

Effect of alloying elements on thermal stability of nanocrystalline Al alloys

The effect of incorporating limited-diffusivity elements such as Fe and Ti on thermal stability of the nanocrystalline Al alloy was investigated.Al−10wt.%Fe and Al−10wt.%Fe−5wt.%Ti alloys were fabricated.The initial mixtures of powders were milled for 100 h in vacuum.The bulk samples were fabricated from the milled powders in a high frequency induction heat sintering(HFIHS)system.The milled powders and the bulk sintered samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD),Vickers microhardness,field emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM-EDS)and transmission electron microscopy(TEM).The observations indicated that Fe and Ti were completely dispersed in the matrix to form a supersaturated solid solution(SSSS)with Al.Additionally,the inclusion of alloying elements led to an increase in hardness and yield strength of the alloy by 127%and 152%,respectively.The elevated temperature compression tests were carried out to evaluate the thermal stability of the alloys.The Al−10wt.%Fe−5wt.%Ti alloy revealed the optimum thermally stable behavior of the three alloys studied.The incorporation of Fe and Ti improved the thermal stability of the developed alloys through inhibiting the grain growth,hindering dissolution and growth of second phases(such as Al13Fe4 and Al13Ti),and forming a stable solid solution.

Formation of nanocrystalline AZ31B Mg alloys via cryogenic rotary swaging

A bulk nanocrystalline AZ31B Mg alloy with extraordinarily high strength was prepared via cryogenic rotary swaging in this study.The obtained alloy shows finer grains,higher strength,and a negligible tension-compression yield asymmetry,compared with that prepared via room-temperature rotary swaging.Transmission electron microscopy investigations showed that at the initial stage,multiple twins,mostly tension twins,were activated and intersected with each other,thereby refining the coarse grains into a fine lamellar structure.Then,two types of nanoscale subgrains were generated with increasing swaging strain.The first type of nanoscale subgrain contained twin boundaries and low-angle grain boundaries.This type of subgrain appeared at the twin-twin intersections and was mainly driven by high local stress.The second type of nanoscale subgrain was formed within the twin lamellae.The boundaries of this type of subgrain did not contain twin boundaries and were transformed from massive dislocation arrays.Finally,randomly oriented nanograins were obtained via dynamic recrystallization,under the combined function of deformation heat and increased stored energy.Compared with room-temperature rotary swaging,cryogenic rotary swaging exhibits a slower grain refinement process but a remarkably enhanced grain refinement effect after the same five-pass swaging.

Hydrogen Absorption and Electrochemical Properties of As-Quenched Nanocrystalline Mg20Ni10 – xCux (x = 0 – 4) Alloys

Nanocrystalline Mg2Ni-type alloys with nominal compositions of Mg20Ni10 – xCux (x = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4) were synthesized by rapid quenching technique. The microstructures of the as-cast and quenched alloys were characterized by XRD, SEM and HRTEM. The hydrogen absorption and desorption kinetics of the alloys were measured using an automatically controlled Sieverts apparatus. The electrochemical hydrogen storage performances were tested by an automatic galvanostatic system. The results show that all the as-quenched alloys hold a typical nanocrystalline structure, and the rapid quenching does not change the major phase Mg2Ni. The hydrogen absorption and desorption capacities of the alloys significantly increase with rising quenching rate. Additionally, the rapid quenching significantly improves the electrochemical hydrogen storage capacity of the alloys, but it slightly impairs the cycle stability of the alloys.

Highly Improved Electrochemical Performances of the Nanocrystalline and Amorphous Mg_2Ni-type Alloys by Substituting Ni with M (M=Cu,Co,Mn)

The element Ni in the Mg2Ni alloy is partially substituted by M（M = Cu, Co, Mn） in order to ameliorate the electrochemical hydrogen storage performances of Mg2Ni-type electrode alloys. The nanocrystalline and amorphous Mg20Ni10-xMx（M = None, Cu, Co, Mn; x = 0-4） alloys were prepared by melt spinning. The effects of the M（M = Cu, Co, Mn） content on the structures and electrochemical hydrogen storage characteristics of the as-cast and spun alloys were comparatively studied. The analyses by XRD, SEM and HRTEM reveal that all the as-cast alloys have a major phase of Mg2Ni but the M（M = Co, Mn） substitution brings on the formation of some secondary phases, MgCo2 and Mg for the（M = Co） alloy, and Mn Ni and Mg for the（M = Mn） alloy. Besides, the as-spun（M = None, Cu） alloys display an entirely nanocrystalline structure, whereas the as-spun（M = Co, Mn） alloys hold a nanocrystalline/amorphous structure, suggesting that the substitution of M（M = Co, Mn） for Ni facilitates the glass formation in the Mg2Ni-type alloys. The electrochemical measurements indicate that the variation of M（M = Cu, Co, Mn） content engenders an obvious effect on the electrochemical performances of the as-cast and spun alloys. To be specific, the cyclic stabilities of the alloys augment monotonously with increasing M（M = Cu, Co, Mn） content, and the capacity retaining rate（S20） is in an order of（M = Cu） 〉（M = Co） 〉（M = Mn） 〉（M = None） for x≤1 but changes to（M = Co） 〉（M = Mn） 〉（M = Cu） 〉（M = None） for x≥2. The discharge capacities of the as-cast and spun alloys always grow with the rising of M（M = Co, Mn） content but first mount up and then go down with increasing M（M = Cu） content. Whatever the M content is, the discharge capacities are in sequence：（M = Co） 〉（M = Mn） 〉（M = Cu） 〉（M = None）. The high rate discharge abilities（HRDs） of all the alloys grow clearly with rising M（M = Cu, Co） content except for（M = Mn） alloy, whose HRD has a maximum value with varying M（M = Mn） content. Furthermore, for the as-cast alloys, the HRD is in order of（M = Co） 〉（M = Mn） 〉（M = Cu） 〉（M = None）, while for the as-spun（20 m·s^-1） alloys, it changes from（M = Co） 〉（M = Mn） 〉（M = Cu） 〉（M = None） for x = 1 to（M = Cu） 〉（M = Co） 〉（M = None） 〉（M = Mn） for x = 4.

Experimental study of amorphous and nanocrystalline Fe-based alloy

The mechanical alloying of FeNiPB(Cu, Nb) mixed powders was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transition electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). The results show that the FeNiPB(Cu, Nb) mixed powders alloy after milling for 20 h, as the milling time increases to 80h, Fe and Ni atoms are in an amorphous environment, the morphology of FeNiPB(Cu, Nb) mixed powders appears as cotton fiber and its electron diffraction pattern shows a typically diffuse amorphous halo. So FeNiPB(Cu, Nb) mixed powders transform to amorphous state under this condition. After the FeNiPB(Cu, Nb) amorphous alloy was heated at 520℃ for 1 h, the nanocrystalline FeNiPB(Cu, Nb) was produced. So, the Fe-based nanocrystalline alloy can be prepared by partially crystallizing the FeNiPB(Cu, Nb) amorphous alloy.

Effect of Ga addition on the magnetic properties and microstructure of nanocrystalline Nd_(12.3)Fe_(81.7)B_(6.0) ribbons

Nd 12.3 Fe 81.7 x Ga x B 6.0 （x = 0-1.8） ribbons were prepared by melt spinning at 22 m/s and subsequent annealing treatment. The influences of Ga addition and annealing conditions on the magnetic properties and microstructure of the nanocrystalline alloys were systematically investigated. After being annealed at 620℃ for 20 min, the J r and H ci increased from 0.85 T and 582.6 kA/m for Ga-free sample to 0.97 T and 734.6 kA/m for the x = 0.9 sample, respectively. The （BH） max for the x = 0.9 sample increased by about 40% from 96.3 to 135.5 kJ/m 3 compared with that of the Ga-free one. The significant improvement of magnetic properties originated from the refinement of grains in the samples by introducing Ga, which led to a stronger exchange coupling between the neighboring grains in comparison with that in Ga-free samples. The microstructure and magnetic properties of the samples depended strongly on annealing parameters, while the sensitivity of micro-structure to annealing conditions could be significantly suppressed by the addition of Ga element.

Effects of Mechanical Alloying Parameters on the Microstructures of Nanocrystalline Cu-5 wt% Cr Alloy

Nanocrystalline Cu-5 wt%Cr alloy powders were fabricated by mechanical alloying （MA）, The effects of MA processing parameters on the crystallite size, solid solubility, and microstructures of the Cu- 5 wt%Cr alloys were investigated including type and size distribution of the grinding medium and ball-topowder weight ratio （BPR）. The results show that the crystallites were refined effectively and solid solubility of Cr in Cu was extended when heavier ball and higher BPR were adopted. The maximum solubility is extended up to 5.6 at% （namely 4.6 wt%） Cr in Cu by use of a combination of large and small size WC-Co balls with BPR of 30：1. A Cn-5 wt%Cr supersaturated solid solution alloy bulk is obtained by spark plasma sintering the as-milled powders at 900 ℃ for 5 min.