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.

Application of novel constrained friction processing method to produce fine grained biomedical Mg-Zn-Ca alloy

In order to obtain Mg alloys with fine microstructures and high mechanical performances,a novel friction-based processing method,name as“constrained friction processing(CFP)”,was investigated.Via CFP,defect-free Mg-Zn-Ca rods with greatly refined grains and high mechanical properties were produced.Compared to the previous as-cast microstructure,the grain size was reduced from more than 1 mm to around 4μm within 3 s by a single process cycle.The compressive yield strength was increased by 350%while the ultimate compressive strength by 53%.According to the established material flow behaviors by“tracer material”,the plastic material was transported by shear deformation.From the base material to the rod,the material experienced three stages,i.e.deformation by the tool,upward flow with additional tilt,followed by upward transportation.The microstructural evolution was revealed by“stop-action”technique.The microstructural development at regions adjacent to the rod is mainly controlled by twinning,dynamic recrystallization(DRX)as well as particle stimulated nucleation,while that within the rod is related to DRX combined with grain growth.

Effects of Ta C on microstructure and mechanical properties of coarse grained WC-9Co cemented carbides

Coarse grained WC-9Co cemented carbides with 0-1.0% TaC(mass fraction) were fabricated by HIP-sintering and gas quenching. The effects of TaC on the microstructures and mechanical properties were investigated using scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis(EDS), X-ray diffractometry(XRD) and mechanical properties tests. The results show that the maximum values of hardness and strength are HV 1124 and 2466 MPa respectively when 0.4% TaC is added. When the content of TaC is more than 0.6%, the grain size of WC is no longer affected by the amount of TaC, and(W,Ta)C occurs as well. Moreover, the strength and fracture toughness increase and the(Ta+W) content decreases with the increase of TaC content. The dependence of(Ta+W) content on the mechanical properties indicates that(Ta+W) content in Co should be decreased as low as possible to improve the mechanical properties of coarse grained WC-TaC-9Co cemented carbides with the microstructure of WC+γ two phase regions.

Deformation and fracture behavior of commercially pure titanium with gradient nano-to-micron-grained surface layer

Titanium with gradient nano-to-micron scale grains from surface to matrix was fabricated by surface mechanical grinding treatment(SMGT) at room temperature.The SMGT-treated titanium shows higher strength than that of as-received one,but moderate ductility between those of ultra-fine grained(UFG) and coarse-grained titanium.Tensile stress-strain curves of SMGT-treated titanium show double strain hardening regimes.The strain hardening rate(dσ/dε) decreases with increasing strain in tensile deformation.The high strain hardening rate at initial yielding is attributed to nano-to-micron-grained surface layer.The low strain hardening rate at large plastic strain regime primarily results from coarse-grained matrix.The SMGT-treated titanium shows a ductile fracture mode with a large number of dimples.The small size of dimples in the treated surface layer is due to the combination of the high strength and strain hardening exponent.The difference between dimple size in nano-to-micron-grained surface layer and coarse-grained matrix is discussed in terms of plastic zone size at the tip of crack in the SMGT-treated titanium.

Evaluation of ultra-fine grained tungsten under transient high heat flux by high-intensity pulsed ion beam

Pure tungsten, oxide dispersion strengthened tungsten and carbide dispersion strengthened tungsten were fabricated by high-energy ball milling and spark plasma sintering process. In order to evaluate the properties of the tungsten alloys under transient high heat flues, four tungsten samples with different grain sizes were tested by high-intensity pulsed ion beam with a heat flux as high as 160 MW/（m^2·s^-1/2）. Compared with the commercial tungsten, the surface modification of the oxide dispersion strengthened tungsten by high-intensity pulsed ion beam is completely different. The oxide dispersion strengthened tungsten shows inferior thermal shock response due to the low melting point second phase of Ti and Y2O3, which results in the surface melting, boiling bubbles and cracking. While the carbide dispersion strengthened tungsten shows better thermal shock response than the commercial tungsten.

Microstructures and Toughness of Weld Metai of Ultrafine Grained Ferritic Steel by Laser Welding

3 mm thick 400 MPa grade ultrafine grained ferritic steel plates were bead-on-plate welded by CO2 laser with heat input of 120-480 J/mm. The microstructures of the weld metal mainly consist of bainite, which form is lower bainite plates or polygonal ferrite containing quantities of dispersed cementite particles, mixed with a few of low carbon martensite laths or ferrite, depending on the heat input. The hardness and the tensile strength of the weld metal are higher than those of the base metal, and monotonously increase as the heat input decreases. No softened zone exists in heat affected zone (HAZ). Compared with the base metal, although the grains of laser weld are much larger, the toughness of the weld metal is higher within a large range of heat input. Furthermore, as the heat input increases, the toughness of the weld metal rises to a maximum value, at which point the percentage of lower bainite is the highest, and then drops.

Microstructures and mechanical properties of laser welded wrought fine-grained ZK60 magnesium alloy

Fine-grained ZK60 magnesium alloy sheets of 2.0 mm in thickness were successfully joined by laser beam welding （LBW）. The effects of welding parameters including laser power and welding speed on the microstructures and mechanical properties of the joints were investigated. A sound bead, with the ultimate tensile strength （UTS） of 300 MPa and elongation of 12.0%, up to 92.5% and 65% of those of the base metal, respectively, is obtained with the optimized welding parameters. No liquation cracking is visible in the partially melted zone （PMZ） owing to the inhibitory action of the fine dispersed precipitates and the fine-grained microstructure in the as-rolled magnesium alloy sheets. The fusion zone （FZ） is featured with the equiaxed dendritic grains of the average grain size about 8 μm, which are similar to those in the heat affected zone （HAZ）, and this contributes to the relatively high joint efficiency.

Effect of grain size on high-temperature stress relaxation behavior of fine-grained TC4 titanium alloy

In order to analyze the effect of grain size on stress relaxation(SR) mechanism,the SR tests of TC4 alloy with three kinds of grain size were performed in a temperature range of 650-750℃.A modified cubic delay function was used to establish SR model for each grain size.A simplified algorithm was proposed for calculating the deformation activation energy based on classical Arrhenius equation.The grain size distribution and variation were observed by microstructural methods.The experimental results indicate that smaller grains are earlier to reach the relaxation limit at the same temperature due to lower initial stress and faster relaxation rate.The SR limit at 650℃ reduces with decreasing grain size.While the effect of grain size on SR limit is not evident at 700 and 750℃ since the relaxation is fully completed.With the increase of grain size,the deformation activation energy is improved and SR mechanism at 700℃ changes from grain rotation and grain boundary sliding to dislocation movement and dynamic recovery.

Microstructure,Textures and Deformation Behaviors of Fine-grained Magnesium Alloy AZ31

Channel die compression and initial textures are used to activate different deformation mechanisms in a fine-grained magnesium alloy AZ31. The σ-ε curves, microstructures and, particularly, textures are analyzed to reveal different deformation mechanisms and to compare with those of coarse grained samples. Dominant double-prismatic slip, {1012} twinning and basal slip are detected in three types of samples, respectively, which is similar to those of coarse grained samples. The detrimental effect of shear band formation or {1011} twinning is limited in fine grained microstructure. In addition to the higher flow stress at low temperature an early decrease in flow stress at higher temperature is also found in fine-grained samples in comparison with their coarse-grained counterparts. This softening is ascribed to the early dynamic recrystallization or grain boundary glide.

Dynamic Mechanical Behavior and Adiabatic Shear Bands of Ultrafine Grained Pure Zirconium

Dynamic compression tests were carried out to investigate dynamic mechanical behavior and adiabatic shear bands in ultrafine grained(UFG)pure zirconium prepared by equal channel angular pressing(ECAP)and rotary swaying.The cylindrical specimens were deformed dynamically on the split Hopkinson pressure bar(SHPB)at different strain rates of 800 to 4000s^-1 at room temperature.The temperature distribution of the shear bands was estimated on the basis of temperature rise of uniform plastic deformation stage and thermal diffusion effect.The results show that the true stress-true strain curves of UFG pure zirconium are concave upward trend of strain in range of 0.02-0.16 due to the effects of strain hardening,strain rate hardening and thermal softening.The formation of the adiabatic shear bands is the main reason of UFG pure zirconium failure.A large number of micro-voids are observed in the adiabatic shear bands,and the macroscopic cracks develop from the micro-voids coalescence.The fracture surface of UFG pure zirconium exhibits quasi cleavage fracture with the characteristic features of shear dimples and river pattern.The highest temperature within the shear bands of UFG pure zirconium is about 592 K.

Underwater friction stir welding of ultrafine grained 2017 aluminum alloy

2017 aluminum alloy plates with an ultrafine grained （UFG） structure were produced by equal channel angular processing （ECAP） and then were joined by underwater friction stir welding （underwater FSW）. X-ray diffractometer （XRD）, transmission electron microscope （TEM）, scanning electron microscope （SEM） and microhardness tester were adopted to investigate the microstructural and mechanical characteristics of the FSW joint. The results indicate that an ultrafine grained microstructure with the mean grain size of-0.7 Ixm is obtained in the weld nugget by using water cooling. However, The FSW joint exhibits softening compared with the ultrafine grained based material and the heat affected zone （HAZ） has the lowest hardness owing to the coarsening of the strengthening precipitates.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION FOR DEFORMATION OF NANO-GRAINED METALS

Electro-deposition technique is capable of producing nano-grained bulk copper specimens that exhibit superplastic extensibility at room temperature. Metals of such small grain sizes deform by grains sliding,with little distortion occur- ring in the grain cores.Accommodation mechanisms such as grain boundary diffusion, sliding and grain rotation control the kinetics of the process.Actual deformation min- imizes the plastic dissipation and stored strain energy for representative steps of grain neighbor switching.Numerical simulations based on these principles are discussed in this paper.

Influence of High-Speed Milling Process on Mechanical and Microstructural Properties of Ultrafine Grained Profiles Produced by Linear Flow Splitting

The effects of milling parameters on the surface quality,microstructures and mechanical properties of machined parts with ultrafine grained(UFG)gradient microstructures are investigated.The effects of the cutting speed,feed per tooth,cutting tool geometry and cooling strategy are demonstrated.It has been found that the surface quality of machined grooves can be improved by increasing the cutting speed.However,cryogenic cooling with CO_2 exhibits no significant improvement of surface quality.Microstructure and hardness investigations revealed similar microstructure and hardness variations near the machined groove walls for both utilized tool geometries.Therefore,cryogenic cooling can decrease more far-ranging hardness reductions due to high process temperatures,especially in the UFG regions of the machined parts,whilst it cannot prevent the drop in hardness directly at the groove walls.

MICROTHREAD BASED (MTB) COARSE GRAINED FAULT TOLERANCE SUPERSCALAR PROCESSOR ARCHITECTURE

Fault tolerance in microprocessor systems has become a popular topic of architecture research. Much work has been done at different levels to accomplish reliability against soft errors, and some fault tolerance architectures have been proposed. But little attention is paid to the thread level superscalar fault tolerance. This letter introduces microthread concept into superscalar processor fault tolerance domain, and puts forward a novel fault tolerance architecture, namely, MicroThread Based (MTB) coarse grained transient fault tolerance superscalar processor architecture, then discusses some detailed implementations.

Experimental study on permanent deformation characteristics of coarse-grained soil under repeated dynamic loading

Practical assessment of subgrade settlement induced by train operation requires developing suitable models capable of describing permanent deformation characteristics of subgrade filling under repeated dynamic loading.In this paper,repeated load triaxial tests were performed on coarse-grained soil(CGS),and the axial permanent strain of CGS under different confining pressures and dynamic stress amplitudes was analysed.Permanent deformation behaviors of CGS were categorized based on the variation trend of permanent strain rate with accumulated permanent strain and the shakedown theory.A prediction model of permanent deformation considering stress state and number of load cycles was established,and the ranges of parameters for different types of dynamic behaviors were also divided.The results indicated that the variational trend of permanent strain rate with accumulated permanent strain can be used as a basis for classifying dynamic behaviors of CGS.The stress state(confining pressure and dynamic stress amplitude)has significant effects on the permanent strain rate.The accumulative characteristics of permanent deformation of CGS with the number of load cycles can be described by a power function,and the model parameters can reflect the influence of confining pressure and dynamic stress amplitude.The study’s results could help deepen understanding of the permanent deformation characteristics of CGS.

The Effect of Grain Size on the Viscosity and Yield Stress of Fine-Grained Sediments

In debris flow modelling,the viscosity and yield stress of fine-grained sediments should be determined in order to better characterize sediment flow.In particular,it is important to understand the effect of grain size on the rheology of fine-grained sediments associated with yielding.When looking at the relationship between shear stress and shear rate before yielding,a high-viscosity zone(called pseudoNewtonian viscosity) towards the apparent yield stress exists.After yielding,plastic viscosity(called Bingham viscosity) governs the flow.To examine the effect of grain size on the rheological characteristics of fine-grained sediments,clay-rich materials(from the Adriatic Sea,Italy; Cambridge Fjord,Canada; and the Mediterranean Sea,Spain),silt-rich debris flow materials(from La Valette,France) and silt-rich materials(iron tailings from Canada) were compared.Rheological characteristics were examined using a modified Bingham model.The materials examined,including the Canadian inorganic and sensitive clays,exhibit typical shear thinning behavior and strong thixotropy.In the relationships between the liquidity index and rheological values(viscosity and apparent yield stress),the effect of grain size on viscosity and yield stress is significant at a given liquidity index.The viscosity and yield stress of debris flow materials are higher than those of low-activity clays at the same liquid state.However the viscosity and yield stress of the tailings,which are mainly composed of silt-sized particles,are slightly lower than those of low-activity clays.

Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Study based on TorchMD

The coarse grained(CG)model implements the molecular dynamics simulation by simplifying atom properties and interaction between them.Despite losing certain detailed information,the CG model is still the first-thought option to study the large molecule in long time scale with less computing resource.The deep learning model mainly mimics the human studying process to handle the network input as the image to achieve a good classification and regression result.In this work,the TorchMD,a MD framework combining the CG model and deep learning model,is applied to study the protein folding process.In 3D collective variable(CV)space,the modified find density peaks algorithm is applied to cluster the conformations from the TorchMD CG simulation.The center conformation in different states is searched.And the boundary conformations between clusters are assigned.The string algorithm is applied to study the path between two states,which are compared with the end conformations from all atoms simulations.The result shows that the main phenomenon of protein folding with TorchMD CG model is the same as the all-atom simulations,but with a less simulating time scale.The workflow in this work provides another option to study the protein folding and other relative processes with the deep learning CG model.

Texture evolution and mechanical anisotropy of an ultrafine/nano-grained pure copper tube processed via hydrostatic tube cyclic expansion extrusion

Texture evolution and mechanical anisotropic behavior of an ultrafine-grained(UFG)pure copper tube processed by recently introduced method of hydrostatic tube cyclic expansion extrusion(HTCEE)was investigated.For the UFG tube,different deformation behavior and a significant anisotropy in tensile properties were recorded along the longitudinal and peripheral directions.The HTCEE process increased the yield strength and the ultimate strength in the axial direction by 3.6 and 1.67 times,respectively.Also,this process increased the yield strength and the ultimate strength in the peripheral direction by 1.15 and 1.12 times,respectively.The ratio of ultimate tensile strength in the peripheral direction to that in the axial direction,as a criterion for mechanical anisotropy,are 1.7 and 1.16 for the as-annealed coarse-grained and the HTCEE processed UFG tube,respectively.The results are indicative of a reducing effect of the HTCEE process on the mechanical anisotropy.Besides,after HTCEE process,a low loss of ductility was observed in both directions,which is another advantage of HTCEE process.Hardness measurements revealed a slight increment of hardness values in the peripheral direction,which is in agreement with the trend of tensile tests.Texture analysis was conducted in order to determine the oriental distribution of the grains.The obtained{111}pole figures demonstrate the texture evolution and reaffirm the anisotropy observed in mechanical properties.Scanning electron microscopy micrographs showed that different modes of fracture occurred after tensile testing in the two orthogonal directions.

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Ultrafine Grained Mg15Al Alloy Processed by Equal-channel Angular Pressing

An as-cast magnesium alloy with high Al content Mg15Al was subjected to equal-channel angular pressing （ECAP） through a die with an angle of φ= 90？ at 553 K following route Bc. It is found that the network β-Mg17Al12 phases in the as-cast Mg15Al alloy are broken into small blocks and dispersed uniformly with increasing numbers of pressing passes. Moreover, many nano-sized Mg17Al12 particles precipitate in the ultra-fine α-Mg matrix. The grains are obviously refined. However, the grain structure is inhomogeneous in different areas of the alloy. The average size of the primary phase α-Mg is reduced to about 1 μm while grains of around 0.1-0.2 μm are obtained in some two-phase areas. With additional ECAP passes （up to 8）, coarsening of the grains occurs by dynamic recovery. Room temperature tensile tests show that the mechanical properties of Mg15Al alloys are markedly improved after 4 ECAP passes. The ultimate tensile strength and elongation to failure increase from 150 MPa to 269.3 MPa and from 0.05% to 7.4%, respectively. Compared with that after 4 passes, the elongation to failure of the alloy increases but the strength of the alloy slightly decreases after 8 ECAP passes. Fracture morphology of the ECAP-processed alloy exhibits dimple-like fracture characteristics while the as-cast alloy shows quasi-cleavage fractures.

Comprehensive tests on rising height of capillary water for coarse grained soil

According to the comprehensive tests on the rising height of capillary water for seven kinds of differ- ent coarse grained soil by use of the method of standpipe, the relationship between the rising height of capillary water and time was obtained, and the influencing factors and rules were analyzed. The data of the steady rising height of capillary water were obtained, and the regression equation of coarse grained soil on steady height and physical indexes （effective grain dl0 and porosity n） was found. Compared with Hazen＇s and other expressions that could estimate the steady height of capillary water of coarse grained soil, the proposed method is satisfactory and the defects of the latter were pointed out.