Strain rate and cold rolling dependence of tensile strength and ductility in high nitrogen nickel-free austenitic stainless steel

The tensile strength and ductility of a high nitrogen nickel-free austenitic stainless steel with solution and cold rolling treatment were investigated by performing tensile tests at different strain rates and at room temperature. The tensile tests demonstrated that this steel exhibits a significant strain rate and cold rolling dependence of the tensile strength and ductility.With the increase of the strain rate from 10^-4s^-1to 1 s^-1, the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength increase and the uniform elongation and total elongation decrease. The analysis of the double logarithmic stress–strain curves showed that this steel exhibits a two-stage strain hardening behavior, which can be well examined and analyzed by using the Ludwigson equation. The strain hardening exponents at low and high strain regions（n2and n1） and the transition strain（εL） decrease with increasing strain rate and the increase of cold rolling RA. Based on the analysis results of the stress–strain curves, the transmission electron microscopy characterization of the microstructure and the scanning electron microscopy observation of the deformation surfaces, the significant strain rate and cold rolling dependence of the strength and ductility of this steel were discussed and connected with the variation in the work hardening and dislocation activity with strain rate and cold rolling.

Tensile ductility improvement of AlSi9Cu1 alloy by chemical composition optimization

Diesel engines, characterized by higher breakout pressure and compression ratio in comparison with gasoline engines, require particularly elevated tensile properties for their engine parts. In order to maintain both high strength and high ductility in the cylinder head, i.e., to obtain higher percent elongation without further reducing the tensile strength, Al Si9Cu1 alloy was used to prepare the cylinder head in an aluminum diesel engine. At the same time, the effect of different modification elements, Na or Sr, and Fe content on the reduction of secondary dendrite arm spacing(SDAS) was discussed, and the design of T7 heat treatment parameters were analyzed in order to improve the tensile ductility. The result shows:(1) The SDAS is as small as 18±3 μm for the Sr modified alloy.(2) The percent elongation of the alloy with Sr modification increases by 66.7% and 42.9%, respectively, compared with the unmodified alloy and the alloy with Na modification.(3) Lower Fe content alloy(0.10%) gives good results in percent elongation compared to the alloy with higher Fe content(0.27%); in particular, after Sr modification and T7 heat treatment, the elongation of over 5% is obtained.

Combining gradient structure and supersaturated solid solution to achieve superior mechanical properties in WE43 magnesium alloy

In this study,surface mechanical attrition treatment was employed to sucessfully produce a gradient nanostructured layer on WE43 magnesium alloy.X-ray diffraction,energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer,and high-resolution transmission electron microscope observations were mainly performed to uncover the microstructure evolution responsible for the refinement mechanisms.It reveals that the grain refinement process consists of three transition stages along the depth direction from the core matrix to the topmost surface layer,i.e.,dislocation cells and pile-ups,ultrafine subgrains,and randomly orientated nanograins with the grain size of~40 nm.Noticeably,the original Mg;RE second phase is also experienced refinement and then re-dissolved into the α-Mg matrix phase,forming a supersaturated solid solution nanostructuredα-Mg phase in the gradient refined layer.Due to the cooperative effects of grain refinement hardening,dislocation hardening,and supersaturated solid-solution hardening,the gradient nanostructured WE43 alloy contributes to the ultimate tensile strength of~435 MPa and ductility of~11.0%,showing an extraordinary strain hardening and mechanical properties among the reported severe plastic deformation-processed Mg alloys.This work provides a new strategy for the optimization of mechanical properties of Mg alloys via combining the gradient structure and supersaturated solid solution.