Alleviating the anisotropic microstructural change and boosting the lithium ions diffusion by grain orientation regulation for Ni-rich cathode materials

Generally,layered Ni-rich cathode materials exhibit the morphology of polycrystalline secondary sphere composed of numerous primary particles.While the arrangement of primary particles plays a very important role in the properties of Ni-rich cathodes.The disordered particle arrangement is harmful to the cyclic performance and structural stability,yet the fundamental understanding of disordered structure on the structural degradation behavior is unclarified.Herein,we have designed three kinds of LiNi_(0.83)Co_(0.06)Mn_(0.11)O_(2) cathode materials with different primary particle orientations by regulating the precursor coprecipitation process.Combining finite element simulation and in-situ characterization,the Li^(+)transport and structure evolution behaviors of different materials are unraveled.Specifically,the smooth Li^(+)diffusion minimizes the reaction heterogeneity,homogenizes the phase transition within grains,and mitigates the anisotropic microstructural change,thereby modulating the crack evolution behavior.Meanwhile,the optimized structure evolution ensures radial tight junctions of the primary particles,enabling enhanced Li^(+)diffusion during dynamic processes.Closed-loop bidirectional enhancement mechanism becomes critical for grain orientation regulation to stabilize the cyclic performance.This precursor engineering with particle orientation regulation provides the useful guidance for the structural design and feature enhancement of Ni-rich layered cathodes.

Effects of Primary Annealing Condition on Recrystallization Texture in a Grain Oriented Silicon Steel

The recrystallization texture in grain oriented silicon steel sheets, which were annealed at different primary annealingtemperatures with and without an electric field, was investigated. An automated electron backscattered diffraction(EBSD) technique was used to analyze the recrystallization texture. It was found that recovery and application ofelectric field in primary annealing lead to an increase of {001} component and a decrease of {111} component afterannealing at 900℃. The development of recrystallization texture can be explained in terms of the effects of electricfield and primary annealing temperature on recovery.

STUDY ON REDUCING THE CORE LOSS OF GRAIN ORIENTED SILICON STEEL AND IMPROVING ITS AGING PROPERTY BY LASER NITRIDING TECHNIQUE IN ATMOSPHERIC AMBIENT

CW-CO2 laser nitriding technique was applied to improve the properties （such as aging property and the core loss） of grain oriented silicon steel. The samples were nitrided with regular space. Laser power density and scanning speed were chosen as 7.8×10^5W·cm^-2 and 100mm·min^-1. By some laser irradiation, Fe4N and Fe3N were formed in the nitrided zone. The nitrided samples were annealed at the temperatures ranged from 100 to 90℃. The core loss of some interested samples was tested. The results show that the core loss of the nitrided samples with different thickness of 0.23 and 0.30mm decreased by 14.9% and 9.4% respectively, and the aging property were improved up to 800℃. The mechanism of laser nitriding to improve the properties of grain oriented silicon steel is discussed.

Primary Recrystallization of Grain Oriented Silicon Steel Strip Rolled by CSR and Annealed in Magnetic Field

The magnetic properties and textures of grain oriented silicon steel with different thickness rolled by cross shear rolling （CSR） of different mismatched speed ratio （MSR） and annealed in magnetic field under hydrogen were presented.Effects of the factors such as thickness and mismatched speed ratio on the magnetic properties and recrystallization texture were analyzed and the recrystallization principles in magnetic field annealing were discussed. The study would provide a new route for mass production of high quality ultra-thin grain oriented silicon steel strip.

Texture Characteristics of Thin Grain Oriented Silicon Steel Sheet Produced by Cross Shear Rolling

Commercial grain oriented silicon steel was cold rolled to thickness from 0.06 to 0.10 mm by cross shear rolling, then annealed in vacuum or a hydrogen atmosphere furnace. Deformation textures of the sheets were researched by ODF method and reverse pole figure quantitative analyses. The results indicate that: in the condition of the cross shear rolling, the deformation texture of rolled sheet is generally similar to that of conventional rolled sheet, however, the texture distribution through the thickness is asymmetrical. With mismatch speed ratio increasing, the amount of Goss texture increases. With reduction ratio increasing, the intensity of γ-fiber becomes strong.

New process for production of ultra-thin grain oriented silicon steel

The Hi-B silicon steels were cold rolled by cross shear rolling (CSR) with different mismatch speed ratio(MSR)s and conventional rolling(CR) respectively, followed by primary recrystallization annealing. The effects of MSR and annealing temperature on magnetic properties of ultra-thin grain oriented silicon steel were analyzed. Experimental results show that, with the increase of MSR, the magnetic properties can be remarkably improved. The higher the annealing temperature is, the higher the magnetic induction and the lower the iron loss in ultra-thin silicon steel is.

Through Thickness Variation of Cross Shear Rolling Texture in Grain Oriented Silicon Steel

The texture inhomogeneity in cross shear rolled grain oriented Si steel was investigated by means of the through thickness texture analysis. For the chosen rolling reductions (55%, 66.5%) and mismatch speed ratios (1.0, 1.1, 1.3), the deformation textures in various thickness layers consist of three major components, i.e. strong γ-fiber, medium α-fiber and weak η-fiber, and they show an asymmetrical distribution throughout the thickness. The effect of reduction on the texture gradient is found to be more significant at and near the center layer; however, the effect of mismatch speed ratio is less important. In most cases, a strong {111}<112> texture component appears in the subsurface layers, that may favour the formation of a sharp Goss texture during the subsequent annealing.

Effect of Magnesia Blending on the Magnetic Properties of Grain Oriented Silicon Steel

Decarburized samples of grain oriented silicon steel were coated with alone and blended magnesias and submitted to the high temperature annealing. The magnesias and their blendings were characterized using granulometry measurements, ignition loss and reactivity tests. After high temperature annealing, forsterite film morphology, magnetic properties and Goss deviation were also analyzed. Better magnetic properties and sharper Goss orientation were found in samples which had used blended magnesias. These results are explained by the magnesias particle size distributions, forsterite film formation and rate of inhibitors release.

Non-Oriented Fe-Si Thin Strip Produced from Grain Oriented Fe-Si Strip by CSR

The grain oriented silicon strip was rolled by cross shear rolling(CSR)and then annealed to manufacture non-oriented thin silicon strip of high quality.The recrystallization of rolled grain-oriented silicon steel into non-oriented silicon steel was studied.For this purpose,CSR is better than conventional rolling,and the higher the mismatched speed rate is,the better the properties of the non-oriented thin silicon strip are.The optimum annealing schedule is heating at 1 000 ℃for 1hin pure hydrogen atmosphere added with H2 S of 0.001 0 %.

Low-loss B18R065 and B20R070 grain oriented electrical steels for grade 1 energy efficiency distribution transformers

To reduce distribution transformer losses and carbon dioxide emissions, in recent years, the major countries in the world have issued mandatory standards for high-energy efficiency in distribution transformers. In 2013,China has carried out a new standard GB 20052-2013. To meet the update of the standard and energy efficiency,it is important to enhance the magnetic properties of core materials. The new products B18R065 and B20R070 which are developed by Baosteel, are successfully used for grade 1 energy efficiency distribution transformers. And Baosteel becomes one of the companies which can supply both the 0.20 mm and the 0.18 mm gauge grain oriented electrical steels （GOES） in the world. The development principle, material properties, and transformer performance of B18R065 and B20R070 were introduced,which were expected to be a useful reference for materials selection by transformer manufacturers.

Optimizing Domain Distribution of Grain Oriented Silicon Steel by Using Antimony as the Laser Surface Alloying Element

For reducing the core loss of grain oriented silicon steel and improving its aging property, a new method, the LLSA by using Sb as the laser surface alloying element, was investigated, and at proper technique conditions rather good result was obtained.

Mechanism of size effects in microcylindrical compression of pure copper considering grain orientation distribution

In microscale deformation, the magnitudes of specimen and grain sizes are usually identical, and size- dependent phenomena of deformation behavior occur, namely, size effects. In this study, size effects in micro- cylindrical compression were investigated experimentally. It was found that, with the increase of grain size and decrease of specimen size, flow stress decreases and inhomogeneous material flow increases. These size effects tend to be more distinct with miniaturization. Thereafter, a modified model considering orientation distribution of surface grains and continuity between surface grains and inner grains is developed to model size effects in micro- forming. Through finite element simulation, the effects of specimen size, grain size, and orientation of surface grains on the flow stress and inhomogeneous deformation were analyzed. There is a good agreement between experimental and simulation results.

Multi-phase field simulation of grain growth in multiple phase transformations of a binary alloy

This work establishes a temperature-controlled sequence function, and a new multi-phase-field model, for liquid- solid-solid multi-phase transformation by coupling the liquid-solid phase transformation model with the solid-solid phase transformation model. Taking an Fe-C alloy as an example, the continuous evolution of a multi-phase transformation is simulated by using this new model. In addition, the growth of grains affected by the grain orientation of the parent phase （generated in liquid-solid phase transformation） in the solid-solid phase transformation is studied. The results show that the morphology of ferrite grains which nucleate at the boundaries of the austenite grains is influenced by the orientation of the parent austenite grains. The growth rate of ferrite grains which nucleate at small-angle austenite grain boundaries is faster than those that nucleate at large-angle austenite grain boundaries. The difference of the growth rate of ferrites grains in different parent phase that nucleate at large-angle austenite grain boundaries, on both sides of the boundaries, is greater than that of ferrites nucleating at small-angle austenite grain boundaries.

Dependence of stresses on grain orientations in BCC polycrystalline films on substrates

Most thin films have different thermal expansion coefficients from their substrates, thus thermal stresses will be introduced into the films when the temperature is changed during annealing and service. Calculations of these stresses for grains in various crystallographic orientations have been made for seven BCC transition metals Cr, Fe, Mo, Nb, Ta, V and W. Neglecting W, which is isotropic and the stresses are equiaxial and without grain orientation （hkl） dependence, the BCC metals may be grouped into two classes. In the first class （Cr, Mo, Nb and V）, the （100）-oriented grains have the largest stresses, while the stresses σ1 and σ2 in other （hkl）-oriented grains decrease linearly with the increase of the angle between （hkl） and （100）, and with σ1 〈 σ2 except in （100）- and （lll）-oriented grains. In the second class （Fe and Ta）, on the contrary, the （100）-oriented grains have the lowest stresses, and the stresses σ1 and σ2 in other （hkl）-oriented grains increase linearly with the increase of the angle between （hkl） and （100）, and with σ1 〉 σ2 except in （100）- and （111）-oriented grains.

Multi-phase field simulation of competitive grain growth for directional solidification

The multi-phase field model of grain competitive growth during directional solidification of alloy is established.Solving multi-phase field models for thin interface layer thickness conditions,the grain boundary evolution and grain elimination during the competitive growth of SCN-0.24-wt%camphor model alloy bi-crystals are investigated.The effects of different crystal orientations and pulling velocities on grain boundary microstructure evolution are quantitatively analyzed.The obtained results are shown below.In the competitive growth of convergent bi-crystals,when favorably oriented dendrites are in the same direction as the heat flow and the pulling speed is too large,the orientation angle of the bi-crystal from small to large size is the normal elimination phenomenon of the favorably oriented dendrite,blocking the unfavorably oriented dendrite,and the grain boundary is along the growth direction of the favorably oriented dendrite.When the pulling speed becomes small,the grain boundary shows the anomalous elimination phenomenon of the unfavorably oriented dendrite,eliminating the favorably oriented dendrite.In the process of competitive growth of divergent bi-crystal,when the growth direction of favorably oriented dendrites is the same as the heat flow direction and the orientation angle of unfavorably oriented grains is small,the frequency of new spindles of favorably oriented grains is significantly higher than that of unfavorably oriented grains,and as the orientation angle of unfavorably oriented dendrites becomes larger,the unfavorably oriented grains are more likely to have stable secondary dendritic arms,which in turn develop new primary dendritic arms to occupy the liquid phase grain boundary space,but the grain boundary direction is still parallel to favorably oriented dendrites.In addition,the tertiary dendritic arms on the developed secondary dendritic arms may also be blocked by the surrounding lateral branches from further developing into nascent main axes,this blocking of the tertiary dendritic arms has a random nature,which can have aninfluence on the generation of nascent primary main axes in the grain boundaries.

Should we consider a new approach? Detecting grain deviation caused by knots within stems

This article describes the importance of detecting grain deviation caused by knots and reviews the main methods used in measuring grain orientation surrounding knots. It discusses the potential of using Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging to track and map the grain deviation caused by knots.

Enhanced unipolar electrical fatigue resistance and related mechanism in grain-oriented Pb(Mg_(1/3)Nb_(2/3))O_(3)-Pb(Zr,Ti)O_(3)piezoceramics

Piezoceramics with high and fatigue-resisted piezoelectric properties are strongly desired for actuator ap-plications.In this work,textured Pb(Mg_(1/3)Nb_(2/3))O_(3)-Pb(Zr,Ti)O_(3)ceramics with Lotgering factor F_(001)∼98%were fabricated by templated grain growth technique.Strong[001]c-grain orientation(f∼90%and r∼0.22)of the textured ceramics effectively produced about 230%enhanced piezoelectric coefficient d_(33)^(∗)(i.e.,S_(max)/E_(max))and substantially improved unipolar electrical fatigue resistance.Unipolar polarization P max and d_(33)^(∗)of the textured ceramics were nearly maintained up to 106 unipolar cycles,while 19%and 14%degradations were respectively observed from randomly oriented counterparts.Especially,normal-ized d_(33)^(∗)of the textured ceramics shows better unipolar fatigue resistance than those of piezoceramics reported previously.Much lower bipolar strain asymmetryγs(∼4%)was observed from the textured samples fatigued after 106 unipolar cycles as compared toγs∼23%for randomly oriented counterparts.While charged defect accumulation model described the serious fatigue deteriorations in randomly ori-ented ceramics,the current work revealed that substantially enhanced unipolar fatigue resistance of the textured ceramics is mainly associated with the inherent fatigue anisotropy,weakened local bias fields owing to both enhanced domain mobility and lower defect density near grain boundaries/interfaces,and increased intrinsic contribution due to more tetragonal content.These superior characteristics suggest the great potential of textured ceramics for high-performance and robust actuator applications.

Texture property and weakening mechanism of Mg-3Al-1Zn alloy by interactive alternating forward extrusion

The interactive alternating forward extrusion(AFE) method can realize the change of texture type and the weakening of texture strength.Taking AZ31 magnesium alloy as an example, the texture evolution of interactive AFE was studied. The results show that all kinds of dynamic recrystallization(DRX) behaviors can weaken the texture to vary degrees. The weakening effect of twinning-induced recrystallization(TDRX)behavior was particularly significant. During the interactive AFE process, the c-axis of most grains rotated under the external force, and tended to be 90° angle with the ED direction, forming a stable fiber texture. In addition, with the increase of loading passes, the starting of {0001} <11–20> basal slip system became more and more difficult. The(10–10) texture formed by {10–10} <11–20> prismatic slip system after sixth passes was the main texture type. With the increase of forming temperature, the starting ability of {10–10} <11–20>prismatic slip systems increased, and the(10–10) texture formed by prismatic slip system above 623 K dominated.

Effects of grain's shape-and size-polydispersities,orientation,and area fraction on tortuosity and permeability of 2D granular media

The microstructure of granular media, including grain's shape- and size-polydispersities, orientation, and area fraction can potentially affect its permeability. However, few studies consider the coupling effects of these features. This work employs geometrical probability and stereology to establish quantitative relationships between the above microstructural features and the geometric tortuosity of the two-dimensional granular media containing superellipse, superoval, and polygon grains. Then the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is used to determine the permeabilities of these granular media. By combining the tortuosity model and the LBM-derived permeabilities, modified K–C equations are formulated to predict the permeability and the shape factor, considering the grain's shape- and size-polydispersities, orientation, and area fraction. The reliability of these methods can be verified by comparing them with both our simulations and available experimental, theoretical, and numerical data reported in the literature. The findings implicate that the tortuosity and permeability of the granular media are strongly correlated with the grain's shape, orientation, and area fraction but unaffected by the size polydispersity and spatial arrangement of grains. Only circularity is not enough to derive a unified formula for considering the impact of grain shape on tortuosity and permeability, other shape parameters need to be explored in the future.

Predicting Grain Orientations of 316 Stainless Steel Using Convolutional Neural Networks

This paper presents a deep learning Convolutional Neural Network(CNN)for predicting grain orientations from electron backscatter diffraction(EBSD)patterns.The proposed model consists of multiple neural network layers and has been trained on a dataset of EBSD patterns obtained from stainless steel 316(SS316).Grain orientation changes when considering the effects of temperature and strain rate on material deformation.The deep learning CNN predicts material orientation using the EBSD method to address this challenge.The accuracy of this approach is evaluated by comparing the predicted crystal orientation with the actual orientation under different conditions,using the Root-Mean-Square Error(RMSE)as the measure.Results show that changing the temperature causes different grain orientations to form,meeting the requirements.Further investigations were conducted to validate the results.