Quantification of grain boundary effects on the geometrically necessary dislocation density evolution and strain hardening of polycrystalline Mg-4Al using in situ tensile testing in scanning electron microscope and HR-EBSD

In situ tensile testing in a scanning electron microscope(SEM)in conjunction with high-resolution electron backscatter diffraction(HR-EBSD)under load was used to characterize the evolution of geometrically necessary dislocation(GND)densities at individual grain boundaries as a function of applied strain in a polycrystalline Mg-4Al alloy.The increase in GND density was investigated at plastic strains of 0%,0.6%,2.2%,3.3% from the area including 76 grains and correlated with(i)geometric compatibility between slip systems across grain boundaries,and(ii)plastic incompatibility.We develop expressions for the grain boundary GND density evolution as a function of plastic strain and plastic incompatibility,from which uniaxial tensile stress-strain response of polycrystalline Mg-4Al are computed and compared with experimental measurement.The findings in this study contribute to understanding the mechanisms governing the strain hardening response of single-phase polycrystalline alloys and more reliable prediction of mechanical behaviors in diverse microstructures.

Polyethylene glycol fusion repair of severed sciatic nerves accelerates recovery of nociceptive sensory perceptions in male and female rats of different strains

Successful polyethylene glycol fusion(PEG-fusion)of severed axons following peripheral nerve injuries for PEG-fused axons has been reported to:(1)rapidly restore electrophysiological continuity;(2)prevent distal Wallerian Degeneration and maintain their myelin sheaths;(3)promote primarily motor,voluntary behavioral recoveries as assessed by the Sciatic Functional Index;and,(4)rapidly produce correct and incorrect connections in many possible combinations that produce rapid and extensive recovery of functional peripheral nervous system/central nervous system connections and reflex(e.g.,toe twitch)or voluntary behaviors.The preceding companion paper describes sensory terminal field reo rganization following PEG-fusion repair of sciatic nerve transections or ablations;howeve r,sensory behavioral recovery has not been explicitly explored following PEG-fusion repair.In the current study,we confirmed the success of PEG-fusion surgeries according to criteria(1-3)above and more extensively investigated whether PEG-fusion enhanced mechanical nociceptive recovery following sciatic transection in male and female outbred Sprague-Dawley and inbred Lewis rats.Mechanical nociceptive responses were assessed by measuring withdrawal thresholds using von Frey filaments on the dorsal and midplantar regions of the hindpaws.Dorsal von Frey filament tests were a more reliable method than plantar von Frey filament tests to assess mechanical nociceptive sensitivity following sciatic nerve transections.Baseline withdrawal thresholds of the sciatic-mediated lateral dorsal region differed significantly across strain but not sex.Withdrawal thresholds did not change significantly from baseline in chronic Unoperated and Sham-operated rats.Following sciatic transection,all rats exhibited severe hyposensitivity to stimuli at the lateral dorsal region of the hindpaw ipsilateral to the injury.However,PEG-fused rats exhibited significantly earlier return to baseline withdrawal thresholds than Negative Control rats.Furthermore,PEG-fused rats with significantly improved Sciatic Functional Index scores at or after 4 weeks postoperatively exhibited yet-earlier von Frey filament recove ry compared with those without Sciatic Functional Index recovery,suggesting a correlation between successful PEG-fusion and both motor-dominant and sensory-dominant behavioral recoveries.This correlation was independent of the sex or strain of the rat.Furthermore,our data showed that the acceleration of von Frey filament sensory recovery to baseline was solely due to the PEG-fused sciatic nerve and not saphenous nerve collateral outgrowths.No chronic hypersensitivity developed in any rat up to 12 weeks.All these data suggest that PEG-fusion repair of transection peripheral nerve injuries co uld have important clinical benefits.

Modeling of strain hardening and dynamic recrystallization of ZK60 magnesium alloy during hot deformation

The flow stress behavior of ZK60 alloy at elevated temperature was investigated. The strain hardening and dynamic recrystallization of the alloy were modeled by Kocks-Meching model and Avrami equation, respectively. A new constitutive equation during hot deformation was constructed to predict the flow stress considering the dynamic recrystallization. The results show that the flow stress curves predicted by the proposed equation have high correlation coefficients with the experimental data, which confirms that the developed model is accurate and effective to establish the flow stress equation of ZK60 magnesium alloy during hot deformation. Microstructure observation shows that dynamic recovery occurs in the initial stage of hot deformation. However, the microstructure turns to recrvstallization structure as the strain increases.

Effect of strain rate and deformation temperature on strain hardening and softening behavior of pure copper

The effects of the deformation temperature and the strain rate on the hot deformation behavior of pure copper were investigated based on compression tests. The expressions of strain hardening rate, dynamic recrystallization critical stress, saturated stress, dynamic recovery volume fraction and dynamic recrystallization volume fraction were determined. According to the processing map, the instability regions occur in regions of 400?450 °C, 0.001?0.05 s?1 and 450?750 °C, 0.05?1 s?1. The deformation mechanism in the stability region is dynamic recrystallization. The flow stress was predicted. The results also show that the true stress–true strain curves predicted by the extracted model are in good agreement with the experimental results.

Analysis of plane strain bending of a strain hardening curved beam based on unified yield criterion

The analysis of plane strain elastic-plastic bending of a linear strain hardening curved beam with a narrow rectangular cross section subjected to couples at its end is conducted based on a unified yield criterion. The solutions for the mechanical properties of plane strain bending are derived, which are adapted for various kinds of non-strength differential materials and can be degenerated to those based on the Tresca, von Mises, and twin-shear yield criteria. The dependences of the two critical bending moments, the radii of the interfaces between the elastic and plastic regions and the radial displacements of the points at the symmetrical plane on different yield criteria and Poisson’s ratios are discussed. The results show that the influences of different yield criteria and Poisson’s ratio on the two critical bending moments, the radii of the interfaces between the elastic and plastic regions and the radial displacements of the points at the symmetrical plane of the curved beam are significant. Once the value of bis obtained by experiments, the yield criterion and the corresponding solution for the materials of interest are then determined.

Effects of high temperature pre-straining on natural aging and bake hardening response of Al-Mg-Si alloys

The influences of high temperature pre-straining (HT-PS) on the natural aging and bake hardening of Al?Mg?Si alloys were investigated by Vickers microhardness measurements, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization. The results show that pre-straining at 170 °C immediately after quenching can effectively resolve the rather high T4 temper hardness caused by the conventional room temperature (RT) pre-straining treatment, and give a better bake hardening response (BHR) after paint-bake cycle. HT-PS 7% at 170 °C for 10 min is chosen as the optimum process as it provides lower T4 temper hardness and better BHR. The simultaneous introduction of dislocations and Cluster (2) can significantly suppress the natural aging and promote the precipitation of β″ phase, and reduce the effects of deformation hardening by dynamic recovery.

Potential Use of Strain Hardening ECC in Permanent Formwork with Small Scale Flexural Beams

Utilizing pre-cast ECC panels as participating permanent formwork of concrete members, and the validity of using ECC to disperse the single crack in concrete into multiple ones in ECC were studied. In the process, totally two kinds of ECC with different tensile properties, 7 series of flat panels with different top surface figures and 3 U-shape panels with different inner surface forms were investigated. To evaluate the performance of the permanent formworks, small ECC-concrete composite beams were cast and tested mechanically. The 4-point bending test results show that the use of pre-cast ECC panels as permanent formwork can significantly improve the load capacity and toughness of a concrete member, effectively dispersing single widely opened crack in concrete into multiple ones in ECC. Most permanent formworks show perfect bond with the concrete cast on them, while the ones with partially debonded zone achieve the best mechanical performance. The U-shape permanent formworks show better performances than the flat ones, achieving much betler improvements in both the load capacity and toughness, together with better crack width control.

Load Bearing Capacity and Safety Analysis for Strain-hardening Austenitic Stainless Steel Pressure Vessels

By increasing the yield strengths of austenitic stainless steels for pressure vessels with strain hardening techniques,the elastic load bearing capacity of austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels can be significantly improved.Two kinds of strain hardening methods are often used for austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels：Avesta model for ambient temperature applications and Ardeform model for cryogenic temperature applications.Both methods are obtained from conventional design rules based on the linear elastic theory,and only consider the hardening effect from materials.Consequently this limits the applications of strain hardening techniques for austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels because of safety concerns.This paper investigates the effect of strain hardening on the load bearing capacity of austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels under large deformation,based on the elastic-plastic theory.Firstly,to understand the effect of strain hardening on material behavior,the plastic instability loads of a round tensile bar specimen are derived under two different loading paths and validated by experiments.Secondly,to investigate the effect of strain hardening on pressure vessels strength, the plastic instability pressure under strain hardening is derived and further validated by finite element simulations.Further,the safety margin of pressure vessels after strain hardening is analyzed by comparing the safety factor values calculated from bursting tests,finite element analyses,and standards.The researching results show that the load bearing capacity of pressure vessels at ambient temperature is independent of the loading history when the effects of both material strain hardening and structural deformation are considered.Finite element simulations and bursting tests results show that the minimum safety factor of austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels with 5% strain hardening is close to the recommended value for common pressure vessels specified in the European pressure vessel standard.The proposed study also shows that in the strain hardening design of austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels,the calculation for plastic instability pressure could use theoretical formula or finite element analyses based on geometrical dimensions and material property parameters before strain hardening,but a 5%strain should be employed as a design limit.The proposed research can be used for the strain hardening design of austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels safely.

Strain hardening behavior of Mg-Y alloys after extrusion process

The strain hardening is an effective mode of enhancing mechanical properties in alloys.In this work,the strain hardening behaviors of Mg-xY(x=1,2,and 3 wt%)after extrusion process was investigated using uniaxial tensile tests.Results suggest that the Mg-xY alloys are composed ofα-Mg with a little amount of Mg24Y5 phase.The average grain size reduces from 19.8μm to 12.2μm as the Y content adds from 1 wt%to 2 wt%.Nevertheless,when Y content reaches 3 wt%,the grain size reaches to 12.9μm,which is close to that of Mg-2Y.The strain hardening rate decreases from 883 MPa to 798 MPa at(σ-σ0.2)=40 MPa,and Mg-2Y and Mg-3Y have the similar strain hardening response.Moreover,Mg-1Y shows an obvious ascending stage after the steep decreasing stage,which is mainly caused by the activation of twinning.The strain hardening behavior of Mg-xY is explained based on understanding the roles of the deformation mechanisms via deformation microstructure analysis and Visco-Plastic Self Consistent(VPSC)model.The variation of strain hardening characteristics with increasing Y content is related to the effects of grain size and texture.

Strain Softening and Hardening Behavior in AZ61 Magnesium Alloy

The deformation behavior of AZ61 Mg alloy during hot deformation has been investigated in wide temperature and strain rate range by a Gleeble simulator. Specimens are deformed in compression in the temperature range of 523-673 K and at strain rates of 0.001-1 s-1. It is found that the flow curves exhibit a peak and then decrease towards steady-state of classical DRX, which decrease with rising temperature and decreasing strain rate. The deformation behavior of the specimens can be attributed to the occurrence of strain hardening and softening. As stress decreases, the strain hardening rate declines at a fast rate when temperature rises or strain rate decreases. The shapes of θ-σ curves indicate some important features such as subgrain formation, the criticai stress, the peak stress and steady stress. The onset of DRX can be determined by the point of inflection on θ-σ or Inθ-σ curves.

Damage evolution model of strain hardening cementitious composites under the uniaxial stress state

The deformation and damage behaviors of strain hardening cementitious composites （SHCC） under the uniaxial stress state were investigated in this paper. Two ductile failure-based constitutive models were introduced to describe the uniaxial tension and compression properties of SHCC only using a few parameters. The computation method of model parameters was developed to ease the simulation procedures. Damage evolution of the SHCC was simulated by the formulation of continuum damage mechanics subsequently. The results show that the proposed models fit the stress-strain curves reasonably well, and the damage variables show different growth rules under uniaxial tension and compression. It is concluded that the proposed method can not only simply simulate the constitutive behavior of SHCC with the reasonable accuracy but also capture the characteristic of material degradation.

EFFECT OF STRAIN RATE(?) ON STRAIN HARDENING EXPONENT n OF SOME METALLIC MATERIALS

Variable strain rate tension tests for 4 metallic materials show that as the strain rate in creases the strain hardening exponent n decreases. The trend follows a two stage linear relation between n and Ig (?). When (?) < (?)cp, i.e. under quasi-static loading, n can be considered as a constant, but when (?)>(?)cp, n decreases rapidly till an ideal plastic state. n = 0. The characterizations and mechanisms of softening induced by high (?) are discussed.

A crystal plasticity based approach to establish role of grain size and crystallographic texture in the Tension–Compression yield asymmetry and strain hardening behavior of a Magnesium–Silver–Rare Earth alloy

Existence of tension–compression yield asymmetry is a serious limitation to the load bearing capablities of Magnesium alloys in a number of light weight structural applications.The present work is aimed at nullifying the tension to compression asymmetry problem and strain hardening anomalies in a Magnesium–Silver–Rare Earth alloy by engineering different levels of microstructural conditions via friction stir processing and post process annealing.The existence and extent of yield asymmetry ratio in the range of microstructural conditions was experimentally obtained through quasistatic tensile and compression tests.The yield asymmetry problem was profoundly present in specimens of coarse grained microstructures when compared to their fine grained and ultra fine grained counterparts.The impact of the microstructure and associated mechanisms of plasticity on the macroscopic strain hardening behavior was established by Kock–Mecking’s analysis.Crystal plasticity simulations using Viscoplastic Self Consistency approach revealed the consequential role of extension twinning mechanism for the existence of yield asymmetry and anomalies in strain hardening behavior.This was especially dominant with coarsening of grain size.Electron Microscopy and characterization were conducted thoroughly in partially deformed specimens to confirm the predictions of the above simulations.The role of crystallographic texture for inducing the polarity to Tension–Compression yield asymmetry was corroborated.A critical grain size in Magnesium–Silver–Rare earth alloy was hereby established which could nullify influences of extension twinning in yield asymmetry ratio.

Effect of strain hardening and strain softening on welding distortion and residual stress of A7N01-T4 aluminum alloy by simulation analysis

The effect of strain hardening and strain softening behavior of flow stress changing with temperature on welding residual stress, plastic strain and welding distortion of ATN0 1-T4 aluminum alloy was studied by finite simulation method. The simulation results show that the weld seam undergoes strain hardening in the temperature range of 180-250 ℃, however, it exhibits strain softening at temperature above 250 ℃ during welding heating and cooling process. As a result, the strain hardening and strain softening effects counteract each other, introducing slightly influence on the welding residual stress, residual plastic strain and distortion. The welding longitudinal residual stress was determined by ultrasonic stress measurement method for the flat plates of A7N01-T4 aluminum alloy. The simulation results are well accordant with test ones.

Strain-hardening and warm deformation behaviors of extruded Mg-Sn-Yb alloy sheet

Strain-hardening and warm deformation behaviors of extruded Mg-2Sn-0.5Yb alloy(at.%)sheet were investigated in uniaxial tensile test at temperatures of 25-250 ℃ and strain rates of 1×10^(−3) s^(−1)-0.1 s^(−1).The data fit with the Kocks-Mecking type plots were used to show different stages of strain hardening.Besides III-stage and IV-stage,the absence of the II-stage strain hardening at room temperature should be related to the sufficient dynamic recrystallization during extrusion.The decrease of strain hardening ability of the alloy after yielding was attributed to the reduction of dislocation density with increasing testing temperature.Strain rate sensitivity(SRS)was significantly enhanced with increasing temperature,and the corresponding m-value was calculated as 0.07-0.12,which indicated that the deformation mechanism was dominated by the climb-controlled dislocation creep at 200 ℃.Furthermore,the grain boundary sliding(GBS)was activated at 250 ℃,which contributed to the higher SRS.The activation energy was calculated as 213.67 kJ mol^(−1),which was higher than that of lattice diffusion or grain boundary self-diffusion.In addition,the alloy exhibited a quasi superplasticity at 250 ℃ with a strain rate of 1×10^(−3) s^(−1),which was mainly related to the fine microstructure and the presence of the Mg2Sn and Mg2(Sn,Yb)particles.

Strain hardening behavior, strain rate sensitivity and hot deformation maps of AISI 321 austenitic stainless steel

Hot compression tests were performed on AISI 321 austenitic stainless steel in the deformation temperature range of 800–1200℃ and constant strain rates of 0.001,0.01,0.1,and 1 s^(−1).Hot flow curves were used to determine the strain hardening exponent and the strain rate sensitivity exponent,and to construct the processing maps.Variations of the strain hardening exponent with strain were used to predict the microstructural evolutions during the hot deformation.Four variations were distinguished reflecting the different microstructural changes.Based on the analysis of the strain hardening exponent versus strain curves,the microstructural evolutions were dynamic recovery,single and multiple peak dynamic recrystallization,and interactions between dynamic recrystallization and precipitation.The strain rate sensitivity variations at an applied strain of 0.8 and strain rate of 0.1 s^(−1) were compared with the microstructural evolutions.The results demonstrate the existence of a reliable correlation between the strain rate sensitivity values and evolved microstructures.Additionally,the power dissipation map at the applied strain of 0.8 was compared with the resultant microstructures at predetermined deformation conditions.The microstructural evolutions strongly correlated to the power dissipation ratio,and dynamic recrystallization occurred completely at lower power dissipation ratios.

Equivalent strain hardening exponent of anisotropic materials based on spherical indentation response

Uniaxial strain hardening exponent is not suitable for describing the strain hardening behaviors of the anisotropic materials, especially when material deforms in the multi-axial stress states. In this work, a novel method was proposed to estimate the equivalent strain hardening exponent of anisotropic materials based on an equivalent energy method. By performing extensive finite element (FE) simulations of the spherical indentation on anisotropic materials, dimensionless function was proposed to correlate the strain hardening exponent of anisotropic materials with the indentation imprint parameters. And then, a mathematic expression on the strain hardening exponent of anisotropic materials with the indentation imprint was established to estimate the equivalent strain hardening exponent of anisotropic materials by directly solving this dimensionless function. Additionally, Meyer equation was modified to determine the yield stress of anisotropic materials. The effectiveness and reliability of the new method were verified by the numerical examples and by its application on the TC1M engineering material.

Effects of pre-strain and baking parameters on the microstructure and bake-hardening behavior of dual-phase steel

In a typical process, C-Mn steel was annealed at 800℃ for 180 s, and then cooled rapidly to obtain the ferrite-martensite microstructure. After pre-straining, the specimens were baked and the corresponding bake-hardening （BH） values were determined as a function of pre-strain, baking temperature, and baking time. The influences ofpre-strain, baking temperature and baking time on the microstructure evolution and bake-hardening behavior of the dual-phase steel were investigated systematically. It was found that the BH value apparently increased with an increase in pre-strain in the range from 0 to 1%; however, increasing pre-strain from 1% to 8% led to a decrease in the BH value. Furthermore, an increase in baking temperature favored a gradual improvement in the BH value because of the formation of Cottrell atmosphere and the precipitation of carbides in both the ferrite and martensite phases. The BH value reached a maximum of 110 MPa at a baking temperature of 300℃. Moreover, the BH value enhanced significantly with increasing baking time from 10 to 100 min.

Tensile Behavior of Strain Hardening Cementitious Composites (SHCC) Containing Reactive Recycled Powder from Various C&D Waste

This work investigates the feasibility of utilizing reactive recycled powder(RP)from construction and demolition(C&D)waste as supplementary cementitious material(SCM)to achieve a ductile strain hardening cementitious composites(SHCC).The recycled mortar powder(RMP)from mortar waste,recycled concrete powder(RCP)from concrete waste and recycled brick powder(RBP)from clay brick waste were first prepared,and the micro-properties and tensile behavior of SHCC containing various types and replacement ratios of RPs were determined.The incorporated RP promotes pozzolanic and filler effects,while the hydration products in cementitious materials decrease with RP incorporation;therefore,the incorporated RP decreases the compressive strength of SHCC.Attributed to the reduction in the matrix strength,the incorporated RP increases the crack-bridging extent and ductility of SHCC;the irregular micro-structure and high reactivity of RP also help the strain-hardening performance of the prepared SHCC.In addition,the strainhardening performance of SHCC containing RMP and RBP is surperior to that of SHCC with RCP and is slightly lower than that of SHCC with fly ash(FA);for instance,the ultimate strain of SHCC containing 54%FA,RMP,RCP and RBP is 3.67%,3.61%,2.52%and 3.53%,respectively.In addition,the strain-hardening behavior of an SHCC doubled mix with FA and RMP or RBP has a similar ultimate strain and a higher ultimate stress than SHCC containing only FA.

A SEPARATED LAW OF HARDENING IN STRAIN GRADIENT PLASTICITY

This paper presents a separated law of hardening in plasticity with strain gradient effects. The value of the length parameter l contained in this model was estimated from the experimental data for copper.