EFFECT OF COPPER AND BORON CONTENT ON STRAIN-INDUCED Nb(C,N) PRECIPITATION IN ULCB STEELS AT HOT DEFORMATION TEMPERATURE

The stress relaxation curves of Ultra-Low Carbon Bainitic(ULCB) steels with different Cu and B contents were measured by using Gleeble-1500 dynamic thermal-mechanical simulator. The results show that Cu and B added can accelerate the strain-induced precipitation reaction, and the effect of Cu and B is even more obvious with Cu and B combined addition or Cu content increased. The TEM analysis of precipitate engendered at the temperature of 850℃ C indicate that Nb(C,N) precipitate nucleates dominantly on the dislocation line, and grows with holding time extended while the precipitate particle size increases from 5 nm to 17 nm.

MODELING OF STRAIN-INDUCED PRECIPITATION KINETICS IN Nb MICROALLOYED STEELS

On the basis of the thermodynamic calculation of precipitation and considering the effect of strain on the precipitation behavior and chemical composition （Si and Mn）, the kinetics of precipitation from austenite has been investigated for different temperatures and strains. Nucleation theory and the solubility product of niobium, carbon, and nitrogen in austenite have been used to derive equations for the start time of precipitation as a function of temperature and composition. The value of n in Avrami equation was determined using the available experimental data from the published reports, which indicated that n is a constant independent of temperature and the end time of precipitation is a function of n and the start time of precipitation. The values of the start time and end time of precipitation predicted by the new model are compared with the experimental values and a good agreement was obtained between both.

Effects of strain-induced melt activation treatment on the microstructure and properties of Zn sacrificial anodes

The microstructural properties and electrochemical performance of zinc(Zn)sacrificial anodes during strain-induced melt activation(SIMA)were investigated in this study.The samples were subjected to a compressive ratio of 20%-50% at various temperatures(425-435℃)and durations(5-30 min).Short-term electrochemical tests(anode tests)based on DNV-RP-B401 and potentiodynamic polarization tests were performed in 3.5wt%NaCl solution to evaluate the electrochemical efficiency and corrosion behavior of the samples,respectively.The electrochemical test results for the optimum sample confirmed that the corrosion current density declined by 90% and the anode efficiency slightly decreased relative to that of the raw sample.Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy,scanning electron microscopy,metallographic images,and microhardness profiles showed the accumulation of alloying elements on the boundary and the conversion of uniform corrosion into localized corrosion,hence the decrease of the Zn sacrificial anode’s efficiency after the SIMA process.

Characteristics of Strain-Induced Ferrite in Low Carbon Steel

The strain-induced ferrite formed under different conditions was observed with SEM and optical microscope.The nucleation sites of strain-induced ferrite include grain boundary,grain inside,deformed band and annealing twin boundary.The shapes of the ferrite accordingly are equiaxed irregular polygonal,strip-shaped and acicular.

Influence of Carbides and Strain-induced Martensite on Wear Resistance of Austenitic Medium Manganese Steels

The abrasive wear behaviour of austenitic medium manganese steels was studied under weak corrosion-abrasive wear simulating the liner plate in wet metallic ore bail mill under non-severe impact-loading working condition. Results show that the work-hardening mechanism and the wear resistance of high carbon austenitic medium manganese steels differ from those of medium carbon austenitic medium manganese steel. Under non-severe impact and weak corrosion-abrasive wear,the wear resistances of high carbon and medium carbon austenitic medium manganese steels are 50-90% and 20-40% higher than that of Hadfield steel respectively.

KINETICS OF STRAIN-INDUCED PRECIPITATION OF (Nb,V) CARBONITRIDE IN A MICROALLOYED STEEL

The kinetics of the isothermal precipitation of(Nb,V)CN in Nb-V alloys has been investi- gated by using the Formastor-press simulator and the extraction replica method.Under four deformation amounts(0,10,30,50%)and three temperatures(1100,1000,850℃), four types of kinetic curves were found.

Strain-induced insulator–metal transition in ferroelectric BaTiO_3(001) surface:First-principles study

The electronic properties of TiO2-terminated BaTiO3（001） surface subjected to biaxial strain have been studied using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory. The Ti ions are always inward shifted either at compressive or tension strains, while the inward shift of the Ba ions occurs only for high compressive strain, implying an enhanced electric dipole moment in the case of high compressive strain. In particular, an insulator–metal transition is predicted at a compressive biaxial strain of 0.0475. These changes present a very interesting possibility for engineering the electronic properties of ferroelectric BaTiO3（001） surface.

Modeling of Strain-Induced Precipitation Kinetics and Evolution of Austenite Grains in Nb Microalloyed Steels

Considering the effect of strain and chemical composition onprecipitation behavior, new models for the start and end time of Nb（C,N） precipitation in austenite under the conditions of different temperatures and strains have been investigated for Nb microalloyed steel. The value of n in the precipitation kinetic equation has been determined by using the available experimental data in literature, which indicated that n is a constant and independent of temperature. The values of the start and end time of the predicted precipitation are compared with the experimental values. Calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental results. Also, the evolution of austenite grains before ferrite transformation is simulated by taking the effect of precipitation into consideration. The measured austenite grain size is in good agreement with predicted one prior to ferrite transformation.

Study on Phase Transformation Behavior of Strain-induced PLLA Mesophase by Polarized Infrared Spectroscopy

The structural transformation of mesophase to crystalline phase of strain-induced poly(L-lactic acid) has been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) and in situ temperature dependent polarized Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectroscopy. It is found that, as the drawing temperature increases, melting of strain-induced mesophase in the heating process can remarkably interfere the crystallization behavior subsequently. Coupling with in situ polarized FTIR, from 60 °C to 76 °C, the mesophase melts partially rather than completely melting, and changes immediately to three-dimensional ordered structure. Of particular note, through monitoring the subtle spectral change in the critical phase transformation temperature from 60 °C to 64 °C, it is clearly demonstrated that relaxation of oriented amorphous chains initially takes place prior to the melting of mesophase.

Inhomogeneous Natural Network Promoting Strain-induced Crystallization:A Mesoscale Model of Natural Rubber

Although synthetic rubbers show continuously improved mechanical properties,natural rubber (NR) remains irreplaceable in the rubber family due to its superior mechanical properties.A mainstream viewpoint regarding the superiority of NR is that NR possesses a natural network formed by linking the poly(cis-l,4-isoprene) chain terminals to protein and phospholipid aggregates;after vulcanization,the natural network additionally contributes to rubber mechanics by both increasing the network density and promoting the strain-induced crystallization (SIC) behavior.However,the reason why the natural network promotes SIC is still unclear;in particular,only using the increased network density cannot explain our finding that the NR shows smaller onset strain of SIC than Gel (the gel component of NR with higher network density) and even vulcanized NR.Herein,we point out that the inhomogeneous chain deformation is the alternative reason why SIC of NR takes place at smaller strain than that of Gel.More specifically,although the natural network is homogenous on the subchain length scale based on the proton double-quantum NMR results,it is essentially inhomogeneous on mesoscale (100 nm),as revealed by the small angle X-ray scattering analysis.This inhomogeneous network also leads to the mesoscale deformation inhomogeneity,as detected by the orientation of stearic acid (SA) probe,thus resulting in the smaller onset strain of SIC of NR.Based on the experimental results,a mesoscale model is proposed to qualitatively describe the crucial roles of inhomogeneous structure and deformation of natural network in NR?s mechanical properties,providing a clue from nature to guide the development of high-performance rubbers with controlled structures at mesoscale.

Strain-induced Precipitation in Ti Micro-alloyed Interstitial-free Steel

Stress relaxation method was carried out on a Ti micro-alloyed interstitial-free （IF） steel at the temperature ranging from 800 to 1000℃. The results show that the softening kinetics curves of deformed austenite can be divided into three stages. At the first stage, the stress has a sharp drop due to the onset of recrystallization. At the second stage, a plateau appears on the relaxation curves indicating the start and finish of strain-induced precipitation. At the third stage, the stress curves begin to descend again because of coarsening of precipitates. Precipitation-time temperature （PTT） diagram exhibited a ＂C＂ shape, and the nose point of the PTT diagram is located at 900 ℃ and the start precipitation time of 10 s. The theoretical calculation shows that the strain-induced precipitates were confirmed as almost pure TiC particles. The TiC precipitates were heterogeneously distributed in either a chain-like or cell-like manner observed by transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, which indicates the precipitates nucleated on dislocations or dislocation substructures. In addition, a thermodynamic analytical model was presented to describe the precipitation in Ti micro-alloyed IF steel, which shows a good agreement between the experimental observation and the predictions of the model.

A strain-induced birefringent double-clad fiber Bragg grating

A strain-induced birefringence double-clad (DC) fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is proposed and demonstrated. The grating is fabricated in the core of rectangular inner cladding double clad fiber by using phase mask method. By applying lateral strain on the grating, the birefringence is induced. In order to detect the birefringent effect of the grating, we use it as the output mirror of a laser. When lateral strain is applied, the grating becomes birefringent. Therefore, one reflection peak of double-clad fiber Bragg grating becomes two peaks and the laser also lases in two wavelengths. The wavelength spacing of the laser can be tuned from 0 to 0.8 nm. The absolute wavelengths for the two polarizations can be tuned 1.2 and 2.0 nm, respectively.

Effect of strain-induced precipitation on microstructure and properties of titanium micro-alloyed steels

The strain-induced precipitation behavior of titanium micro-alloyed steel was examined through the stress relaxation method.In addition,the relationship between strain-induced precipitation and isothermal precipitation was explored.The findings revealed that the strain-induced precipitation and recrystallization processes of titanium micro-alloyed steel coexist and compete at the same time.The results also showed that the recrystallization process was inhibited with straininduced precipitation.Moreover,a large amount of nano-sized TiC particles precipitated in Ti micro-alloyed steel.Notably,the strain-induced precipitated TiC had a size of 10 nm and isothermally precipitated TiC had a size of 3–6 nm.Additionally,there was a clear competitive relationship between strain-induced precipitation and isothermal precipitation.The findings also showed that strain-induced precipitation had an obvious effect on the refinement of austenite although the effect was not obvious on the increase in the yield strength.Furthermore,isothermal treatment was shown to be more advantageous than strain-induced precipitation.Finally,the major increase in the yield strength was mainly attributed to the precipitation strengthening of nano-sized TiC during isothermal precipitation.

Characterizations of Dynamic Strain-induced Transformation in Low Carbon Steel

Dynamic strain-induced transformation of the low carbon steel Q（235） at 770℃ and 850℃ leads to fine ferrite grains. The microstructure characterization and mechanism of the fine ferrite grain were studied by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and electron backscattered diffraction （EBSD） technique. The results show that strain-induced microstructure is the mixed microstructure of ferrite and pearlite, with cementite randomly distributed on ferrite grain boundaries and the grains interiors. EBSD images of grain boundaries demonstrate that high angle grain boundaries （HAGBs） are dominant in both of the deformation induced microstructures occurring below and above A（e3） , with only a few low angle grain boundaries （LAGBs） existing in the grain interiors. It implies that the dynamic strain-induced transformation （DSIT） happens above and below A（e3） temperature and has the same phase transition mechanisms. The refinement of ferrite is the cooperative effect of DSIT and continuous dynamic recrystallization （CDRX） of ferrite. Besides, DSIT is deemed as an incomplete carbon diffusion phase transition through the analysis of microstructure and the previous simulated results. The strengths of the Q（235） steel with refined ferrite and pearlite structure get doubled than the initial state without treated by DSIT and the residual stress in the refined structure is partly responsible for the ductility loss.

Strain-induced Precipitation Behavior ofδPhase in Inconel 718 Alloy

To study the precipitation dynamics of 3 phase in Inconel 718 alloy, two-stage interrupted compression method was used in the region of cold deformation temperatures and the temperatures range from 875 to 975 ℃. The precipitation-time-temperature （PTT） curve of 3 phase was obtained by analyzing the softening kinetics curves. For verifying the type of the precipitates and confirming the validity of the test, the transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, scanning transmission electron microscopy （STEM） and energy dispersion spectrum （EDS） were em- ployed. Experimental results indicated that the PTT curve for 3 precipitation exhibited a typical ＂C＂ shape and the nose points of start and finish precipitation were about 5 s at 920 ℃ and 2 815 s at 940 ℃, respectively. In addition, the nucleation of δ was heterogeneous. The nucleation sites varied with temperatures, including dislocation, grain boundary and stacking fault within γ″ phase. And 3 particles grew quickly at higher temperature with lower density. Moreover, the driving force of nucleation was mainly including chemical free energy, interracial energy and disloca- tion distorted energy. And the dislocation distorted energy could decide the density of nucleation in the strain-induced process.

Effect of Chromium-enhanced Diffusivity on Reverted Transformation in Metastable Austenitic Stainless Steels:Theoretical Calculation and Experiment

Effects of nucleation sites and diffusivity enhancement of chromium on reverted transformation of AISI 304 stainless steel during annealing process were investigated.Dynamics calculation revealed that the reverted transformation of strain-inducedα’-martensite→γaustenite could were closely associated with active nucleation sites and diffusivity enhancement of chromium in nanocrystallineα’-martensite.The experimental data and the results were in accordance with 2-grain austenite/α’-martensite junctions calculated theoretically,which could result from high chromium diffusion rate in nanocrystallineα’-martensite.In addition,low temperature is not conducive to reversed transformation,while high temperature and long annealing time will lead to inhomogeneous grain size distribution.

Isomorphism Continuum Stored Energy Functional for Finite Thermoelastic Deformation

Continuum mechanics for isotropic finite thermoelastic deformations have been reviewed. Thermal effects on mechanical responses of rubbers have been captured by the isomorphism continuum stored energy (CSE) functional with the multiplicative decomposition of deformation gradient while preserving the structure of symmetry for finite structural deformation. The CSE finite thermoelastic model fits and predicts experimental data of SR and NR-C60 rubbers at different external temperatures. For internal temperature effects of both NR and NR-SIC rubbers, the CSE finite thermoelastic model of stored energy and entropy, along with the newly developed CTE and CI models, fits both nominal stress-stretch and temperature change-stretch experimental data in uniaxial extension tests.

Austenite Recrystallization and Controlled Rolling of Low Carbon Steels

The dynamic recrystallization and static recrystallization in a low carbon steel were investigated through single-pass and double-pass experiments. The results indicate that as the deformation temperature increases and the strain rate decreases, the shape of the stress-strain curve is changed from dynamic recovery shape to dynamic recrystallization shape. The austenite could not recrystallize within a few seconds after deformation at temperature below 900 ℃. According to the change in microstructure during deformation, the controlled rolling of low carbon steel can be divided into four stages： dynamic recrystallization, dynamic recovery, strain-induced ferrite transformation, and rolling in two-phase region. According to the microstructure after deformation, the controlled rolling of low carbon steel can be divided into five regions： non-recrystallized austenite, partly-recrystallized austenite, fully-recrystallized austenite, austenite to ferrite transformation, and dual phase.

Microstructure of semi-solid ADC12 aluminum alloy adopting new SIMA method

A semi-solid microstructure of ADC12 aluminum alloy containing spherical solid particles was studied.A new strain-induced melt activation(SIMA) process was proposed.In the treatment,chips were cut from ADC12 ingot by lathe machining and the plastic deformation was produced through cutting.The chips were put into a metal mold and compressed into a billet at 473 K.The microstructures of chip and billet were studied.The effect of the isothermal treatment on the semi-solid microstructure evolution of ADC12 aluminum alloy prepared by the new method was analyzed.A series of heating treatments were carried out from 823 to 838 K.The effects of heating temperature on microstructures were studied.The experimental results show the ADC12 aluminum alloy prepared by the new method can reap homogeneous and spherical grains at 828 K.The average grain size is about 82 μm.Also,the grain microstructure obtained by the present process is better than the traditional one.These results prove that the ADC12 aluminum alloy can be applied to semi-solid processing with the new SIMA method.

EFFECT OF PREDEFORMATION MANNER ON SEMI-SOLID STRUCTURE OF AZ61 MAGNESIUM ALLOY IN SIMA PROCESS

The effect of predeformation manner, predeformation ratio and isothermal heat-treat parameter on the non-dendrite structure of AZ61 magnesium alloy in SIMA process was studied. Under coequal heat-treat condition, the impact of the hot upsetting pre- deformation on semi-solid microstructure in SIMA process was compared with that of the cold compressive predeformation. The results indicate that non-dendrite microstructure in AZ61 magnesium alloy billets can be obtained by hot or cold upsetting predeformation in SIMA process, although their mechanisms of evolution are different. Increasing hot or cold upsetting predeformation ratio can enhance the effect and quality of the non-dendrite microstructure formed before storage energy up to saturation, but the proper isothermal temperature and holding time should be selected.