Evolution of mechanical properties,localized corrosion resistance and microstructure of a high purity Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy during non-isothermal aging

The evolution of mechanical properties,localized corrosion resistance of a high purity Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy during non-isothermal aging(NIA)was investigated by hardness test,electrical conductivity test,tensile test,intergranular corrosion test,exfoliation corrosion test,slow strain rate tensile test and electrochemical test,and the mechanism has been discussed based on microstructure examination by optical microscopy,electron back scattered diffraction,scanning electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy.The NIA treatment includes a heating stage from 40℃to 180℃with a rate of 20℃/h and a cooling stage from 180℃to 40℃with a rate of 10℃/h.The results show that the hardness and strength increase rapidly during the heating stage of NIA since the increasing temperature favors the nucleation and the growth of strengthening precipitates and promotes the transformation of Guinier-Preston(GPI)zones toη'phase.During the cooling stage,the sizes ofη'phase increase with a little change in the number density,leading to a further slight increase of the hardness and strength.As NIA proceeds,the corroded morphology in the alloy changes from a layering feature to a wavy feature,the maximum corrosion depth decreases,and the reason has been analyzed based on the microstructural and microchemical feature of precipitates at grain boundaries and subgrain boundaries.

Fracture characteristics and criteria of Hastelloy C-276 alloy during high-temperature deformation

Hot tensile tests were performed on Hastelloy C-276 alloy in the temperature range of 850−1150℃ and strain rate range of 0.01−10 s^(−1) to reveal its fracture characteristics and critical fracture failure conditions during high temperature deformation process.Short-term aging treatments were also conducted to analyze the effects of precipitation on the fracture behaviors in conjunction with the experimental results obtained from the hot tensile tests.It was observed that the main precipitates in Hastelloy C-276 alloy under hot tensile deformation and short-term aging treatment were identified as M_(6)C carbides,around which the microscopic voids nucleate when the external forces were applied.Considering the effects of deformation temperature and strain rate,two failure criteria based on Zener-Hollomon parameter were developed to describe the fracture behaviors of Hastelloy C-276 alloy deforming at elevated temperatures.Finite element method(FEM)coupling with the proposed failure criteria was used to examine the validity by comparing the predicted values with the experimental data,and the comparison results indicate that the established failure criteria were capable of predicting the fracture behaviors of Hastelloy C-276 alloy in hot deformation process.

雷公藤多苷诱导大鼠肾细胞凋亡的NF-кB信号转导通路机制研究

目的:通过给予不同剂量的雷公藤多苷,观察在使用雷公藤多苷后不同时间点,大鼠肾脏损伤的情况,从"时—效"、"量—效"角度研究其对肾毒性的作用,并探讨雷公藤多苷的肾毒性毒理机制。方法:SD大鼠灌胃不同剂量的雷公藤多苷,连续给药5周,动态处死大鼠,检测大鼠体重变化、肾功、肾病理,研究雷公藤多苷对大鼠肾的毒性作用;并检测肾凋亡相关基因Fas、Bcl-2、p53等的表达;流式细胞术检测大鼠肾细胞凋亡百分率;Western Blot检测NF-κB在肾组织中的表达情况,探讨雷公藤多苷对大鼠肾的免疫毒理机制。结果:雷公藤多苷对大鼠体重、脏器指数、肾功和肾病理形态学结果表明,雷公藤具有确定的肾毒性作用,且以剂量依赖的方式上调肾细胞表面膜分子Fas、p53、NF-κB蛋白表达;下调bcl-2表达;并可使肾细胞凋亡数增多。结论:雷公藤多苷给药剂量在6.25 mg/kg～56.25 mg/kg范围内,表现出明显的量效关系,给药剂量越高,其肾毒性越大,雷公藤多苷可诱导肾细胞凋亡,且*诱导肾细胞凋亡与NF-κB蛋白表达有关,通过NF-κB这条信号转导通路诱导肾细胞凋亡是其毒性作用的可能机制之一。

Qualitative Analysis of a Diffusive Predator-prey Model with Nonlcoal Fear Effect

In this paper,we establish a delayed predator-prey model with nonlocal fear effect.Firstly,the existence,uniqueness,and persistence of solutions of the model are studied.Then,the local stability,Turing bifurcation,and Hopf bifurcation of the constant equilibrium state are analyzed by examining the characteristic equation.The global asymptotic stability of the positive equilibrium point is investigated using the Lyapunov function method.Finally,the correctness of the theoretical analysis results is verified through numerical simulations.

Influence of quench-induced precipitation on aging behavior of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy

The effects of quenching and aging （T6, T7 and RRA） on the microstructural evolution of an A1-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy were investigated by hardness test, optical microscopy （OM）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） measurements. It is found that the hardness of T6 aged sample after water-quenching is the highest. The quench sensitivities of T7 and RRA are almost the same, which are 1.2% higher than that of T6. TEM observation shows that the quench sensitivity for the studied alloy is mainly caused by heterogeneous precipitation during slow quenching. Many r/phases precipitate on A13Zr dispersoids inside recrystallized grains and at （sub） grain boundaries, while T and S phases form in the substructure with high density of dislocations and defects. After aging, the η＇ precipitates are coarser in the vicinity of equilibrium r/phase. However, the size and morphology of the precipitates show different characteristics among T6, T7 and RRA treatments. The DSC results are highly consistent with the TEM observation. The DSC curves of T6 aged samples are different from those of T7 and RRA aged samples, which also reflects the differences on the microstructure.

Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of Mg-x%Zn-1%Mn(x=4,5,6,7,8,9) wrought magnesium alloys

The roles of Zn content and thermo-mechanical treatment in affecting microstructures and mechanical properties of Mg-x%Zn-1%Mn（mass fraction,x=4,5,6,7,8,9） wrought Mg alloys were investigated.The microstructure was extremely refined by dynamic recrystallization（DRC） during extrusion.With increasing Zn content,the DRC grains tended to grow up,at the same time,more second phase streamlines would be present,which restricted the further growing.During solution treatment,the DRC grains would rapidly grow up;however,higher Zn content could hinder the grain boundary expanding,which results in finer ultimate grains.MgZn2 dispersoid particles which are coherent with the matrix would precipitate from the supersaturated solid solution during the one-step aging process,and nano-sized GP zones formed during the pre-aging stage of the two-step aging provide a huge amount of effective nuclei for the MgZn2 phases formed in the second stage,which makes the MgZn2 particles much finer and more dispersed.The mechanical properties of as-extruded samples were not so sensitive to the variation of Zn content,the tensile strength fluctuates between 300 and 320 MPa,and the elongation maintains a high value between 11% and 14%.The strength of aged samples rises as a parabolic curve with increasing Zn content,specifically,the tensile strength of one-step aged samples rises from 278 to 374 MPa,and that of two-step aged ones rises from 284 to 378 MPa,yet the elongation of all aged samples is below 8%.When Zn content exceeds its solid solution limit in Mg-Zn system（6.2%,mass fraction）,the strength rises slowly but the elongation deteriorates sharply,so a Mg-Zn-Mn alloy with 6% Zn possesses the best mechanical properties,that is,the tensile strengths after one-and two-step aging are 352 and 366 MPa,respectively,and the corresponding elongations are 7.98% and 5.2%,respectively.

Influence of dual retrogression and re-aging temper on microstructure,strength and exfoliation corrosion behavior of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy

Influence of dual retrogression and re-aging（dual-RRA） temper on microstructure,strength and exfoliation corrosion（EC） behavior of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy was investigated by hardness measurements,tensile properties tests,exfoliation corrosion tests,transmission electron microscopy（TEM） and scanning electron microscopy（SEM） observation combined energy dispersive X-ray detector（EDX） analysis.Dual-RRA temper maintains the matrix precipitates（MPs） similar to RRA temper,meanwhile obtains coarser and sparser grain boundary precipitates（GBPs） as well as higher Cu and lower Zn content compared with T76 temper.Therefore,dual-RRA temper not only keeps strength equivalent to the RRA temper but also obtains higher EC resistance than T76 temper.

Microstructure and properties of rare earth-containing Cu-Cr-Zr alloy

Cu-0.81Cr-0.12Zr-0.05La-0.05Y(mass fraction) alloy was successively subjected to hot rolling, solid solution treatment, cold rolling and aging treatments. Its microstructure, microhardness and electrical conductivity at different states were systematically investigated. The as-cast microstructure consists of three phases: Cu matrix, Cr and Cu5 Zr. Zr is completely dissolved into the matrix while partial Cr remains after the solid solution treatment. Aging of the cold-rolled sample makes nanocrystals of Cr and Cu5 Zr precipitate from the matrix, and the microhardness and electrical conductivity rise. A combination of high microhardness(HV 186) and high conductivity(81% IACS) can be obtained by aging the sample at 773 K for 60 min. As the aging temperature increases, the orientation degree of the Cu crystals gradually decreases to zero, but the microstrain in them cannot be eliminated completely owing to the presence of precipitates and dislocations. The Cr precipitates exhibit the N-W orientation relationship with the matrix when the coherence strengthening mechanism plays a main role.

Precipitation behavior and properties of a new high strength Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy

The microstructure and the associated hardness, strength and electrical conductivity of a new Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy during one-step ageing treatment were systematically studied. The results show that the electrical conductivity of the alloy increased continuously with increasing ageing temperature and ageing time. At the early stage of ageing, the hardness and strength of the alloy increased rapidly and then reached the peak value. When aged at 120 °C, the hardness and strength maintained at high level for a long time after the peak value. The main precipitations are GPI zones, GPII zones and metastable η′ phase. GPI and GPII zones are found in the alloy after ageing for 24 h at 120 °C, which indicates that some stable GP zones can exist through the ageing process. When aged at 160 °C, the hardness and strength decreased rapidly after the peak value. The precipitation process is significantly promoted compared with that aged at 120 °C. Both GPI zones and GPII zones disappeared after ageing for 1 h at 160 °C. The main precipitates are η′ phase when aged at 160 °C for 1 h. The main precipitates are η phase when the ageing time prolongs to 24 h.

Electrical and mechanical properties of Cu-Cr-Zr alloy aged under imposed direct continuous current

The Cu-Cr-Zr alloys were aged at different temperatures for different time with different current densities. The results show that both the electrical conductivity and hardness are greatly improved after being aged with current at a proper temperature. The electrical conductivity increases approximately linearly with increasing current density while the hardness remains constant. The microstructure observation reveals that a much higher density of dislocations and nanosized Cr precipitates appear after the imposition of current, which contributes to the higher electrical conductivity and hardness. The mechanism is related with three factors： 1） Joule heating due to the current, 2） migration of mass electrons, 3） solute atoms, vacancies, and dislocations promoted by electron wind force.

Effect of equal-channel angular pressing and aging on corrosion behavior of ZK60 Mg alloy

Commercial ZK60 Mg alloy was processed by multi-pass equal-channel angular pressing（ECAP） and subsequent aging to investigate the effect of grain refinement and second-phase redistribution on its corrosion behavior. Electrochemical tests show that the fine-grained samples after more ECAP passes have higher corrosion current densities（Jcorr） in the polarization curves, lower charge-transfer resistance（Rt） values in the EIS plots. The severe plastic deformation decreases the alloy corrosion resistance besides the well-known strengthening and toughening. Scanning Kelvin probe（SKP） measurement shows that the anodic and cathode sites are homogeneously distributed on the surface of the fine-grained alloy, which inhibits localized corrosion. The SKP potential, having linear relationship with the corrosion potential（φcorr）, decreases with increasing the ECAP pass. Furthermore, the post-ECAP aging can slightly improve the corrosion resistance of the fine-grained ZK60 Mg alloy and enhance the comprehensive performances, due to the stress relief and uniform distribution of second-phase particles.

Effect of pre-deformation on aging creep of Al-Li-S4 alloy and its constitutive modeling

A set of uniaxial tensile creep tests at different pre-deformations, aging temperatures and stress levels were carried out for Al-Li-S4 alloy, and the creep behavior and the effects of pre-deformation on mechanical properties and microstructures were determined under basic thermodynamics conditions of aging forming. The results show that pre-deformation shortens the time of primary creep and raises the second steady-state creep rate. Then, the total creep strain is greater, but in the range of test parameters it is still smaller than that without pre-deformation. In addition, transmission electron microscopy（TEM） observation shows that pre-deformation promotes the formation of T1 phase and θ′ phase and makes them distribute more dispersively, while inhibits the generation of δ′ phase, which leads to the improvement of mechanical properties of the alloy. A unified constitutive model reflecting the effects of aging mechanism, stress levels and different pre-deformations was established. The fitting results agree with the experimental data well.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of high strength Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys used for oil drill pipes

Three Al?Zn?Mg?Cu alloys used for oil drill pipes (Alloy A: Al?6.9Zn?2.3Mg?1.7Cu?0.3Mn?0.17Cr; Alloy B: Al?8.0Zn?2.3Mg?2.6Cu?0.2Zr, Alloy C: Al?8.0Zn?2.3Mg?1.8Cu?0.18Zr) were studied by hardness tests, tensile tests and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that the ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and elongation for Alloys A, B and C are 736 MPa, 695.5 MPa and 7%; 711 MPa, 674 MPa and 12.5%; 740.5 MPa, 707.5 MPa and 13%, respectively after solid solution treatment ((450 °C, 2 h)+(470 °C, 1 h)) followed by aging at 120 °C for 12 h. The dominant strengthening phases in Alloy A are GPII zone andη′ phase, the main precipitate in Alloy B isη′ phase, and the main precipitates in Alloy C are GPI zone, GPII zone andη′ phase, which are the reason for better comprehensive properties of Alloy C. The increase of zinc content leads to the improvement of the strength. The increase of copper content improves the elongation but slightly decreases the strength. Large second-phase particles formed by the increase in the manganese content induce a decrease in the elongation of alloys.

Effect of pre-deformation on microstructures and mechanical properties of high purity Al-Cu-Mg alloy

The effects of pre-deformation following solution treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of aged high purity Al-Cu-Mg alloy were studied by tensile test, micro-hardness measurements, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The micro-hardness measurements indicate that compared with un-deformed samples, the peak hardness is increased and the time to reach peak hardness is reduced with increasing pre-strain. Additionally, a double-peak hardness evolution behavior of cold-rolled （CR） samples was observed during aging. The results of TEM observation show that the number density of S′（Al2CuMg） phase is increased and the size is decreased in CR alloy with increase of pre-strain. The peak hardness and peak strength of the CR alloy are increased because of quantity increasing and refinement of S′ phase and high density dislocation.

Effects of external stress aging on morphology and precipitation behavior of θ'' phase in Al-Cu alloy

The exposure of Al-5Cu alloy to an external stress with normal aging was carried out. The effects of external stress-aging on the morphology and precipitation behavior of θ＂ phase were investigated by transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） and first principle calculation. The size of the θ＂ phase precipitated plates in stress-aging （453 K, 6 h, 50 MPa） is 19.83 nm, which is smaller than that of those present （28.79 nm） in stress-flee aging （453 K, 6 h）. The precipitation process of θ＂ phase is accelerated by loading external stress aging according to the analysis of DSC results. The apparent activation energy for the external stress-aging is 10% lower than the stress-free one. The first principle calculation results show that the external stress makes a decrease of 6% in the interface energy. The effects of the stress on aging process of the alloy are discussed on the basis of the classical theory. The external stress changes the morphology and precipitation behavior of θ＂ phase because the critical nucleation energy is decreased by 19% under stress aging.

Anisotropic and temperature-dependent growth mechanism of S-phase precipitates in Al-Cu-Mg alloy in relation with GPB zones

By employing atomic-resolution imaging and first principles energy calculations, the growth behavior of S-phase precipitates in a high strength A1-Cu-Mg alloy was investigated. It is demonstrated that the nucleation and growth of the S-phase precipitate are rather anisotropic and temperature-dependent companying with low dimensional phase transformation. There are actually two types of Guinier-Preston （GP） zones that determine the formation mechanism of S-phase at high aging temperatures higher than 180 ℃. One is the precursors of the S-phase itself, the other is the structural units or the precursors of the well-known Guinier-Preston-Bagaryatsky （GPB） zones. At high temperatures the later GPB zone units may form around S-phase precipitate and cease its growth in the width direction, leading to the formation of rod-like S-phase crystals; whereas at low temperatures the S-phase precipitates develop without the interference with GPB zones, resulting in S-phase orecioitates with lath-like momhology.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg_(94)Zn_2Y_4 extruded alloy with long-period stacking ordered structure

The microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg94Zn2Y4 extruded alloy containing long-period stacking ordered structures were systematically investigated by SEM and TEM analyses. The results show that the 18R-LPSO structure and α-Mg phase are observed in cast Mg94Zn2Y4 alloy. After extrusion, the LPSO structures are delaminated and Mg-slices with width of 50-200 nm are generated. By ageing at 498 K for 36 h, the ageing peak is attained andβ′phase is precipitated. Due to this novel precipitation, the microhardness ofα-Mg matrix increases apparently from HV108.9 to HV129.7. While the microhardness for LPSO structure is stabilized at about HV145. TEM observations and SAED patterns indicate that the β′ phase has unique orientation relationships betweenα-Mg and LPSO structures, the direction in the close-packed planes ofβ′precipitates perpendicular to that ofα-Mg and LPSO structures. The ultimate tensile strength for the peak-aged alloy achieves 410.7 MPa and the significant strength originates from the coexistence ofβ′precipitates and 18R-LPSO structures.

Influence of pre-deformation on age-hardening response and mechanical properties of extruded Mg-6%Zn-1%Mn alloy

The effect of cold plastic deformation between solution treatment and artificial aging on the age-hardening response and mechanical properties of alloy was investigated by micro-hardness test,tensile test,optical microscopy（OM） and TEM observation.After solution treatment at 420 ℃ for 1 h,three kinds of pre-deformation strains,i.e.0,5% and 10%,were applied to extruded ZM61 bars.Age-hardening curves show that pre-deformation can significantly accelerate the precipitation kinetics and increase peak-hardness value;however,as pre-deformation strain rises from 5% to 10%,there is no gain in peak hardness value.The room temperature（RT） tensile properties demonstrate that increasing the pre-deformation degree can enhance the yield strength（YS） and ultimate tensile strength（UTS） but moderately reduce elongation（EL）;furthermore,the enhancement of YS is larger than that of UTS.No twin can be observed in 5% pre-deformed microstructure;however,a large number of twins are activated after 10% pre-deformation.The peak-aged TEM microstructure shows that pre-deformation can increase the number density of rod-shaped β 1 ＇ precipitates which play a key role in strengthening ZM61 alloy.

Precipitation sequence of η phase along low-angle grain boundaries in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy during artificial aging

The precipitation sequence of η（MgZn2） phase along low-angle grain boundaries in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy was investigated by examining samples aged at 135 ℃ for various times from 5 min to 6 h. High resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM） observations and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy （EDX） analysis indicate that the precipitation sequence of η phase along low-angle grain boundaries should be supersaturated solid solution （SSS）→vacancy-rich clusters （VRC）→GP Ⅱ zones→η＇→η. Based on the theory of non-equilibrium grain boundary segregation （NGS） and non-equilibrium grain boundary co-segregation （NGCS）, the excessive solute elements gradually segregate to the grain boundaries by the diffusion of the solute-vacancy complex during aging treatment. The grain boundary segregation plays an important role in the nucleation and growth of VRC, GP Ⅱ zones, η＇ phase as well as η phase.

Microstructure evolution of a new directionally solidified Ni-based superalloy after long-term aging at 950 ℃ upto 1 000 h

The microstructure evolution of a new directionally solidified（DS） Ni-based superalloy used for gas turbine blades after long-term aging at 950 ℃ was investigated.The results show that the γ ＇ phase becomes more regular in dendritic arm and interdendritic area,while both the mass fraction and the size of γ ＇ phase increase gradually with increasing aging time.During long-term aging,the MC carbide dissolves on the edge to provide the carbon for the formation of M23C6 carbide by the precipitation of Cr at the grain boundary.The rose-shaped γ ＇/γ eutectic partly dissolves into γ matrix and the aging promotes it transform into raft-shape γ ＇.The microstructure is generally stable and no needle-like topologically close-packed phase（TCP） can be found after aging for 1 000 h.