Effect of hot isostatic pressure on the microstructure and tensile properties of γ'-strengthened superalloy fabricated through induction-assisted directed energy deposition

The microstructure characteristics and strengthening mechanism of Inconel738LC(IN-738LC) alloy prepared by using induction-assisted directed energy deposition(IDED) were elucidated through the investigation of samples subjected to IDED under 1050℃ preheating with and without hot isostatic pressing(HIP,1190℃,105 MPa,and 3 h).Results show that the as-deposited sample mainly consisted of epitaxial columnar crystals and inhomogeneously distributed γ’ phases in interdendritic and dendritic core regions.After HIP,grain morphology changed negligibly,whereas the size of the γ’ phase became increasingly even.After further heat treatment(HT,1070℃,2 h + 845℃,24 h),the γ’ phase in the as-deposited and HIPed samples presented a bimodal size distribution,whereas that in the as-deposited sample showed a size that remained uneven.The comparison of tensile properties revealed that the tensile strength and uniform elongation of the HIP + HTed sample increased by 5% and 46%,respectively,due to the synergistic deformation of bimodal γ’phases,especially large cubic γ’ phases.Finally,the relationship between phase transformations and plastic deformations in the IDEDed sample was discussed on the basis of generalized stability theory in terms of the trade-off between thermodynamics and kinetics.

Effect of wire-arc directed energy deposition on the microstructural formation and age-hardening response of the Mg-9Al-1Zn(AZ91)alloy

In recent years,wire-arc directed energy deposition(wa DED),which is also commonly known as wire-arc additive manufacturing(WAAM),has emerged as a promising new fabrication technique for magnesium alloys.The major reason for this is the possibility of producing parts with a complex geometry as well as a fine-grained microstructure.While the process has been shown to be applicable for Mg-Al-Zn alloys,there is still a lack of knowledge in terms of the influence of the WAAM process on the age-hardening response.Consequently,this study deals with the aging response of a WAAM AZ91 alloy.In order to fully understand the mechanisms during aging,first,the as-built condition was analyzed by means of high-energy X-ray diffraction(HEXRD)and scanning electron microscopy.These investigations revealed a finegrained,equiaxed microstructure with adjacent areas of alternating Al content.Subsequently,the difference between single-and double-step aging as well as conventional and direct aging was studied on the as-built WAAM AZ91 alloy for the first time.The aging response during the various heat treatments was monitored via in situ HEXRD experiments.Corroborating electron microscopy and hardness studies were conducted.The results showed that the application of a double-step aging heat treatment at 325℃with pre-aging at 250℃slightly improves the mechanical properties when compared to the single-step heat treatment at 325℃.However,the hardness decreases considerably after the pre-aging step.Thus,aging at lower temperatures is preferable within the investigated temperature range of 250-325℃.Moreover,no significant difference between the conventionally aged and directly aged samples was found.Lastly,the specimens showed enhanced precipitation kinetics during aging as compared to cast samples.This could be attributed to a higher amount of nucleation sites and the particular temperature profile of the solution heat treatment.

Formation mechanism of inherent spatial heterogeneity of microstructure and mechanical properties of NiTi SMA prepared by laser directed energy deposition

Ni51Ti49 at.%bulk was additively manufactured by laser-directed energy deposition(DED)to reveal the microstructure evolution,phase distribution,and mechanical properties.It is found that the localized remelting,reheating,and heat accumulation during DED leads to the spatial heterogeneous distribution of columnar crystal and equiaxed crystal,a gradient distribution of Ni4Ti3 precipitates along the building direction,and preferential formation of Ni4Ti3 precipitates in the columnar zone.The austenite transformation finish temperature(Af)varies from-12.65℃(Z=33 mm)to 60.35℃(Z=10 mm),corresponding to tensile yield strength(σ0.2)changed from 120±30 MPa to 570±20 MPa,and functional properties changed from shape memory effect to superelasticity at room temperature.The sample in the Z=20.4 mm height has the best plasticity of 9.6%and the best recoverable strain of 4.2%.This work provided insights and guidelines for the spatial characterization of DEDed NiTi.

Effect of Microstructural Characteristics on Fracture Toughness in Direct Energy Deposited Novel Ti-6Al-4V-1Mo Alloy

Meeting the damage tolerance requirements for engineering-grade titanium alloys pose a significant challenge in achieving high fracture toughness in direct energy deposition(DED)titanium alloys.This work primarily investigated the relationship between the microstructure and the fracture toughness of DED new Ti-6Al-4V-1Mo alloy.Two types of microstructures were designed via two process strategies:high-line energy density(HE)and low-line energy density(LE).Relative to LE samples,HE samples possess larger-sized microstructural characteristics(coarser grain boundaryα(α_(GB)),largerαcolonies,and coarserαlaths).Lessα/βphase boundaries were formed by coarserαlaths in the HE samples,increasing the movement of dislocations,resulting in tensile strength decreasing from 1007.1 MPa(LE)to 930.8 MPa(HE)and elongation increasing from 10.8%(LE)to 15.7%(HE).Also,HE samples exhibited an excellent fracture toughness of 114.0 MPa m^(1/2),significantly higher than that of LE samples(76.8 MPa m^(1/2)).An analysis of crack propagation paths was conducted to investigate the factors contributing to toughening.The primary factor enhancing toughness is the frequent obstruction of cracks by coarseαGB and largeαcolonies in HE samples.Particularly,the pretty large-angle deflections induced by the superposition effect of coarseαGB and largeαcolonies play a vital of significant role.These factors induced the long and tortuous high-energy pathways,which resulted in ultimately improved fracture toughness.The discovered microstructural toughening mechanisms can serve as a reference for future studies involving titanium alloys,offering insights on how to enhance fracture toughness by achieving similar characteristics.

Two-dimensional particle-in-cell modeling of blow-off impulse by X-ray irradiation

Space objects such as spacecraft or missiles may be exposed to intense X-rays in outer space,leading to severe damage.The reinforcement of these objects to reduce the damage caused by X-ray irradiation is a significant concern.The blow-off impulse(BOI)is a crucial physical quantity for investigating material damage induced by X-ray irradiation.However,the accurate calculation of BOI is challenging,particularly for large deformations of materials with complex configurations.In this study,we develop a novel two-dimensional particle-in-cell code,Xablation2D,to calculate BOIs under far-field X-ray irradiation.This significantly reduces the dependence of the numerical simulation on the grid shape.The reliability of this code is verified by simulation results from open-source codes,and the calculated BOIs are consistent with the experimental and analytical results.

Review on laser directed energy deposited aluminum alloys

Lightweight aluminum(Al)alloys have been widely used in frontier fields like aerospace and automotive industries,which attracts great interest in additive manufacturing(AM)to process high-value Al parts.As a mainstream AM technique,laser-directed energy deposition(LDED)shows good scalability to meet the requirements for large-format component manufacturing and repair.However,LDED Al alloys are highly challenging due to their inherent poor printability(e.g.low laser absorption,high oxidation sensitivity and cracking tendency).To further promote the development of LDED high-performance Al alloys,this review offers a deep understanding of the challenges and strategies to improve printability in LDED Al alloys.The porosity,cracking,distortion,inclusions,element evaporation and resultant inferior mechanical properties(worse than laser powder bed fusion)are the key challenges in LDED Al alloys.Processing parameter optimizations,in-situ alloy design,reinforcing particle addition and field assistance are the efficient approaches to improving the printability and performance of LDED Al alloys.The underlying correlations between processes,alloy innovation,characteristic microstructures,and achievable performances in LDED Al alloys are discussed.The benchmark mechanical properties and primary strengthening mechanism of LDED Al alloys are summarized.This review aims to provide a critical and in-depth evaluation of current progress in LDED Al alloys.Future opportunities and perspectives in LDED high-performance Al alloys are also outlined.

The Distortion of Energy Deposit Distribution of (12)～C Ions in Water

The transport process of 12C ions in water was studied with SRIM code and Geant4 toolkit. The SRIM results indicate that the transverse diffusion of 12C ion beam causes distortion of energy deposit along the beam direction. The distortion becomes more notable as the transverse diffusion increases. The simulation results of Geant4 indicate that the influence of secondary fragments on energy deposit distribution would be the main factor causing the distortion in higher energy range. In the region adjacent to the beam line where the contribution from 12C ions domi- nates, the contributions from secondary fragments are ignorable. The further from the beam axis the region locates, the larger the contributions from secondary fragments, until the contributions from secondary fragments are ignorable. The further from the beam axis the region locates, the larger the contributions from secondary fragments, until the contributions from secondary frag- ments exceed that of 12C. Among all the secondary fragments, the contributions of H, He and B ions are mostly notable. It is also found that some positron-emitting secondary fragments could be very useful for position emitting tomography （PET）.

Numerical Simulation of Radial and Angular Distribution of γ-Ray's Energy Deposition in Scintillation Optical Fibre

Angular and radial distributions of the energy deposition of γ-ray radiation in scintillation optical fibres are simulated and analysed using the Geant4 system. The results show a linear relation between the energy deposition and the radius of the fibres. The deposition is roughly inversely proportional to sinθ with θ the incident angle relative to the fibre axis. The results could provide corrections to the measurements of the scintillation fibres used in monitoring the γ-ray radiation.

Pore Formation Mechanism in W-C Hard Coatings Using Directed Energy Deposition on Tungsten Alloy

Porosity is a common phenomenon and can significantly hinder the quality of the coating.Here,the pore formation mechanism and the characteristics of the single tracks of the W-C coating using directed energy deposition(DED)are systematically investigated.The forming quality of the tracks,the distribution of the pores,and the elemental distribution near the pores are analyzed by the observations of the cross-sections of the tracks.The temperature field of the melt pool is discussed comprehensively to reveal the pore formation mechanism.The results confirm that Ni and Co evaporated during the DED process due to the high temperature of the melt pool.Pores were continuously produced adjacent to the fusion line when the melt pool was about to solidify since the temperature at the solidification front was higher than the boiling point of Ni.The vaporization area at the fusion line was proposed,where Ni could also evaporate at the time the melt pool started to solidify.The relationship between the solidification rate,the size of the vaporization area and the DED parameters(laser power and scanning speed)was established to discuss the causes of severe pores above the fusion line.This work contains a practical guide to reduce or eliminate the porosity in the coating preparation process on the surface of the tungsten alloy.

High-temperature tribological performance of functionally graded Stellite 6/WC metal matrix composite coatings manufactured by laser-directed energy deposition

Wear-driven tool failure is one of the main hurdles in the industry.This issue can be addressed through surface coating with ceramic-reinforced metal matrix composites.However,the maximum ceramic content is limited by cracking.In this work,the tribological behaviour of the functionally graded WC-ceramic-particlereinforced Stellite 6 coatings is studied.To that end,the wear resistance at room temperature and 400°C is investigated.Moreover,the tribological analysis is supported by crack sensitivity and hardness evaluation,which is of utmost importance in the processing of composite materials with ceramic-particle-reinforcement.Results indicate that functionally graded materials can be employed to increase the maximum admissible WC content,hence improving the tribological behaviour,most notably at high temperatures.Additionally,a shift from abrasive to oxidative wear is observed in high-temperature wear testing.

Printability disparities in heterogeneous material combinations via laser directed energy deposition:a comparative study

Additive manufacturing provides achievability for the fabrication of bimetallic and multi-material structures;however,the material compatibility and bondability directly affect the parts’formability and final quality.It is essential to understand the underlying printability of different material combinations based on an adapted process.Here,the printability disparities of two common and attractive material combinations(nickel-and iron-based alloys)are evaluated at the macro and micro levels via laser directed energy deposition(DED).The deposition processes were captured using in situ high-speed imaging,and the dissimilarities in melt pool features and track morphology were quantitatively investigated within specific process windows.Moreover,the microstructure diversity of the tracks and blocks processed with varied material pairs was comparatively elaborated and,complemented with the informative multi-physics modeling,the presented non-uniformity in mechanical properties(microhardness)among the heterogeneous material pairs was rationalized.The differences in melt flow induced by the unlike thermophysical properties of the material pairs and the resulting element intermixing and localized re-alloying during solidification dominate the presented dissimilarity in printability among the material combinations.This work provides an in-depth understanding of the phenomenological differences in the deposition of dissimilar materials and aims to guide more reliable DED forming of bimetallic parts.

Performance Calibration Using Cosmic Rays for the Multi-Neutron Correlation Spectrometer

Efficient calibration methods have been applied to a complex neutron detector array by using the cosmic-ray muons. Through a differential operation on the time difference spectrum, the two edges of this spectrum can be precisely determined, corresponding to the geometrical two ends of the bar, and therefore the relationship between the position and time difference spectrum can be deduced for each bar. The alignment between different bars is realized by choosing cosmic- rays which are perpendicular to the bars. The position resolutions are extracted through a track fitting procedure which uses all tracks detected coincidently by the whole system, together with a simulation analysis. A method is also developed to calibrate the deposited energy by using cosmic-rays at different incident angles.

Simulation of temporal characteristics of ion-velocity susceptibility to single event upset effect

Using a Monte Carlo simulation tool of the multi-functional package for SEEs Analysis （MUFPSA）, we study the temporal characteristics of ion-velocity susceptibility to the single event upset （SEU） effect, including the deposited energy, traversed time within the device, and profile of the current pulse. The results show that the averaged dposited energy decreases with the increase of the ion-velocity, and incident ions of 2~9Bi have a wider distribution of energy deposition than 132Xe at the same ion-velocity. Additionally, the traversed time presents an obvious decreasing trend with the increase of ion-velocity. Concurrently, ion-velocity certainly has an influence on the current pulse and then it presents a particular regularity. The detailed discussion is conducted to estimate the relevant linear energy transfer （LET） of incident ions and the SEU cross section of the testing device from experiment and simulation and to critically consider the metric of LET.

Effect of the Circuit and Wire Parameters on Exploding an Al Wire in Water

The underwater electrical explosion of an aluminum wire is influenced by many factors, such as wire parameters, pulsed power energy, etc. In this paper, underwater electrical explosion of an aluminum wire was investigated with pulsed voltage in the time scale of a few microseconds. A self-integrated Rogowski coil and a voltage divider were used for the measurements of current and voltage at the wire load, respectively. The deposited energy before breakdown was calculated based on experimental waveforms of current and voltage by mathematical method. Effects of the applied voltage, circuit inductance and sion and energy deposition were analyzed by means parameters of Al wire on the electrical exploof experiments and calculation. The results show that the current rise rate has an important influence on explosion process, such as the energy deposition before breakdown, the electrical power as well as the various explosion stages. A higher current rise rate can be achieved by increasing applied voltage and decreasing circuit inductance. The inhomogeneity of the energy deposition will result in prematured breakdown as well as lowered energy deposition, making the explosion process of wire more complicated.

PIC-MC Code to Model Fast Electron Beam Transport Through Dense Matter

A PIC （particle-in-cell）-MC （Monte Carlo） code to model electron beam transport into dense matter is developed. The background target is treated as a cold, stationary fluid and the fast electrons as particles with the relativistic motions. The process is described by a particle-in-cell method with consideration of the influence of both the self-generated electric and magnetic fields as well as collisions between the fast electrons and the target. The collisional part of the code is solved by the Monte Carlo-type method. Furthermore by assuming that the background current balances with the fast electron current, the electric field is given by the Ohm＇s law and the magnetic field is calculated from the Faraday＇s law. Both are solved in a two-dimensional cylindrical geometry. The algorithms implemented in the code are demonstrated and the numerical experiments are performed for monoenergy homogeneous fast electron beam transport in an aluminum target when the fields, collision and angular scattering are switched on and off independently.

Three-Dimensional PIC-MC Modeling for Relativistic Electron Beam Transport Through Dense Plasma

We have developed a three dimensional （3D） PIC （particle-in-cell）-MC （Monte Carlo） code in order to simulate an electron beam transported into the dense matter based on our previous two dimensional code. The relativistic motion of fast electrons is treated by the particle-in-cell method under the influence of both a self-generated transverse magnetic field and an axial electric field, as well as collisions. The electric field generated by return current is expressed by Ohm＇s law and the magnetic field is calculated from Faraday＇s law. The slowing down of monoenergy electrons in DT plasma is calculated and discussed.

Non-Uniformity of Heavy-Ion Beam Irradiation on a Direct-Driven Pellet in Inertial Confinement Fusion

Heavy-ion-driven fusion （HIF） is a scheme to achieve inertial confinement fusion （ICF）. Investigation of the non-uniformity of heavy-ion beam （HIB） irradiation is one of the key issues for ICF driven by powerful heavy-ion beams. Ions in HIB impinge on the pellet surface and deposit their energy in a relatively deep and wide area. Therefore, the non-uniformity of HIB irradiation should be evaluated in the volume of the deposition area in the absorber layer. By using the OK1 code with some corrections, the non-uniformity of heavy-ion beam irradiation for the different ion beams on two kinds of targets were evaluated in 12-beam, 20-beam, 60-beam and 120-beam irradiation schemes. The root-mean-square （RMS） non-uniformity value becomes aRMS = 8.39% in an aluminum mono-layer pellet structure and aRMS = 6.53% in a lead-aluminum layer target for the 12-uranium-beam system. The RMS non-uniformity for the lead-aluminum layer target was lower than that for the mono-layer target. The RMS and peak-to-valley （PTV） non-uniformities are reduced with the increase in beam number, and low at the Bragg peak layer.

Decomposition behavior of yttria-stabilized zirconia and its effect on directed energy deposited Ti-based composite material

We report on the microstructure and the strengthening mechanisms of additively manufactured parts fabricated by directed energy deposition of Ti-6Al-4V(Ti64)powders blended with yttria-stabilized zirconia(YSZ)nanoparticles.These specimens showed refined microstructures as compared to bare as-deposited Ti64,where theαand columnar priorβgrain sizes decreased with increasing YSZ content.The YSZ nanoparticles decomposed during the deposition process and led to the formation of yttrium oxide and some excess oxygen in the Ti64 matrix.The decrease in the sizes of the priorβgrains could be attributed to the increasing amount of dissolved oxygen and yttrium,which promoted constitutional supercooling.Furthermore,the reduction in the size of theαgrains could be ascribed to a shift of the onset of theβ→α+βtransformation to a higher temperature and shorter time with increasing concentration of dissolved oxygen.Finally,the contributions of the underlying strengthening mechanisms for the as-deposited specimens were quantitatively determined.

Two-Dimensional Hybrid Model for High-Current Electron Beam Transport in a Dense Plasma

A two-dimensional hybrid code is developed to model the transport of a high-current electron beam in a dense plasma target. The beam electrons are treated as particles and described by particle-in-cell simulation including collisions with the target plasma particles. The background target plasma is assumed to be a stationary fluid with temperature variations. The return current and the self-generated electric and magnetic fields are obtained by combining Amp^re＇s law without the displacement current, the resistive Ohm＇s law and Faraday＇s law. The equations are solved in two-dimensional cylindrical geometry with rotational symmetry on a regular grid, with centered spatial differencing and first-order implicit time differencing. The algorithms implemented in the code are described, and a numerical experiment is performed for an electron beam with Maxwellian distribution ejected into a uniform deuterium-tritium plasma target.