Effect of granulated rubber on shear strength of fine-grained sand

Review of the literature related to the mixture of shredded tire and sand shows that,despite of the increase in shear strength due to addition of tire chips,granulated rubber causes reduction in shear strength of sand.In this study,the shear behavior of mixtures of fine-grained sand and 1-5 mm granulated rubber is investigated.Sixty direct shear tests were conducted on sandegranulated rubber mixtures with various rubber contents(0%,5%,10%,20% and 30%) at different relative densities(50%,70% and 90%) and different normal stresses(34.5 kPa,54.5 kPa,74.5 kPa and 104.5 kPa).The obtained results show that the granulated rubber improves the shear strength of fine-grained sand at medium relative density and low normal stress.The degree of improvement in shear strength is a function of rubber content,relative density and normal stress.The results show that at relative density of 50%,by adding 5% granulated rubber,the internal friction angle of sand increases from 35.1° to 39.2°.However,at relative densities of 70% and 90%,addition of granulated rubber to sand decreases its internal friction angle.The results also indicate that the behavior of sand becomes more ductile with increasing granulated rubber content.Adding granulated rubber leads to greater yielding strain and less tangent stiffness of sand.The maximum dilation angle decreases with the decrease in granulated rubber content.The stress ratio of sample at critical state(ψ= 0°) decreases with increasing granulated rubber content.

GRAIN BOUNDARY SEGREGATION AND INTERGRANULAR BRITTLENESS IN HIGH STRENGTH ALUMINIUM ALLOY

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Thickness-related synchronous increase in strength and ductility of ultrafine-grained pure aluminum sheets

To explore the specimen size effect of mechanical behavior of ultrafine-grained(UFG)materials with different structures,UFG Al sheets processed by equal channel angular pressing(ECAP)were selected as target materials and the dependency of tensile behavior on sheet thickness(t)was systematically investigated.The strength and ductility of ECAPed UFG Al sheets were improved synchronously as t increased from 0.2 to 0.7 mm,and then no apparent change occurred when t reached to 0.7 and 1.0 mm.The corresponding microstructure evolved from dislocation networks in equiaxed grains into the walls and subgrains and finally into the dominated cells in elongated grains or subgrains.Meanwhile,dense shear lines(SLs)and shear bands(SBs)were clearly observed and microvoids and cracks were initiated along SBs with the increase of t.These observations indicated that the plastic deformation of UFG Al sheets was jointly controlled by shear banding,dislocation sliding,and grain-boundary sliding.Furthermore,the propagation of SBs became difficult as t increased.Finally,the obtained results were discussed and compared with those of annealed UFG Al and UFG Cu.

Compressive Strength Parallel to Grain Variation of Different Clones of Populus deltoides Marsh.

In order to explore the differences in the compressive strength parallel to grain （CSPG） between different clones and individual woods of Populus deltoides Marsh., the CSPGs of 5 15-year-old P. deltoides clones were determined and analyzed. The results showed that there were significant differences in CSPG of wood between different clones of P. deltoides . The CSPG of the tested clones reached more than 41 MPa, which was higher than the average compressive strength of P. deltoides （32.94 MPa）. Similar to the changes of stem height, the CSPG of the clones gradually increased with the increase of stem height. However, there were significant differences in CSPG of an individual plant at different tree heights. The CSPG of P. deltoides clones was related with their growth traits, but not significantly. Therefore, it is expected to achieve simultaneous and independent improvement on CSPG and the growth of P. deltoides , so as to get excellent individuals with fast growth and high CSPG.

Austenite grain growth behavior of Q1030 high strength welded steel

The austenite grain growth behavior of Q1030 steel was studied under different heating conditions. The austenite grain size increases with the heating temperature and holding time increasing. Austenite grains grow in an exponential manner with rising heating tem- perature and in a parabolic manner with prolonging holding time. A mathematical model for describing the austenite grain growth behavior of Q 1030 steel was obtained on the basis of experimental results using regression analysis. When the heating temperatures lie between 1000 and 1100℃ at a certain holding time, abnormal grain growth appears, which causes mixed grains in Q1030 steel.

LOCAL CHEMISTRY AND THE COHESIVE STRENGTH OF GRAIN BOUNDARIES IN Ni_3Al

Local chemistry plays an important role in determining the cohesive strength of grain boundaries in Ni3Al. Doping with B increases the room temperature ductility and changes the fracture mode from intergranular to transgranular, while doping with Zr increases the ductility but leaves the fracture mode predominantly intergranular.Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) were used to probe the changes in local bonding (and hence the cohesive strength) produced by changes in local chemistry at large angle boundaries in Ni3Al.In addition , small angle tilt boundaries were studied to correlate structure with Nienrichment at the interface. B segregation to Ni-rich grain boundaries was shown to make the bonding similar to that of the bulk, thereby increasing their fracture resistance. Ni-enrichment does not occur in the presence of Zr segregation to grain boundaries. Ni-enrichment to antiphase boundaries (APB) in small angle tilt boundaries lowers the APB energy by reducing the number of high energy Al-Al interactions across the interface. Ni-enrichment to large angle boundaries is expected to produce a similar effect on energy.

Effect of Microstructure Refinement on the Strength and Toughness of Low Alloy Martensitic Steel

Martensitic microstructure in quenched and tempered 17CrNiMo6 steel with the prior austenite grain size ranging from 6 μm to 199 μm has been characterized by optical metallography （OM）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. The yield strength and the toughness of the steel with various prior austenite grain sizes were tested and correlated with microstructure characteristics. Results show that both the prior austenite grain size and the martensitic packet size in the 17CrNiMo6 steel follow a HalI-Petch relation with the yield strength. When the prior austenite grain size was refined from 199 μm to 6 μm , the yield strength increased by 235 MPa, while the Charpy U-notch impact energy at 77 K improved more than 8 times, indicating that microstructure refinement is more effective in improving the resistance to cleavage fracture than in increasing the strength. The fracture surfaces implied that the unit crack path for cleavage fracture is identified as being the packet.

Strength properties examination of high zinc aluminium alloys inoculated with Ti addition

This paper includes studies on the influence of grain refinement treatment with respect to the composition and structure of high zinc aluminium casting alloys on the changes of their tensile properties. The Al-20 wt.%Zn alloy was inoculated with master alloys Al Ti5B1 and Al Ti3C0.15 to determine the impact of a variable titanium addition on the tensile properties of Al Zn20 alloy, and determine on this basis an optimal addition of Ti that would ensure the improvement of elongation of alloys cast in the sand mould, at the same time maintaining high tensile strength. Within the studies, light microscopy(LM) and strength tests were applied. Experimental results showed that the inoculation of high zinc aluminium alloy Al Zn20 with the master alloys Al Ti5B1 and Al Ti3C0.15 causes intensive structure refinement, while the intensity of reaction of both master alloys is comparable. The Al Ti3C0.15 master alloy addition, selected for further studies, introducing about 100 ppm Ti, enhances the tensile properties of the alloy; the elongation increases about 20% and tensile strength increases about 10% against the initial values(uninoculated alloy). Further increase of the Ti addition up to 500–600 ppm leads to the "overinoculation" effect that is accompanied by the decrease of elongation. Therefore,the Ti addition should be reduced to the level of about 100 ppm which ensures obtaining a set of optimal properties.

Grain crushing in geoscience materials-Key issues on crushing response,measurement and modeling:Review and preface

Grain crushing is commonly encountered in deep foundation engineering,high rockfill dam engineering,railway engineering,mining engineering,coastal engineering,petroleum engineering,and other geoscience application.Grain crushing is affected by fundamental soil characteristics,such as their mineral strength,grain size and distribution,grain shape,density and specimen size,and also by external factors including stress magnitude and path,loading rate and duration,degree of saturation,temperature and geochemical environment.Crushable material becomes a series of different materials with the change in its grading during grain crushing,resulting in a decrease in strength and dilatancy and an increase in compressibility.Effects of grain crushing on strength,dilatancy,deformation and failure mechanisms have been extensively investigated through laboratory testing,discrete element method(DEM)modelling,Weibull statistics,and constitutive modelling within the framework of the extended crushing-dependent critical state theory or the energy-based theory.Eleven papers summarized in this review article for this special issue addressed the above issues in grain crushing through the advanced testing and modelling.

Bounding surface plasticity model for stress-strain and grain-crushing behaviors of rockfill materials

Crushing of grains can greatly influence the strength,dilatancy,and stress-strain relationship of rockfill materials.The critical state line(CSL)in the void ratio versus mean effective stress plane was extended to the breakage critical state plane(BCSP).A state void-ratio-pressure index that incorporated the effect of grain crushing was proposed according to the BCSP.Rowe’s stress-dilatancy equation was modified by adding the breakage voidratio-pressure index,which was also incorporated into the formulations of the bounding stress ratio and plastic modulus.A BCSP-based bounding surface plasticity model was proposed to describe the state-dependent stressstrain behaviors and the evolution of grain crushing during shearing process of rockfill materials,and was shown to sufficiently capture the breakage phenomenon.

Doping Effects of Rare Earth on Dielectric Properties of Fine-Grained BaTiO_3-Based Ceramics

The doping effects of rare earth oxides Ho_2O_3 and Er_2O_3 on dielectric properties of BaTiO_3-based ceramics were studied. After adding rare earth elements, grain growth in this system was inhibited and the grain size was reduced evidently which realized the fine-grained effect. In this system, the trivalent oxides Ho_2O_3 and Er_2O_3 were added to BaTiO_3 ceramics. The rare earth oxides do not enter into inner lattice totally to replace A or B sites. Some of additives can improve dielectric strength by forming nonferroelectric phases, and the rest maintained at grain boundaries controls overgrowth of grains. The dielectric constant at room temperature is increased up to 3000 and the curve of TCC becomes flat. Meanwhile, the dielectric strength E_b becomes higher.

Effect of grain size and arrangement on dynamic damage evolution of ductile metal

Plate-impact experiments have been carried out to examine the effect of grain size and grain arrangement on the damage evolution of ultrapure aluminum. Two groups of samples, ＂cross-cut＂ and ＂longitudinal-cut,＂ are obtained from the rolled aluminum rod along different directions. The peak compressive stress is approximately 1.25 GPa–1.61 GPa, which can cause incipient spall damage that is correlated to the material microstructure. The metallographic analyses of all recovered samples show that nearly all damage nucleates at the grain boundaries, especially those with larger curvature. Moreover, under lower shock stress, the spall strength of the ＂longitudinal-cut＂ sample is smaller than that of the ＂crosscut＂ sample, because the different grain sizes and arrangement of the two samples cause different nucleation, growth, and coalescence processes. In this study, the difference in the damage distribution between ＂longitudinal-cut＂ and ＂cross-cut＂ samples and the causes for this difference under lower shock-loading conditions are also analyzed by both qualitative and semi-quantitative methods. It is very important for these conclusions to establish a reasonable and perfect equation of damage evolution for ductile metals.

Influence of fines content on the anti-frost properties of coarse-grained soil

This paper aims to determine the optimal fines content of coarse-grained soil required to simultaneously achieve weaker frost susceptibility and better bearing capacity. We studied the frost susceptibility and strength properties of coarse-grained soil by means of frost heaving tests and static triaxial tests, and the results are as follows： （1） the freezing temperature of coarse-grained soil decreased gradually and then leveled off with incremental increases in the percent content of fines; （2） the fines content proved to be an important factor influencing the frost heave susceptibility and strength properties of coarse-grained soil. With incremental increases in the percent content of fines, the frost heave ratio increased gradually and the cohesion function of fines effectively enhanced the shear strength of coarse-grained soil before freeze-thaw, but the frost susceptibility of fines weakened the shear strength of coarse-grained soil after freeze-thaw; （3） with increasing numbers of freeze-thaw cycles, the shear strength of coarse-grained soil decreased and then stabilized after the ninth freeze-thaw cycle, and therefore the mechanical indexes of the ninth freeze-thaw cycle are recommended for the engi- neering design values; and （4） considering frost susceptibility and strength properties as a whole, the optimal fines content of 5% is recommended for railway sub,fade coarse-~rained soil fillings in frozen re^ions.

Rolling, Partial and Full Annealing of 6061 Characterization of Microstructure, Tensile Strengths and Ductility

The scope of this research is to compare the grain morphology and hardness of aluminum alloy 6061 samples in three conditions: fully rolled (full hard), partially annealed (half hard), and fully annealed (soft). It is found that cold rolling produced elongated grains, parallel to the rolling direction, and the highest degree of grain-elongation is found as a band in the center of the specimens. Shearing effects of cold rolling the buckled surface produced equiaxed grains near the rolling surfaces, and may have played a role in reducing the effect of string forming solutes near the said surfaces. Higher percent reduction performed in one stage of cold rolling produced a higher increase in tensile strength and a more significant decrease in ductility. Annealing produced the softest material.

Effect of grain boundary structures on the behavior of He defects in Ni:An atomistic study

We investigated the effect of grain boundary structures on the trapping strength of HeN（N is the number of helium atoms） defects in the grain boundaries of nickel. The results suggest that the binding energy of an interstitial helium atom to the grain boundary plane is the strongest among all sites around the plane. The He_N defect is much more stable in nickel bulk than in the grain boundary plane. Besides, the binding energy of an interstitial helium atom to a vacancy is stronger than that to a grain boundary plane. The binding strength between the grain boundary and the HeN defect increases with the defect size. Moreover, the binding strength of the HeN defect to the Σ3（112）[110] grain boundary becomes much weaker than that to other grain boundaries as the defect size increases.

Effects of Phosphorus Grain Boundary Segregation and Hardness on the Ductile-to-Brittle Transition for a 2.25CrMo Steel

The combined effect of phosphorus grain boundary segregation and hardness on the ductile-to-brittle transition was examined for a P-doped 2.25CrlMo steel by using Auger electron spectroscopy in conjunction with hardness measurements, Charpy impact tests and scanning electron microscopy. With prolonging time at 540 ~C after water quenching from 980℃, the segregation of phosphorus increases and the hardness decreases. The DBTT （FATT） increases with increasing phosphorus segregation and decreases with decreasing hardness. The effect of phosphorus segregation is dominant until 100 h aging and after that the hardness effect becomes dominant. This effect makes the DBTT （FATT） decrease with further prolonging ageing time although the segregation of phosphorus still increases strongly.

Development of grain boundary allotriomorphic ferrite/granular bainite duplex steel

A new hot-rolled low alloy high strength steel with grain boundaryallotriomorphic ferrite/granular bainite duplex microstructure has been developed through novelmicrostructure and alloying designs without any noble metal elements such as nickel and molybdenum.Its as-rolled microstructure and mechanical properties, fatigue crack propagation behavior comparedwith single granular bainitic steel as well as continuous cooling transformation, were investigatedin detail. The measured result of CCT (continuous cooling transformation) curve shows that suchduplex microstructure can be easily obtained within a wide air-cooling rate range. More importantly,this duplex microstructure has much better combination of toughness and strength than the singlegranular bainite microstructure. It is found that the grain boundary allotriomorphic ferrite in thisduplex microstructure can blunt the microcrack tip, cause fatigue crack propagation route branchingand curving, and thus it increases the resistance to fatigue crack propagation, improves steeltoughness. The mechanical properties of the above commercial duplex steel plates have achieved orexceeded 870 MPa ultimate tensile strength, 570 MPa yield strength, 18 percent elongation and 34 JCharpy V-notch impact energy at -40 deg C, showing good development potential.

The Effect of Cold Working on Creep Rupture Strength and Microstructure of Ni-23Cr-7W Alloy

In order to clarify the reason why the creep rupture time of pre-strained Ni-23Cr-7W Alloy (HR6W) is longer than that of the non-pre-strained HR6W, microstructures of HR6W after a series of creep tests were investigated. The creep tests were conducted at 750°C, 90 and 100 MPa. In the pre-strained samples, the grain boundary shielding ratio by precipitates was larger than that of the non-pre-strained sample. In addition, in the pre-strained samples the size of the M23C6 carbide in the grains was finer than in the non-pre-strained sample. The W content in the M23C6 carbide in the pre-strained samples tended to be larger than in the non-pre-strained sample. Therefore, the Ostwald ripening of the carbide was delayed and the size of M23C6 carbide was thought to be fine for a long time. These observations show that creep strength in the pre-strained samples is higher than that of the non-pre-strained sample because of both precipitation strengthening inside of the grains and grain boundaries.

Effects of Microstructural Modification Using Friction Stir Processing on Fatigue Strength of Butt-Welded Joints for High-Strength Steels

Friction stir processing (FSP) is an effective surface-microstructure modification technique using a rotational tool to refine and homogenize microstructure of metallic materials. In this study, FSP was conducted on the surface of the heat-affected zone (HAZ), which is a region exhibiting degraded mechanical properties and shown to have microstructural changes, of butt-welded joints for two high-strength steels with tensile strength grades of 490 MPa and 780 MPa (hereafter HT490 and HT780, respectively). Inhomogeneous mixing of materials derived from weld metals and base metals (BMs) in a stir zone (SZ) produced inhomogeneous distribution of elements and microstructure depending on the set of the advancing side and retreating side in the SZs. The welded joints with FSP for HT490 exhibited higher hardness than that of the BM through whole of the SZ surface (fine polygonal ferrite grains and bainite structure with laths at the Mn-rich and Mn-poor regions, respectively). On the other hand, those for HT780 exhibited the minimum hardness value similar to that of the BM at the SZ surface (a few polygonal ferrite grains in the matrix of martensite laths). Fatigue strength increased by about 35 MPa and 15 MPa in stress amplitude at 107 cycles as fatigue limit due to FSP. Fatigue failure occurred at the BM and the SZ, respectively, in the welded joints modified by FSP for HT490 and HT780, in comparison with the HAZs in the as-welded joints for both grade steels. The difference in fatigue strength increase due to FSP and failure location between the welded joints for HT490 and HT780 can be attributed to the topmost SZ microstructures and their distribution.

Influence of rapid heating process on the microstructure and tensile properties of high-strength ferrite–martensite dual-phase steel

Three low-carbon dual-phase （DP） steels with almost constant martensite contents of 20vo1% were produced by intercritical annealing at different heating rates and soaking temperatures. Microstructures prepared at low temperature （1043 K, FH1） with fast-heating （300 K/s） show banded ferrite/martensite structure, whereas those soaked at high temperature （1103 K, FH2） with fast heating reveal blocky martensite uniformly distributed in the fine-grained ferrite matrix. Their mechanical properties were tested under tensile conditions and compared to a slow-heated （5 K/s） reference material （SH0）. The tensile tests indicate that for a given martensite volume fraction, the yield strength and total elongation values are noticeably affected by the refinement of ferrite grains and the martensite morphology. Metallographic observations reveal the formation of microvoids at the ferrite/martensite interface in the SH0 and FH2 samples, whereas microvoids nucleate via the fracture of banded martensite particles in the FH1 specimen. In addition, analyses of the work-hardening behaviors of the DP microstructures using the differential Crussard-Jaoul technique demonstrate two stages of work hardening for all samples.