In situ neutron diffraction revealing the achievement of excellent combination of strength and ductility in metastable austenitic steel by grain refinement

The yield stress of Fe-24Ni-0.3C(wt%)metastable austenitic steel increased 3.5 times(158→551 MPa)when the average grain size decreased from 35μm(coarse-grained[CG])to 0.5μm(ultrafine-grained[UFG]),whereas the tensile elongation was kept large(0.87→0.82).In situ neutron diffraction measurements of the CG and UFG Fe-24Ni-0.3C steels were performed during tensile deformation at room temperature to quantitatively elucidate the influence of grain size on the mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms.The initial stages of plastic deformation in the CG and UFG specimens were dominated by dislocation slip,with deformation-induced martensitic transformation(DIMT)also occurring in the later stage of deformation.Results show that grain refinement increases the initiation stress of DIMT largely and suppresses the rate of DIMT concerning the strain,which is attributed to the following effects.(i)Grain refinement increased the stabilization of austenite and considerably delayed the initiation of DIMT in the<111>//LD(LD:loading direction)austenite grains,which were the most stable grains for DIMT.As a result,most of the<111>//LD austenite grains in the UFG specimen failed to transform into martensite.(ii)Grain refinement also suppressed the autocatalytic effect of the martensitic transformation.Nevertheless,the DIMT with the low transformation rate in the UFG specimen was more efficient in increasing the flow stress and more appropriate to maintain uniform deformation than that in the CG specimen during deformation.The above phenomena mutually contributed to the excellent combination of strength and ductility of the UFG metastable austenitic steel.

Unraveling transition-metal-mediated stability of spinel oxide via in situ neutron scattering

The energy materials performance is intrinsically determined by structures from the average lattice structure to the atom arrangement, valence, and distribution of the containing transition metal(TM) elements. Understanding the mechanism of the structure transition and atom rearrangement via synthesis or processing is key to expediting the exploration of excellent energy materials. In this work, in situ neutron scattering is employed to reveal the real-time structure evolution, including the TM-O bonds, lattice,TM valence and the migration of the high-voltage spinel cathode LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_(4). The transition-metalmediated spinel destabilization under the annealing at the oxygen-deficient atmosphere is pinpointed.The formation of Mn^(3+) is correlated to the TM migration activation, TM disordered rearrangement in the spinel, and the transition to a layered-rocksalt phase. The further TM interdiffusion and Mn^(3+) reduction are also revealed with multi-stage thermodynamics and kinetics. The mechanisms of phase transition and atom migrations as functions of temperature, time and atmosphere present important guidance on the synthesis in various-valence element containing oxides.

Static Tensile Deformation Behaviors of an Fe-30Mn-3Al-3Si TWIP Steel Studied by In-Situ Neutron Diffraction

TWIP (TWinning Induced Plasticity) steel is one of the advanced steels with attractive mechanical properties.The typical composition of TWIP steel includes a large amount of manganese with some aluminum and silicon.Previous study has shown that TWIP steel exhibits high strength with adequate elongation at high strain rates,so that TWIP steel is desired to be applied for automotive use.However,there are few studies concerning the deformation behaviors aimed to make clear the TWIP effect in TWIP steel.In this study,static tensile deformation behaviors of an Fe-30Mn-3Al-3Si TWIP steel and a SUS310S one were studied by in situ neutron diffraction during tensile deformation.In terms of mechanical properties obtained by the static tensile tests,the TWIP steel showed better balance of tensile strength and uniform elongation than the 310S steel.The angular dispersion neutron diffraction with a wavelength of 0.16 nm was performed during stepwise tensile testing by using a neutron diffractometer for residual stress analysis (RESA) at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency.A specimen was extended in a step by step manner and neutron diffraction profiles of (111),(200) and (311) for austenite were obtained at each step.The diffraction peak,lattice plane spacing,lattice plane strain and so on were determined by the profile analysis as a function of applied stress.The changes of lattice plane strain for austenite in the TWIP and 310S steels indicated several deformation stages in the tensile deformation and can be discussed the difference of intergranular stress between the two samples.