Influence of soaking time in deep cryogenic treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of low-alloy medium-carbon HY-TUF steel

The influence of soaking time in deep cryogenic treatment on the tensile and impact properties of low-alloy medium-carbon HY-TUF steel was investigated in this study. Microstructural studies based on phase distribution mapping by electron backscatter diffraction show that the deep cryogenic process causes a decrease in the content of retained austenite and an increase in the volume fraction of η-carbide with increasing soaking time up to 48 h. The decrease in the content of retained austenite from ~1.23vol% to 0.48vol% suggests an isothermal martensitic transformation at 77 K. The η-type precipitates formed in deep cryogenic-treated martensite over 48 h have the Hirotsu and Nagakura orientation relation with the martensitic matrix. Furthermore, a high coherency between η-carbide and the martensitic matrix is observed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The variations in macrohardness, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and ductility with soaking time in the deep cryogenic process show a peak/plateau trend.

PHASE TRANSFORMATION UNIT OF BAINITIC FERRITE AND ITS SURFACE RELIEF IN LOW AND MEDIUM CARBON ALLOY STEELS

The lath-or plate-shaped bainitic ferrite of low and medium carbon alloy steels consists of packets of ferrite sublaths which are composed of many finer and regular ferrite blocks.They are uniform shear growth units of bainitic phase transformation.No carbide is precipitated from them.The bainitic O-carbides are precipitated from γ-α interface or carbon-rich austenite.The mode of arrangement of the units in ferrite sublath packet is in uni-or bi-di- rection.Single surface relief is produced by the accumulation of uniform shear strains with all the ferrite units arranged unidirectionally in a sublath packet,while tent-shaped surface relief is formed by the integration of the uniform shear strains of two groups with ferrite units piling up in two directions and growing face to face;whereas if they grow back to back,the integra- tion will be responsible for invert-tent-shaped surface relief.The interface trace between two groups of ferrite units in a sublath packet is shown as“midrib”.

Microstructure and Corrosion Resistance of a Novel AlNiLa Lightweight Medium Entropy Amorphous Alloy Composites

A new type of lightweight AlNiLa medium entropy amorphous alloy composite ribbons(labled as MEAAC ribbons)were prepared by vacuum arc melting technology and high-speed single roller meltspinning method.The microstructure and thermal stability of MEAAC ribbons were examined using X-ray diffraction,differential scanning calorimeter,and scanning electron microscope.Meanwhile,the hardness and surface roughness of these ribbons were measured by Vickers microhardness tester and atomic force microscope.The potentiodynamic polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)were applied to investigate the corrosion behavior of these MEAAC ribbons in simulated seawater(3.5wt%NaCl corrosive solution)at room temperature.The results demonstrate that AlNiLa MEAAC ribbons in the as-received state are mainly composed of amorphous phase and intermetallic compounds.The hardness values of all melt-spun ribbons are above 310 HV_(0.1).With the increase of Al content,the linear polarization resistances of four various AlNiLa MEAAC ribbons are negligibly different numerically.It is also found that Al_(45)Ni_(27.5)La_(27.5) MEAAC ribbons have the most positive corrosion potential and the smallest corrosion current density at the same time;hence it may be a kind of potential material for metal surface protection in harsh ocean environment.

Effect of Pulsed Current TIG Welding Parameters on Pitting Corrosion Behaviour of AA6061 Aluminium Alloy

Medium strength aluminium alloy （Al-Mg-Si alloy） has gathered wide acceptance in the fabrication of light weight structures requiring a high strength-to weight ratio, such as transportable bridge girders, military vehicles, road tankers and railway transport systems. The preferred welding process for aluminium alloy is frequently TIG （tungsten inert gas） welding due to its comparatively easier applicability and better economy.In the case of single pass TIG welding of thinner section of this alloy, the pulsed current has been found beneficial due to its advantages over the conventional continuous current process. The use of pulsed current parameters has been found to improve the mechanical properties of the welds compared to those of continuous current welds of this alloy due to grain refinement occurring in the fusion zone. A mathematical model has been developed to predict pitting corrosion potential of pulsed current TIG welded AA6061 aluminium alloy.Factorial experimental design has been used to optimize the experimental conditions. Analysis of variance technique has been used to find out the significant pulsed current parameters. Regression analysis has been used to develop the model. Using the developed model pitting corrosion potential values have been estimated for different combinations of pulsed current parameters and the results are analyzed in detail.

Chemical inhomogeneity inhibits grain boundary fracture:A comparative study in CrCoNi medium entropy alloy

Grain boundary(GB)fracture is arguably one of the most important reasons for the catastrophic failure of ductile polycrystalline materials.It is of interest to explore the role of chemical distribution on GB defor-mation and fracture,as GB segregation becomes a key strategy for tailoring GB properties.Here we report that the inhomogeneous chemical distribution effectively inhibits GB fracture in a model CoCrNi medium entropy alloy compared to a so-called‘average-atom’sample.Atomic deformation kinematics combined with electronic behavior analysis reveals that the strong charge redistribution ability in chemical disor-dered CrCoNi GBs enhances shear deformation and thus prevents GB crack formation and propagation.Inspects on the GBs with different chemical components and chemical distributions suggest that not only disordered chemical distribution but also sufficient“harmonic elements”with large electronic flexibility contribute to improving the GB fracture resistance.This study provides new insight into the influence mechanism of GB chemistry on fracture behavior,and yields a systematic strategy and criterion,from the atoms and electrons level,forward in the design of high-performance materials with enhanced GB fracture resistance.

Formation mechanism of hierarchical twins in the CoCrNi medium entropy alloy

The three-dimensional hierarchical twin network has been proved to be the source of the excellent strength-ductility combination in the CoCrNi medium entropy alloy.Revealing the formation mechanism of hierarchical twins,however,remains a challenge using either the post-mortem or the in-situ microstructural characterization.In this study,the atomistic formation mechanism of hierarchical twins was investigated using molecular dynamics simulations,with special focus on the effects of strain rate and deformation temperature.Compared to the primary twin boundaries kink-driven hierarchical twinning tendency in pure FCC metals,the chemical inhomogeneity in CoCrNi can reduce the necessary kink height to trigger conjugate twins(CTWs),fascinating the formation of twin networks.At room temperature,the plastic deformation is dominated by primary twins(PTWs)and conjugate slips at a relatively lower strain rate(e.g.,5×10^(7)s^(−1)).The hierarchical twins can be activated in cases of deforming at a higher strain rate(e.g.,2×10^(8)s^(−1)).Further increasing the strain rate(e.g.,1×10^(10) s^(−1))leads to the phase-transformation induced plasticity.At cryogenic temperatures,the hierarchical twins are promoted within a large range of strain rates(e.g.,5×10^(7)–1×10^(10) s^(−1)).A higher temperature leads to the synergy of CTWs and primary slips at a lower strain rate,but hierarchical twins at a higher strain rate.On this basis,a qualitative comparison and scalable trends between experiments and simulations were revealed.The present study would not only provide the basic understanding for the twinning behavior found experimentally,but also contribute to the design of medium/high entropy alloys with excellent mechanical performances by tuning microstructures.

Unconventional dislocation starvation behavior of medium-entropy alloy single crystal pillars containing pre-existing dislocations

The excellent dislocation storage ability of bulk multi-principal element alloys(MPEAs)has been widely reported.To date,however,the underlying mechanisms of dislocation escape behavior in small-size facecentered cubic(FCC)MPEAs have rarely been studied.Here,we quantitatively control the initial dislocation densities(-10^(15) m^(-2) and -10^(16) m^(-2))by large-scale molecular dynamics(MD)simulations and perform uniaxial compression simulations to compare the dislocation starvation behavior of CrCoNi with pure Cu single crystal pillars(SCPs).The analysis reveals that the CrCoNi SCPs with low initial dislocation density(-10^(15) m^(-2))can continuously accommodate mobile dislocations,and the critical dimension for dislocation starvation is about 30 nm.In particular,the CrCoNi SCPs with chemical short-range ordering(SRO)exhibit better dislocation storage and multiplication abilities than the random solid solution(RSS)samples even when the initial dislocation density is low.However,the presence of a large number of pre-existing dislocation locks governs the strong dislocation multiplication ability of the small-size RSS CrCoNi SCPs,in obvious contrast to the deformation of all pure Cu SCPs which is completely dominated by intermittent mobile dislocation starvation.Most importantly,we reveal the fundamental physics for the good dislocation storage of CrCoNi SCPs at small sizes from the perspective of chemical heterogeneity.The new phenomena reported in this work provide a unique atomic-scale perspective for understanding the microscopic physical origin of the mechanical behavior of MPEAs and the discovery of extremely slow dislocation escape behavior in small-scaled pillars,providing a reliable basis for the development of the dislocation starvation model.

Dislocation me diate d dynamic tension-compression asymmetry of a Ni_(2)CoFeV_(0.5)Mo_(0.2) medium entropy alloy

Although tension-compression(T-C)asymmetry in yield strength was rarely documented in coarse-grained face centered cubic(FCC)metals as critical resolved shear stress(CRSS)for dislocation slip differs little between tension and compression,the T-C asymmetry in strength,i.e.,higher strength when loaded in compression than in tension,was reported in some FCC high entropy alloys(HEAs)due to twinning and phase transitions activated at high strain regimes in compression.In this paper,we demonstrate a reversed and atypical tension-compression asymmetry(tensile strength markedly exceeds compressive strength)in a non-equiatomic FCC Ni_(2)CoFeV_(0.5)Mo_(0.2) medium entropy alloy(MEA)under dynamic loading,wherein dislocation slip governs dynamic deformation without twins or phase transitions.The asymme-try can be primarily interpreted as higher CRSS and more hard slip modes(lower average Schmid factor)activated in grains under dynamic tension than compression.Besides,larger strain rate sensitivity in dy-namic tension overwhelmingly contributes to the higher flow stress,thanks to the occurrence of more immobile Lomer-locks,narrower spacing of planar slip bands and higher dislocation density.This finding may provide some insights into designing MEAs/HEAs with desired properties under extreme conditions such as blast,impact and crash.

Thermal Deformation Behavior and Processing Map of a Novel CrFeNiSi_(0.15)Medium Entropy Alloy

The thermal deformation behavior of a novel CrFeNiSi_(0.15)medium entropy alloy(MEA)was studied via isothermal compression experiments,with the processing parameter range of 900–1200℃and 0.001–1 s^(−1).According to experimental data,the modified constitutive equation had been obtained,which precisely predicted the flow behavior of CrFeNiSi_(0.15)MEA during thermal deformation.At the same time,the processing map was established on the basis of the dynamic material model(DMM)theory.According to the map,the optimal processing parameters were determined at 1130–1200℃/0.06–1 s−1,under which the power dissipation efficiency could reach above 34%.The peak efficiency was above 38%,which occurred at 1200℃/1 s^(−1).In such parameter,complete dynamic recrystallization(DRX)also occurred.The flow instability of CrFeNiSi_(0.15)MEA was estimated to occur at 900–985℃/0.12–1 s^(−1),which was shown as grain boundaries cracking.Furthermore,both the continuous DRX(CDRX)and discontinuous DRX(DDRX)occurred simultaneously during thermal deformation.Meanwhile,some twins were also newly formed during DRX process,most of which were primary twins.The occurrence of twinning was beneficial to promote the development of DRX behavior.

Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion Behavior of Fe_(40)(CoCrMnNi)_(60) and Fe_(60)(CoCrMnNi)_(40) Medium Entropy Alloys in the Presence of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa

In this work,the microbiologically influenced corrosion(MIC)of Fe_(40)(CoCrMnNi)_(60) and Fe_(60)(CoCrMnNi)_(40) medium entropy alloys(MEAs)induced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa(P.aeruginosa)was investigated.Corrosion behaviors during 14 days of immersion in sterile and P.aeruginosa-inoculated culture media are presented.Under sterile conditions,both MEAs exhibited good corrosion resistance against the culture medium solution.In the presence of P.aeruginosa,the pitting corrosion of MEAs was promoted.The results of inductively coupled plasma‒mass spectrometry(ICP‒MS)and potentiodynamic polarization tests showed that the presence of P.aeruginosa promoted the selective dissolution of passive film and accelerated the corrosion of MEAs.The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)and Mott-Schottky measurements further demonstrated the degradation effect of P.aeruginosa on the passive film.Compared with Fe_(60)(CoCrMnNi)_(40),Fe_(40)(CoCrMnNi)_(60) manifested better resistance to the MIC caused by P.aeruginosa,which may be attributed to more Cr oxides and fewer Fe oxides of the passive film.

Combinatorial development of antibacterial FeCoCr-Ag medium entropy alloy

Antibacterial activity and mechanical properties of FeCoCr-Ag medium entropy alloys were studied via combinatorial fabrication paired with high-throughput characterizations.It was found that the antibacterial activity and mechanical properties exhibit non-linear dependence on the content of Ag addition.Within the studied alloys,(FeCoCr)_(80)Ag_(20) possesses an optimized combination of different properties for potential applications as antibacterial coating materials.The underlying mechanism is ascribed to the formation of a dual-phase structure that leads to competition between the role of Ag phase and FeCoCr phase at different Ag content.The results not only demonstrate the power and effectiveness of combinatorial methods in multi-parameter optimization but also indicate the potential of high entropy alloys as antibacterial materials.

Refined microstructure and enhanced mechanical properties of AlCrFe_(2)Ni_(2) medium entropy alloy produced via laser remelting

A Co-free as-cast AlCrAlCrFe_(2)Ni_(2)medium entropy alloy(MEA)with multi-phases was remelted by fiber laser in this study.The effect of laser remelting on the microstructure,phase distribution and mechanical properties was investigated by characterizing the as-cast and the remelted AlCrAlCrFe_(2)Ni_(2)alloy.The laser remelting process resulted in a significant decrease of grain size from about 780μm to 58.89μm(longitudinal section)and 15.87μm(transverse section)and an increase of hardness from 4.72±0.293 GPa to 6.40±0.147 GPa(longitudinal section)and 7.55±0.360 GPa(transverse section).It was also found that the long side plate-like microstructure composed of FCC phase,ordered B2 phase and disordered BCC phase in the as-cast alloy was transformed into nano-size weave-like microstructure consisting of alternating ordered B2 and disordered BCC phases.The mechanical properties were evaluated by the derived stressstrain relationship obtained from nano-indentation tests data.The results showed that the yield stress increased from 661.9 MPa to 1347.6 MPa(longitudinal section)and 1647.2 MPa(transverse section)after remelting.The individual contribution of four potential strengthening mechanisms to the yield strength of the remelted alloy was quantitatively evaluated,including grain boundary strengthening,dislocation strengthening,solid solution strengthening and precipitation strengthening.The calculation results indicated that dislocation and precipitation are dominant strengthening mechanisms in the laser remelted MEA.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of CoCrNi-Mo medium entropy alloys:Experiments and first-principle calculations

The effect of Mo additions on the microstructures and mechanical properties of CoCrNi alloys was investigated,meanwhile,ab initio calculations are performed to quantitatively evaluate the lattice distortion and stacking fault energy(SFE).The yield strength,ultimate tensile strength,and elongation of(CoCrNi)_(97)Mo_(3)alloy are 475 MPa,983 MPa and 69%,respectively.The yield strength is increased by~30%and high ductility is maintained,in comparison with CoCrNi alloy.Besides the nano-twins and dislocations,the higher density of stacking faults is induced during the tensile deformation for(CoCrNi)_(97)Mo_(3)alloy.Ab initio calculation results indicate the mean square atomic displacement(MSAD)and SFE value of(CoCrNi)_(97)Mo_(3)alloy is 42.6 pm^(2)and-40.4 mJ/m^(2)at 0 K,respectively.The relationship between mechanical properties and MSAD,SFE for various multiple principal element alloys is discussed.

Origin of strong solid solution strengthening in the CrCoNi-W medium entropy alloy

Solid solution strengthening is one of the most conventional strategies for optimizing alloys strength,while the corresponding mechanisms can be more complicated than we traditionally thought specifically as heterogeneity of microstructure is involved.In this work,by comparing the change of chemical distribution,dislocation behaviors and mechanical properties after doping equivalent amount of tungsten(W)atoms in CrCoNi alloy and pure Ni,respectively,it is found that the alloying element W in CrCoNi alloy resulted in much stronger strengthening effect due to the significant increase of heterogeneity in chemical distribution after doping trace amount of W.The large atomic scale concentration fluctuation of all elements in CrCoNi-3W causes dislocation motion via strong nanoscale segment detrapping and severe dislocation pile up which is not the case in Ni-3W.The results revealed the high sensitivity of elements distribution in multi-principle element alloys to composition and the significant consequent influence in tuning the mechanical properties,giving insight for complex alloy design.

Dynamic deformation behavior of a FeCrNi medium entropy alloy

Deformation behavior of a FeCrNi medium entropy alloy(MEA)prepared by powder metallurgy(P/M)method was investigated over a wide range of strain rates.The FeCrNi MEA exhibits high strain-hardening ability,which can be attributed to the multiple deformation mechanisms,including dislocation slip,deformation induced stacking fault and mechanical twinning.The shear localization behavior of the FeCrNi MEA was also analyzed by dynamically loading hat-shaped specimens,and the distinct adiabatic shear band cannot be observed until the shear strain reaches~14.5.The microstructures within and outside the shear band exhibit different characteristics:the grains near the shear band are severely elongated and significantly refined by dislocation slip and twinning;inside the shear band,the initial coarse grains completely disappear,and transform into recrystallized ultrafine equiaxed grains by the classical rotational dynamic recrystallization mechanism.Moreover,microvoids preferentially nucleate in the central areas of the shear band where the temperature is very high and the shear stress is highly concentrated.These microvoids will coalesce into microcracks with the increase of strain,which eventually leads to the fracture of the shear band.

Tailoring grain growth and solid solution strengthening of single-phase CrCoNi medium-entropy alloys by solute selection

In the present study,we selected solutes to be added to the Cr Co Ni medium-entropy alloy(MEA)based on the mismatch of self-diffusion activation energy(SDQ)between the alloying elements and constituent elements of the matrix,and then investigated their grain growth behavior and mechanical properties.Mo and Al were selected as the solutes for investigation primarily because they have higher and lower SDQ,respectively,than those of the matrix elements;a secondary factor was their higher and lower shear modulus.Their concentrations were fixed at 3 at.%each because previous work had shown these compositions to be single-phase solid solutions with the face-centered cubic structure.Three alloys were produced by arc melting,casting,homogenizing,cold rolling and annealing at various temperatures and times to produce samples with different grain sizes.They were(a)the base alloy Cr Co Ni,(b)the base alloy plus 3 at.%Mo,and(c)the base alloy plus 3 at.%Al.The activation energies for grain growth of the Cr Co Ni,Cr Co Ni-3Mo and CrCo Ni-3Al MEAs were found to be^251,~368 and^219 k J/mol,respectively,consistent with the notion that elements with higher SDQ(in this study Mo)retard grain growth(likely by a solute-drag effect),whereas those with lower values(Al)accelerate grain growth.The roomtemperature tensile properties show that Mo increases the yield strength by^40%but Al addition has a smaller strengthening effect consistent with their relative shear moduli.The yield strength as a function of grain size for the three single-phase MEAs follows the classical Hall-Petch relationship with much higher slopes(>600 MPaμm-0.5)than traditional solid solutions.This work shows that the grain growth kinetics and solid solution strengthening of the Cr Co Ni MEA can be tuned by selecting solute elements that have appropriate diffusion and physical properties.

High-throughput simulation combined machine learning search for optimum elemental composition in medium entropy alloy

In medium/high entropy alloys, their mechanical properties are strongly dependent on the chemicalelemental composition. Thus, searching for optimum elemental composition remains a critical issue to maximize the mechanical performance. However, this issue solved by traditional optimization process via "trial and error" or experiences of domain experts is extremely difficult. Here we propose an approach based on high-throughput simulation combined machine learning to obtain medium entropy alloys with high strength and low cost. This method not only obtains a large amount of data quickly and accurately,but also helps us to determine the relationship between the composition and mechanical properties.The results reveal a vital importance of high-throughput simulation combined machine learning to find best mechanical properties in a wide range of elemental compositions for development of alloys with expected performance.

New Heat Treatment Technology for Grain Refining of Structural Steel

The application of electrical contact heating （ECH） in austenitic grain refining of ultra-pure 42CrMoVNb steel was introduced. The ECH equipment was designed to reach uniform heating of uniform heat transfer in the sample. The 42CrMoVNb steel treated possesses uniform microstructure with an average austenite grain size of 1.4 μm, higher strength （1 538 MPa） and impact toughness （81J/cm^2）.

A quasi-in-situ EBSD study of the thermal stability and grain growth mechanisms of CoCrNi medium entropy alloy with gradient-nanograined structure

The thermal stability and mechanical properties of a gradient-nanograined structure(GNS)CoCrNi medium entropy alloy(MEA)processed by ultrasonic surface rolling were studied by using isothermal/isochronal annealing tests combined with quasi-in-situ electron backscatter diffraction(EBSD)characterization and Vickers micro-hardness(HV)measurements.A layer by layer high-throughput investigation method was used to quantitatively study the grain growth kinetics and grain boundary evolution with different initial grain sizes,which could effectively save specimen and time costs.The grain nucleation and growth,as well as shrink and disappearance process throughΣ3 coincidence site lattice boundary migration with slightly lattice rotation during annealing were directly revealed.The layer by layer grain growth kinetics and calculated activation energy indicate that the thermal stability of nanograined top surface layer is relatively higher than that of nano-twined subsurface layer for the gradient CoCrNi MEA processed by ultrasonic surface rolling.Further analysis show that the grain boundary relaxation and dynamic recrystallization of the topmost nano-grains led to the decrease of grain boundary energy,thus improving their thermal stability.The present work provided theoretical basis for the application of CoCrNi MEA at high temperatures.Moreover,the high-throughput method on the investigation of grain stability by using gradient structure can be easily extended to other materials and it is of great significance for understanding the microstructural evolution of gradient materials.

Deformation induced hcp nano-lamella and its size effect on the strengthening in a CoCrNi medium-entropy alloy

Deformation-induced hcp nano-lamellae with various widths and interspacings were observed in the Co Cr Ni medium-entropy alloy(MEA)under high strain rate and cryogenic temperature in the present study.Higher hardness was found in the cryogenic-deformed samples compared to the room temperature-deformed samples without hcp phase.Then,size effects of embedded hcp nano-lamellae on the tensile behaviors in the fcc Co Cr Ni MEA were investigated by molecular dynamics simulations.The overall strengthening was found to have two components:phase strengthening and extra interface strengthening,and the interface strengthening was observed to be always stronger than the phase strengthening.Both overall strengthening and interface strengthening were found to increase with increasing width and decreasing interspacing of embedded hcp nano-lamellae.The samples with small spaced hcp nano-lamellae are even stronger than the pure hard hcp phase due to the extra interface strengthening.The samples with larger width of embedded hcp nano-lamellae can provide stronger resistance for dislocation slip and transmission.Nanotwins were observed to be formed in the embedded hcp nano-lamellae.Higher density of phase boundaries and newly formed twin boundaries can provide more barriers for dislocation glide in the other slip systems,resulting in higher strength for samples with smaller interspacing.