Experimental and analytical investigation on metal damage suffered from simulated lightning currents

The damage of two typical metal materials, Al alloy 3003 and steel alloy Q235 B, subjected to four representative lightning current components are investigated by laboratory and analytical studies to provide fundamental data for lightning protection. The four lightning components simulating the natural lightning consist of the first return stroke, the continuing current of interval stroke, the long continuing current, and the subsequent stroke, with amplitudes 200 k A, 8 k A,400 A, and 100 k A, respectively. The damage depth and area suffered from different lightning components are measured by the ultrasonic scanning system. And the temperature rise is measured by the thermal imaging camera. The results show that, for both Al 3003 and steel Q235 B, the first return stroke component results in the largest damage area with damage depth0.02 mm uttermost. The long continuing current component leads to the deepest damage depth of 3.3 mm for Al 3003 and much higher temperature rise than other components. The correlation analysis between damage results and lightning parameters indicates that the damage depth has a positive correlation with charge transfer. The damage area is mainly determined by the current amplitude and the temperature rise increases linearly with the charge transfer larger.

Experimental Investigation of the Effect of the Material Damage Induced in Sheet Metal Forming Process on the Service Performance of 22MnB5 Steel

The use of ultra-high strength steels through sheet metal forming process offers a practical solution to the lightweight design of vehicles.However,sheet metal forming process not only produces desirable changes in material properties but also causes material damage that may adversely influence the service performance of the material formed.Thus,an investigation is conducted to experimentally quantify such influence for a commonly used steel（the 22MnB5 steel） based on the hot and cold forming processes.For each process,a number of samples are used to conduct a uniaxial tensile test to simulate the forming process.After that,some of the samples are trimmed into a standard shape and then uniaxially extended until fracture to simulate the service stage.Finally,a microstructure test is conducted to analyze the microdefects of the remaining samples.Based on the results of the first two tests,the effect of material damage on the service performance of 22MnB5 steel is analyzed.It is found that the material damages of both the hot and cold forming processes cause reductions in the service performance,such as the failure strain,the ultimate stress,the capacity of energy absorption and the ratio of residual strain.The reductions are generally lower and non-linear in the former process but higher and linear in the latter process.Additionally,it is found from the microstructure analysis that the difference in the reductions of the service performance of 22MnB5 by the two forming processes is driven by the difference in the micro damage mechanisms of the two processes.The findings of this research provide a useful reference in terms of the selection of sheet metal forming processes and the determination of forming parameters for 22MnB5.

Ar（12+）Induced Irradiation Damage in Bulk Metallic Glass(Cu47Zr45Al8)98.5Y1.5

The highly charged ion Ar^12＋ with an energy of 3 Me V is used for irradiating metallic glass （Cu47Zr45Al8）98.5Y1.5 and polycrystalline metallic W at the irradiation fluences of 1× 10^14 ions/cm2, 1 × 10^15 ions/cm^2 and 1 × 10^16 ions/cm^2. The main structure of metallic glass remains an amorphous phase under different irradiation fluences according to x-ray diffraction analysis. The scanning electron microscope observation on the morphologies indicates that no significant irradiation damage occurs on the surface and cross section of the metallic glass sample after different fluences of irradiation, while a large area of irregular cracks and holes were observed on the surface of metallic W at a fluence of 1 ×10^16 ions/cm^2, with cracks and channel impairments at a certain depth from the surface. The root-mean-square （rms） roughness of metallic glass increases with increasing fluence of Ar^12＋, while the reflectance decreases with increasing irradiation fluence. A nano-hardness test shows that the hardness of metallic glass decreases after irradiation. Under certain a higher capability of resistance to Ar^12＋ irradiation in conditions, metallic glass （Cu47 Zr45Al8 ）98.5 Y1.5 exhibits comparison with polycrystalline W.