Characterization of cuttlebone for a biomimetic design of cellular structures

Cuttlebone is a natural material possessing the multifunctional properties of high porosity, high flexural stiffness and compressive strength, making it a fine example of design optimization of cellular structures created by nature. Examination of cuttlebone using scanning electron micros- copy （SEM） reveals an approximately periodic microstruc- ture, appropriate for computational characterization using direct homogenization techniques. In this paper, volume fractions and stiffness tensors were determined based on two different unit cell models that were extracted from two different cuttlefish samples. These characterized results were then used as the target values in an inverse homogenization procedure aiming to re-generate microstructures with the same properties as cuttlebone. Unit cells with similar topologies to the original cuttlebone unit cells were achieved, attaining the same volume fraction （i.e. bulk density） and the same （or very close） stiffness tensor. In addition, a range of alternate unit cell topologies were achieved also attaining the target properties, revealing the non-unique nature of this inverse homogenization problem.

Preparation of large-size Al_(2)O_(3)/GdAlO_(3)/ZrO_(2)ternary eutectic ceramic rod by laser directed energy deposition and its microstructure homogenization mechanism

Laser 3D printing based on melt growth has great potential in rapid preparation of Al_(2)O_(3)-based eutectic ce ramics.In this work,la rge-scale Al_(2)O_(3)/GdAlO_(3)/ZrO_(2)ternary eutectic ceramic rod with diameter of 4-5 mm and height higher than 250 mm was additively manufactured by laser directed energy deposition.Especially,heat treatment was applied to eliminate the microstructure heterogeneity in the as-deposited eutectic ceramic,and the microstructure homogenization mechanism was studied in depth.The results indicate that colonies and banded structures completely disappear after the heat treatment,producing a homogeneous network eutectic structure.The microstructure homogenization is revealed to experience three stages of discontinuous coarsening,continuous coarsening and microstructure coalescence.Additionally,it is found that the eutectic spacing linearly increases with the heat treatment time,meaning that the coarsening behavior of the laser 3D-printed Al_(2)O_(3)/GdAlO_(3)/ZrO_(2)eutectic ceramic satisfies well with the Graham-Kraft model.

Interaction between γ'precipitate distribution and microstructure homogeneity during hot deformation in a Ni-based superalloy

The inhomogeneous microstructure of the Ni-based superalloys used for turbine disks was an intolerable defect for the mechanical performance.The effects of the distribution ofγ'precipitate,forging temperature,and strain level on the microstructure evolution of GH4730 alloy were investigated by EBSD during hot deformation.The results showed that the heterogeneous factor peaked at the transition temperature from the single-phase to the double-phase region.The coupling effect of heat and stress led to the heterogeneous precipitation and distribution ofγ'phase during the transition region,which was the main reason for the formation of inhomogeneous microstructures.The coherentγ'phases of approximately 0.3μm were diffusely distributed inside the large grains,increasing the grain strength,making recrystallization refinement difficult,and thus forming large unrecrystallized grains.The incoherentγ'phases with a size of approximately 1.1μm located at the grain boundaries and pinned the grain boundaries,and thus the accumulated strain at the grain boundaries caused the occurrence of discontinuous dynamic recrystallization and promoted continuous refinement of the grains.The microstructure evolution of new Ni-based superalloys during hot forging was focused,and the formation mechanism of inhomogeneous microstructure and control measures was explained.A theoretical basis for improving the microstructure homogeneity of the new cast and wrought superalloys was provided.

Phases and microstructures of high Zn-containing Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloys

Phases and microstructures of three high Zncontaining Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloys were investigated by means of thermodynamic calculation method, optica microscopy（OM）, scanning electron microscopy（SEM）energy dispersive spectroscopy（EDS）, X-ray diffraction（XRD）, and differential scanning calorimetry（DSC） analysis. The results indicate that similar dendritic network morphologies are found in these three Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloys. The as-cast 7056 aluminum alloy consists of aluminum solid solution, coarse Al/Mg（Cu, Zn, Al）2 eutectic phases, and fine intermetallic compounds g（MgZn2）. Both of as-cast 7095 and 7136 aluminum alloys involve a（Al）eutectic Al/Mg（Cu, Zn, Al）2, intermetallic g（MgZn2）, and h（Al2Cu）. During homogenization at 450 ℃, fine g（MgZn2） can dissolve into matrix absolutely. After homogenization at 450 ℃ for 24 h, Mg（Cu, Zn, Al）2 phase in 7136 alloy transforms into S（Al2Cu Mg） while no change is found in 7056 and 7095 alloys. The thermodynamic calculation can be used to predict the phases in high Zncontaining Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloys.

Enhanced magnetic properties and improved corrosion performance of nanocrystalline Pr-Nd-Y-Fe-B spark plasma sintered magnets

Recently it is a hot topic to make full use of high abundant Y element in Nd_(2)Fe_(14)B-type permanent magnets.In contrast to Pr and Nd elements,Y shows different metallurgical behaviors during preparation process.In this paper,we have explored the magnetic properties,microstructures and corrosion performance of Pr-Nd-Y-Fe-B magnets fabricated by spark plasma sintering(SPS)technique from the ribbons of nanocrystalline and amorphous precursors,respectively.The coercivity and maximum energy product were improved for the magnets prepared from amorphous precursor materials(denoted as SPS-A hereafter)compared with the magnets prepared from crystalline precursor materials(denoted as SPS-C hereafter).Magnetic properties of Jr=0.79 T,Hci=864 k A/m,and(BH)_(max)=102 k J/m^(3)were obtained for SPS-A magnets.In contrast with SPS-C magnets,the magnetic properties of SPS-A magnets are not so sensitive to the preparation conditions,which is quite beneficial to the homogeneity of microstructure and enhancement of coercivity for large-scale production of the designated magnets.Aggregated(Pr,Nd,Y)-rich phase was found out in SPS-C magnets.Pr and Nd elements are rich at grain boundary while Y is distributed uniformly at main phase and grain boundary phase.The strip grains and equiaxed grains exist in SPS-C and SPS-A magnets,respectively.The enhanced magnetic properties for SPS-A magnets are accredited to the uniform distribution of rare-earth-rich phase and low demagnetization factor.It is revealed by electrochemical test and dipping test that the corrosion potential is more positive and the corrosion rate is slower for the SPS-A magnets in 3.5 wt.%Na Cl solution.The work is also expected to shed light on developing the nanocrystalline Pr-Nd-Y-Fe-B SPSed high-performance magnets in industry.