AN INVESTIGATION OF HIGH-TEMPERATURE DEFORMATION STRENGTHENING AND TOUGHENING MECHANISM OF TITANIUM ALLOY

The high-temperature deformation strengthening and toughening mechanisms of titanium alloys have been investigated in this paper. The materials processed by this method produce a new tri-modal microstrvcture, which consists of 10-20% equiaxed alpha, streaky alpha and transformed beta matrix. It is found that the higher ductility of tri-modal microstructure is attributed to the equiaxed alpha's coopemtive slip and coordinated deformation with the transformed beta matrix. The streaky alpha phases not only increase the strength and creep properties, but also increase the fracture toughness. Propagating along grain boundaries between two neighboring streaky alpha phases, cracks in tri-modal microstructure make a more tortuous way, and then the materials show a higher fracture toughness. This new method is applicable to α, near α,α+β and near β titanium alloys.

Synergistically Toughening Effect of SiC Whiskers and Nanoparticles in Al_2O_3-based Composite Ceramic Cutting Tool Material

In recent decades, many additives with different characteristics have been applied to strengthen and toughen Al2O3-based ceramic cutting tool materials. Among them, SiC whiskers and SiC nanoparticles showed excellent performance in improving the material properties. While no attempts have been made to add SiC whiskers and SiC nanoparticles together into the ceramic matrix and the synergistically toughening effects of them have not been studied. An Al2O3-SiCw-SiC np advanced ceramic cutting tool material is fabricated by adding both one-dimensional SiC whiskers and zero-dimensional SiC nanoparticles into the Al2O3 matrix with an effective dispersing and mixing process. The composites with 25 vol% SiC whiskers and 25 vol% SiC nanoparticles alone are also investegated for comparison purposes. Results show that the Al2O3-SiCw-SiCnp composite with both 20 vo1% SiC whiskers and 5 vol% SiC nanoparticles additives have much improved mechanical properties. The flexural strength of Al2O3-SiCw-SiCnp is 730＋ 95 MPa and fracture toughness is 5.6 ± 0.6 MPa.m1/2. The toughening and strengthening mechanisms of SiC whiskers and nanoparticles are studied when they are added either individually or in combination. It is indicated that when SiC whiskers and nanoparticles are added together, the grains are further refined and homogenized, so that the microstructure and fracture mode ratio is modified. The SiC nanoparticles are found helpful to enhance the toughening effects of the SiC whiskers. The proposed research helps to enrich the types of ceramic cutting tool and is benefit to expand the application range of ceramic cutting tool.

Room-Temperature Mechanical Properties of Rare Earths Reinforced MoSi_2 Material

MoSi 2 and rare earths/MoSi 2 materials were prepared by mechanical alloying, IP and high temperature sintering techniques. Their room temperature properties such as bending strength, fracture toughness and electric conductivity were measured. The results show that rare earths have better strengthening and toughening effects on the MoSi 2 matrix than SiC does. The room temperature bending strength and fracture toughness of 0 9% rare earths/MoSi 2 material are 419 41 MPa and 5 81 MPa·m 1/2 , which have increased by 46% and 81% than the matrix, respectively. The strengthening mechanisms of rare earths/MoSi 2 are fine grain and dispersion strengthening. The toughening mechanisms are fine grain toughening, crack deflection and bowing toughening. Moreover, the effect of rare earths on the electric conductivity of MoSi 2 is much weaker than that of SiC whiskers. With the addition of 0 9% rare earths, the resistivity of MoSi 2 is only raised by about 13 9%.

Enhanced Strength-Ductility Synergy in Submerged Friction Stir Processing ER2319 Alloy Manufactured by Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing via Creating Ultrafine Microstructure

Submerged friction stir processing(SFSP)with flowing water was employed to alleviate the porosities and coarse-grained structure introduced by wire-arc manufacturing.As a result,uniform and ultrafine grained(UFG)structure with average grain size of 0.83μm was achieved with the help of sharply reduced heat input and holding time at elevated temperature.The optimized UFG structure enabled a superior combination of strength and ductility with high ultimate tensile strength and elongation of 273.17 MPa and 15.39%.Specifically,grain refinement strengthening and decentralized θ(Al_(2)Cu)phase in the sample subjected to SFSP made great contributions to the enhanced strength.In addition,the decrease in residual stresses and removal of pores substantially enhance the ductility.High rates of cooling and low temperature cycling,which are facilitated by the water-cooling environment throughout the machining process,are vital in obtaining superior microstructures.This work provides a new method for developing a uniform and UFG structure with excellent mechanical properties.

Refractory high-entropy alloys:A focused review of preparation methods and properties

In recent years,high-entropy alloys(HEAs)have become prominent metallic materials due to their unique design strategies and excellent mechanical properties.The HEAs-inherent high-entropy,lattice-distortion,sluggish-diffusion,and cocktail effects make HEAs maintain high strength,oxidation resistance,corrosion resistance,wear resistance,and other excellent comprehensive properties,showing stronger competitiveness relative to traditional alloys.Refractory high-entropy alloys(RHEAs)are considered as a new kind of high-temperature materials with great application prospects due to their excellent mechanical properties and have the potential to replace nickel-based superalloy as the next generation of high-temperature materials.We reviewed the research status and preparation methods of RHEAs in recent years,including the metallurgical smelting,powder metallurgy,magnetron sputtering,and additive manufacturing technologies.The microstructure and phase-transformation process of RHEAs were analyzed.The mechan-ical properties and main strengthening and toughening mechanisms of RHEAs,such as solid-solution strengthening,precipitation strengthening,and the transformation-induced plasticity(TRIP),were discussed,and the deformation mechanism of RHEAs was revealed.The properties of RHEAs,including high strength,oxidation resistance,corrosion and wear resistance were reviewed.RHEAs will meet the huge market demand in the engineering materials field,but there are still many challenges,such as the tradeoff between high strength and high ductility,structural design,and performance optimization of RHEAs with brittle BCC structures.We believe that this combination of knowledge may shape the future of RHEAs and break through the mutually exclusive conundrum of high strength and high toughness for RHEAs.

Efficient alloy design of Sr-modified A356 alloys driven by computational thermodynamics and machine learning

A356 alloys are widely used in industries due to their excellent comprehensive performance.Sr is usually added in A356 alloys to improve their mechanical properties.There have been various experimental reports on the optimal additional amount of Sr in A356 alloys,but their results are inevitably inconsistent.In this paper,a combination of computational thermodynamic and machine learning approaches was employed to determine the optimal Sr content in A356 alloys with the best mechanical properties.First,a self-consistent thermodynamic database of quaternary Al-Si-Mg-Sr system was established by means of the Calculation of PHAse Diagram technique supported by key experiments.Second,the fractions for solidified phase/structures of A356-xSr alloys predicted by Scheil simulation,together with the measured mechanical properties were set as the input dataset in the machine learning model to train the relation of“composition-microstructure-properties”.The optimal addition of Sr in A356 alloy was designed as 0.005 wt.%and validated by key experiments.Furthermore,such a combinatorial approach can help to understand the strengthening/toughening mechanisms of Sr-modified A356 alloys.It is also anticipated that the present approach may provide a feasible means for efficient and accurate design of various casting alloys and understanding the alloy strengthening/toughening mechanisms.

Design and preparation of an ultra-high temperature ceramic by in-situ introduction of Zr_(2)[Al(Si)]_(4)C_(5) into ZrB_(2)-SiC:Investigation on the mechanical properties and oxidation behavior

Novel ZrB_(2)-matrix composites were designed and prepared by in-situ introducing SiC and Zr_(2)[Al(Si)]_(4)C_(5) simultaneously for the first time.The obtained composites were dense and showed good mechanical properties,especially the strength and toughness,706 MPa and 7.33 MPa·m^(1/2),respectively,coupled with high hardness of 21.3 GPa,and stiffness of 452 GPa.SiC and Zr_(2)[Al(Si)]_(4)C_(5) constituted a reinforcing system with synergistic effects including grain refinement,grain pull-out as well as crack branching,bridging,and deflection.Besides,the oxidation results of the composites showed that the oxidation kinetics followed the parabolic law at 1600℃,and the oxidation rate constants increased with the increase of Zr_(2)[Al(Si)]_(4)C_(5) content.The formation and evolution model of the oxidation structure was also investigated,and the oxide scale of the composite exhibited a three-layer structure.