Effect of Strain Ratio on Fatigue Model of Ultra-fine Grained Pure Titanium

The ultra-fine grained(UFG)pure titanium was prepared by equal channel angular pressing(ECAP)and rotary swaging(RS).The strain controlled low cycle fatigue(LCF)test was carried out at room temperature.The fatigue life prediction model and mean stress relaxation model under asymmetrical stress load were discussed.The results show that the strain ratio has a significant effect on the low cycle fatigue performance of the UFG pure titanium,and the traditional Manson-coffin model can not accurately predict the fatigue life under asymmetric stress load.Therefore,the SWT mean stress correction model and three-parameter power curve model are proposed,and the test results are verified.The final research shows that the threeparameter power surface model has better representation.By studying the mean stress relaxation phenomenon under the condition of R≠-1,it is revealed that the stress ratio and the strain amplitude are the factors that significantly afiect the mean stress relaxation rate,and the mean stress relaxation model with the two variables is calculated to describe the mean stress relaxation phenomenon of the UFG pure titanium under different strain ratios.The fracture morphology of the samples was observed by SEM,and it was concluded that the final fracture zone of the fatigue fracture of the UFG pure titanium was a mixture of ductile fracture and quasi cleavage fracture.The toughness of the material increases with the increase of strain ratio at the same strain amplitude.

Evaluation of ultra-fine grained tungsten under transient high heat flux by high-intensity pulsed ion beam

Pure tungsten, oxide dispersion strengthened tungsten and carbide dispersion strengthened tungsten were fabricated by high-energy ball milling and spark plasma sintering process. In order to evaluate the properties of the tungsten alloys under transient high heat flues, four tungsten samples with different grain sizes were tested by high-intensity pulsed ion beam with a heat flux as high as 160 MW/（m^2·s^-1/2）. Compared with the commercial tungsten, the surface modification of the oxide dispersion strengthened tungsten by high-intensity pulsed ion beam is completely different. The oxide dispersion strengthened tungsten shows inferior thermal shock response due to the low melting point second phase of Ti and Y2O3, which results in the surface melting, boiling bubbles and cracking. While the carbide dispersion strengthened tungsten shows better thermal shock response than the commercial tungsten.

Microstructures of ultra-fine grained FeCoV alloys processed by ECAP plus cold rolling and their evolutions during tempering

A new processing method,equal channel angular pressing(ECAP)plus cold rolling(CR),was applied to producing ultra-fine grained FeCoV alloy.The microstructures of ultra-fine grained FeCoV alloy after ECAP,ECAP plus CR,and the effect of tempering treatment on the microstructure of FeCoV alloy produced by ECAP plus CR were investigated.The results show that an elongated substructure with a width of about 0.3μm is obtained after four-pass ECAP using Route A.Cold rolling after ECAP cannot change the morphologies of elongated substructure,and it results in higher fraction of high-angle boundaries and higher dislocation density compared with the identical ECAP without rolling.Subsequent tempering for 30 min at 853 K brings about many nano-phases precipitating at subgrain boundaries and insides the grains,and the size of precipitated phase is measured to be about 10 nm.Nano-phases grow up with increasing tempering temperature and equiaxed structure forms at 883 K.

Microstructural Evolution and Thermal Stability of Ultra-fine Grained Al-4Mg Alloy by Equal Channel Angular Pressing

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the grain refinement and thermal stability of ultra-fine grained Al-4Mgalloy introduced by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) at 473 K. The results show that the intensities of X-ray(111/222) and (200/400) peaks for the alloy processed by ECAP decrease significantly and the peak widths of halfheight become broadening compared with the corresponding value in the annealed alloy. The microstructure of 2passes ECAPed alloy consists of both elongated and equiaxed subgrains. The residual strain in the alloy increaseswith increasing passes numbers, that appears as increasing dislocation density and lattice constant of matrix. Anequiaxed ultra-fine grained structure of～0.2μm is obtained in the present alloy after 8 passes. The ultra-fine grainsare stable below 523 K, because the alloy retains extremely fine grain size of～1μm after static annealing at 523 Kfor 1 h.

Surface Cracking Behaviors of Ultra-Fine Grained Tungsten Under Edge Plasma Loading in the HT-7 Tokamak

Tests of the candidate plasma facing materials（PFMs） used in experimental fusion devices are essential due to the direct influence of in-situ plasma loading.A type of ultrafine grained（UFG） tungsten sintered by resistance sintering under ultra-high pressure（RSUHP） method has been exposed in the edge plasma of the HT-7 tokamak to investigate its performance under plasma loading.Under cychc edge plasma loading,the UFG tungsten develops both macro and micro cracks.The macro cracks are attributed to the low temperature brittleness of the tungsten material itself,while the micro cracks are generated from local intense power flux deposition.

Preparation of ultra-fine grain Ni-Al-WC coating with interlocking bonding on austenitic stainless steel by laser clad and friction stir processing

The ultra-fine structured Ni?Al?WC layer with interlocking bonding was fabricated on austenitic stainless steel by combination of laser clad and friction stir processing (FSP). Laser was initially applied to Ni?Al elemental powder preplaced on the austenitic stainless steel substrate to produce a coating for further processing. The as-received coating was subjected to FSP treatment, processed by a rotary tool rod made of WC?Co alloy, to obtain sample for inspection. Microstructure, phase constitutions, hardness and wear property were investigated by methods of scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) microanalysis, and X-ray diffraction (XRD), hardness test alongside with dry sliding wear test. The results show that the severe deformation effect exerted on the specimen resulted in an ultra-fine grain layer of about 100μmin thickness and grain size of 1?2μm. Synergy between introduction of WC particles to the deformation layer and deformation strengthening contributes greatly to the increase in hardness and friction resistance. An interlocking bonding between the coating and matrix which significantly improves bonding strength was formed due to the severe deformation effect.

Gradient Ultra-fine Grained Surface Layer in 6063 Aluminum Alloy Obtained by Means of Rotational Accelerated Shot Peening

Gradient ultra-fine grained surface layer in 6063 aluminum alloy was obtained by means of a novel surface self-nanocrystallization technique,namely rotational accelerated shot peening(RASP)treatment.The average grain sizes along the vertical section vary from hundreds of nanometers in the top surface to micrometers in the matrix.By using orthogonal experimental design to compare roughness values and hardness values,we synthesized the processing parameters to obtain sample of smaller roughness values and higher hardness.

Microstructure and tensile properties of ultrafine grained copper processed by equal-channel angular pressing

Equal-channel angular pressing （ECAP） process was applied to a 12 mm ×12 mm ×80 mm billet of pure copper （99.98 wt.%） at room temperature. The shear deformation characteristics, microstructure evolution, and tensile properties were investigated. A combination of high strength （-420 MPa） and high elongation to failure （-25%） was achieved after eight ECAP passes at room temperature. The mixing of ultrafme grains （-0.2 μm） with nanocrystalline grains （-80 nm） resulted in high tensile strength and ductility.

Isothermal Growth Kinetics of Ultra-fine Austenite Grains in a Nb-V-Ti Microalloyed Steel

Ultra-fine austenite grains with size of i-3 μm were prepared in a Nb-V-Ti steel through repetitive treatment of rapid heating and quenching. A model for the growth kinetics of these ultra-fine austenite grains was successfully created through successive 2 processes, and the activation energy Q for growth was estimated to be about 693.2 kJ/mol, which directly shows the inhibition effect of microalloy elements on the growth of ultra-fine austenite grains.

Improving the Fatigue Performance of the Welded Joints of Ultra-Fine Grain Steel by Ultrasonic Peening

Contrast tests were carried out to study the fatigue performance of the butt joints treated by ultrasonic peening, aiming at the improvement of ultrasonic peening treatment(UPT) on welded joints of a new material. The material is a new generation of fine grain and high purity SS400 steel that has the same ingredients as the traditional low carbon steel. The specimens are in two different states:welded and ultrasonic peening conditions. The corresponding fatigue testing data were analyzed according to the regulation of the statistical method for fatigue life of the welded joints established by International Institute of Welding(IIW). Welding residual stress was considered in two different ways: the constant stress ratio R=0.5 and the Ohta method. The nominal stress-number (σ-N)curves were corrected because of the different plate thickness compared to the standard and because there was no mismatch or angular deformation. The results indicated that: 1) Compared with the welded specimens, when the stress range was 200 MPa, the fatigue life of the SS400 steel specimens treated by ultrasonic peening is prolonged by over 58 times, and the fatigue strength FAT corresponding to 106 cycles is increased by about 66%; 2) As for the SS400 butt joint (single side welding double sides molding), after being treated by UPT, the nominal S-N curve (m=10) of FAT 100 MPa(R=0.5) should be used for fatigue design. The standard S-N curves of FAT 100 MPa(R=0.5, m=10) could be used for fatigue design of the SS400 steel butt joints treated by ultrasonic peening.

Effect of welding heat input on HAZ character in ultra-fine grain steel welding

In this essay, we studied how heat input affected the microstructure, hardness, grain size and heat-affected zone(HAZ) dimension of WCX355 ultra-fine grain steel which was welded respectively by the ultra narrow-gap welding (UNGW) process and the overlaying process with CO 2 as protective atmosphere and laser welding process. The experimental results show when the heat input changed from 1.65 kJ/cm to 5.93 kJ/cm, the width of its HAZ ranged from 0.6 mm to 2.1 mm.The average grain size grew up from 2～5 μm of base metal to 20～70 μm and found no obvious soften phenomenon in overheated zone. The width of normalized zone was generally wide as 2/3 as that of the whole HAZ, and the grain size in this zone is smaller than that in base metal. Under the circumstance of equal heat input, the HAZ width of UNGW is narrower than that of the laser welding.

Effect of upsetting force on microstructure of welds in resistance spot welding of 400 MPa ultra-fine grain steel

The ultra-fine grain （UFG） steel is welded by using resistance spot welding technique with or without requirement of upsetting force. Metallographic inspection shows that the grain size of weld nugget is larger than that of the base metal and the microstructure is altered significantly. In addition, contracting defects such as air holes can be found in the nugget center. The experiments show that the defects can be effectively avoided by the technique of adding upsetting force during the nugget cooling and crystallizing processes. In tensile shear tests, the welding joint starts to crack from the inner edge of the corona bond. The results of micro-hardness tests show that the newly born martensite structure dramatically improves the hardness of the joint. Under the interactions between residual stresses and regenerated fine grains, the micro-hardness of the heat-affected zone （ HAZ ） is lower than that of the nugget, but evidently higher than that of the base metal.

Investigation on fracture behavior of the welded joint HAZ of ultra-fine grain steel SS400

The critical crack dimensions of both base-metal specimen and HAZ specimen are measured via wide-plate tensile tests. Based on the “fitness for purpose” principle, the fracture behavior of the ultra-fine grain steel SS400 welded joint HAZ is assessed. The test results indicate that overmatching is benefit for the whole capability’s improvement of ultra-fine grain steel SS400. The test results are confirmed by using finite element method (FEM).

Groove Design and Microstructure Research of Ultra-Fine Grain Bar Rolling

New flat-oval groove rolling process of multi-direction deformation is proposed to manufacture ultra-fine grain bar. Application of new groove series can introduce uniform large plastic strain into whole cross section of the material, and meanwhile satisfy the requirements of shape and size. Principle of grain refinement, based on experimental research of small specimen, is that grain refinement of ferrite is mainly dynamic recrystallization when low-carbon alloy steel is at low temperature deformation. Relationship of grain size and z-factor is also obtained through experimental research, as well as ultra-fine ferrite grain less than 1 micron. To predict strain, shape, dimensions and grain size of the material in rolling process, numerical simulation model of the warm groove bar rolling process is established via nonlinear finite element method, and distribution of grain size of the final section is obtained via finite element subroutine. The result indicates that ultra-fine grain bar rolling can accomplish at low temperature region.

The Weathering Effects of Acidithiobacillus Ferrooxidans to Cu(Ⅱ) Pollution of Fine Grained Copper Mine Tailings

China has accumulated massive fine grained copper mine tailings stocks because of the past mining activities in this area. The tailings contain a variety of heavy metals, and the mass percent of Cu, which is one of the main contaminants in tailings, is up to 0.2601% (analysis by XRF). The Cu can pollute soil and groundwater by rain leaching in the form of Cu(Ⅱ), furthermore ,the fine grained copper-ore-tailings can contaminant larger area by wind for its small granularity ( < 74 μm). The main cause of weathering of mine tailings is due to oxidative dissolution of sulfides. Microorganisms, such as Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, play an important role in weathering. These bacteria attach to exposed to mineral surfaces by excreting extracellular polymers and oxidize the sulfide mineral. Some of these bacteria also oxidize Fe2+ to Fe3+ which can chemically oxidize sulfide minerals. These reactions produce voluminous quantities of acid mine drainage and heavy metals which are harmful to the environment and human healthy. This study aims at finding the weathering effects of A. ferrooxidans to Cu(II) pollution of fine grained copper mine tailings, and our experiment applied indigenous A. ferrooxidans FJ-01 to leach the tailings. The optimum test parameters were obtained using shaking flask experiment and SEM observation under the following experimental conditions: 39 days residence time, pulp density 1%-15% (1%, 5% and 15%), 30℃, 120 rpm, pH between 1-3 and redox potential between 400-650 mV. The test results show that the leaching rate of Cu reached 43.1% when the pulp density was 1% after 33 days and kept invariant till the end of the test. In addition, the leaching rate of Cu will decrease as the increase of pulp density, and the maximum rate of 15% pulp density was only 12.5%. From the SEM, it can be seen that the fine grain of tailings flocculated to conglobation under the action of bacterial leaching.

Effect of processing route on grain refinement in pure copper processed by equal channel angular extrusion

An experimental study of the microstructures in pure copper billets processed by 8 passes of equal channel angular extrusion （ECAE） via an extended range of processing routes with a 90° die is carried out. Each processing route is defined according to the inter-pass billet rotation angle （χ）, which varies from 0° to 180°. According to the generation of high-angle boundaries and reduction of grain size by electron backscatter diffraction （EBSD） measurements, the grain refinement is found to be most efficient for route with χ=90°and least efficient with χ=180°, among the seven routes studied. This trend is supported by supplementary transmission electron microscopy （TEM） measurements. Comparison of the EBSD and TEM data reveals the importance of considering the non-equiaxity of grain structures in quantitative assessment of microstructural differences in ECAE-processed materials.

Effects of normal stress, surface roughness, and initial grain size on the microstructure of copper subjected to platen friction sliding deformation

The effects of applied normal stress, surface roughness, and initial grain size on the microstructure of pure Cu developed during platen friction sliding deformation （PFSD） processing were investigated. In each case, the deformation microstructure was characterized and the hardness of the treated surface layer was measured to evaluate its strength. The results indicated that the thickness of the deformed layer and the hardness at any depth increased with increasing normal stress. A smaller steel platen surface roughness resulted in less microstruc- tural refinement, whereas the microstructural refinement was enhanced by decreasing the surface roughness of the Cu sample. In the case of a very large initial grain size （d 〉 10 mm）, a sharper transition from fine-grain microstructure to undeformed material was obtained in the treated surface layer after PFSD processing.

Study on Grain Boundary Structure and Corrosion Behavior of Copper Alloys

The grain boundary structure of Cu alloy was observed and the characteristic of the boundaries was studied,including 70∶30 cupronickel and 70∶30 brass. The results show that in the case of the 70∶30 cupronickel thin platelets with nickel and iron enrichment in it precipitate intergranular so that the alloy was sensitive to seawater corrosion. In the case of 70∶30 brass the situation of grain boundary segregation of different inclusions made the corrosion resistance of the alloy even worse. All of those were discovered through the corrosion behavior of the two different copper alloys served in various environments. The experimental methods used here were, scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and energy dispersive of X ray(EDX). The intergranular corrosion morphologies of those copper alloys served in engineering or exposed to seawater for a long term were given.

NANOSIZE EFFECT IN GRAIN BOUNDARY MIGRATION OF COPPER

Molecular dynamics simulations of high temperature annealing of copper bicrystals have been carried out. The bicrystals have planar grain boundaries, and the gain size varies in nano range. An EAM (embedded atom method) potential of FS type is used for calculating the interatomic forces. The results show that in nanocrystalline copper, GB migration driven by inter-GB reaction can take place. A critical grain size is identified, below which the inter-GB reaction becomes strong enough to trigger GB motion, which accelerates rapidly and leads to annihilation of the grain boundaries. The critical size is found to be 16 atomic radii. A "through intermediate grain mechanism" is identified for the nano-grain boundary motion observed, which is never reported for GB migrations of conventional polycrystalline metals.

Significant influence of sharp grain boundary corner on tensile elongation of copper bars with columnar grains and its mechanism

The reason why elongation of copper bars with columnar grains drops significantly after small cold-drawing was explored. The copper bars were prepared by warm-mould continuous casting. Tensile test was interrupted at various tensile strains in order to detect crack origin. Electron backscattered diffraction（EBSD） was used to analyze dislocation slip bands. It is found that the as-cast microstructure contains sharp grain boundary（GB） corners nearly parallel to the solidification direction（SD）. Elongation of the copper bars drops significantly from 68.8% in as-cast state to 18.8% in as-drawn state. It is revealed that plastic deformation becomes severer in the vicinity of sharp GB corners. Locally accumulated internal stress even activates a slip system with very low Schmid factor of 0.17. The localized plastic deformation near sharp grain boundary corner promotes crack initiation and propagation, which eventually leads to the significant drop of elongation.