Preparation and Arc Breakdown Behavior of Nanocrystalline W-Cu Electrical Contact Materials

Nanostructured （NS） W-Cu composite powder was prepared by mechanical alloying （MA）, and nanostructured bulk of W-Cu contact material was fabricated by hot pressed sintering in an electrical vacuum furnace. The microstructure, electric conductivity, hardness, breakdown voltage and arcing time of NS W-Cu alloys were measured and compared to conventional W-Cu alloys prepared by powder metallurgy. The results show that microstructural refinement and uniformity can improve the breakdown behavior, the electric arc stability and the arc extinction ability of nanostructured W-Cu contacts materials. Also, the nanostructured W-Cu contact material shows the characteristic of spreading electric arcs, which is of benefit to electric arc erosion.

Research progress of cholesteric liquid crystals with broadband reflection characteristics in application of intelligent optical modulation materials

Cholesteric liquid crystals（CLCs） have recently sparked an enormous amount of interest in the development of soft matter materials due to their unique ability to self-organize into a helical supra-molecular architecture and their excellent selective reflection of light based on the Bragg relationship.Nowadays,by the virtue of building the self-organized nanostructures with pitch gradient or non-uniform pitch distribution,extensive work has already been performed to obtain CLC films with a broad reflection band.Based on authors＇ many years＇ research experience,this critical review systematically summarizes the physical and optical background of the CLCs with broadband reflection characteristics,methods to obtain broadband reflection of CLCs,as well as the application in the field of intelligent optical modulation materials.Combined with the research status and the advantages in the field,the important basic and applied scientific problems in the research direction are also introduced.

In-situ study of the microstructure evolution during tension of a Mg-Y-Zn-Al alloy processed by rapidly solidified ribbon consolidation technique

Mg-Y-Zn-Al alloys processed by rapidly solidified ribbon consolidation(RSRC)technique exhibit an exceptional mechanical performance indicating promising application potential.This material has a bimodal microstructure consisting of fine recrystallized and coarse non-recrystallized grains with solute-rich stacking faults forming cluster arranged layers(CALs)and nanoplates(CANaPs),or complete long period stacking ordered(LPSO)phase.In order to reveal the deformation mechanisms,in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction line profile analysis was employed for a detailed study of the dislocation arrangement created during tension in Mg-0.9%Zn-2.05%Y-0.15%Al(at%)alloy.For uncovering the effect of the initial microstructure on the mechanical performance,additional samples were obtained by annealing of the as-consolidated specimen at 300 and 400℃ for 2 h.The heat treatment at 300℃ had no significant effect on the initial microstructure,its evolution during tension and,thus,the overall deformation behavior under tensile loading.On the other hand,annealing at 400℃ resulted in a significant increase of the recrystallized grains fraction and a decrease of the dislocation density,leading to only minor degradation of the mechanical strength.The maximum dislocation density at the failure of the samples corresponding to the plastic strain of 10-25% was estimated to be about 16-20×10^(14)m^(-2).The diffraction profile analysis indicated that most dislocations formed during tension were of non-basal and pyramidal types,what was also in agreement with the Schmid factor values revealed independently from orientation maps.It was also shown that the dislocation-induced Taylor hardening was much lower below the plastic strain of 3% than above this value,which was explained by a model of the interaction between prismatic dislocations and CANaPs/LPSO plates.

Toward the development of Mg alloys with simultaneously improved strength and ductility by refining grain size via the deformation process

Magnesium(Mg) alloys, as the lightest metal engineering materials, have broad application prospects.However, the strength and ductility of traditional Mg alloys are still relativity low and difficult to improve simultaneously.Refining grain size via the deformation process based on the grain boundary strengthening and the transition of deformation mechanisms is one of the feasible strategies to prepare Mg alloys with high strength and high ductility.In this review, the effects of grain size on the strength and ductility of Mg alloys are summarized, and fine-grained Mg alloys with high strength and high ductility developed by various severe plastic deformation technologies and improved traditional deformation technologies are introduced.Although some achievements have been made, the effects of grain size on various Mg alloys are rarely discussed systematically and some key mechanisms are unclear or lack direct microscopic evidence.This review can be used as a reference for further development of high-performance fine-grained Mg alloys.

Effect of nano-oxide layers on the magnetoresistance of ultrathin permalloy films

Ta/NiFe/Ta ultrathin films with and without nano-oxide layers （NOLs） were prepared by magnetron sputtering followed by a vacuum annealing process. The influence of NOLs on the magnetoresistance （MR） ratio of ultrathin permalloy films was studied. The results show that the influence of grain size and textures on the MR ratio becomes weak when the thickness of the NiFe layer is below 15 nm. A higher MR ratio was observed for the thinner （〈 15 nm） NiFe film with NOLs. The MR ratio of a 10 nm NiFe film can be remarkably enhanced by NOLs. The enhanced MR ratio for these ultrathin films can be attributed to the enhanced specular reflection of conduction electrons.

Effect of Ca^(2+) on CO_2 corrosion properties of X65 pipeline steel

The effect of Ca^2＋ on CO2 corrosion to X65 pipeline steel was investigated in the simulated stratum water of an oil field containing different concentrations of Ca^2＋. It is found that Ca^2＋ can enhance the corrosion rate, especially in the Ca^2＋ concentration from 256 to 512 mg/L, which can be attributed to the growing grain size and loosing structure of corrosion scales with increasing Ca^2＋ concentration. X-ray diffraction （XRD） and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） investigations reveal that a complex carbonate （Fe, Ca）CO3 forms at high Ca^2＋ concentration due to the gradual replacement of Fe^2＋ in FeCO3 by Ca^2＋.

Effects of alternating current imposition and alkaline earth elements on modification of primary Mg_2Si crystals in hypereutectic Mg-Si alloy

The effects of alternating current imposition and/or alkaline earth elements on modification of the primary Mg2Si crystals in the hypereutectic Mg-Si alloy were investigated.An alternating current of 60 A with frequency of 1 kHz was applied into the hypereutectic Mg-Si melt which was alloyed with alkaline earth elements or not in the fixed temperature range from 700 to 630℃. The results show that the primary Mg2Si crystals could be refined by imposing alternating current or adding alkaline elements. Compared with the samples treated by adding 0.4%Ca or 0.4%Sr,higher modification efficiency could be obtained for the samples treated by imposing alternating current.No further modification efficiency could be obtained for the samples treated by imposing alternating current combined with 0.4%Ca or 0.4%Sr addition.

Arc erosion behavior of a nanocomposite W-Cu electrical contact material

The erosion behavior of a nanocomposite W-Cu material under arc breakdown was investigated. The arc erosion rates of the material were determined, and the eroded surfaces and arc erosion mechanisms were studied by scanning eleclion microscopy. It is concluded that the nanocomposite W-Cu electrical contact material shows a characteristic of spreading arcs. The arc breakdown of a commercially used W-Cu alloy was limited in a few areas, and its average arc erosion rate is twice as large as that of the former. Furthermore, it is also proved that the arc extinction ability and arc stability of the nanocomposite W-Cu material are excellent, and melting is the major failure modality in the make-and-break operation of arcs.

Investigation on interface of NiFeCr/NiFe/Ta films with high magnetic field sensitivity

NiFeCr/NiFe/Ta films with excellent performance were prepared by magnetron sputtering system.The anisotropic magetoresistance (AMR) value (ΔR/R) and magnetic filed sensitivity (Sv,Sv=[d(ΔR/R)/dH]max.) for the 12 nm NiFe film deposited on NiFeCr buffer layer were 3.66% and 1.42×10-4%·T-1,respectively.The higher Sv of the film is close to that of a spin valve (SV).The microstructure analysis shows that the NiFeCr buffer layer has adopted the same structure with the same interplanar distance as the NiFe layer,inducing a strong NiFe (111) texture,and that the NiFeCr/NiFe interface is quite smooth,leading to a high degree of specular reflection of conduction electrons.Both increase the ΔR and reduce the R in the film,which lead to the high ΔR/R.Clean substrate surfaces are critical for preparation of high performance NiFeCr/NiFe/Ta films,and sputter cleaning or pre-deposition of 5 nm amorphous Al2O3 layer in the deposition chamber can provide the re-quired clean substrate surfaces for the growth of the buffer layer.

Physical Simulation and Experimental Examination of ε-Cu Particles Dissolution Evolution During Welding of Copper Precipitation Strengthening Steel

The kinetics of ε-Cu particles dissolution in the matrix during welding of a copper-precipitation strengthening steel was determined by a combination of GleebleTM physical simulation, TEM examination and hardness meas urement. The ε-Cu particles underwent a coarsening and part dissolution and then complete dissolution reaction as the peak temperature increased from 750 to 1 000℃, which resulted in the decrease in the number density of ε-Cu particles and hardness in the heat affected zone （HAZ）. The results can be used to understand the evolution of this transformation and a softening behavior of the HAZ during welding of this type of steel.

Deformation behavior of explosive detonation in electroformed nickel liner of shaped charge with nano-sized grains

Nickel liner of shaped charge with nano-sized grains was prepared by electroforming technique and the ultra-highstrain-rate deformation was performed by explosive detonation.The as-electroformed and post-deformed microstructures of electroformed nickel liner of shaped charge were observed by optical metallography(OM),scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and the orientation distribution of the grains was analyzed by electron backscattering pattern(EBSP) technique.Both melting phenomenon in the jet fragment and recovery and recrystallization in the slug after ultra-high-strain-rate deformation were observed.The research evidence shows that dynamic recovery and recrystallization play an important role in ultra-high-strain-rate deformation for electroformed nickel liner of shaped charge with nano-sized grain.

Comparison of microstructures in electroformed and spin-formed copper liners of shaped charge undergone high-strain-rate deformation

The as-formed and post-deformed microstructures in both electroformed and spin-formed copper liners of shaped charge were studied by optical microscopy(OM), electron backscattering Kikuchi patterns(EBSP) technique and transmission electron microscopy(TEM). The deformation was carried out at an ultra-high strain rate. OM analysis shows that the initial grains of the electroformed copper liner are finer than those of the spin-formed copper liners. Meanwhile, EBSP analysis reveals that the fiber texture exists in the electroformed copper liners, whereas there is no texture observed in the spin-formed copper liners before deformation. Having undergone high-strain-rate deformation the grains in the recovered slugs, which are transformed from both the electroformed and spin-formed copper liners, all become small. TEM observations of the above two kinds of post-deformed specimens show the existence of cellular structures characterized by tangled dislocations and subgrain boundaries consisting of dislocation arrays. These experimental results indicate that dynamic recovery and recrystallization play an important role in the high-strain-rate deformation process.

MICROSTRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH- STRAIN-RATE PLASTIC DEFORMATION IN THE ELECTROFORMED COPPER LINER OF SHAPED CHARGES

The microstructures of electroformed copper liners of shaped charges that had undergone high-strain-rate deformation were observed by optical microscopy （OM） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. Meanwhile, the orientation distribution of the grains in the recovered jet was examined by electron backscattering Kikuchi pattern （EBSP） technique. EBSP analysis reveals that the fibrous texture observed in the as-electroformed copper liners disappeared after explosive detonation deformation. OM observation shows that the microstructure evolves system- atically from the jet center to its perimeter during cooling from high temperatures after explosive detonation deformation. This microstructural characteristic is similar to that of solidification, i.e. there exist equiaxed grains in the center of the jet and significant columnar grains around the equiaxed grains. The result reveals that there is melting-related phenomenon in the jet center. Corresponding microhardness variations from the jet center to its perimeter is also determined. All the phenomena can be explained by a strong gradient of temperature across the section of the jet during plastic deformation at high-strain-rate.

Facile synthesis and characterization of novel thermo-chromism cholesteryl-containing hydrogen-bonded liquid crystals

Two series of novel cholesteryl-containing H-bonded liquid crystals were prepared through facile self-assembly between cholesteryl isonicotinate （proton acceptor） exhibiting a monotropic cholesteric phase, and the 4-alkoxy-benzoic acid or 4-alkoxy cinnamic acid （proton donor）. It was found that the increase of the conjugate length as well as the terminal length can contribute to enhance the interaction of molecules and thus significantly influenced the thermal behaviors of H-bonded LCs. The cholesteric reflection spectra of the induced mesogenic complexes were located in the visible region with the color tuneable thermo-sensitivity, which could be used for display application.

Synthesis and characterization of non-symmetrical liquid crystals containing a cholesteryl ester moiety

In this paper, a series of chiral non-symmetrical liquid crystals （nBA-chol） consisting of a cholesteryl ester moiety as chiral entity and a biphenyl aromatic core with different terminal alkyl chain has been synthesized and investigated for their liquid crystalline properties. Effects of numbers of methylene units in the terminal alkyl chain on the phase transition temperatures and on the temperature-dependent pitch lengths of the chiral liquid crystals have been studied. The long terminal alkyl chain tends to exhibit smectic A mesophases. The pitch lengths of the cholesteric mesophases of the chiral liquid crystals decrease with increasing temperature and with increasing numbers of methylene units in the terminal alkyl chain, respectively.

Microstructure and penetration behavior of electroformed copper liners of shaped charges during explosive detonation deformation

The microstructure in the electroformed copper liners of shaped charges prepared with different electrolytes was studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy （SEM） and Electron Backscattering Kikuchi Pattern （EBSP） methods. SEM observations revealed the existence of columnar grains in electroformed copper liners of shaped charges formed by electrolyte without any additive and the average grain size is about 3 μm. When an additive is introduced to the electrolyte, the grains formed in the copper liners become equiaxed and finer. EBSP results show that the columnar grain grown during electroformation has the most preferential growth direction, whereas a micro-texture does not exit in the specimen prepared by electrolyte with the additive. Further, explosive detonation deformation experiments show that penetration depth is dramatically improved when the electroformed copper liners of shaped charges exhibit equiaxed grains.

Effects of Ti addition on low carbon hot strips produced by CSP process

Large quantity of fine Ti（C,N） particles, 15-30 nm in size, were observed in low carbon hot strips added to a small amount of Ti and produced by CSP process. The results showed that the precipitation of Ti（C,N） mostly took place during soaking and hot rolling, which is significantly different from that in the conventional production. These fine Ti carbonitride particles could be very effective on the austenite grain refinement by hindering grain growth of recrystallized austenite. Their precipitation behavior was discussed and compared with that of the steels produced in the conventional production.

Crystal defects formed in electroformed nickel liners of shaped charges

Two types of electroformed nickel liners of shaped charges were prepared by electroforming technique. X-ray diffraction （XRD）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, electron backscattering diffraction （EBSD） technique and high resolution electron microscopy （HREM） have been employed to investigate the crystal defects formed in electroformed nickel liners of shaped charges. The result shows that （100） fiber texture which is parallel to the grown direction exists in the electroformed nickel prepared by using direct current electroforming without any additives, and （111） fiber texture exists in the electroformed nickel prepared by using direct current electroforming with additives. The deposits prepared by using direct current electroforming possess columnar grain with an average grain size of 30 μm in width and 170 μm in length. The deposits prepared with additives are composed of a colony structures with grain size of about 29 nm, and a lot of crystal defects such as twins, antiphase boundaries and stacking faults have been observed in the electroformed nickel.

Thickness-related synchronous increase in strength and ductility of ultrafine-grained pure aluminum sheets

To explore the specimen size effect of mechanical behavior of ultrafine-grained(UFG)materials with different structures,UFG Al sheets processed by equal channel angular pressing(ECAP)were selected as target materials and the dependency of tensile behavior on sheet thickness(t)was systematically investigated.The strength and ductility of ECAPed UFG Al sheets were improved synchronously as t increased from 0.2 to 0.7 mm,and then no apparent change occurred when t reached to 0.7 and 1.0 mm.The corresponding microstructure evolved from dislocation networks in equiaxed grains into the walls and subgrains and finally into the dominated cells in elongated grains or subgrains.Meanwhile,dense shear lines(SLs)and shear bands(SBs)were clearly observed and microvoids and cracks were initiated along SBs with the increase of t.These observations indicated that the plastic deformation of UFG Al sheets was jointly controlled by shear banding,dislocation sliding,and grain-boundary sliding.Furthermore,the propagation of SBs became difficult as t increased.Finally,the obtained results were discussed and compared with those of annealed UFG Al and UFG Cu.

Structure and visible photoluminescence of Sm^3＋, Dy^3＋ and Tm^3＋ doped c-axis oriented AlN films

Visible photoluminescence （PL） has been observed from rare earth （Tm, Sm and Dy）-doped AlN films grown by radio-frequency magnetron reactive sputtering. X-ray diffraction indicates that the films are c-axis-oriented hexagonal wurtzite type structure with an average crystal size of about 80-110 nm. Room-temperature PL spectra indicate that the blue emission is due to the transition of ^1D2 to ^3F4 and ^1G4 to ^3H6 intra 4f electron of Tm^3＋, the yellow emissions of AlN：Sm are due to ^4G5/2 to the ^6HJ （J=5/2, 7/2, 9/2, 11/2） and the reddish emissions of AlN：Dy correspond to the ^4F9/2 to ^6HJ （J=5/2, 13/2, 11/2 and 9/2） and ^6Fll/2 transitions.