Characterization of Plastic Flow in Two Zr-Based Bulk Metallic Glasses

Plastic deformation behaviors of Zr65Al10Ni10CU15 and Zr52.5Al10Ni10Cu15Be12.5 bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are studied by using the depth-sensing nanoindentation, microindentation and uniaxial compression. The Be-containing BMG exhibits a significantly improved overall plastic strain compared with the Be-free alloy during compressive tests. Both BMGs show a loading-rate-dependent serrated flow during nanoindentation measurements, but the Be-containing alloy exhibits a much lower critical loading rate for the disappearance of the serration than the Be-free BMG. The shear band patterns developed during plastic deformation are investigated by microindentation technique, wherein much higher shear band density is found in the Be-containing alloy than in the Be-free alloy, indicating an easier nucleation of shear bands in the former BMG. The difference in the plastic deformation behavior of the two BMGs can be explained by a free volume model.

Prediction of structural dynamic plastic shear failure by Johnson's damage number

It is proved that Johnson's damage number is the sole similarity parameter for dynamic plastic shear failure of structures loaded impulsively, therefore, dynamic plastic shear failure can be understood when damage number reaches a critical value. It is suggested that the damage number be generally used to predict the dynamic plastic shear failure of structures under various kinds of dynamic loads (impulsive loading, rectangular pressure pulse, exponential pressure pulse, etc.,). One of the advantages for using the damage number to predict such kind of failure is that it is conveniently used for dissimilar material modeling.

Dynamic recrystallization induced by plastic deformation at high strain rate in a Monel alloy

An investigation has been made into the plastic deformation behavior of a Monel alloy deformed at high strain rate of 10(5) s(-1) by split Hopkinson bar. The results reveal that there are some equiaxed grains with an average size of 150 nm in diameter in the center of the shear bands, suggesting that this microstructure characteristics be developed by dynamic recrystallization, arising from the deformation and the rapid temperature rise in the band. Analysis shows that the plastic strain rate and the mobile dislocation density play a key role in the new crystallized grain formation and growth. Based on grain boundary energy change and diffusion mechanism, the grain growth kinetics is developed for plastic deformation at a high strain rate.

In Situ Synthesis Of Nanocrystalline Intermetallic Layer During Surface Plastic Deformation Of Zirconium

By means of a surface plastic deformation method a nanocrystalline (NC) intermetallic compound was in situ synthesized on the surface layer of bulk zirconium (Zr). Hardened steel shots (composition: 1.0C, 1.5Cr, base Fe in wt.%) were used to conduct repetitive and multidirectional peening on the surface layer of Zr. The microstructure evolution of the surface layer was investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning and transmission electron microscopy observations. The NC intermetallic layer of about 25 gm thick was observed and confirmed by concentration profiles of Zr, Fe and Cr, and was found to consist of the Fe100-xCrx compound with an average grain size of 22 nm. The NC surface layer exhibited an extremely high average hardness of 10.2 GPa. The Zr base immediately next to the compound/Zr interface has a grain size of similar to 250 nm, and a hardness of similar to 3.4 GPa. The Fe100-xCrx layer was found to securely adhere to the Zr base. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Dislocations And Twins In Nanocrystalline Ni After Severe Plastic Deformation: The Effects Of Grain Size

Deformation microstructures have been investigated in nanocrystalline (nc) Ni with grain sizes in the 50-100 nm range. It was found that deformation twinning started to occur in grains of similar to 90 nm, and its propensity increased with decreasing grain size. In most of the nc grains dislocations were observed as well, in the form of individual dislocations and dipoles. It is concluded that dislocation-mediated plasticity dominates for grain sizes in the upper half, i.e. 50-100 nm, of the nanocrystalline regime. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Atomistic Origin Of Rate-Dependent Serrated Plastic Flow In Metallic Glasses

Nanoindentation simulations on a binary metallic glass were performed under various strain rates by using molecular dynamics. The rate-dependent serrated plastic flow was clearly observed, and the spatiotemporal behavior of its underlying irreversible atomic rearrangement was probed. Our findings clearly validate that the serration is a temporally inhomogeneous characteristic of such rearrangements and not directly dependent on the resultant shear-banding spatiality. The unique spatiotemporal distribution of shear banding during nanoindentation is highlighted in terms of the potential energy landscape (PEL) theory.

Alternating Starvation Of Dislocations During Plastic Yielding In Metallic Nanowires

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we show that the mechanical deformation behaviors of single-crystalline nickel nanowires are quite different from their bulk counterparts. Correlation between the obtained stress-strain curves and the visualized defect evolution during deformation processes clearly demonstrates that a sequence of complex dislocation slip events results in a state of dislocation starvation, involving the nucleation and propagation of dislocations until they finally escape from the wires, so that the wires deform elastically until new dislocations are generated. (C) 2008 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Grain Boundary Effects On Plastic Deformation And Fracture Mechanisms In Cu Nanowires: Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Metallic nanowires have many attractive properties such as ultra-high yield strength and large tensile elongation. However, recent experiments show that metallic nanowires often contain grain boundaries, which are expected to significantly affect mechanical properties. By using molecular dynamics simulations, here, we demonstrate that polycrystalline Cu nanowires exhibit tensile deformation behavior distinctly different from their single-crystal counterparts. A significantly lowered yield strength was observed as a result of dislocation emission from grain boundaries rather than from free surfaces, despite of the very high surface to volume ratio. Necking starts from the grain boundary followed by fracture, resulting in reduced tensile ductility. The high stresses found in the grain boundary region clearly play a dominant role in controlling both inelastic deformation and fracture processes in nanoscale objects. These findings have implications for designing stronger and more ductile structures and devices on nanoscale.

Scaling Functions In Conical Indentation Of Elastic-Plastic Solids

The finite element method was used to simulate the conical indentation of elastic-plastic solids with work hardening. The ratio of the initial yield strength to the Young's modulus Y/E ranged from 0 to 0.02. Based on the calculation results, two sets of scaling functions for non-dimensional hardness H/K and indenter penetration h are presented in the paper, which have closed simple mathematical form and can be used easily for engineering application. Using the present scaling functions, indentation hardness and indentation loading curves can be easily obtained for a given set of material properties. Meanwhile one can use these scaling functions to obtain material parameters by an instrumented indentation load-displacement curve for loading and unloading if Young's modulus E and Poisson's ratio nu are known.

Plastic deformation in Ce-based bulk metallic glasses during depth-sensing indentation

The deformation behavior and the effect of the loading rate on the plastic deformation features in (numbers indicate at.%) Ce60Al15Cu10Ni15, Ce65Al10Cu10Ni10Nb5, Ce68Al10Cu20Nb2, and Ce70Al10Cu20 bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) were investigated through nanoindentation. The load-displacement (P-h) curves of Ce65Al10Cu10Ni10Nb5, Ce68Al10Cu2, and Ce70Al10Cu20 BMGs exhibited a continuous plastic deformation at all studied loading rate. Whereas, the P-h curves of Ce60Al15Cu10Ni15 BMG showed a quite unique feature, i.e. homogeneous plastic deformation at low loading rates, and a distinct serrated flow at high strain rates. Moreover, a creep deformation during the load holding segment was observed for the four Ce-based BMGs at room temperature. The mechanism for the appearance of the "anomalous" plastic deformation behavior in the Ce-based BMGs was discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An anisotropic elastic-plastic constitutive model for single and polycrystalline metals. II—Experiments and predictions concerning thin-walled tubular OFHC copper

Predictions based on an anisotropic elastic-plastic constitutive model proposed in the first part of this paper are compared with the experimental stress and strain data on OHFC copper under first torsion to about 13% and partial unloading, and then tension-torsion to about 10% along eight different loading paths. This paper also describes the deformation and stress of the thin-walled tubular specimen under finite deformation, the numerical implementation of the model, and the detailed procedure for determining the material parameters in the model. Finally, the model is extended to a general representation of the multiple directors, and the elastic-viscoplastic extension of the constitutive model is considered.

Numerical verification for instrumented spherical indentation techniques in determining the plastic properties of materials

 Instrumented indentation tests have been widely adopted for elastic modulus determination. Recently, a number of indentation-based methods for plastic properties characterization have been proposed, and rigorous verification is absolutely necessary for their wide application. In view of the advantages of spherical indentation compared with conical indentation in determining plastic proper-ties, this study mainly concerns verification of spherical indentation methods. Five convenient and simple models were selected for this purpose, and numerical experiments for a wide range of materials are carried out to identify their accuracy and sensitivity characteristics. The verification results show that four of these five methods can give relatively accurate and stable results within a certain material domain, which is defined as their validity range and has been summarized for each method.

Molecular dynamics simulation of plastic deformation of nanotwinned copper

The plastic deformation of polycrystalline Cu with ultrathin lamella twins has been studied using molecular dynamics simulations. The results of uniaxial tensile deformation simulation show that the abundance of twin boundaries provides obstacles to dislocation motion, which in consequence leads to a high strain hardening rate in the nanotwinned Cu. We also show that the twin lamellar spacing plays a vital role in controlling the strengthening effects, i.e., the thinner the thickness of the twin lamella, the harder the material. Additionally, twin boundaries can act as dislocation nucleation sites as they gradually lose coherency at large strain. These results indicate that controlled introduction of nanosized twins into metals can be an effective way of improving strength without suppression tensile ductility. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Vacancy clusters in ultrafine grained Al by severe plastic deformation

Bulk nanostructured metals are often formed via severe plastic deformation (SPD). The dislocations generated during SPD evolve into boundaries to decompose the grains. Vacancies are also produced in large numbers during SPD, but have received much less attention. Using transmission electron microscopy, here we demonstrate a high density of unusually large vacancy Frank loops in SPD-processed Al. They are shown to impede moving dislocations and should be a contributor to strength. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.