Microstructure and Evolution of Mechanically-Induced Ultrafine Grain in Surface Layer of Al-Alloy Subjected to USSP

Experiments were conducted to investigate the ultrafine-grained (UFG) microstructures in the surface layer of an aluminum alloy 7075 heavily worked by ultrasonic shot peening. Conventional and high-resolution electron microscopy was performed at various depths of the deformed layer. Results showed that UFG structures were introdued into the surface layer of 62 μm thick. With increasing strain, the various microstructural features, e.g., the dislocation emission source, elongated microbands, dislocation cells, dislocation cell blocks, equiaxed submicro-, and nano-crystal grains etc., were successively produced. The grain subdivision into the subgrains was found to be the main mechanism responsible for grain refinement. The simultaneous evolution of high boundary misorientations was ascribed to the subgrain boundary rotation for accommodating further strains. Formed microstructures were highly nonequilibratory.  2002 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study on Mechanical Properties of Nanocrystal Surface Layer of an Aluminum Alloy

The nanocrystal surface layer of an aluminum alloy induced by High Speed Shot Peening (HSSP) was investigated in this paper. The results of nanoindentation experiment show that the elastic modulus and the hardness of nanocrystal surface layer increased,by 8% and 20%, respectively. The elastic modulus and the hardness appear to be independent of the distance from nanocrystalized surface and the process time.

Water Content Distribution in the Surface Layer of Maoping Slope

The water content distribution in the surface layer of Maoping slope has been studied by testing the water content at 31 control sites. The water content profiles at these sites have also been determined. The water content distributions at different segments have been obtained by using the Kriging method of geostatistics. By comparing the water content distributions with the landform of the slope, it was shown that the water content is closely dependent on the landform of the slope. The water content distribution in the surface layer provided a fundamental basis for landslide predication and treatment.

Thermodynamic model of hydrogen-induced silicon surface layer cleavage

A thermodynamic model of hydrogen-induced silicon surface layer splitting with the help of a bonded silicon wafer is proposed in this article. Wafer splitting is the result of lateral growth of hydrogen blisters in the entire hydrogen-implanted region during annealing. The blister growth rate depends on the effective activation energies of both hydrogen complex dissociation and hydrogen diffusion. The hydrogen blister radius was studied as a function of annealing time, annealing temperature, and implantation dose. The critical radius was obtained according to the Griffith energy condition. The time required for wafer splitting at the cut temperature was calculated in accordance with the growth of hydrogen blisters. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.

NEW TYPE OF SILICON MATERIAL WITH VERY HIGH-QUALITY SURFACE-LAYER ON INSULATING DEFECT LAYER

A new-type silicon material, silicon on defect layer (SODL) was proved to have a very high quality surface microstructure which is necessary for commercially feasible high-density very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI). The structure of the SODL material was viewed by transmission electron microscopy. The SODL material was also proved to have a buried defect layer with an insulating resistivity of 5.7 x 10(10) OMEGA-cm.

Thermodynamic model of helium and hydrogen co-implanted silicon surface layer splitting

A thermodynamic model of the evolution of microcracks in silicon caused by helium and hydrogen co-implantation during annealing was studied. The crack growth rate relies on the amount of helium atoms and hydrogen molecules present. Here, the crack radius was studied as a function of annealing time and temperature, and compared with experimental results. The mean crack radius was found to be proportional to the annealing temperature and the helium and hydrogen implanted fluence. The gas desorption should be considered during annealing process. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modeling vertical heat transport in the wave affected surface layer of the ocean

In considering the vertical heat transport problems in the upper ocean, the flat upper boundary approximation for the free surface and the horizontal homogenous hypothesis are usually applied. However, due to the existence of the wave motion, the application of this approximation may result in some errors to the solar irradiation since it decays quickly in respect to the actual thickness of the water layer below the surface; on the other hand, due to the fluctuation of the water layer depth, it is improper to neglect the effects of the horizontal advection and turbulent diffusion since they also contribute to the vertical heat transport. A new model is constructed in this study to reflect these effects. The corresponding numerical simulations show that the wave motion may remarkably accelerate the vertical heat transferring process and the variation of the temperature in the wave affected layer appears in an oscillating manner.

Physical mechanism and numerical simulations of surface layer temperature inversion in tropical ocean

The one-dimensional Kraus-Turner mixed layer model improved by Liu is developed to consider the effect of salinity and the equations of temperature and salinity under the mixed layer. On this basis, the processes of growth and death of surface layer temperature inversion is numerically simulated under different environmental parameters. At the same time, the physical mechanism is preliminarily discussed combining the observations at the station of TOGA-COARE 0 degrees N, 156 degrees E. The results indicate that temperature inversion sensitively depends on the mixed layer depth, sea surface wind speed and solar shortwave radiation, etc., and appropriately meteorological and hydrological conditions often lead to the similarly periodical occurrence of this inversion phenomenon.

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.

In Situ Synthesis of Nanocrystalline Intermetallic Compound Layer During Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment of Zirconium

The surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) technique was developed to synthesize a nanocrystalline (NC) layer on the surface of metallic materials for upgrading their overall properties and performance. In this paper, by means of SMAT to a pure zirconium plate at the room temperature, repetitive multidirectional peening of steel shots (composition (wt%): 1C, 1.5Cr, base Fe) severely deformed the surface layer. A NC surface layer consisting of the intermetallic compound FeCr was fabricated on the surface of the zirconium. The microstructure characterization of the surface layer was performed by using X-ray diffraction analysis, optical microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy observations. The NC surface layer was about 25 mu m thick and consisted of the intermetallic compound FeCr with an average grain size of 25 +/- 10 nm. The deformation-induced fast diffusion of Fe and Cr from the steel shots into Zr occurred during SMAT, leading to the formation of intermetallic compound. In addition, the NC surface layer exhibited an ultrahigh nanohardness of 10.2 GPa.

A NEW TYPE OF SILICON-ON-INSULATOR WITH A PERFECT SURFACE SILICON LAYER

A novel silicon structure consisting of a silicon-on-defect layer (SODL), with enhanced surface Hall mobility in the surface layer on a buried defect layer (DL), has been discovered [J. Li, Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B59/60 (1991) 1053]. SODL material was formed by using proton implantation and subsequent two-step annealing. The implantation was carried out with a Varian 350D ion implanter. Based on the discovery, a standard measurement method (current-voltage curve method) was adopted to measure the true resistivity value of the DL in order to replace the spreading resistivity measurement by which the true resistivity in seriously defective silicon cannot be obtained. By adopting the current-voltage current method, the true resistivity value of the DL is measured to be 4.2 x 10(9) OMEGA cm. The SODL material was proved to be a silicon-on-insulator substrate.

Feasibility of Laminar Plasma-Jet Hardening of Cast Iron Surface

Nontransferred DC laminar plasma jets of stable flow and low impinging pressure acting on the substrate were used to heat W–Mo–Cu cast iron for phase transfer hardening of the surface layer. Substrates were heated in multipass with or without overlapping or heated with only single-pass. Surface morphologies of the molten trace and microstructure of the cross-section were observed, and the hardness distribution of the treated surface layer was examined. The surface layer of single-pass-heated specimen has an average hardness of about 900 HV0.1, while the specimen treated with multipass shows an average hardness of about 700 HV0.1, because of the heat effect from the neighboring pass treating, compared with the substrate hardness of about 300 HV0.1. The results demonstrate the stable and favorably controlled heating of the laminar plasma jet on the substrate surface and feasibility of using it as a tool for surface hardening of cast iron.

Numerical simulation of temperature field evolution of metallic alloy surface due to pulsed laser treatment

This paper performed a numerical simulation on temperature field evolution for the surface layer of a metallic alloy subjected to pulsed Nd:YAG laser treatment. The enthalpy method was adopted to solve the moving boundary problem, I.e. Stefan problem. Computational results were obtained to show the temperature field evolution. Effects of latent heat and mushy zone width on the temperature field were investigated. The results also show very high values of temperature gradient and cooling rate, which are typical characteristics during the solidification process.

Strain-Induced Grain Refinement of Cobalt During Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment

The microstructural evolution during surface mechanical attrition treatment of cobalt (a mixture of hexagonal close packed (hep) and face-centered cubic (fcc) phases) was investigated. In order to reveal the mechanism of grain refinement and strain accommodation. The microstructure was systematically characterized by both cross-sectional and planar-view transmission electron microscopy. In the hcp phase, the process of grain refinement. Accompanied by an increase in strain imposed in the surface layer. Involved: (1) the onset of 110 111 deformation twinning, (2) the operation of (1 120) 110 1 0} prismatic and (1 120) (000 1) basal slip, leading to the formation of low-angle dislocation boundaries, and (3) the successive subdivision of grains to a finer and finer scale. Ressulting in the formation of highly misoriented nanocrystalline grains. Moreover. The formation of nanocrystalliies at the grain boundary and triple junction was also observed to occur concurrently with straining. By contrast. The fec phase accommodated strain in a sequence as follows: (1) slip of dislocations by forming intersecting planar arrays of dislocations, (2) {1 1 1} deformation twinning, and (3) the gamma(fcc) --> epsilon(hcp) martensitic phase transformation. The mechanism of grain refinement was interpreted in terms of the structural subdivision of grains together with dynamic recrystallization occurring in the hep phase and the gamma --> E: martensitic transformation in the fcc phase as well.

The size-dependent bending elastic properties of nanobeams with surface effects

A theoretical model is presented to investigate the size-dependent bending elastic properties of a nanobeam with the influence of the surface relaxation and the surface tension taken into consideration. The surface layer and its thickness of a nanostructure are defined unambiguously. A three-dimensional (3D) crystal model for a nanofilm with n layers of relaxed atoms is investigated. The four nonzero elastic constants of the nanofilm are derived, and then the Young's modulus for simple tension is obtained. Using the relation of energy equilibrium, the size-dependent effective elastic modulus and effective flexural rigidity of a nanobeam with two kinds of cross sections are derived, and their dependence on the surface relaxation and the surface tension is analysed.