The martensitic transformation texture in Ti-6Al-4V

The transformation texture associated with martensite formation in the titanium alloy Ti- 6Al-4V has been investigated. Samples were heated into the fully b phase and quenched to form a microstructure of very fine a' martensite with no evidence of diffusional transformation at the prior b grain boundaries. EBSD texture measurements on the martensite showed that within each prior b grain, although typically all 12 variants of a’ were formed, the fractions of variants was far from uniform. The a’ texture was markedly different from values calculated using equal variant probability, also indicating that significant variant selection was occurring during martensitic transformation. This effect was modelled on the basis of elastic interaction between martensite events.

Role of microstructure in the low cycle fatigue of multi-phase steels

The low cycle fatigue (LCF) behaviour of several commercially-produced multiphase steels was studied; including dual-phase (DP) and transformation induced plasticity (TRIP). In addition, a novel TRIP980 hybrid microstructure was examined that consisted of coarse ferrite grains along with low temperature bainite regions interspersed with retained austenite. Fully reversed strain controlled fatigue tests were conducted on the different steels to determine the cyclic stress response and strain to failure. The effects of the cyclic deformation on the microstructures were analysed using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results showed that the initial cyclic hardening behaviour and low cyclic softening ratio observed in the TRIP steels was not necessarily due to austenite to martensite transformation. Differences between the austenite transformation behaviour of the conventional and novel hybrid TRIP microstructures was related to the different surrounding phases and the size of the retained austenite.

Transformation behavior of low carbon steels containing two different Si contents

Continuous cooling transformation behaviors of low carbon steels with two Si contents (0.50% and 1. 35%) were investigated under undeformed and deformed conditions. Effects of Si contents, deformation, and cooling rates on y transformation start temperature (A,_r3), phase microstructures, and hardness were studied. The results show that, in the case of the deformation with the true strain of 0. 4, the length of bainitic ferrite laths is significantly decreased in low Si steel, whereas, the M/A constituent becomes more uniform in high Si steel. An increase in cooling rates lowers the A,_r3 greatly. The steel with higher level of Si exhibits higher A,_r3, and higher hardness both under undeformed and deformed conditions compared with the steel with a lower Si content. Especially, the influence of Si on A_r3 is dependent on deformation. Such effects are more significant under the undeformed condition. The hardness of both steels increases with the increase of cooling rates, whereas, the deformation involved in both steels reduces the hardness.

Crystalline Structures and α → β and γ polymorphs transformation induced by nanoclay in PVDF-based nanocomposite

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanocomposites were prepared by melt-mixing. The dispersion of clay platelets and rheology of nanocomposites were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and rheometric mechanical spectrometer (RMS). The transformation of α to β and γ phase in PVDF was induced by the addition of nanoclay and subsequently the isothermal crystallization kinetics of neat PVDF and its nanocomposite have been investigated. The interaction between clay nanofillers and PVDF macromolecular chains induced the change of conformation from trans-gauche to all-trans crystal structure in PVDF segment. The isothermal crystallization of PVDF/clay nanocomposites was carried out by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) technique. The influence of clay platelets on nucleation crystallization rate and Avrami exponent were studied. PVDF/clay nanocomposite showed higher crystallization rate indicating that nanoclay has acted as an effective nucleation agent. This nucleation effect of nanoclay increased the Avrami exponent and decreased the degree of crystallinity. © 2014 World Scientific Publishing Company.

Atom probe tomography investigation of heterogeneous short-range ordering in the 'komplex' phase state (K-state) of Fe-18Al (at.%)

We study an Fe-18Al (at.%) alloy after various thermal treatments at different times (24-336 h) and temperatures (250-1100 °C) to determine the nature of the so-called 'komplex' phase state (or "K-state"), which is common to other alloy systems having compositions at the boundaries of known order-disorder transitions and is characterised by heterogeneous short-range-ordering (SRO). This has been done by direct observation using atom probe tomography (APT), which reveals that nano-sized, ordered regions/particles do not exist. Also, by employing shell-based analysis of the three-dimensional atomic positions, we have determined chemically sensitive, generalised multicomponent short-range order (GM-SRO) parameters, which are compared with published pairwise SRO parameters derived from bulk, volume-averaged measurement techniques (e.g. X-ray and neutron scattering, Mössbauer spectroscopy) and combined ab-initio and Monte Carlo simulations. This analysis procedure has general relevance for other alloy systems where quantitative chemical-structure evaluation of local atomic environments is required to understand ordering and partial ordering phenomena that affect physical and mechanical properties.

The competition between metastable and equilibrium S (Al2CuMg) phase during the decomposition of AlCuMg alloys

Abstract The decomposition sequence of the supersaturated solid solution leading to the formation of the equilibrium S (Al2CuMg) phase in AlCuMg alloys has long been the subject of ambiguity and debate. Recent high-resolution synchrotron powder diffraction experiments have shown that the decomposition sequence does involve a metastable variant of the S phase (denoted S1), which has lattice parameters that are distinctly different to those of the equilibrium S phase (denoted S2). In this paper, the difference between these two phases is resolved using high-resolution synchrotron and neutron powder diffraction and atom probe tomography, and the transformation from S1 to S2 is characterised in detail by in situ synchrotron powder diffraction. The results of these experiments confirm that there are no significant differences between the crystal structures of S1 and S2, however, the powder diffraction and atom probe measurements both indicate that the S1 phase forms with a slight deficiency in Cu. The in situ isothermal aging experiments show that S1 forms rapidly, reaching its maximum concentration in only a few minutes at high temperatures, while complete conversion to the S2 phase can take thousands of hours at low temperature. The kinetics of S phase precipitation have been quantitatively analysed for the first time and it is shown that S1 phase forms with an average activation energy of 75 kJ/mol, which is much lower than the activation energy for Cu and Mg diffusion in an Al matrix (136 kJ/mol and 131 kJ/mol, respectively). The mechanism of the replacement of S1 with the equilibrium S2 phase is discussed.

The influence of fine ferrite formation on the γ/α interface, fine bainite and retained austenite in a thermomechanically-processed transformation induced plasticity steel

An Fe-0.26C-1.96Si-2Mn with 0.31Mo (wt%) steel was subjected to a novel thermomechanical processing route to produce fine ferrite with different volume fractions, bainite, and retained austenite. Two types of fine ferrites were found to be: (i) formed along prior austenite grain boundaries, and (ii) formed intragranularly in the interior of austenite grains. An increase in the volume fraction of fine ferrite led to the preferential formation of blocky retained austenite with low stability, and to a decrease in the volume fraction of bainite with stable layers of retained austenite. The difference in the morphology of the bainitic ferrite and the retained austenite after different isothermal ferrite times was found to be responsible for the deterioration of the mechanical properties. The segregation of Mn, Mo, and C at distances of 2-2.5 nm from the ferrite and retained austenite/martensite interface on the retained austenite/martensite site was observed after 2700 s of isothermal hold. It was suggested that the segregation occurred during the austenite-to-ferrite transformation, and that this would decrease the interface mobility, which affects the austenite-to-ferrite transformation and ferrite grain size.

Effect of retained austenite on wear resistance of nanostructured dual phase steels

Nanostructured super bainitic and quenching-partitioning (Q&P) martensitic steels with a significant amount of retained austenite obtained by low temperature bainitic transformation and Q&P respectively were studied to explore the effect of retained austenite on stirring wear resistance. The results suggest that the Q&P martensitic steel significantly enhanced the hardness of the worn surface (from 674 to 762 HV1) and increased the thickness of the deformed layer (,3.3 mm), compared to the nanostructured bainitic steel. The underlying reason is that the Q&P martensitic steel has a higher stability of retained austenite thereby providing a superior transformation induced plasticity effect to increase surface hardness and reduce wear rate during the wear process.

In situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction studies of the effect of microstructure on tensile behavior and retained austenite stability of thermo-mechanically processed transformation induced plasticity steel

Transmission electron microscopy and in situ synchrotron high-energy X-ray diffraction were used to investigate the martensitic transformation and lattice strains under uniaxial tensile loading of Fe-Mn-Si-C-Nb-Mo-Al Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steel subjected to different thermo-mechanical processing schedules. In contrast with most of the diffraction analysis of TRIP steels reported previously, the diffraction peaks from the martensite phase were separated from the peaks of the ferrite-bainite α-matrix. The volume fraction of retained γ-austenite, as well as the lattice strain, were determined from the diffraction patterns recorded during tensile deformation. Although significant austenite to martensite transformation starts around the macroscopic yield stress, some austenite grains had already experienced martensitic transformation. Hooke's Law was used to calculate the phase stress of each phase from their lattice strain. The ferrite-bainite α-matrix was observed to yield earlier than austenite and martensite. The discrepancy between integrated phase stresses and experimental macroscopic stress is about 300 MPa. A small increase in carbon concentration in retained austenite at the early stage of deformation was detected, but with further straining a continuous slight decrease in carbon content occurred, indicating that mechanical stability factors, such as grain size, morphology and orientation of the retained austenite, played an important role during the retained austenite to martensite transformation.