Wavelength multiplexing and tuning in nano-Ag/dielectric multilayers

Multicolored optical active planes have been fabricated with magnetron sputter method coupled with selective masking technique. The plane is multilayer structured with Ag nanoparticles and TiO2 thin layer as the building blocks. It was found that the formed multilayer can be readily wavelength multiplexed by simply overlapping several nano-Ag/TiO2 layered structures, each of which may have different surface plasmon resonance wavelength. Unlike high order multiple resonances of large particles each of the multiplexing wavelengths in such a system is separately tunable. Importantly, it reveals that modification of the TiO2 layer thickness generates a fine tuning of the resonance wavelength.

Wavelength multiplexing and tuning in nano-Ag/dielectric multilayers

Multicolored optical active planes have been fabricated with magnetron sputter method coupled with selective masking technique. The plane is multilayer structured with Ag nanoparticles and TiO2 thin layer as the building blocks. It was found that the formed multilayer can be readily wavelength multiplexed by simply overlapping several nano-Ag/TiO2 layered structures, each of which may have different surface plasmon resonance wavelength. Unlike high order multiple resonances of large particles each of the multiplexing wavelengths in such a system is separately tunable. Importantly, it reveals that modification of the TiO2 layer thickness generates a fine tuning of the resonance wavelength.

The main factor influencing the tensile properties of surface nano-crystallized graded materials

The improved mechanical properties of surface nano-crystallized graded materials produced by surface severe plastic deformation ((SPD)-P-2) are generally owing to the effects of the refined structure, work-hardened region and compressive residual stress. However, during the (SPD)-P-2 process, residual stress is produced simultaneously with work-hardened region, the individual contribution of these two factors to the improved mechanical properties remains unclear. Numerical simulations are carried out in order to answer this question. It is found that work hardening predominates in improving the yield strength and the ultimate tensile strength of the surface nano-crystallized graded materials, while the influence of the residual stress mainly emerges at the initial stage of deformation and decreases the apparent elastic modulus of the surface nano-crystallized graded materials, which agrees well with the experimental results. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fabrication of nano-sized grains by pulsed laser surface melting

In this work, the formation and characterization of nano-sized grains on the modified surfaces of GCr15 and H13 steels have been investigated. The material was processed by pulsed laser surface melting (LSM) under different depths of de-ionized water. The microstructures and phases of the melted zones were examined by x-ray diffraction, environmental field emission scanning electron microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that LSM under water can successfully fabricate nano-scaled grains on the surfaces of steel, due to the rapid solidification and crystallization by heterogeneous nucleation. The elemental segregation of chromium and activated heterogeneous nucleation mechanism of austenite in liquid metal play a key role in the formation of nano-sized grains at high cooling rates. This one-step technique provides us a new way to prepare uniform nano-scaled grains, and is of great importance for further understanding the growth of nano-materials under extreme conditions.

Formation of nano-crystalline corrosion products on Zn-Al alloy coating exposed to seawater

Hot dip Zn-Al alloy coating performs better than hot dip galvanized coating and 55% Al-Zn-Si coating as well with regard to general seawater corrosion protection. A characterization of the corrosion products on Zn-Al alloy coating immersed in dynamic aerated seawater has been performed mainly based on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for morphological analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique for crystalline phase identification. The XRD and TEM analyses showed that the corrosion products mainly were typical nanometer Zn4CO3(OH)(6).H2O, Zn-5(OH)(8)Cl-2 and Zn6Al2CO3(OH)(16). 4H(2)O microcrystals. This probably is connected to the co-precipitation of Zn2+ and Al3+ ions caused by adsorption. Zn-Al alloy coating being suffered seawater attacks, AI(OH)(3) gel was first produced on the coating surface. Zn and Al hydroxides would co-precipitate and form double-hydroxide when the concentration of adsorbed Zn2+ ions by the newly produced gel exceeded the critical degree of supersaturation of the interphase nucleation. However, because the growth of the crystals was too low to keep in step with the nucleation, a layer of nano-crystalline corrosion products were produced on the surface of the coating finally. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identification of MnCr2O4 nano-octahedron in catalysing pitting corrosion of austenitic stainless steels

Pitting corrosion of stainless steels, one of the classical problems in materials science and electrochemistry, is generally believed to originate from the local dissolution in MnS inclusions, which are more or less ubiquitous in stainless steels. However, the initial location where MnS dissolution preferentially occurs is known to be unpredictable, which makes pitting corrosion a major concern. In this work we show, at an atomic scale, the initial site where MnS starts to dissolve in the presence of salt water. Using in situ ex-environment transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we found a number of nano-sized octahedral MnCr2O4 crystals (with a spinel structure and a space group of Fd (3) over barm) embedded in the MnS medium, generating local MnCr2O4/MnS nano-galvanic cells. The TEM experiments combined with first-principles calculations clarified that the nano-octahedron, enclosed by eight {1 1 1} facets with metal terminations, is "malignant", and this acts as the reactive site and catalyses the dissolution of MnS. This work not only uncovers the origin of MnS dissolution in stainless steels, but also presents an atomic-scale evolution in a material's failure which may occur in a wide range of engineering alloys and biomedical instruments serving in wet environments. (C) 2010 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Asymmetric rolling of 5182 aluminium alloy and interstitial free steel sheets

This Ph.D. research focuses on asymmetric rolling (ASR), as an alternative method for improving mechanical responses of aluminium-magnesium alloy and interstitial free (IF) steel regarding industrial requirements. Aluminium alloys are attractive materials in various industries due to their appropriate properties such as low density and corrosion resistance; however, their low formability has limited their applications. As formability of aluminium alloys can be improved through texture development, part of this dissertation is dedicated to producing the desired crystallographic texture with the ASR process. Two types of ASR (i.e. reverse and continuous asymmetric rolling) were investigated. The impact of shear deformation imposed by ASR processes on developing the desirable texture and consequently on mechanical behaviours was observed. The developed shear texture increased the normal and also planar anisotropy. Texture evolution during plastic deformation as well as induced mechanical behaviour were simulated using the “self-consistent” and Taylor models. Interstitial free (IF) steel was the second material selected in this dissertation. Since IF steel is one of the most often used materials in automotive industries it was chosen to investigate the effect of shear deformation through ASR on its properties. Two types of reverse and continuous asymmetric rolling were carried out to deform IF steel sheets. The results of optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy observations showed no significant difference between the grains’ morphology of asymmetric and conventionally rolled samples, whereas the obtained results of transmission electron microscopy indicated that fine and equiaxed dislocation cells were formed through the asymmetric rolling process. This structure is due to imposed shear deformation during the ASR process. Furthermore, the mechanical behaviour of deformed and annealed sheets was evaluated through uniaxial tensile tests. Results showed that at low thickness reductions (18%) the asymmetric rolled sample presented higher stress than that of the conventionally rolled sheet; while for higher thickness reductions (60%) the trend was reversed. The texture analyses indicated that intense rolling texture components which developed through 60% thickness reduction of conventional rolling cause a relatively higher stress; on the contrary the fine structure resulting from ASR appears to be the source of higher stress observed after pre-deformation of 18%.

Multiple morphologies of gold nano-plates by high-temperature polyol syntheses

High-temperature polyol methods were used to fabricate micro- or nano-sized gold plates. 1,2propanediol served as both medium and reducing agent. Triangular plates and polygonal plate shapes derived from triangular prisms as well as pentagonal structured gold particles have been synthesized. Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) plays an important role, but is not necessary, for the formation of these structures. These gold plates may have applications in the characterisation of adsorbed proteins or peptides. (C) 2008 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.

Determination of the volume fraction of retained austenite in a 300m steel by heat tinting technique

Applying the Heat Tinting Technique the microestrutural characterization of a 300M steel (medium carbon steel) was accomplished. The steel was austenitized for 20 min to 900°C, followed by holding at 400°C (in the bainitic temperature), with maintenance time of the material in the temperature of 1min, 5min and 30min, aiming at the formation of a multiphase structure. Through the metallographic analysis it is verified that, with the use of this technique, it is possible the determination of the volume fraction of the present phases in the 300M steel, especially in the identification and quantification of the retained austenite. Copyright © 2007 SAE International.

Microstructural effects on fatigue crack growth behavior of a microalloyed steel

Thermal transformations on microalloyed steels can produce multiphase microstructures with different amounts of ferrite, martensite, bainite and retained austenite. These different phases, with distinct morphologies, are determinant of the mechanical behavior of the steel and can, for instance, affect the crack path or promote crack shielding, thus resulting in changes on its propagation rate under cyclic loading. The aim of the present work is to evaluate the effects of microstructure on the tensile strength and fatigue crack growth (FCG) behaviour of a 0.08%C-1,5%Mn (wt. pct.) microalloyed steel, recently developed by a Brazilian steel maker under the designation of RD480. This steel is being considered as a promising alternative to replace low carbon steel in wheel components for the automotive industry. Various microstructural conditions were obtained by means of heat treatments followed by water quench, in which the material samples were kept at the temperatures of 800, 950 and 1200 °C. In order to describe the FCG behavior, two models were tested: the conventional Paris equation and a new exponential equation developed for materials showing non-linear FCG behavior. The results allowed correlating the tensile properties and crack growth resistance to the microstructural features. It is also shown that the Region II FCG curves of the dual and multiphase microstructural conditions present crack growth transitions that are better modeled by dividing them in two parts. The fracture surfaces of the fatigued samples were observed via scanning electron microscopy in order to reveal the fracture mechanisms presented by the various material conditions. © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

CHARACTERIZATION OF A AISI/SAE 4340 STEEL IN DIFFERENT MICROSTRUCTURAL CONDITIONS

The 4340 are classified as ultra-high strength steels used by the aviation industry and aerospace applications such as aircraft landing gear and several structural applications, usually in quenched and tempered condition. In this situation occurs reduction of toughness, which encourages the study of multiphasic and bainitic structures, in order to maintain strength without loss of toughness. In this study, ferritic-pearlitic structure was compared to bainitic and martensitic structure, identified by the reagents Nital, LePera and Sodium Metabisulfite. Sliding wear tests of the type pin-on-disk were realized and the results related to the microstructure of these materials and also to their hardnesses. It is noted that these different microstructures had very similar behavior, concluding that all three tested pairs can be used according to the request level.

An exploratory study to determine applicability of nano-hardness and micro-compression measurements for yield stress estimation

The superior properties of ferritic/martensitic steels in a radiation environment (low swelling, low activation under irradiation and good corrosion resistance) make them good candidates for structural parts in future reactors and spallation sources. While it cannot substitute for true reactor experiments, irradiation by charged particles from accelerators can reduce the number of reactor experiments and support fundamental research for a better understanding of radiation effects in materials. Based on the nature of low energy accelerator experiments, only a small volume of material can be uniformly irradiated. Micro and nanoscale post irradiation tests thus have to be performed. We show here that nanoindentation and micro-compression testing on T91 and HT-9 stainless steel before and after ion irradiation are useful methods to evaluate the radiation induced hardening.

A novel Mo-W interlayer approach for CVD diamond deposition on steel

Steel is the most widely used material in engineering for its cost/performance ratio and coatings are routinely applied on its surface to further improve its properties. Diamond coated steel parts are an option for many demanding industrial applications through prolonging the lifetime of steel parts, enhancement of tool performance as well as the reduction of wear rates. Direct deposition of diamond on steel using conventional chemical vapour deposition (CVD) processes is known to give poor results due to the preferential formation of amorphous carbon on iron, nickel and other elements as well as stresses induced from the significant difference in the thermal expansion coefficients of those materials. This article reports a novel approach of deposition of nanocrystalline diamond coatings on high-speed steel (M42) substrates using a multi-structured molybdenum (Mo) - tungsten (W) interlayer to form steel/Mo/Mo-W/W/diamond sandwich structures which overcome the adhesion problem related to direct magnetron sputtering deposition of pure tungsten. Surface, interface and tribology properties were evaluated to understand the role of such an interlayer structure. The multi-structured Mo-W interlayer has been proven to improve the adhesion between diamond films and steel substrates by acting as an effective diffusion barrier during the CVD diamond deposition.

The influence of nano-scale second-phase particles on deformation of fine grained calcite mylonites

Grey and white carbonate mylonites were collected along thrust planes of the Helvetic Alps. They are characterised by very small grain sizes and non-random grain shape (SPO) and crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO). Presumably they deformed in the field of grain size sensitive flow by recrystallisation accommodated intracrystalline deformation in combination with granular flow. Both mylonites show a similar mean grain size, but in the grey mylonites the grain size range is larger, the grain shapes are more elongate and the dynamically recrystallised calcite grains are more often twinned. Grey mylonites have an oblique CPO, while the CPO in white mylonites is symmetric with respect to the shear plane. Combustion analysis and TEM investigations revealed that grey mylonites contain a higher amount of highly structured kerogens with particle sizes of a few tens of nanometers, which are finely dispersed at the grain boundaries. During deformation of the rock, nano-scale particles reduced the migration velocity of grain boundaries by Zener drag resulting in slower recrystallisation rates of the calcite aggregate. In the grey mylonites, more strain increments were accommodated by individual grains before they became refreshed by dynamic recrystallisation than in white mylonites, where grain boundary migration was less hindered and recrystallisation cycles were faster. Consequently, grey mylonites represent ‘deformation’ microfabrics while white mylonites are characterised by ‘recrystallisation’ microfabrics. Field geologists must utilise this different deformation behavior when applying the obliquity in CPO and SPO of the respective mylonites as reliable shear sense indicators.