Ductile-to-brittle transition in aluminum alloys

Zhou, D.*; Zhang, X.*; Pang, X.*; Zhao, Z.*; Chen, X.*; Wei, S.*; Yang, C.*; Gong, W.; Harjo, S.; Li, R.*; et al.

Materials Research Letters (Internet), 14(6), p.689 - 698, 2026/06

https://doi.org/10.1080/21663831.2026.2646271

Here, we investigated the room-temperature (298 K) and cryogenic-temperature (77 K) mechanical behaviors of binary Al-Mg alloys over a wide range of Mg concentrations (2.8-13.1 at.%). A ductile-to-brittle transition was observed at 77 K as the Mg content increased from 7.5 to 13.1 at.%, accompanied by a significant decrease in impact energy from 161 J to 14 J. Through detailed theoretical calculations and experimental observations, this composition-dependent transition was found to be primarily associated with Mg segregation-induced grain boundary (GB) expansion and charge density depletion at the GB. These findings not only address the growing demand for durable lightweight materials for low-temperature applications, but also provide insights into the design of ultralight aerospace structural materials capable of withstanding the harsh environments encountered in space exploration.

Low-temperature deformation mechanism in a work-hardenable body-centered cubic high-entropy alloy with a large uniform elongation

Zhu, L.*; Dong, W.*; Naeem, M.*; Kong, H.*; Hu, C.*; Fan, Z.*; Gong, W.; Harjo, S.; Lan, S.*; Wu, Y.*; et al.

Acta Materialia, 303, p.121734_1 - 121734_10, 2026/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2025.121734

Body-centered cubic (BCC) metals typically exhibit high yield strength but limited work hardening and uniform elongation, especially at low temperatures. High-entropy alloys (HEAs) offer opportunities to overcome these limitations, though their deformation mechanisms remain unclear. Using in situ neutron diffraction and microstructural analysis, this study identifies the origin of the exceptionally large uniform elongation at liquid nitrogen temperature in a single-phase BCC (TiZrHf)AlNb HEA. Initial plastic deformation is governed by a BCC-to-orthorhombic (") transformation, followed by " twinning and deformation-induced amorphization at later stages. The cooperation of these mechanisms suppresses work softening from dislocation plasticity, enabling high yield strength with large uniform elongation and providing a viable strategy for designing cryogenic structural materials.

Revealing dislocation evolution in a nickel-based superalloy during tensile deformation by neutron diffraction

Yan, Z.*; Tan, Q.*; Gao, Y.*; Rong, Y.*; Qin, H.*; Bi, Z.*; Gong, W.; Harjo, S.; Wang, Y.-D.*

Materials Science & Engineering A, 945, p.148976_1 - 148976_6, 2025/11

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2025.148976

The dislocation structure evolution in the superalloy was studied by in-situ neutron diffraction tensile tests and line profile analysis. The proportion of screw-type dislocations increased in both fine and coarse ' structures, and dislocations were rearranged towards high-energy structures with weak dipole character, especially in the fine structure, due to its enhanced slip planarity.

Strengthening characteristics of CoCrNi alloys with different stacking fault energies

Peng, S. Y.*; Gong, W.; Tian, Y. Z.*; Harjo, S.; 他5名*

International Journal of Plasticity, 191, p.104401_1 - 104401_15, 2025/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104401

Quantifying the contributions of various strengthening mechanisms is essential for manipulating these mechanisms and designing novel alloys. Although CoCrNi alloys demonstrate exceptional mechanical properties, their strengthening characteristics remain to be investigated. In this work, we conducted in situ neutron diffraction tensile tests and characterized deformation microstructures for CoCrNi alloys with different stacking fault energies (SFEs). The dislocation strengthening characteristics and the role of planar faults were systematically investigated. A reduction in SFE restricts cross slip, thereby increasing the dislocation multiplication rate while decreasing the dislocation strengthening coefficient . Additionally, a lower SFE facilitates the simultaneous activation of dislocations and planar faults, with dislocation strengthening consistently playing a dominant role. This work quantifies reasonable values for CoCrNi alloys and identifies cross slip as a critical factor potentially influencing value in face-centered cubic (FCC) alloys.

Unusual low-temperature ductility increase mediated by dislocations alone

Naeem, M.*; Ma, Y.*; Tian, J.*; Kong, H.*; Romero-Resendiz, L.*; Fan, Z.*; Jiang, F.*; Gong, W.; Harjo, S.; Wu, Z.*; et al.

Materials Science & Engineering A, 924, p.147819_1 - 147819_10, 2025/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2025.147819

Face-centered cubic (fcc) medium-/high-entropy alloys (M/HEAs) typically enhance strength and ductility at cryogenic temperatures via stacking faults, twinning, or martensitic transformation. However, in-situ neutron diffraction on VCoNi MEA at 15 K reveals that strain hardening is driven solely by rapid dislocation accumulation, without these mechanisms. This results in increased yield strength, strain hardening, and fracture strain. The behavior, explained by the Orowan equation, challenges conventional views on cryogenic strengthening in fcc M/HEAs and highlights the role of dislocation-mediated plasticity at low temperatures.

Direct observations of dynamic and reverse transformation of Ti-6Al-4V alloy and pure titanium

Guo, B.*; Chen, H.*; Chong, Y.*; Mao, W.; Harjo, S.; Gong, W.; Zhang, Z.*; Jonas, J. J.*; 辻 伸泰*

Acta Materialia, 268, p.119780_1 - 119780_11, 2024/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2024.119780

This paper focused on the characterization and mechanism of the dynamic transformation from the alpha to beta phase during the hot deformation of Ti-6Al-4V alloy and pure titanium. The investigation employed in-situ neutron diffraction and atomistic simulations for a comprehensive understanding of the process. Dynamic transformations were observed during deformation of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy and pure titanium below the beta transus temperatures. During isothermal holding after unloading, the in-situ neutron diffraction results for Ti-6Al-4V and pure titanium indicated a sluggish reverse transformation from the beta to alpha phase. The mechanism of dynamic transformation was explored through in-situ neutron diffraction and atomistic simulations, which revealed twofold effects of deformation on dynamic transformation. Firstly, deformation led to a significant rise in the Gibbs energy of the alpha phase relative to the beta phase, expanding the beta phase region and diminishing the alpha phase region. Secondly, deformation lowered the energy barriers associated with dynamic transformation, facilitating the activation of dynamic transformation more readily than in the equilibrium state before deformation.

Local atomic structures and lattice dynamics of inverse colossal barocaloric ammonium thiocyanate

Zhang, Z.*; Gong, W.; 川北 至信; 他9名*

Physical Review Materials (Internet), 7(12), p.125402_1 - 125402_9, 2023/12

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.7.125402

NHSCN exhibits successive phase transitions from monoclinic to orthorhombic, and then to tetragonal. The former phase transition is accompanied by an inverse colossal barocaloric effect and a huge negative thermal expansion. This transition is complicated by the possibly coexisting orientational disorder of NH and SCN, and the mechanism is still unclear. Here, NHSCN is investigated using high-resolution neutron powder diffraction, pair distribution function analysis, and Raman scattering. Both the average and local structural analysis indicate that only NH is orientationally disordered in the orthorhombic phase and SCN becomes subsequently disordered in the tetragonal phase. Both temperature-induced and pressure-induced hardening behaviors of SCN related vibrations are observed, which leads to the breakage of hydrogen bonds-linked NH with SCN and further facilitates phase transition. Our findings provide a solid standing point of atomic structures and dynamics, on which the scenario of the phase transition and the associated physical properties is established.

Two-step Mott transition in Ni(S,Se); SR studies and charge-spin percolation model

Sheng, Q.*; 金子 竜也*; Yamakawa, Kohtaro*; Guguchia, Z.*; Gong, Z.*; Zhao, G.*; Dai, G.*; Jin, C.*; Guo, S.*; Fu, L.*; et al.

Physical Review Research (Internet), 4(3), p.033172_1 - 033172_14, 2022/09

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.033172

A pyrite system NiSSe exhibits a bandwidth controlled Mott transition via (S,Se) substitutions in a two-step process: the antiferromagnetic insulator (AFI) to antiferromagnetic metal (AFM) transition at 0.45 followed by the AFM to paramagnetic metal (PMM) transition at 1.0. Among a few other Mott systems which exhibit similar two-step transitions, Ni(S,Se) is of particular interest because a large intermediate AFM region in the phase diagram would provide unique opportunities to study the interplay between the spin and charge order. By comparing and combining our muon spin relaxation studies and previous neutron scattering studies, here we propose a picture where the spin order is maintained by the percolation of "nonmetallic" localized and dangling Ni moments surrounded by S, while the charge transition from AFI to AFM is caused by the percolation of the conducting paths generated by the Ni-Se-Ni bonds.

Achieving excellent mechanical properties in type 316 stainless steel by tailoring grain size in homogeneously recovered or recrystallized nanostructures

Liu, M.*; Gong, W.; Zheng, R.*; Li, J.*; Zhang, Z.*; Gao, S.*; Ma, C.*; 辻 伸泰*

Acta Materialia, 226, p.117629_1 - 117629_13, 2022/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2022.117629

One hopeful path to realize good comprehensive mechanical properties in metallic materials is to accomplish homogeneous nanocrystalline (NC) or ultrafine grained (UFG) structure with low dislocation density. In this work, high pressure torsion deformation followed by appropriate annealing was performed on 316 stainless steel (SS). For the first time, we successfully obtained NC/UFG 316 SS having uniform microstructures with various average grain sizes ranging from 46 nm to 2.54 m and low dislocation densities. Among the series, an un-precedentedly high yield strength (2.34 GPa) was achieved at the smallest grain size of 46 nm, in which dislocation scarcity induced hardening accounting for 57% of the strength. On the other hand, exceptional strength-ductility synergy with high yield strength (900 MPa) and large uniform elongation (27%) was obtained in the fully recrystallized specimen having the grain size of 0.38 m. The high yield stress and scarcity of dislocation sources in recrystallized UFGs activated stacking faults and deformation twins nucleating from grain boundaries during straining, and their interaction with dislocations allowed for sustainable strain hardening, which also agreed with the plaston concept recently proposed. The multiple deformation modes activated, together with the effective strengthening mechanisms, were responsible for the outstanding comprehensive mechanical performance of the material.

Work hardening, dislocation structure, and load partitioning in lath-martensite determined by neutron diffraction line profile analysis

Harjo, S.; 川崎 卓郎; 友田 陽*; Gong, W.*; 相澤 一也; Tichy, G.*; Shi, Z.*; Ungr, T.*

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 48(9), p.4080 - 4092, 2017/09

AA2017-0020.pdf:3.33MB

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-017-4172-0

neutron diffraction during tensile deformation of lath martensite steel containing 0.22 mass% of carbon, is performed using TAKUMI of J-PARC. The diffraction peaks at plastically deformed states exhibit asymmetries as the reflection of redistributions of the stress and dislocation densities/arrangements in lath-packets where the dislocation glides are favorable (soft packet) and unfavorable (hard packet). The dislocation density is as high as 10 m at the as-quenched state, and then during tensile straining, the load and the dislocation density become different between the two lath-packets. The dislocation character and arrangement vary also in the hard packet, but hardly change in the soft packet. The hard packet plays an important role in the high work hardening in martensite, which could be understood by taking into account not only the increase of the dislocation density but also the change in dislocation arrangement.