Strain analysis by neutron diffraction on NbSn strands in ITER central solenoid conductors of short and long twist pitch

諏訪 友音*; 礒野 高明*; Harjo, S.; 川崎 卓郎; 相澤 一也

Superconductor Science and Technology, 38(1), p.015008_1 - 015008_8, 2024/12

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6668/ad9417

The ITER central solenoid (CS) conductors are composed of NbSn superconducting cables and stainless steel jackets. Approximately 60,000 electromagnetic loading cycles will be applied to the NbSn strands in the CS conductor over the course of ITER tokamak operation, and the CS conductor is required to maintain the current sharing temperature () for these electromagnetic loading cycles. However, in CS conductor prototypes, degradation of was observed after electromagnetic loading cycles. Visual inspections of the tested CS conductors revealed large bending and buckling of the NbSn strands. These strand deformations were considered to be the cause of degradation because even a small amount of strain markedly affects the critical current of NbSn strands. To prevent the strands from bending and buckling, the twist pitch of the cable was shortened to improve stiffness. The stiffer cables did prevent from degrading after electromagnetic loading cycles owing to the shortened twist pitch of the conductors, but a slight increase of was observed. Visual inspections revealed no significant bent or buckled strands, but small deformations cannot be investigated visually. Thus, internal strain was measured by neutron diffraction and the internal strain states of the prototype CS conductors having long twist pitches and the improved short-twist-pitch (STP) CS conductors were evaluated. The results indicated that, after electromagnetic loading cycles, bending of the strands in the STP CS conductor was limited and compressive strain was reduced. Therefore, we determined that this STP is not only effective to prevent degradation caused by bent strands but it also increases by reducing compressive strain.

マルチモーダル化したマグネシウム合金の変形中の構成相・組織の挙動

Harjo, S.; Gong, W.; 相澤 一也; 山崎 倫昭*; 川崎 卓郎

日本材料学会第58回X線材料強度に関するシンポジウム講演論文集, p.58 - 60, 2024/07

The experiment and analysis procedures for a sample exhibiting multimodal structures were outlined. The sample, a MgZnY alloy, initially comprised two phases: the HCP matrix (Mg) and the long-period stacking ordered phase (LPSO), constituting approximately 25% of the volume. Through hot extrusion at 623 K with an extrusion ratio (R) of 5.0, the alloy was rendered multimodal. Specifically, at an R value of 5.0, dynamic recrystallization occurred partially within the Mg phase, resulting in a bimodal microstructure. This microstructure consisted of a deformed Mg component and a recrystallized Mg component. An analysis employing Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) data facilitated multimodal characterization, enabling successful determination of stresses within the individual Mg components, as well as the LPSO phase stress.

Cryogenic deformation behavior of a dual-phase Mg-Li alloy investigated by in-situ neutron diffraction

Gong, W.; Gholizadeh, R.*; 川崎 卓郎; 相澤 一也; Harjo, S.

Magnesium Technology 2024, p.89 - 90, 2024/03

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50240-8_19

Mg and its alloys generally exist as a single hcp crystal structure at room temperature. It is widely recognized that the application of Mg alloys is hindered by their limited formability at room temperature, primarily attributable to the scarcity of readily activated deformation modes within the hcp phase. The addition of Li in Mg alloy can stable the bcc phase at room temperature, and these dual-phase (hcp+bcc) Mg-Li alloys exhibit excellent formability. The Li-enriched bcc phase has been frequently considered as the origin for improving formability. However, these Mg-Li alloys show poor work-hardening ability and the resultant low strength at room temperature. Considering that the dislocation recovery can be suppressed by decreasing the deformation temperature and the activity of deformation mode may be changed with temperature, we investigated the deformation behavior of a commercial LZ91 magnesium alloy at cryogenic temperatures using in-situ neutron diffraction.

Strengthening of Mg and long-period stacking ordered phases in a Mg-Zn-Y alloy by hot-extrusion with low extrusion ratio

Harjo, S.; Gong, W.; 相澤 一也; 川崎 卓郎; 山崎 倫昭*

Acta Materialia, 255, p.119029_1 - 119029_12, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2023.119029

An as-cast sample and two hot-extruded samples with different extrusion ratios (R) of MgZnY alloy containing the HCP matrix (Mg) and the long-period stacking ordered phase (LPSO) of about 25-vol%, were used in tensile deformation in situ neutron diffraction experiments, to elucidate the effects of uniquely different microstructural evolutions in Mg and LPSO with varying the R value to the mechanical properties. Mg behaved as the soft phase and LPSO as the hard phase, and hot-extrusion improved the strength of both. At the R value of 5.0, a bimodal microstructure was created in Mg, increasing largely the yield strength of Mg. With increasing the R value to 12.5, the bimodal microstructure of Mg collapsed and the yield strength of Mg decreased. However, the strength of LPSO increased monotonously with increasing the R value due to the developments of kink bands and texture.

Compressive deformation behavior of AZ31 alloy at 21K; An neutron diffraction study

Gong, W.; 川崎 卓郎; Zheng, R.*; 眞山 剛*; Sun, B.*; 相澤 一也; Harjo, S.; 辻 伸泰*

Scripta Materialia, 225, p.115161_1 - 115161_5, 2023/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2022.115161

Deformation behavior during uniaxial compression at 21 K and 298 K in a commercial AZ31 magnesium alloy was studied by neutron diffraction. Decreasing the deformation temperature resulted in a slight increase in yield stress (115 MPa 139 MPa), but a remarkable enhancement in both the fracture stress (365 MPa 551 MPa) and fracture strain (12.8% 16.5%). The low temperature sensitivity of the {102} extension twinning which governed the macroscopic yielding led to the slight increase in yield stress. At 21K, basal slip was suppressed, while the extension twinning was promoted resulted in higher twin volume fraction. In the late stage of deformation, the {101}-{102} double twinning was suppressed, which is considered to be the reason to delay the fracture at 21 K.

observation of twinning and detwinning in AZ31 alloy

Gong, W.; Zheng, R.*; Harjo, S.; 川崎 卓郎; 相澤 一也; 辻 伸泰*

Journal of Magnesium and Alloys (Internet), 10(12), p.3418 - 3432, 2022/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jma.2022.02.002

Twinning and detwinning behavior of a commercial AZ31 magnesium alloy during cyclic compression-tension deformation with a total strain amplitude of 4% (2%) was evaluated using the complementary techniques of neutron diffraction, identical area electron backscatter diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. In-situ neutron diffraction demonstrates that the compressive deformation was dominated by twin nucleation, twin growth, and basal slip, while detwinning dominated the unloading of compressive stresses and subsequent tension stage. A large number of -component dislocations observed in twins and the detwinned regions were attributed to the dislocation transmutation during the twinning and detwinning. The accumulation of barriers including twin boundaries and various types of dislocations enhanced the interactions of migrating twin boundary with these barriers during twinning and detwinning, which is considered to be the origin for increasing the work hardening rate in cyclic deformation of the AZ31 alloy.

structure observation of pyroelectric ceramics during power generation cycle

川崎 卓郎; 福田 竜生; 山中 暁*; 坂本 友和*; 村山 一郎*; 加藤 孝典*; 馬場 将亮*; 橋本 英樹*; Harjo, S.; 相澤 一也; et al.

Journal of Applied Physics, 131(13), p.134103_1 - 134103_7, 2022/04

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0084166

The microscopic origin of the pyroelectric power generation using ferroelectric ceramics for energy harvesting from time-varying waste heat can be understood by conducting neutron diffraction measurements. The behavior of the domain orientation and lattice strain in the lead zirconate titanate (PZT)-based ceramics with a tetragonal structure during the novel power generation cycle combining electric field and temperature change were investigated. The [001] domains and the lattice strain of the (111) plane in the direction of parallel to the electric field increase in the process of simultaneous rise in the electric field and temperature, and rapidly decrease in the process of the field drop. The alignment of the domain orientation by the electric field and its randomization by the higher temperature during the cycle are critical features of the current power generation system.

Practical tests of neutron transmission imaging with a superconducting kinetic-inductance sensor

Vu, TheDang; 宍戸 寛明*; 相澤 一也; 小嶋 健児*; 小山 富男*; 及川 健一; 原田 正英; 奥 隆之; 曽山 和彦; 宮嶋 茂之*; et al.

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 1006, p.165411_1 - 165411_8, 2021/08

AA2020-0482.pdf:3.12MB

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2021.165411

We found that the sizes of the Gd islands determined from the transmission image correlated strongly with those determined from the SEM image. We demonstrated the CB-KID could be used to identify (1) tiny voids in a thermally sprayed continuous GdO film in and (2) various mosaic morphologies and different eutectic microstructures in Wood's metal samples. The fact that the CB-KID system could be used to identify features of samples with a wide distribution of sizes and thicknesses is promising for real application of the device for imaging samples of interest to material scientists. Operating the CB-KID at higher temperatures appreciably improved the efficiency for simultaneously identifying the X and Y positions of hotspots. We also compared the detection efficiency with the PHITS simulations. We now plan to improve the detection efficiency by increasing the thickness of the B neutron conversion layer

Neutron imaging for intermetallic alloy using a delay line current-biased kinetic-inductance detector

宍戸 寛明*; Vu, TheDang*; 相澤 一也; 小嶋 健児*; 小山 富男*; 及川 健一; 原田 正英; 奥 隆之; 曽山 和彦; 宮嶋 茂之*; et al.

Journal of Physics; Conference Series, 1975, p.012023_1 - 012023_8, 2021/07

https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1975/1/012023

The current-biased kinetic-inductance detector (CB-KID) is a solid-state superconducting neutron detector with high spatial and temporal resolutions, and multi-hit tolerance. We demonstrate high temperature operation of CB-KID at 7.9 K with the delayline method. High temperature operation reduces imaging pixel size by suppressing signal propagation velocity. High spatial neutron transmission image for a mixed metal alloy consisting of heavy elements Sm and Sn is successfully constructed. We also examine the capability of element discrimination imaging based on the resonance dip analysis.

Homogeneity of neutron transmission imaging over a large sensitive area with a four-channel superconducting detector

Vu, TheDang; 宍戸 寛明*; 小嶋 健児*; 小山 富男*; 及川 健一; 原田 正英; 宮嶋 茂之*; 奥 隆之; 曽山 和彦; 相澤 一也; et al.

Superconductor Science and Technology, 34(1), p.015010_1 - 015010_10, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6668/abc2af

We demonstrated that a four-readout superconducting neutron imaging system shows good spatial heterogeneity and linearity using the delay-line method. We examined the precise pattern of a B-dot-array absorber and found the X-direction pitch (Px) = 250.7 um with a scatter of (Hx)= 5.4 um and the Y-direction pitch (Py)= 249.1 um with a scatter of (Hy)= 3.4 um while the B dot array was fully extended toward the X direction across the detector sensitive area. We consider that this demonstrates detection with good spatial homogeneity and conclude. The transmission-imaging system is suitable for use at pulsed neutron facilities. We also reported a clear transmission image of tiny screws and nuts, and ladybug (insect). We recognize that further efforts to improve the detection efficiency are necessary to make using the detector more practical.