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Tang, J.*; Wang, Y.*; Fujihara, Hiro*; Shimizu, Kazuyuki*; Hirayama, Kyosuke*; Ebihara, Kenichi; Takeuchi, Akihisa*; Uesugi, Masayuki*; Toda, Hiroyuki*
Scripta Materialia, 239, p.115804_1 - 115804_5, 2024/01
Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behaviors induced by the combination of external and internal hydrogen (H) in an Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy were systematically investigated via in situ 3D characterization techniques. SCC of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy could initiate and propagate in the potential crack region where the H concentration exceeded a critical value, in which the nanoscopic H-induced decohesion of 
-MgZn
precipitates resulted in macroscopic cracking. External H that penetrated the alloy from the environment played a crucial role during the SCC of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy by generating gradient-distributed H-affected zones near the crack tips, which made Al alloys in water environment more sensitive to SCC. Additionally, the pre-existing internal H was driven toward the crack tips during plastic deformation. It was involved in the SCC and made contributions to both the cracks initiation and propagation.
Yamaguchi, Masatake; Ebihara, Kenichi; Tsuru, Tomohito; Itakura, Mitsuhiro
Materials Transactions, 64(11), p.2553 - 2559, 2023/11
We attempted to calculate the hydrogen trapping energies on the incoherent interfaces of MgZn precipitates and MgSi crystallites in aluminum alloys from first-principles calculations. Since the unit cell containing the incoherent interface does not satisfy the periodic boundary condition, resulting in a discontinuity of crystal blocks, the hydrogen trapping energy was calculated in a region far from the discontinuity (vacuum) region. We found considerable trapping energies for hydrogen atoms at the incoherent interfaces consisting of assumed atomistic arrangement. We also conducted preliminary calculations of the reduction in the cohesive energy by hydrogen trapping on the incoherent interfaces of MgSi in the aluminum matrix.
Ebihara, Kenichi; Sekine, Daiki*; Sakiyama, Yuji*; Takahashi, Jun*; Takai, Kenichi*; Omura, Tomohiko*
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 14 Pages, 2023/00
To understand hydrogen embrittlement (HE), which is one of the stress corrosion cracking of steel materials, it is necessary to know the H distribution in steel, which can be effectively interpreted by numerical simulation of thermal desorption spectra. In weld metals and TRIP steels, residual austenite significantly influences the spectra, but a clear H distribution is not well known. In this study, an originally coded two-dimensional model was used to numerically simulate the previously reported spectra of high-carbon ferritic-austenitic duplex stainless steels, and it was found that H is mainly trapped at the carbide surface when the amount of H in the steel is low and at the duplex interface when the amount of H is high. It was also found that the thickness dependence of the H desorption peak for the interface trap site is caused by a different reason than the conventional one.
Suzudo, Tomoaki; Ebihara, Kenichi; Tsuru, Tomohito; Mori, Hideki*
Scientific Reports (Internet), 12, p.19701_1 - 19701_10, 2022/11
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：23.78(Multidisciplinary Sciences)Body-centered-cubic (bcc) transition metals, such as 
-Fe and W, cleave along the {100} plane, even though the surface energy is the lowest along the {110} plane. To unravel the mechanism of this odd response, large-scale atomistic simulations of curved cleavage cracks of -Fe were conducted in association with stress intensity factor analyses of straight crack fronts using an interatomic potential created by an artificial neural network technique. The study provides novel findings: Dislocations are emitted from the crack fronts along the {110} cleavage plane, and this phenomenon explains why the {100} plane can be the cleavage plane. However, the simple straight crack-front analyses did not yield the same conclusion. It is suggested that atomistic modeling, at sufficiently large scales to capture the inherent complexities of materials using highly accurate potentials, is necessary to correctly predict the mechanical strength. The method adopted in this study is generally applicable to the cleavage problem of bcc transition metals and alloys.
Ebihara, Kenichi
Zairyo, 71(5), p.481 - 487, 2022/05
no abstracts in English
3(111) and 5(0-13) grain boundaries of -ironEbihara, Kenichi; Suzudo, Tomoaki
Metals, 12(4), p.662_1 - 662_10, 2022/04
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：26.88(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)Phosphorus atoms in steels accumulate at grain boundaries via thermal and/or irradiation effects and induce grain boundary embrittlement. Quantitative prediction of phosphorus segregation at grain boundaries under various temperature and irradiation conditions is therefore essential for preventing embrittlement. To develop a model of grain boundary phosphorus segregation in -iron, we studied the migration of a phosphorus atom in two types of symmetrical tilt grain boundaries (3[1-10](111) and 5[100](0-13) grain boundaries) using molecular dynamics simulations with an embedded atom method potential. The results revealed that, in the 3 grain boundary, phosphorus atoms migrate three-dimensionally mainly in the form of interstitial atoms, whereas in the 5 grain boundary, these atoms migrate one-dimensionally mainly via vacancy-atom exchanges. Moreover, de-trapping of phosphorus atoms and vacancies was investigated.
Yamaguchi, Masatake; Itakura, Mitsuhiro; Tsuru, Tomohito; Ebihara, Kenichi
Materials Transactions, 62(5), p.582 - 589, 2021/05
Times Cited Count：7 Percentile：65.99(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)no abstracts in English
Saito, Shimpei*; De Rosis, A.*; Fei, L.*; Luo, K. H.*; Ebihara, Kenichi; Kaneko, Akiko*; Abe, Yutaka*
Physics of Fluids, 33(2), p.023307_1 - 023307_21, 2021/02
Times Cited Count：22 Percentile：98.22(Mechanics)A Boiling phenomenon in a liquid flow field is known as forced-convection boiling. We numerically investigated the boiling system on a cylinder in a flow at a saturated condition. To deal with such a phenomenon, we developed a numerical scheme based on the pseudopotential lattice Boltzmann method. The collision was performed in the space of central moments (CMs) to enhance stability for high Reynolds numbers. Furthermore, additional terms for thermodynamic consistency were derived in a CMs framework. The effectiveness of the model was tested against some boiling processes, including nucleation, growth, and departure of a vapor bubble for high Reynolds numbers. Our model can reproduce all the boiling regimes without the artificial initial vapor phase. We found that the Nukiyama curve appears even though the focused system is the forced-convection system. Also, our simulations support experimental observations of intermittent direct solid-liquid contact even in the film-boiling regime.
Hata, Kuniki; Takamizawa, Hisashi; Hojo, Tomohiro*; Ebihara, Kenichi; Nishiyama, Yutaka; Nagai, Yasuyoshi*
Journal of Nuclear Materials, 543, p.152564_1 - 152564_10, 2021/01
Times Cited Count：9 Percentile：91.01(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)Reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels for pressurized water reactors (PWRs) with bulk P contents ranging from 0.007 to 0.012wt.% were subjected to neutron irradiation at fluences ranging from 0.3 to 1.2
10
n/cm
(E 
1 MeV) in PWRs or a materials testing reactor (MTR). Grain-boundary P segregation was analyzed using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) on intergranular facets and found to increase with increasing neutron fluence. A rate theory model was also used to simulate the increase in grain-boundary P segregation for RPV steels with a bulk P content up to 0.020wt.%. The increase in grain-boundary P segregation in RPV steel with a bulk P content of 0.015wt.% (the maximum P concentration found in RPV steels used in Japanese nuclear power plants intended for restart) was estimated to be less than 0.1 in monolayer coverage at 1.010 n/cm (E 1 MeV). A comparison of the PWR data with the MTR data showed that neutron flux had no effect upon grain-boundary P segregation. The effects of grain-boundary P segregation upon changes in irradiation hardening and ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) shifts were also discussed. A linear relationship between irradiation hardening and the DBTT shift with a slope of 0.63 obtained for RPV steels with a bulk P content up to 0.026wt.%, which is higher than that of most U.S. A533B steels. It is concluded that the intergranular embrittlement is unlikely to occur for RPV steels irradiated in PWRs.
Ebihara, Kenichi; Sugiyama, Yuri*; Matsumoto, Ryosuke*; Takai, Kenichi*; Suzudo, Tomoaki
Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 52(1), p.257 - 269, 2021/01
Times Cited Count：8 Percentile：51.76(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)We simulated the thermal desorption spectra of a small-size iron specimen to which was applied during charging with hydrogen atoms using a model incorporating the behavior of vacancies and vacancy clusters. The model considered up to vacancy clusters 
, which is composed of nine vacancies and employed the parameters based on atomistic calculations, including the H trapping energy of vacancies and vacancy clusters that we estimated using the molecular static calculation. As a result, we revealed that the model could, on the whole, reproduced the experimental spectra except two characteristic differences, and also the dependence of the spectra on the aging temperature. By examining the cause of the differences, the possibilities that the diffusion of clusters of 
and 
is slower than the model and that vacancy clusters are generated by applying strain and H charging concurrently were indicated.
-iron; A Molecular dynamics studySuzudo, Tomoaki; Ebihara, Kenichi; Tsuru, Tomohito
AIP Advances (Internet), 10(11), p.115209_1 - 115209_8, 2020/11
Times Cited Count：7 Percentile：48.53(Nanoscience & Nanotechnology)The mechanism of their brittle fracture of BCC metals is not fully understood. In this study, we conduct a series of three-dimensional molecular dynamics simulations of cleavage fracture of -iron. In particular, we focus on mode-I loading starting from curved crack fronts. In the simulations, brittle fractures are observed at cleavages on the {100} plane, while the initial cracks become blunted on other planes as a result of dislocation emissions. Our modeling results agreed with a common experimental observation, that is, {100} is the preferential cleavage plane in bcc transition metals.
Si and Al
FeCu intermetallic compounds in aluminum alloy; First-principles calculationsYamaguchi, Masatake; Tsuru, Tomohito; Ebihara, Kenichi; Itakura, Mitsuhiro; Matsuda, Kenji*; Shimizu, Kazuyuki*; Toda, Hiroyuki*
Materials Transactions, 61(10), p.1907 - 1911, 2020/10
Times Cited Count：7 Percentile：51.76(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)no abstracts in English
5 grain boundary of -ironEbihara, Kenichi; Suzudo, Tomoaki
Proceedings of Joint International Conference on Supercomputing in Nuclear Applications + Monte Carlo 2020 (SNA + MC 2020), p.65 - 69, 2020/10
Phosphorus (P) is known as one of the elements which cause the grain boundary (GB) embrittlement in steels and its GB segregation is promoted by the increase of vacancies and self-interstitial atoms due to irradiation. Thus we have been developing the rate-theory model for estimating GB P segregation under several temperatures and irradiation conditions. Because the model does not include the trapping and de-trapping processes properly, however, the model cannot calculate GB P coverage which is measured by experiments. As for the de-trapping process, so far, we have considered the migration of a P atom in the GB region of 3 symmetrical tilt GB using molecular dynamics (MD). In the current study, we also simulated the P migration in 5 GB using MD and compared the result with that of 3. As a result, at 800K, it was found that a P atom cannot migrate in 5 without vacancies while a P atom can migrate between iron atoms in 3.
Tsuru, Tomohito; Shimizu, Kazuyuki*; Yamaguchi, Masatake; Itakura, Mitsuhiro; Ebihara, Kenichi; Bendo, A.*; Matsuda, Kenji*; Toda, Hiroyuki*
Scientific Reports (Internet), 10, p.1998_1 - 1998_8, 2020/04
Times Cited Count：21 Percentile：78.73(Multidisciplinary Sciences)Age-hardening has been one and only process to achieve high strength aluminum alloys since unlike iron and titanium, pure aluminum does not have other solid phases during heat treatment. Highly-concentrated precipitations play therefore dominant role in mechanical properties and hydrogen embrittlement of aluminium alloys. It has been considered that the coherent interface between matrix and precipitation does not contribute to the crack initiation and embrittlement due to its coherency. Here, we discovered the origin of unprecedented quasi-cleavage fracture mode. Hydrogen partitioning at various defect sites is investigated comprehensively combined with experiment, theory and first-principles calculations. We demonstrate that despite low excess free volume, the aluminum-precipitation interface is more preferable trap site than void and grain boundary. The cohesivity of the interface deteriorates significantly with increasing occupancy while hydrogen atoms are trapped stably up to extremely high occupancy equivalent to spontaneous cleavage.
-ironEbihara, Kenichi; Suzudo, Tomoaki
TMS 2020; 149th Annual Meeting & Exhibition Supplemental Proceedings, p.995 - 1002, 2020/02
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：63.32Phosphorus (P) is known as an element which causes grain boundary (GB) embrittlement in steels. In addition, GB P segregation is promoted by the increase of vacancies and self interstitial atoms due to irradiation. Thus, the diffusion rate theory model for estimating irradiation-induced GB P segregation has been developed based on the atomic processes. Since the present model does not include the trapping and de-trapping processes at GBs, however, it cannot calculate the value which is directly compared with experimental results. In this study, we simulated the migration of a P atom in the 3(111) symmetrical tilt GB. In addition, by tracking the migration of the P atom, the diffusion barrier energy was evaluated. As a result, the diffusion barrier energy was almost the same as the P segregation energy of an interstitial site in the GB, and it was found that P atoms migrate via interstitial sites in the GB.
hydrogen partitioning controlToda, Hiroyuki*; Yamaguchi, Masatake; Matsuda, Kenji*; Shimizu, Kazuyuki*; Hirayama, Kyosuke*; Su, H.*; Fujihara, Hiro*; Ebihara, Kenichi; Itakura, Mitsuhiro; Tsuru, Tomohito; et al.
Tetsu To Hagane, 105(2), p.240 - 253, 2019/02
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0(Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering)no abstracts in English
Yamaguchi, Masatake; Ebihara, Kenichi; Itakura, Mitsuhiro; Tsuru, Tomohito; Matsuda, Kenji*; Toda, Hiroyuki*
Computational Materials Science, 156, p.368 - 375, 2019/01
Times Cited Count：23 Percentile：73.17(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)The segregation of multiple hydrogen atoms along aluminum (Al) grain boundaries (GBs) and fracture surfaces (FSs) was investigated through first-principles calculations considering the characteristics of GBs. The results indicate that hydrogen segregation is difficult along low-energy GBs. The segregation energy of multiple hydrogen atoms along GBs and FSs and the cohesive energy was obtained for three types of high-energy Al GBs. With increasing hydrogen segregation along the GBs, the cohesive energy of the GB decreases and approaches zero with no decrease in GB segregation energy. The GB cohesive energy decreases in parallel with the volume expansion of the region of low electron density along the GB.
Yamaguchi, Masatake; Tsuru, Tomohito; Ebihara, Kenichi; Itakura, Mitsuhiro
Keikinzoku, 68(11), p.588 - 595, 2018/11
no abstracts in English
Ebihara, Kenichi; Yamaguchi, Masatake; Tsuru, Tomohito; Itakura, Mitsuhiro
Keikinzoku, 68(11), p.596 - 602, 2018/11
Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) is considered as one cause of stress corrosion cracking. HE is a serious problem in the development of high strength aluminum alloy as with steels. For understanding HE, it is inevitable to know hydrogen trapping states in the alloys and it can be identified using thermal desorption spectrometry of H. In this study, we numerically simulated thermal desorption spectra of hydrogen in aluminum for a cylindrical and a plate specimens and interpreted the desorption peaks included in them on the basis of the trap site concentration and the trap energy. As a result, we found that the peak at the lowest-temperature side can result from grain boundaries and confirmed that the reported interpretation for other peaks is reasonable. We also obtained the result showing the possibility that the trap site concentration of defects changes during heating the specimens. This result may give a suggestion for the interpretation of temperature desorption spectra of steels.
Ebihara, Kenichi; Saito, Kei*; Takai, Kenichi*
"Suiso Zeika No Kihon Yoin To Tokusei Hyoka" Kenkyukai Hokokusho, p.57 - 61, 2018/09
no abstracts in English
