Oxygen interstitials make metastable titanium alloys strong and ductile

Chong, Y.*; Gholizadeh, R.*; Guo, B.*; Tsuru, Tomohito; Zhao, G.*; Yoshida, Shuhei*; Mitsuhara, Masatoshi*; Godfrey, A.*; Tsuji, Nobuhiro*

Acta Materialia, 257, p.119165_1 - 119165_14, 2023/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2023.119165

Metastable titanium alloys possess excellent strain-hardening capability, but suffer from a low yield strength. As a result, numerous attempts have been made to strengthen this important structural material in the last decade. Here, we explore the contributions of grain refinement and interstitial additions in raising the yield strength of a Ti-12Mo (wt.%) metastable titanium alloy. Surprisingly, rather than strengthening the material, grain refinement actually lowers the ultimate tensile strength in this alloy. This unexpected and anomalous behavior is attributed to a significant enhancement in strain-induced martensite phase transformation, where in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction analysis reveals, for the first time, that this phase is much softer than the parent phase. Instead, a combination of both oxygen addition and grain refinement is found to realize an unprecedented strength-ductility synergy in a Ti-12Mo-0.3O (wt.%) alloy. The advantageous effect of oxygen solutes in this ternary alloy is twofold. Firstly, solute oxygen largely suppresses strain-induced transformation to the martensite phase, even in a fine-grained microstructure, thus avoiding the softening effect of excessive amounts of martensite. Secondly, oxygen solutes readily segregate to twin boundaries, as revealed by atom probe tomography. This restricts the growth of deformation twins, thereby promoting more extensive twin nucleation, leading to enhanced microstructural refinement. The insights from our work provide a cost-effective rationale for the design of strong yet tough metastable titanium alloys, with significant implications for more widespread use of this high strength-to-weight structural material.

PANDORA Project for the study of photonuclear reactions below

Tamii, Atsushi*; Pellegri, L.*; Sderstrm, P.-A.*; Allard, D.*; Goriely, S.*; Inakura, Tsunenori*; Khan, E.*; Kido, Eiji*; Kimura, Masaaki*; Litvinova, E.*; et al.

European Physical Journal A, 59(9), p.208_1 - 208_21, 2023/09

https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-023-01081-w

no abstracts in English

Grain refinement in titanium prevents low temperature oxygen embrittlement

Chong, Y.*; Gholizadeh, R.*; Tsuru, Tomohito; Zhang, R.*; Inoue, Koji*; Gao, W.*; Godfrey, A.*; Mitsuhara, Masatoshi*; Morris, J. W. Jr.*; Minor, A. M.*; et al.

Nature Communications (Internet), 14, p.404_1 - 404_11, 2023/02

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36030-0

Interstitial oxygen embrittles titanium, particularly at cryogenic temperatures, which necessitates a stringent control of oxygen content in fabricating titanium and its alloys. Here, we propose a structural strategy, via grain refinement, to alleviate this problem. Compared to a coarse-grained counterpart that is extremely brittle at 77K, the uniform elongation of an ultrafine-grained (UFG) microstructure (grain size 2.0 m) in Ti-0.3wt.%O was successfully increased by an order of magnitude, maintaining an ultrahigh yield strength inherent to the UFG microstructure. This unique strength-ductility synergy in UFG Ti-0.3wt.%O was achieved via the combined effects of diluted grain boundary segregation of oxygen that helps to improve the grain boundary cohesive energy and enhanced dislocation activities that contribute to the excellent strain hardening ability. The present strategy could not only boost the potential applications of high strength Ti-O alloys at low temperatures, but could also be applied to other alloy systems, where interstitial solution hardening results into an undesirable loss of ductility.

Ultrahigh yield strength and large uniform elongation achieved in ultrafine-grained titanium containing nitrogen

Chong, Y.*; Tsuru, Tomohito; Guo, B.*; Gholizadeh, R.*; Inoue, Koji*; Tsuji, Nobuhiro*

Acta Materialia, 240, p.118356_1 - 118356_15, 2022/11

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2022.118356

In this study, we systematically investigated the influences of nitrogen content and grain size on the tensile properties and deformation behaviors of titanium at room temperature. By high-pressure torsion and annealing, we obtained ultrafine-grained (UFG) Ti-0.3wt.%N alloy with a fully recrystallized microstructure, which combined an unprecedented synergy of ultrahigh yield strength (1.04 GPa) and large uniform elongation (10%). The hardening and strain-hardening mechanisms of Ti-0.3wt.%N alloy were comprehensively studied via deformation substructure observation and first-principles calculations. It is revealed that the contributions of nitrogen to the excellent strength/ductility balance in UFG Ti-0.3wt.%N were twofold. On one hand, nitrogen atoms inside the grains strongly impeded the motion of dislocations on prismatic plane due the shuffling of nitrogen from octahedral to hexahedral site, giving rise to a six-fold increase in the friction stress than pure Ti. Moreover, the greatly reduced stacking fault energy difference between prismatic and pyramidal planes in Ti-0.3wt.%N alloy facilitated an easier activation of dislocations, which contributed to an enhanced strain-hardening rate. On the other hand, some nitrogen atoms segregated near the grain boundaries, a phenomenon discovered in -titanium for the first time. These segregated nitrogen atoms served as an additional contributor to the yield strength of UFG Ti-0.3wt.%N, by raising the barrier against dislocation slip transfer between grains. Our experimental and theoretical calculation work provide insights for the design of affordable high strength titanium without a large sacrifice of ductility, shedding lights on a more widespread use of this high strength to weight material.

Effective grain size refinement of an Fe-24Ni-0.3C metastable austenitic steel by a modified two-step cold rolling and annealing process utilizing the deformation-induced martensitic transformation and its reverse transformation

Mao, W.; Gao, S.*; Bai, Y.*; Park, M.-H.*; Shibata, Akinobu*; Tsuji, Nobuhiro*

Journal of Materials Research and Technology, 17, p.2690 - 2700, 2022/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2022.02.031

Metastable austenitic steels having ultrafine grained (UFG) microstructures can be fabricated by conventional cold rolling and annealing processes by utilizing the deformation-induced martensitic transformation during cold rolling and its reverse transformation to austenite upon annealing. However, such processes are not applicable when the austenite has high mechanical stability against deformation-induced martensitic transformation, since there is no sufficient amount of martensite formed during cold rolling. In the present study, a two-step cold rolling and annealing process was applied to an Fe-24Ni-0.3C metastable austenitic steel having high mechanical stability. Prior to the cold rolling, a repetitive subzero treatment and reverse annealing treatment were applied. Such a treatment dramatically decreased the mechanical stability of the austenite and greatly accelerated the formation of deformation-induced martensite during the following cold rolling processes. As a result, the grain refinement was significantly promoted, and a fully recrystallized specimen with a mean austenite grain size of 0.5 mm was successfully fabricated, which exhibited both high strength and high ductility.

Half-integer Shapiro steps in strong ferromagnetic Josephson junctions

Yao, Y.*; Cai, R.*; Yang, S.-H.*; Xing, W.*; Ma, Y.*; Mori, Michiyasu; Ji, Y.*; Maekawa, Sadamichi; Xie, X.-C.*; Han, W.*

Physical Review B, 104(10), p.104414_1 - 104414_6, 2021/09

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.104.104414

Performance of in situ gamma-ray spectrometry in the assessment of radioactive cesium deposition around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Ji, Y.-Y.*; Ochi, Kotaro; Hong, S. B.*; Nakama, Shigeo; Sanada, Yukihisa; Mikami, Satoshi

Radiation Physics and Chemistry, 179, p.109205_1 - 109205_11, 2021/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2020.109205

In situ gamma-ray spectrometry using diverse survey platforms has been conducted in contaminated areas with several dose rate levels around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP). Six survey sites, including two evacuation zones around the FDNPP, were selected for ground-based gamma-ray spectrometry using HPGe (high purity Ge) and LaBr(Ce) detectors to assess the radioactive cesium deposition in the ground. The diverse levels of radioactivity of Cs were then distributed to six survey sites from 30 to 3000 kBq m in the measurement period of October 2018. A method to directly calculate the depth profile using in situ measurement was introduced so as to have representation over a wide area, and the results were successfully compared with those of sample analysis at one point in the site.

Expansion of high temperature creep test data for failure evaluation of BWR lower head in severe accident

Yamaguchi, Yoshihito; Katsuyama, Jinya; Kaji, Yoshiyuki; Osaka, Masahiko; Li, Y.

Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 7(3), p.19-00560_1 - 19-00560_12, 2020/06

https://doi.org/10.1299/mej.19-00560

Since the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, we have been developing a failure evaluation method that considers creep damage mechanisms using detailed three-dimensional finite element analysis model of lower head including penetration, stub tubes, and weld parts, etc., for the early completion of the decommissioning of the nuclear power plants in Fukushima Daiichi. For the finite element analysis, we have been obtaining material properties for which no data are provided in existing databases or in the literature. In particular, creep data corresponding to the high temperature region near the melting point of materials is important in evaluating creep deformation under severe accident conditions. In this study, we obtained the uniaxial tensile and creep properties for low-alloy steel, stainless steel, and Ni-based alloy. In particular, creep test data with long rupture times at high temperatures are expanded using a tensile test machine that can measure the elongation of test specimens in a noncontact measurement system. The parameters related to the failure evaluation were improved on the basis of the expanded creep database.

First direct mass measurements of nuclides around = 100 with a multireflection time-of-flight mass spectrograph

Ito, Yuta*; Schury, P.*; Wada, Michiharu*; Arai, Fumiya*; Haba, Hiromitsu*; Hirayama, Yoshikazu*; Ishizawa, Satoshi*; Kaji, Daiya*; Kimura, Sota*; Koura, Hiroyuki; et al.

Physical Review Letters, 120(15), p.152501_1 - 152501_6, 2018/04

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.152501

Masses of Es, Fm and the transfermium nuclei Md, and No, produced by hot- and cold-fusion reactions, in the vicinity of the deformed neutron shell closure, have been directly measured using a multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrograph. The masses of Es and Md were measured for the first time. Using the masses of Md as anchor points for decay chains, the masses of heavier nuclei, up to Bh and Mt, were determined. These new masses were compared with theoretical global mass models and demonstrated to be in good agreement with macroscopic-microscopic models in this region. The empirical shell gap parameter derived from three isotopic masses was updated with the new masses and corroborate the existence of the deformed neutron shell closure for Md and Lr.

Wetting induced oxidation of Pt-based nano catalysts revealed by high energy resolution X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Cui, Y.-T.*; Harada, Yoshihisa*; Niwa, Hideharu*; Hatanaka, Tatsuya*; Nakamura, Naoki*; Ando, Masaki*; Yoshida, Toshihiko*; Ishii, Kenji*; Matsumura, Daiju; Oji, Hiroshi*; et al.

Scientific Reports (Internet), 7(1), p.1482_1 - 1482_8, 2017/05

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-00639-1