Temperature-dependent hardening contributions in CrFeCoNi high-entropy alloy

Naeem, M.*; He, H.*; Harjo, S.; Kawasaki, Takuro; Lin, W.*; Kai, J.-J.*; Wu, Z.*; Lan, S.*; Wang, X.-L.*

Acta Materialia, 221, p.117371_1 - 117371_18, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2021.117371

Density functional theory study of solute cluster growth processes in Mg-Y-Zn LPSO alloys

Itakura, Mitsuhiro; Yamaguchi, Masatake; Egusa, Daisuke*; Abe, Eiji*

Acta Materialia, 203, p.116491_1 - 116491_9, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2020.116491

Solute cluster in LPSO alloys plays a key role in their idiosyncratic plastic behavior such as kink formation and kink strengthening. Identifying the atomistic details of the cluster structure is a prerequisite for any atomistic modeling of LPSO alloys aiming for their improved strength and ductility, but there have been uncertainty about interstitial atom in the cluster. While density functional theory calculations have shown that inclusion of interstitial atom is energetically favorable, it has been unclear how the extra atom is provided, how much of the cluster have interstitial atoms, and what kind of element they are. In the present work we use density functional theory calculations to investigate the growth process of the solute cluster, specifically that of Mg-Y-Zn LPSO alloy, to determine the precise atomistic structure of solute cluster. We show that a pair of an interstitial atom and a vacancy is spontaneously created when a certain number of solute atoms are absorbed into the cluster, and all the full-grown cluster should include interstitial atom. We also show that interstitial atom is either Mg or Y atom, while Zn interstitial atom is extremely rare. These knowledge greatly simplifies atomistic modeling of solute clusters in Mg-Y-Zn alloy. Owing to the vacancies emitted from the cluster, vacancy density should be over-saturated in regions where solute clusters are growing, and the increased vacancy density accelerates cluster growth.

Continuous and discontinuous yielding behaviors in ferrite-cementite steels

Wang, Y.*; Tomota, Yo*; Omura, Takahito*; Gong, W.*; Harjo, S.; Tanaka, Masahiko*

Acta Materialia, 196, p.565 - 575, 2020/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2020.07.017

WB-STEM observation of dislocation loop behavior in reactor pressure vessel steel during post-irradiation annealing

Du, Y.*; Yoshida, Kenta*; Shimada, Yusuke*; Toyama, Takeshi*; Inoue, Koji*; Arakawa, Kazuto*; Suzudo, Tomoaki; Milan, K. J.*; Gerard, R.*; Onuki, Somei*; et al.

Materialia, 12, p.100778_1 - 100778_10, 2020/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtla.2020.100778

In order to ensure the integrity of the reactor pressure vessel in the long term, it is necessary to understand the effects of irradiation on the materials. In this study, irradiation-induced dislocation loops were observed in neutron-irradiated reactor pressure vessel specimens during annealing using our newly developed WB-STEM. It was confirmed that the proportion of loops increased with increasing annealing temperature. We also succeeded in observing the phenomenon that two loops collide into a loop. Moreover, a phenomenon in which dislocation loops decorate dislocations was also observed, and the mechanism was successfully explained by molecular dynamics simulation.

Role of retained austenite in low alloy steel at low temperature monitored by neutron diffraction

Yamashita, Takayuki; Morooka, Satoshi; Harjo, S.; Kawasaki, Takuro; Koga, Norimitsu*; Umezawa, Osamu*

Scripta Materialia, 177, p.6 - 10, 2020/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2019.10.002

Real time observation of martensite transformation for a 0.4C low alloyed steel by neutron diffraction

Wang, Y.*; Tomota, Yo*; Omura, Takahito*; Morooka, Satoshi; Gong, W.*; Harjo, S.

Acta Materialia, 184, p.30 - 40, 2020/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2019.11.051

Neutron diffraction study of temperature-dependent elasticity of B19' NiTi; Elinvar effect and elastic softening

Ahadi, A.*; Khaledialidusti, R.*; Kawasaki, Takuro; Harjo, S.; Barnoush, A.*; Tsuchiya, Koichi*

Acta Materialia, 173, p.281 - 291, 2019/07

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2019.05.027

Mechanism of hardening and damage initiation in oxygen embrittlement of body-centred-cubic niobium

Yang, P.-J.*; Li, Q.-J.*; Tsuru, Tomohito; Ogata, Shigenobu*; Zhang, J.-W.*; Sheng, H.-W.*; Shan, Z.-W.*; Sha, G.*; Han, W.-Z.*; Li, J.*; et al.

Acta Materialia, 168, p.331 - 342, 2019/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2019.02.030

Body-centred-cubic metallic materials, such as niobium (Nb) and other refractory metals, are prone to embrittlement due to low levels of oxygen solutes. The mechanisms responsible for the oxygen-induced rampant hardening and damage are unclear. Here we illustrate that screw dislocations moving through a random repulsive force field imposed by impurity oxygen interstitials readily form cross-kinks and emit excess vacancies in Nb. The vacancies bind strongly with oxygen and screw dislocation in a three-body fashion, rendering dislocation motion difficult and hence pronounced dislocation storage and hardening. This leads to unusually high strain hardening rates and fast breeding of nano-cavities that underlie damage and failure.

Microstructure evolution in a hydrogen charged and aged Al-Zn-Mg alloy

Bendo, A.*; Matsuda, Kenji*; Lee, S.*; Nishimura, Katsuhiko*; Toda, Hiroyuki*; Shimizu, Kazuyuki*; Tsuru, Tomohito; Yamaguchi, Masatake

Materialia, 3, p.50 - 56, 2018/11

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtla.2018.09.035

Interfacial segregation and fracture in Mg-based binary alloys; Experimental and first-principles perspective

Tsuru, Tomohito; Somekawa, Hidetoshi*; Chrzan, D. C.*

Acta Materialia, 151, p.78 - 86, 2018/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2018.03.061

We investigated the effect of solute elements on interfacial segregation and fracture in Mg alloys by experiments and first-principles density functional theory calculations in conjunction with interfacial fracture mechanics. Based on the assumption of brittle fracture in Mg alloys, the interfacial separation caused by segregated solutes in Mg can be efficiently described by the energy-based criterion of fracture, which is in good agreement with the fracture toughness obtained by experimental tests of Mg-M binary alloys. The electronic interaction, that is, the change in the electronic state between the interface and surface, mainly influences the ideal work of separation regardless of the type of interface. We found that IIIB () and IVB () solutes, such as Zr, show distinctive hybridization between the p band of Mg and the d band of the solute, which characterizes the strong fracture toughness of Zr-doped Mg alloys in both the calculations and experiments.