Temperature dependence of deformation and fracture in a beta titanium alloy of Ti-22V-4Al

Yano, Rei*; Tanaka, Masaki*; Yamasaki, Shigeto*; Morikawa, Tatsuya*; Tsuru, Tomohito

Materials Transactions, 65(10), p.1260 - 1267, 2024/10

https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-L2024012

Impact tests and tensile tests were conducted between 77K and 450K in order to elucidate the temperature dependence of absorbed-impact energy, yield stress, effective shear stress, activation volume, and activation enthalpy. The impact-absorbed energy decreased with decreasing test temperature, however, this alloy did not undergo low-temperature embrittlement although it has a bcc structure. Tensile tests showed changes in both the work-hardening rate and the temperature dependence of yield stress at approximately 120 K. This suggests a change in the mechanism behind the plastic deformation at the temperature. The temperature dependence of the activation enthalpy for dislocation glide suggests that double-kink nucleation of a screw dislocation is the dominant mechanism for the dislocation glide from 150K to 200 K, while the interaction between a dislocation and solute atoms dominantly controls the dislocation glide above 200 K. Superelasticity appears in stress-strain curves tested below 120 K, suggesting that the yielding is governed by transformation-induced plasticity below 120 K. The enhanced toughness at low temperatures in these alloys is discussed from the viewpoint of dislocation shielding theory.

Origin of excellent strength-ductility balance unique to FCC high-entropy alloys; A Plaston-based mechanism derived from electronic structure calculations

Tsuru, Tomohito

Materials Transactions, 65(9), p.988 - 994, 2024/09

https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-MA2024003

Some high-entropy alloys (HEAs) with the face-centered cubic (FCC) structure have an excellent strength-ductility balance. While unique deformation modes such as fine twinning patterns other than dislocation glide contribute to the mechanical properties, it has not understood what fundamental properties and features of HEAs cause such unique deformation. In the present study, fundamental properties responsible for the excellent mechanical properties of CoCrFeNiMn and its subsystems were explored comprehensively by the first-principles calculations. The local lattice distortion reaches almost 2% of the Burger vector, which contributes to improving strength in HEAs. Furthermore, the stacking fault energy (SFE) was significantly low in random solid solution, while it increases around some domains where the short-range order (SRO) is formed. The increase in the SFE is caused by the disturbance of the chemical SRO and the spin order due to the SF formation. Our calculations suggest that low and high SFE domains distributed in a solid solution region unique to HEAs lead to successive activation of various deformation modes (Plaston), which achieves excellent strength-ductility balance.

Gradient residual strain measurement procedure in surface impacted railway steel axles by using neutron scattering

Zhou, L.*; Zhang, H.*; Qin, T. Y.*; Hu, F. F.*; Xu, P. G.; Ao, N.*; Su, Y. H.; He, L. H.*; Li, X. H.*; Zhang, J. R.*; et al.

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 55(7), p.2175 - 2185, 2024/07

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-024-07352-5

Local atomic displacements and sign of the structural transformation in medium-entropy alloys observed in extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectra

Ikeda, Yoichi*; Umemoto, Yoshihiko*; Matsumura, Daiju; Tsuji, Takuya; Hashimoto, Yuki*; Kitazawa, Takafumi*; Fujita, Masaki*

Materials Transactions, 64(9), p.2254 - 2260, 2023/09

https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-M2023043

Non-stoichiometric -base GdO precipitations in a Mg-Zn-Gd alloy

Ito, Yuto*; Egusa, Daisuke*; Yamaguchi, Masatake; Abe, Eiji*

Materials Transactions, 64(8), p.2022 - 2025, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-M2023068

We have found that, during scanning transmission electron microscopy observations, heating of a MgZnGd (at.%) alloy at 623K leads to dynamic precipitations of face-centered-cubic ()-based Gd nanoparticles. With the aid of density-functional theory (DFT) calculations, the observed lattice constant of 5.32, which is larger than that expected for pure -Gd of 5.06, is likely to be due to oxygen atoms inserted at tetrahedral interstitial sites with essentially a fractional occupation. Systematic DFT calculations show possible occurrences of -Gd-based oxide phase with a wide non-stoichiometry range by occupying either tetrahedral or octahedral interstitial positions, being represented as GdO.

Identification of hydrogen trapping in aluminum alloys muon spin relaxation method and first-principles calculations

Tsuru, Tomohito; Nishimura, Katsuhiko*; Matsuda, Kenji*; Nunomura, Norio*; Namiki, Takahiro*; Lee, S.*; Higemoto, Wataru; Matsuzaki, Teiichiro*; Yamaguchi, Masatake; Ebihara, Kenichi; et al.

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 54(6), p.2374 - 2383, 2023/06

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-023-07024-w

Although hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility of high-strength Al alloys is recognized as a critical issue in the practical use of Al alloys, identifying the hydrogen trapping or distribution has been challenging. In the present study, an effective approach based on experiment and simulation is proposed to explore the potential trap sites in Al alloys. Zero-field muon spin relaxation experiments were carried out for Al-0.5%Mg, Al-0.2%Cu, Al-0.15%Ti, Al-0.011%Ti, Al-0.28%V, and Al-0.015%V (at.%) in the temperature range from 5 to 300 K. The temperature variations of the dipole field widths have revealed three peaks for Al-0.5%Mg, four peaks for Al-0.2%Cu, three peaks for Al-0.011%Ti and Al-0.015%V. Atomic configurations of the muon trapping sites corresponding to the observed peaks are well assigned using the first-principles calculations for the trap energies of hydrogen around a solute and solute-vacancy pair. The extracted linear relationship between the muon peak temperature and the trap energy enables us to explore the potential alloying elements and their complex that have strong binding energies with hydrogen in Al alloys.

STEM-EELS/EDS chemical analysis of solute clusters in a dilute mille-feuille-type Mg-Zn-Y alloy

Sato, Yohei*; Egusa, Daisuke*; Miyazaki, Hidetoshi*; Kimura, Koji*; Itakura, Mitsuhiro; Terauchi, Masami*; Abe, Eiji*

Materials Transactions, 64(5), p.950 - 954, 2023/05

https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-MD2022023

Dilute Mg-Zn-Y alloy with a mille-feuille structure (MFS) exhibits a mechanical strength comparable to Mg-Zn-Y alloy with long period stacking/ordered (LPSO) structure through kink deformation. In order to deepen understanding the thermal stability of the MFS-type Mg alloys, it is required to clarify the solute cluster structures composed of Zn and Y in solute enriched stacking faults (SESFs). In this study, electron energy-loss and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy based on scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM-EELS/EDS) were conducted to investigate the electronic structure and composition of Zn and Y in the SESFs of the MFS-Mg alloy. Zn-L2,3 spectra indicated that the valence charges of Zn in the dilute Mg alloy were different from that of the LPSO-type Mg-Zn-Y alloy. In addition, the intensity ratio of L3/L2 in Y-L2,3 spectrum of the dilute MFS-Mg alloy was larger than that of the LPSO-Mg alloy, reflecting the electron occupancies of 4d3/2 and 4d5/2 orbitals of Y atoms were different from those of the LPSO-Mg alloys. STEM-EELS analysis of the SESF composition in the dilute MFS-Mg alloy indicated that the Zn/Y ratio should be lower than that of the LPSO-Mg alloy, which was confirmed also by STEM-EDS measurements. These results indicate that the cluster structure in the SESFs of the dilute MFS-Mg alloy should be different from the ideal Zn6Y8 cluster in the LPSO-type Mg-Zn-Y alloys.

Effect of extrusion ratio in hot-extrusion on kink deformation during compressive deformation in an Mg/LPSO dual-phase magnesium alloy monitored by neutron diffraction

Harjo, S.; Gong, W.; Aizawa, Kazuya; Kawasaki, Takuro; Yamasaki, Michiaki*; Mayama, Tsuyoshi*; Kawamura, Yoshihito*

Materials Transactions, 64(4), p.766 - 773, 2023/02

https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-MD2022004

TEM observation and MD simulation of frank partial dislocation climbing in Al-Cu alloy

Chen, J.*; Yoshida, Kenta*; Suzudo, Tomoaki; Shimada, Yusuke*; Inoue, Koji*; Konno, Toyohiko*; Nagai, Yasuyoshi*

Materials Transactions, 63(4), p.468 - 474, 2022/04

https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-M2021233

In situ electron irradiation using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) was performed to visualize the Frank loop evolution in aluminium-copper (Al-Cu) alloy with an atomic-scale spatial resolution of 0.12 nm. The HRTEM observation along the [110] direction of the FCC-Al lattice, Frank partial dislocation bounding an intrinsic stacking fault exhibited an asymmetrical climb along the 112 direction opposed to those in the reference pure Al under an electron irradiation, with a corresponding displacement-per-atom rate of 0.055-0.120 dpa/s. The asymmetrical climb of the partial dislocation was described as pinning effects due to Cu-Cu bonding in Guinier-Preston zones by a molecular dynamics simulation.

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy investigation of thermal aging effect for the mechanical properties of hydrogen-absorbed tantalum

Ishijima, Yasuhiro; Yokoyama, Kenichi*; Ueno, Fumiyoshi; Abe, Hitoshi

Materials Transactions, 63(4), p.592 - 599, 2022/04

https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-M2021244

The effect of thermal aging on the behavior of vacancy-hydrogen (H) cluster generation and the mechanical properties of tantalum (Ta) were investigated by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) and tensile tests. Based on the PALS results, vacancy clusters that included 8-15 vacancies were generated after aging at and above 200C, and vacancy-H clusters were generated in 3 and 6 h-charged specimens after aging at 300C. The loss of ductility in Ta and crack generation were observed by conducting tensile tests in 6 h H-charged specimens after aging at 200C for 2000 h and in 3 and 6 h H-charged specimens aged at 300C for 2000 h. The reduction of ductility due to thermal aging of Ta was also observed under these thermal aging conditions. These results suggested that vacancy-H cluster generated by dissolved H during thermal aging induced the ductility loss by reducing the dislocation migration during deformation.