Assessment of hydrogen embrittlement behavior in Al-Zn-Mg alloy through multi-modal 3D image-based simulation

Fujihara, Hiro*; Toda, Hiroyuki*; Ebihara, Kenichi; Kobayashi, Masakazu*; Mayama, Tsuyoshi*; Hirayama, Kyosuke*; Shimizu, Kazuyuki*; Takeuchi, Akihisa*; Uesugi, Masayuki*

International Journal of Plasticity, 174, p.103897_1 - 103897_22, 2024/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijplas.2024.103897

Hydrogen(H) embrittlement in high-strength aluminum(Al) alloys is a crucial problem. H accumulation at the interface of precipitates in Al alloy is considered to cause embrittlement. However, there is no quantitative knowledge regarding the interaction between H distribution and stress field near cracks. In this study, using a multi-modal three-dimensional image-based simulation combining the crystal plasticity finite element method and H diffusion analysis, we tried to capture the stress distribution near the crack, its influence on the H distribution, and the probability of crack initiation in the experimental condition. As a result, it was found that grain boundary cracks transition to quasi-cleavage cracks in the region where the cohesive energy of the semi-coherent interface of MgZn precipitates decreases due to H accumulation near the tip. We believe the present simulation method successfully bridges nanoscale delamination and macroscale brittle fracture.

Quantitative measurement of figure of merit for transverse thermoelectric conversion in Fe/Pt metallic multilayers

Yamazaki, Takumi*; Hirai, Takamasa*; Yagi, Takashi*; Yamashita, Yuichiro*; Uchida, Kenichi*; Seki, Takeshi*; Takanashi, Koki

Physical Review Applied (Internet), 21(2), p.024039_1 - 024039_11, 2024/02

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.21.024039

Local structural changes in V-Ti-Cr alloy hydrides with hydrogen absorption/desorption cycling

Ikeda, Kazutaka*; Sashida, Sho*; Otomo, Toshiya*; Oshita, Hidetoshi*; Honda, Takashi*; Hawai, Takafumi*; Saito, Hiraku*; Ito, Shinichi*; Yokoo, Tetsuya*; Sakaki, Koji*; et al.

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 51(Part A), p.79 - 87, 2024/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.10.318

Recrystallization of bulk nanostructured magnesium alloy AZ31 after severe plastic deformation; An in situ diffraction study

Liss, K.-D.*; Han, J.-K.*; Blankenburg, M.*; Lienert, U.*; Harjo, S.; Kawasaki, Takuro; Xu, P. G.; Yukutake, Eitaro*; Kawasaki, M.*

Journal of Materials Science, 23 Pages, 2024/00

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-023-09250-4

Dirac Kondo effect under magnetic catalysis

Hattori, Koichi*; Suenaga, Daiki*; Suzuki, Kei; Yasui, Shigehiro*

Physical Review B, 108(24), p.245110_1 - 245110_11, 2023/12

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.108.245110

We develop a mean-field theory of a novel Kondo effect emerging in systems without a Fermi surface, which instead emerges under strong magnetic fields. We determine the magnitude of the Kondo condensate, which is a particle pairing composed of conducting Dirac fermions and localized impurities. We focus on the competition between the Kondo effect and the energy gap formation that stems from the pairing among the Dirac fermions leading to the dynamical chiral symmetry breaking. We find that this competition induces a quantum critical point. We also investigate finite-temperature effects. This system at vanishing fermion density can be studied with Monte Carlo lattice simulations, which do not suffer from the sign problem.

First-principles calculations of hydrogen trapping energy on incoherent interfaces of aluminum alloys

Yamaguchi, Masatake; Ebihara, Kenichi; Tsuru, Tomohito; Itakura, Mitsuhiro

Materials Transactions, 64(11), p.2553 - 2559, 2023/11

https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-M2023106

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.

Development of PdMnGa metamagnetic shape memory alloy with small energy loss

Ito, Tatsuya; Xu, X.*; Omori, Toshihiro*; Kainuma, Ryosuke*

Busseiken Dayori, 63(3), p.8 - 10, 2023/10

https://www.issp.u-tokyo.ac.jp/maincontents/docs/tayori63-3.pdf

no abstracts in English

Dirac/Weyl-node-induced oscillating Casimir effect

Nakayama, Katsumasa*; Suzuki, Kei

Physics Letters B, 843, p.138017_1 - 138017_7, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2023.138017

The Casimir effect is a quantum phenomenon induced by the zero-point energy of relativistic fields confined in a finite-size system. This effect for photon fields has been studied for a long time, while the realization of counterparts for fermion fields in Dirac/Weyl semimetals is an open question. We theoretically demonstrate the typical properties of the Casimir effect for relativistic electron fields in Dirac/Weyl semimetals and show the results from an effective Hamiltonian for realistic materials such as CdAs and NaBi. We find an oscillation of the Casimir energy as a function of the thickness of the thin film, which stems from the existence of Dirac/Weyl nodes in momentum space. Experimentally, such an effect can be observed in thin films of semimetals, where the thickness dependence of thermodynamic quantities is affected by the Casimir energy.

Development of bearing units used in the rotating shaft system for power generation in the JAEA-Tokai Tandem accelerator

Otokawa, Yoshinori; Matsuda, Makoto; Abe, Shinichi

JAEA-Technology 2022-037, 23 Pages, 2023/03

JAEA-Technology-2022-037.pdf:5.38MB

Bearing units of rotating shaft system for power generation in the JAEA-Tokai Tandem accelerator had a short operating life from the beginning of the accelerator installation, and even after replacing the bearing unit, early failures often occurred. Therefore, the quantity and frequency of replacement are large, and a lot of time is spent in regular maintenance performed by opening the accelerator pressure vessel, and solving this problem has been a long-standing concern. As a result of considering the cause of this early failure, it was considered that the load caused by parallel, angular, and axial misalignment of the upper and lower bearing units was the cause. In order to solve this problem, we have developed a bearing unit having metal disc-spring couplings in the upper and lower flanges to allow for parallel, angular, and axial misalignment of bearing units. As a result, it is now possible to allow variations in the distance between castings and parallel, angular, and axial misalignment of the upper and lower bearing units. By installing the developed new bearing unit on the rotating shaft system and making improvements while continuing to use it in actual operation, we succeeded in reducing the early failure and extending the operating life by more than double. With this development, the maintenance time has been reduced to one week by reducing the number of replacing the bearing unit. In addition, we have realized one regular maintenance that was carried out about three times a year, and as a benefit, we were able to reduce the amount of sulfur hexafluoride (SF) gas, which is a greenhouse gas, to about 3350% per year. We describe about development of new bearing units and these maintenance status from 2006 to 2020.

Investigation of hydrogen superoxide adsorption during ORR on Pt/C catalyst in acidic solution for PEFC by high energy resolution XAFS

Yamamoto, Naoki*; Matsumura, Daiju; Hagihara, Yuto*; Tanaka, Kei*; Hasegawa, Yuta*; Ishii, Kenji*; Tanaka, Hirohisa*

Journal of Power Sources, 557, p.232508_1 - 232508_10, 2023/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2022.232508