Intrinsic factors responsible for brittle versus ductile nature of refractory high-entropy alloys

Tsuru, Tomohito; Han, S.*; Matsuura, Shutaro*; Chen, Z.*; Kishida, Kyosuke; Lobzenko, I.; Rao, S.*; Woodward, C.*; George, E.*; Inui, Haruyuki*

Nature Communications (Internet), 15, p.1706_1 - 1706_10, 2024/02

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45639-8

Refractory high-entropy alloys (RHEAs) have attracted attention because of their potential for use in ultrahigh-temperature applications. Unfortunately, their body-centered-cubic (BCC) crystal structures make them more brittle than the ductile and fracture-resistant face-centered-cubic (FCC) HEAs. RHEAs also display significantly lower creep strengths than a leading Ni-base superalloy and its FCC matrix. To overcome these drawbacks and develop RHEAs into viable structural materials, improved fundamental understanding is needed of factors that control strength and ductility. Here we investigate two model RHEAs, TiZrHfNbTa and VNbMoTaW, and show that the former is plastically compressible down to 77 K, whereas the latter is not below 298 K. We find that hexagonal close-packed (HCP) elements in TiZrHfNbTa lower its dislocation core energy, increase its lattice distortion, and lower its shear modulus relative to VNbMoTaW whose elements are all BCC, leading to the formers higher ductility and modulus-normalized yield strength. Consistent with our yield strength models, primarily screw dislocations are present in TiZrHfNbTa after deformation, but equal numbers of edge and screw segments in VNbTaMoW. Dislocation cores are compact in VNbTaMoW and extended in TiZrHfNbTa, and different macroscopic slip planes are activated in the two RHEAs, which we attribute to the concentration of HCP elements. Our findings demonstrate how electronic structure changes related to the ratio of HCP to BCC elements can be used to control strength, ductility, and slip behavior to develop the next generation of high-temperature materials for more efficient power plants and transportation.

HPRL; International cooperation to identify and monitor priority nuclear data needs for nuclear applications

Dupont, E.*; Bossant, M.*; Capote, R.*; Carlson, A. D.*; Danon, Y.*; Fleming, M.*; Ge, Z.*; Harada, Hideo; Iwamoto, Osamu; Iwamoto, Nobuyuki; et al.

EPJ Web of Conferences, 239, p.15005_1 - 15005_4, 2020/09

https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202023915005

Overview of the OECD-NEA Working Party on International Nuclear Data Evaluation Cooperation (WPEC)

Fleming, M.*; Bernard, D.*; Brown, D.*; Chadwick, M. B.*; De Saint Jean, C.*; Dupont, E.*; Ge, Z.*; Harada, Hideo; Hawari, A.*; Herman, M.*; et al.

EPJ Web of Conferences, 239, p.15002_1 - 15002_4, 2020/09

https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202023915002

Investigation of the = 0 selection rule in Gamow-Teller transitions; The -decay of Hg

Berry, T. A.*; Podolyk, Zs.*; Carroll, R. J.*; Lic, R.*; Grawe, H.*; Timofeyuk, N. K.*; Alexander, T.*; Andreyev, A. N.; Ansari, S.*; Borge, M. J. G.*; et al.

Physics Letters B, 793, p.271 - 275, 2019/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2019.04.039

CIELO collaboration summary results; International evaluations of neutron reactions on uranium, plutonium, iron, oxygen and hydrogen

Chadwick, M. B.*; Capote, R.*; Trkov, A.*; Herman, M. W.*; Brown, D. A.*; Hale, G. M.*; Kahler, A. C.*; Talou, P.*; Plompen, A. J.*; Schillebeeckx, P.*; et al.

Nuclear Data Sheets, 148, p.189 - 213, 2018/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nds.2018.02.003

The CIELO collaboration has studied neutron cross sections on nuclides that significantly impact criticality in nuclear facilities - U, U, Pu, Fe, O and H - with the aim of improving the accuracy of the data and resolving previous discrepancies in our understanding. This multi-laboratory pilot project, coordinated via the OECD/NEA Working Party on Evaluation Cooperation (WPEC) Subgroup 40 with support also from the IAEA, has motivated experimental and theoretical work and led to suites of new evaluated libraries that accurately reflect measured data and also perform well in integral simulations of criticality. This report summarizes our results and outlines plans for the next phase of this collaboration.

Type II shell evolution in isobars from the island of inversion

Morales, A. I.*; Benzoni, G.*; Watanabe, H.*; Tsunoda, Yusuke*; Otsuka, T.*; Nishimura, Shunji*; Browne, F.*; Daido, R.*; Doornenbal, P.*; Fang, Y.*; et al.

Physics Letters B, 765, p.328 - 333, 2017/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2016.12.025

decay of semi-magic Cd; Revision and extension of the level scheme of In

Jungclaus, A.*; Grawe, H.*; Nishimura, Shunji*; Doornenbal, P.*; Lorusso, G.*; Simpson, G. S.*; Sderstrm, P. A.*; Sumikama, Toshiyuki*; Taprogge, J.*; Xu, Z. Y.*; et al.

Physical Review C, 94(2), p.024303_1 - 024303_8, 2016/08

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.94.024303

First observation of rays emitted from excited states south-east of Sn; The g multiplet of In

Jungclaus, A.*; Gargano, A.*; Grawe, H.*; Taprogge, J.*; Nishimura, Shunji*; Doornenbal, P.*; Lorusso, G.*; Shimizu, Y.*; Simpson, G. S.*; Sderstrm, P.-A.*; et al.

Physical Review C, 93(4), p.041301_1 - 041301_6, 2016/04

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.93.041301

Decay properties of Mn; Probing collectivity up to N=44 in Fe isotopic chain

Benzoni, G.*; Morales, A. I.*; Watanabe, H.*; Nishimura, Shunji*; Coraggio, L.*; Itaco, N.*; Gargano, A.*; Browne, F.*; Daido, R.*; Doornenbal, P.*; et al.

Physics Letters B, 751, p.107 - 112, 2015/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2015.10.025

Extending resonant inelastic X-ray scattering to the extreme ultraviolet

Wray, L. A.*; Huang, S.-W.*; Jarrige, I.*; Ikeuchi, Kazuhiko*; Ishii, Kenji; Li, J.*; Qiu, Z. Q.*; Hussain, Z.*; Chuang, Y.-D.*

Frontiers in Physics (Internet), 3, p.32_1 - 32_11, 2015/05

https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2015.00032