Silver-based alloys are significant light-load electrical contact materials(ECMs).The trade-off between mechanical properties and electrical conductivity is always an important issue for the development of silver-based ECMs.In this paper,we proposed an idea for the regulation of the mechanical properties and the electrical conductivity of Ag-11.40Cu-0.66Ni-0.05Ce(wt%)alloy using in-situ composite fiber-reinforcement.The alloy was processed using rolling,heat treatment,and heavy drawing,the strength and electrical conductivity were tested at different deformation stages,and the microstructures during deformation were observed using field emission scanning electron microscope(FESEM),transmission electron microscope(TEM)and electron backscatter diffraction(EBSD).The results show that the method proposed in this paper can achieve the preparation of in-situ composite fiber-reinforced Ag-Cu-Ni-Ce alloys.After the heavy deformation drawing,the room temperature Vickers hardness of the as-cast alloy increased from HV 81.6 to HV 169.3,and the electrical conductivity improved from 74.3%IACS(IACS,i.e.,international annealed copper standard)to 78.6%IACS.As the deformation increases,the alloy strength displays two different strengthening mechanisms,and the electrical conductivity has three stages of change.This research provides a new idea for the comprehensive performance control of high-performance silver-based ECMs.
The Fe_(949.7)Cr_(18)Mn_(1.9)Mo_(7.4)W_(1.6)B_(15.2)C_(3.8)Si_(2) amorphous coating was deposited on T91 steel substrate by using the high-velocity oxygen fuel(HVOF)spray technique to enhance the corrosion resistance of T91 stainless steel in liquid lead-bismuth eutectic(LBE).The corrosion behavior of the T91 steel and coating exposed to oxygen-saturated LBE at 400℃ for 500 h was investigated.Results showed that the T91 substrate was severely corroded and covered by a homogeneously distributed dual-layer oxide on the interface contacted to LBE,consisting of an outer magnetite layer and an inner Fe-Cr spinel layer.Meanwhile,the amorphous coating with a high glass transition temperature(Tg=550℃)and crystallization temperature(T_(x)=600℃)exhibited dramatically enhanced thermal stability and corrosion resistance.No visible LBE penetration was observed,although small amounts of Fe_(3)O_(4),Cr_(2)O_(3),and PbO were found on the coating surface.In addition,the amorphicity and interface bonding of the coating layer remained unchanged after the LBE corrosion.The Fe-based amorphous coating can act as a stable barrier layer in liquid LBE and have great application potential for long-term service in LBE-cooled fast reactors.
Precipitation of multiple strong nanoprecipitates is crucial for the development of ultrahigh-strength structural materials with a strength of 2.5 GPa or above.Nevertheless,the ductility usually loses rapidly with strength due to limited dislocation mobility and high cracking tendency if coarse non-deformable precipitates are employed.Herein,we report a 2.5 GPa maraging steel strengthened by an ultrahigh den-sity of intermeshed shearable nanostructures consisting of Ni(Al,Fe)nanoprecipitates and Mo-rich(∼30 at.%)disordered clusters,both of which assume coherent interfaces.The fully coherent B2-Ni(Al,Fe)par-ticles precipitate in an extremely fast fashion,effectively accelerating local aggregation of low-diffusivity Mo atoms and promoting the formation of Mo-rich clusters surrounding them.This elemental partition was found to be further enhanced by Co addition via depleting both residual Al and Mo within the ma-trix,leading to the formation of copious yet fine intermeshed nanostructures.During plastic deformation,the interlocked nanostructures not only enhance local cutting stress by combining long-range elastic and short-range chemically ordering effects but also improve dislocation activity and resist shear-induced plastic instability.The multiple shearable nanostructures endow decent ductility(>6%)of the 2.5 GPa steel,suggesting a new paradigm for designing ultrastrong steels.
The phase evolution and thermal expansion behavior in superalloy during heating play an essential role in controlling the size and distribution of precipitates,as well as optimizing thermomechanical properties.Synchrotron X-ray diffraction is able to go through the interior of sample and can be carried out with in situ environment,and thus,it can obtain more statistics information in real time comparing with traditional methods,such as electron and optical microscopies.In this study,in situ heating synchrotron X-ray diffraction was carried out to study the phase evolution in a typicalγ′phase precipitation strengthened Ni-based superalloy,Waspaloy,from 29 to 1050°C.Theγ′,γ,M_(23)C_(6)and M C phases,including their lattice parameters,misfits,dissolution behavior and thermal expansion coefficients,were mainly investigated.Theγ′phase and M_(23)C_(6)carbides appeared obvious dissolution during heating and re-precipitated when the temperature dropped to room temperature.Combining with the microscopy results,we can indicate that the dissolution of M_(23)C_(6)leads to the growth of grain andγ′phase cannot be completely dissolved for the short holding time above the solution temperature.Besides,the coefficients of thermal expansions of all the phases are calculated and fitted as polynomials.
Zhiran YanQing TanHua HuangHailong QinYi RongZhongnan BiRunguang LiYang RenYandong Wang
The coupling effects of the metastable austenitic phase and the amorphous matrix in a transformation-induced plasticity(TRIP)-reinforced bulk metallic glass(BMG)composite under compressive loading were investigated by employing the digital image correlation(DIC)technique.The evolution of local strain field in the crystalline phase and the amorphous matrix was directly monitored,and the contribution from the phase transformation of the metastable austenitic phase was revealed.Local shear strain was found to be effectively consumed by the displacive phase transformation of the metastable austenitic phase,which relaxed the local strain/stress concentration at the interface and thus greatly enhanced the plasticity of the TRIP-reinforced BMG composites.Our current study sheds light on in-depth understanding of the underlying deformation mechanism and the interplay between the amorphous matrix and the metastable crystalline phase during deformation,which is helpful for design of advanced BMG composites with further improved properties.
Several body-centered-cubic(BCC)refractory high entropy alloys(HEAs),i.e.,Hf Nb Ta Ti Zr,Nb Ta Ti Zr,Hf Nb Ti Zr and Nb Ti Zr,were annealed at intermediate temperatures for 100 h,and their microstructures and aging behaviors were studied in detail.All these HEAs start to decompose into multiple phases at around 500°C,but reenter the single-phase region at significantly different temperatures which were determined to be 900,1000,1100 and above 1300°C for Hf Nb Ti Zr,Nb Ti Zr,Hf Nb Ta Ti Zr and Nb Ta Ti Zr,respectively.Our analysis indicates that the onset decomposition temperature in these four HEAs is closely related to the elemental diffusion rates while the ending decomposition temperature is strongly dependent on the elemental melting points.Our findings are important not only for understanding phase stability of HEAs in general,but also for adjusting processing parameters to optimize mechanical properties of these HEAs.
Lead-bismuth eutectics (LBE) have considerable potential as a candidate material for accelerator-driven sub-critical systems(ADS).However,LBE corrosion and irradiation damage are two urgent challenges remaining to be solved for impellers of primary pumps.In this study,we have explored the possibility of using Fe-based amorphous coatings to overcome LBE corrosion and concurrently to sustain irradiation damage.Specifically,the Fe_(54)Cr_(18)Mo_(2)Zr_(8)B_(18)amorphous coating was prepared by high-velocity oxygen-fuel (HVOF) spraying on 316L steel and exposed to saturated oxygen static LBE for 500 h at 400℃.The coating with high thermal stability (T_(g)=615℃ and T_(x)=660℃) effectively prevented the substrate steel from being corroded by LBE owing to its unique long-range disordered atomic packing.The coating also exhibited strong irradiation resistance when being subjected to 45 dpa (displacement per atom) Au ion irradiation at room temperature,with no sign of crystallization even at the maximum implantation depth of 300 nm.Consequently,the hardness of the coatings before and after irradiation increased slightly.The current findings shed new insights into understanding corrosion mechanism and irradiation behavior of amorphous solids in LBE and expand the application range of amorphous materials.
Intermetallic Ti-45Al-8Nb-(W,B,Y)(at.%)and Ti-46Al-5Nb alloys are directionally solidified at a constant growth rate of 30μm·s-1 using a Bridgman type apparatus.The quenched microstructures and lengths of different phase regions were observed and measured after various growing times of 0-30 min.Results show that the phase transformations in different phase regions are mainly depending on the high temperature microstructure and the supercooling degree during quenching process.After isothermal holding,the primary phase grows into the liquid phase,the dendrites change from equiaxed to columnar grains,and the length of the L+βphase region,L+β+αphase region and mushy zone varies,indicating that the entire directional solidification process can be described by a static equilibrium-nonequilibrium-dynamic equilibrium evolution process.In addition,the gap between the original growth interface and front interface shows that the actual crystal growth rate is not equal to the drawing velocity during directional solidification.
Fu-qiang ZhangXian-fei DingHai NanRu-yue YouQiang WangJian-ping HeYan-qing SuYong-feng LiangJun-pin Lin
Aluminum alloys with ultra-strength and high-toughness are fundamental structural materials applied in the aerospace industry.Due to the intrinsic restriction between strength and toughness,optimizing a desirable combination of these conflicting properties is always challenging in material development.In this study,171 sets of data were curated based on the characteristics of high-strength and high-toughness aluminum alloys in the literature.Then,a machine learning design system(MLDS)with a property-oriented design strategy was established to rapidly discover novel aluminum alloys with ductility and toughness indexes(with elongationδ=8%–10%and fracture toughness K_(IC)=33–35 MPa·m^(1/2))comparable to those of current state-of-the-art AA7136 aluminum alloys when the ultimate tensile strength(UTS)exceeded approximately 100 MPa,with values reaching 700–750 MPa.With the MLDS for experimental verification,three typical candidate alloys show satisfactory performance with UTS of 707–736 MPa,δof 7.8%–9.5%,and K_(IC)of 32.2–33.9 MPa·m^(1/2).The high contents of Mg and Zn alloying elements in the novel alloys form abundantη'phases,which produce a significant hardening effect,while the reasonable matching of Cr,Mn,Ti and Zr dispersoids refines the grain size.The decreased Cu content compared with that in the AA7136 alloy inhibits the formation of theσphase and S phase,so that the alloys show high toughness.
Lei JiangChangsheng WangHuadong FuJie ShenZhihao ZhangJianxin Xie
