Microstructure Imaging, Precipitation Formation and Mechanical Properties: Al–Li and Al–Mg–Zn Alloys

Author(s):  
Wilfried Wunderlich ◽  
Janos Lendvai ◽  
Hans-Joachim Gudladt

This article describes concepts of three features of microstructure–properties relationship, first the imaging and formation of nano-particles, then their contribution to hardness, and finally hydrogen embrittlement during fatigue. First, we briefly review the imaging modes in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for nano-sized precipitates. The next issue is the hardening in Aluminum alloys, which is caused by GP-zones or precipitates, formed at the second step of the annealing process. After homogenization, the peak-hardness can be generally achieved by a few hours of annealing between 120°C and 200°C. Hardness measurements and equal-channel axial pressing (ECAP) showed that even at room temperature the driving force for formation of the particles is so strong that already within one hour of annealing after homogenization a remarkable hardening occurs. The third issue, hydrogen embrittlement, is caused by oxidation of pure Al surfaces produced at the crack tip during fatigue under ambient or wet moisture conditions. The cracks propagate preferentially along the precipitation free zone adjacent to grain boundaries, where hydrogen diffusion is fastest.

Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuiqing Chi ◽  
Yunlai Deng ◽  
Xuehong Xu ◽  
Xiaobin Guo

The effect of 0.2 wt.% Zn addition on microstructure, age hardening and intergranular corrosion (IGC) properties of Al-Mg-Si alloy were investigated by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, hardness testing, and electrochemistry testing. The results showed that the addition of Zn can accelerate the transformation of GP zones into β″, and make the intragranular precipitates become smaller and with higher density. This is beneficial to the precipitation strengthening of the alloy, leading to obtaining higher hardness and enhancing the age hardening response. The peak hardness of the alloy with the addition of Zn is 125.8 HV which means increasing the hardness by 12.7 HV, compared with the alloy without Zn. However, the addition of Zn makes the precipitate-free zone (PFZ) of the alloy wider, and coarsens the grain boundary precipitates slightly, which result in the reduction of IGC resistance of Al-Mg-Si alloy. The maximum corrosion depth of the Zn-containing alloy is 121.3 μm in the peak age condition, which is 35.7 μm deeper than the alloy without Zn. The result of the potentiodynamic polarization curves also demonstrated the increase of IGC sensitivity. The corrosion current density of the alloy with added Zn is 0.595 μA/cm2 in the peak age condition, while that for the alloy without Zn is 0.199 μA/cm2.


2003 ◽  
Vol 792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Jiang

ABSTRACTElectron irradiation-induced modifications in two glasses, K2O – SiO2 and Au doped Na2O – B2O3 – SiO2, were observed in electron microscope. The products of modifications were “nano-particle” like contrasts in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images, which can be easily confused with real nano-particles and phase separation. The driving force for the modifications in the glasses is the tendency of elimination of non-bridging oxygen (NBO) through the removal of cations. The phase separation into cation rich and poor region is their nature under electron irradiation. Therefore, it is absolutely essential to record in situ frames when the TEM images are used to provide microstructure information of glasses. Additionally, charging effects in glasses have also been discussed.


Author(s):  
Tai D. Nguyen ◽  
Ronald Gronsky ◽  
Jeffrey B. Kortright

Nanometer period Ru/C multilayers are one of the prime candidates for normal incident reflecting mirrors at wavelengths < 10 nm. Superior performance, which requires uniform layers and smooth interfaces, and high stability of the layered structure under thermal loadings are some of the demands in practical applications. Previous studies however show that the Ru layers in the 2 nm period Ru/C multilayer agglomerate upon moderate annealing, and the layered structure is no longer retained. This agglomeration and crystallization of the Ru layers upon annealing to form almost spherical crystallites is a result of the reduction of surface or interfacial energy from die amorphous high energy non-equilibrium state of the as-prepared sample dirough diffusive arrangements of the atoms. Proposed models for mechanism of thin film agglomeration include one analogous to Rayleigh instability, and grain boundary grooving in polycrystalline films. These models however are not necessarily appropriate to explain for the agglomeration in the sub-nanometer amorphous Ru layers in Ru/C multilayers. The Ru-C phase diagram shows a wide miscible gap, which indicates the preference of phase separation between these two materials and provides an additional driving force for agglomeration. In this paper, we study the evolution of the microstructures and layered structure via in-situ Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and attempt to determine the order of occurence of agglomeration and crystallization in the Ru layers by observing the diffraction patterns.


2002 ◽  
Vol 718 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.D. Zakharov ◽  
P. Werner

AbstractThe structure and composition of UMo8O26 synthesized by solid state reaction method have been investigated by High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), Selected Area Electron Diffraction, and EDX microanalysis. The ordering of U vacancies results in considerable enlargement of unit cell parameters: an=6.44 nm, bn=1.45 nm, cn=1.6 nm. It is build up of four layers piled up in c direction. Each following layer is shifted relative to previous one by vector bn/4. Eight hexagonal tunnels in each layer are filled by U atoms, while the eight others are vacant (V). Interaction between U cations and vacancies is driving force for ordering. The variation of stoichiometry can be a reason for appearance of incommensurate modulations in these crystals. It seems plausible that this structure might also exhibit superconductivity at low temperatures.


2006 ◽  
Vol 519-521 ◽  
pp. 555-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter V. Liddicoat ◽  
Tomoyuki Honma ◽  
L.T. Stephenson ◽  
Simon P. Ringer

During age-hardening of certain Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys, a 90% hardness increase can occur with 75 seconds. The clustering and precipitation of solute element species during this early rapid hardening (RH) period has been investigated through atom probe tomography, transmission electron microscopy, and Vickers hardness measurements. This study has focussed on the effect of copper by analysing three alloys; Al-2.0Zn-1.8Mg-0.7Cu, Al-2.0Zn-1.7Mg-0.2Cu and Al-1.9Zn-1.7Mg (at.%). The early RH reaction in these alloys accounts for up to 70% of the total hardening (peak hardness minus as-quenched hardness) and takes place during the first 60 seconds of ageing. We report preferred solute-solute interactions in the as-quenched materials. This quenched-in nanostructure acts as a template for subsequent solute clustering, the nature of which we have correlated with ageing.


2013 ◽  
Vol 873 ◽  
pp. 206-210
Author(s):  
Kai Li ◽  
Rao Fu ◽  
Qing Ran Gao ◽  
Ai Wei Tang ◽  
Ying Feng Wang

This paper continues our previous work on preparation of triangular silver nanoparticles. The method proceeds with reaction of silver nitrate with hydrazine hydrate in the presence of polyvinyl pyrrolidone in aqueous solution. Effects of the concentration of PVP on the morphologies of Ag NPs were systematically investigated. The obtained Ag NPs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and UV-visible spectrophotometer. The results showed that, triangular Ag NPs with edge lengths in the range of 50-200 nm were obtained using PVP as protective agent with lower concentration. As the concentration of PVP increased, spherical Ag NPs with their sizes about 6.2 nm were prepared and triangular Ag NPs were not obtained. The formation mechanism of triangular Ag NPs has been studied. Ostwald ripening is the driving force on the conversion of spherical Ag NPs to triangular Ag NPs in the presence of PVP.


2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 1389-1392
Author(s):  
J.G. Jang ◽  
J.-O. Lee ◽  
C.K. Lee

AbstractRapid synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by pulsed electrodeposition was investigated in the non-aqueous electrolyte, 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazoliumbis(trifluoro-methanesulfonyl)imide ([EMIM]TFSI) with gold trichloride (AuCl3). To aid the dissolution of AuCl3, 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium chloride ([EMIM]Cl) was used as a supporting electrolyte in [EMIM]TFSI. Cyclic voltammetry experiments revealed a cathodic reaction corresponding to the reduction of gold at −0.4 V vs. Pt-QRE. To confirm the electrodeposition process, potentiostatic electrodeposition of gold in the non-aqueous electrolyte was conducted at −0.4 V for 1 h at room temperature. To synthesize AuNPs, pulsed electrodeposition was conducted with controlled duty factor, pulse duration, and overpotential. The composition, particle-size distribution, and morphology of the AuNPs were confirmed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The electrodeposited AuNPs were uniformly distributed on the platinum electrode surface without any impurities arising from the non-aqueous electrolyte. The size distribution of AuNPs could be also controlled by the electrodeposition conditions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1729-1735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Nie ◽  
Yimin Guan ◽  
Dongshan Zhao ◽  
Yu Liu ◽  
Jianian Gui ◽  
...  

The crystallographic orientation relationships (ORs) of precipitated β-Mg2Sn particles in Mg–9.76 wt% Sn alloy aged at 573 K for 5 h, corresponding to its peak hardness, were investigated by advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM). OR-3 of (110)β//(0001)αand [\overline 111]β//[1\overline 210]αand OR-4 of (110)β//(0001)αand [001]β//[2\overline 1\overline 10]αare the key ORs of β-Mg2Sn particles in the alloy. The proportions of β-Mg2Sn particles exhibiting OR-3 and OR-4 were determined as 75.1 and 24.3%, respectively. Crystallographic factors determined the predominance of OR-3 in the precipitated β-Mg2Sn particles. This mechanism was analyzed by a three-dimensional invariant line model constructed using a transformation matrix in reciprocal space. Models of the interface of precipitated β-Mg2Sn and the α-Mg matrix were constructedviahigh-resolution TEM and atomic resolution high-angle annular dark-field scanning TEM.


2011 ◽  
Vol 236-238 ◽  
pp. 2110-2113
Author(s):  
Hong Liu ◽  
Meng Yang Wang ◽  
Wei Ran Cao

The hexagonal mesoporous silica (HMS) nano-particles were prepared in mixture of 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIM+BF4-) ionic liquid and water by a sol-gel method. The structure and morphology of obtained materials were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), N2adsorption-desorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The influence of the amount of BMIM+BF4-was investigated. It was shown that the synthesized materials have discrete and uniform spherical morphology with the size in the range of 68-177 nm (obtained from DLS measurements), and the particle size of HMS can be controlled by varying the amount of BMIM+BF4-.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document