The Effect of Grain Size Distribution on the Mechanical Properties of Nanometals

2008 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. 185-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.B. Tengen ◽  
Tomasz Wejrzanowski ◽  
R. Iwankiewicz ◽  
Krzysztof Jan Kurzydlowski

Predicting the properties of a material from knowledge of the internal microstructures is attracting significant interest in the fields of materials design and engineering. The most commonly used expression, known as Hall-Petch Relationship (HPR), reports on the relationship between the flow stress and the average grain size. However, there is much evidence that other statistical information that the grain size distribution in materials may have significant impact on the mechanical properties. These could even be more pronounced in the case of grains of the nanometer size, where the HPR is no longer valid and the Reverse-HPR is more applicable. This paper proposes a statistical model for the relationship between flow stress and grain size distribution. The model considered different deformation mechanisms and was used to predict mechanical properties of aluminium and copper. The results obtained with the model shows that the dispersion of grain size distribution plays an important role in the design of desirable mechanical properties. In particular, it was found that that the dependence of a material’s mechanical properties on grain size dispersion also follows the HPR to Inverse-HPR type of behaviour. The results also show that copper is more sensitive to changes in grain size distribution than aluminium.

2009 ◽  
Vol 1224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malgorzata Lewandowska ◽  
Romuald Dobosz ◽  
Krzysztof J Kurzydlowski

AbstractThe paper reports new experimental results describing properties and microstructure of nanocrystalline metals. Nano- and sub-micron aluminium has been produced by hydrostatic extrusion at ambient tempearture. The structures have been quantified in terms of size of grains and misorientation of the grain boundaries. Different average size of grains, variable normalized width of grain size distribution and changing grain boundary misorientation distribution functions have been revealed depending on processing parameters. The results of the tensile tests showed that the average grain size, grain size distribution and the distribution function of misorientation angles influence the flow stress of obtained nano-metals. In order to explain the observed difference in the properties of nano- and micro-sized aluminium alloys, a Finite Element Method models have been developed, which assumes that both grain boundaries and grain interiors may accommodated elastic and non-linear plastic deformation. These models assumed true geometry of grains (which differed in size and shape). Also, variable mechanical properties of grain boundaries have been taken into account (elastic modulus, yield strength and work hardening rate). The results of modelling explain in a semi-quantitative way macroscopic deformation of nano-crystalline aggregates. In particular, they illustrate the importance of the interplay between properties of grain boundaries and grain interiors in elastic and plastic regime.


1986 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.J. Van Der Kolk ◽  
M.J. Verkerk

AbstractAl was evaporated at oxygen partial pressures, PO2, varying between 10−7 and 10−4 Pa on substrates of silicon nitride. The substrate temperature was varied between 20 °C and 250°C. The films were annealed at temperatures up to 500°C.For Al films deposited at 20°C, it was found that the average grain size decreases with increasing oxygen partial pressure. After annealing recrystallization was observed. The relative increase of grain size was less for higher values of pO2. Annealing gave rise to a broad grain size distribution.For Al films deposited at 250°C, the presence of oxygen caused the growth of rough inhomogeneous films. This inhomogeneous structure remained during annealing.


2000 ◽  
Vol 634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl C. Koch ◽  
J. Narayan

ABSTRACTThis paper critically reviews the data in the literature which gives softening—the inverse Hall-Petch effect—at the finest nanoscale grain sizes. The difficulties with obtaining artifactfree samples of nanocrystalline materials will be discussed along with the problems of measurement of the average grain size distribution. Computer simulations which predict the inverse Hall-Petch effect are also noted as well as the models which have been proposed for the effect. It is concluded that while only a few of the experiments which have reported the inverse Hall-Petch effect are free from obvious or possible artifacts, these few along with the predictions of computer simulations suggest it is real. However, it seems that it should only be observed for grain sizes less than about 10 nm.


2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 39-45
Author(s):  
S. I. Arkhangelskiy ◽  
D. M. Levin

A statistical analysis of the grain size distribution is important both for developing theories of the grain growth and microstructure formation, and for describing the size dependences of various characteristics of the physical and mechanical properties of polycrystalline materials. The grain size distribution is also an important characteristic of the structure uniformity and, therefore, stability of the properties of the products during operation. Statistical Monte Carlo modeling of single-phase and equiaxed polycrystalline microstructures was carried out to determine the type of statistically valid distribution function and reliable estimates of the average grain size. Statistical parameters (mean values, variances, variation coefficient) and distribution functions of the characteristics of the grain microstructure were obtained. It is shown that the distribution function of the effective grain sizes for the studied polycrystal model is most adequately described by γ-distribution, which is recommended to be used in analysis of the experimental distribution functions of grain sizes of single-phase polycrystalline materials with equiaxed grains. The general average (mathematical expectation) of the effective grain size (projection diameter) with γ-distribution function (parameters of the distribution function are to be previously determined in analysis of the grain structure of polycrystalline materials) should be taken as a statistically valid and reliable estimate of the average grain size. The results of statistical modeling are proved by the experimental data of metallographic study of the microstructures of single-phase model and industrial materials with different degree of the grain structure heterogeneity.


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