Compositional Dependence of Magnetocrystalline Anisotropy in Fe-, Co-, and Cu-Alloyed Ni-Mn-Ga

The key for the existence of magnetic induced reorientation is strong magnetocrystalline anisotropy, i.e., the coupling between ferroelastic and ferromagnetic ordering. To increase the transformation temperatures and thus functionality, various elemental alloying in Ni-Mn-Ga is tried. We analyzed more than twenty polycrystalline alloys alloyed by small amount (up to 5atom%) of transitional metals Co, Fe, Ni, and Cu for the value of magnetic anisotropy in search of general trends with alloying. In agreement with previous reports, we found that maximum anisotropy occurs at stoichiometric Ni2MnGa and any alloying decreases its value. The strongest decrease of the anisotropy is observed in the case where the alloyed elements substitute Ga.

Modern Powder Metallurgy: Chemical Composition Design for Improved Heat Resistant Alloys

The modern approach to the design of heat-resistant metal alloys (HRAs) is analyzed, according to which the creep rupture characteristics of an alloy are mostly determined by the strength of interatomic bonding at grain boundaries (GBs) and in the bulk of a matrix phase. The main attention is paid to the concept of “low alloying additions” to polycrystalline alloys with transition metals, because of which the cohesive strength of the GBs and the cohesion energy of the alloy matrix are increased. This approach is especially important in relation to alloys obtained by powder metallurgy, which, in the compacted state, are fine-grained polycrystals. The methodology for calculating the key parameters of the theory (the energy of impurity segregation to the grain boundaries Egb and to the free surface Efs, as well as the values of the partial molar energy of the cohesion of the alloys) from the first principles is given. The results of applying the theory to the study of Ni-, Cr- and Ti-based alloys and the development of new HRAs based on them are presented. Typical defects in the microstructures of objects obtained using additive technologies (AT) and the application efficiency of standard methods of processing powder alloys (Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP), heat treatment (HT)) to improve the microstructure and increase the mechanical properties are considered.

Grain polydispersity and coherent crystal reorientations are features to foster stress hotspots in polycrystalline alloys under load

The mechanical properties of metallic alloys are controlled through the design of their polycrystalline structure via heat treatments. For single-phase microstructures, they aim to achieve a particular average grain diameter to leverage stress hardening or softening. The stochastic nature of the recrystallization process generates a grain size distribution, and the randomness of the crystallographic orientation determines the anisotropy of a mechanical response. We developed a multiscale computational formalism to capture the collective mechanical response of polycrystalline microstructures at unprecedented length scales. We found that for an averaged grain size, the mechanical response is highly dependent on the grain size distribution. The simulations reveal the topological conditions that promote coherent grain texturization and grain growth inhibition during stress relaxation. We identify the microstructural features that are responsible for the appearance of stress hotspots. Our results provide the elusive evidence of how stress hotspots are ideal precursors for plastic and creep failure.

Forecasting and Detection of Fatigue Cracks in Polycrystalline Alloys With Ultrasonic Testing Via Discrete Wavelet Transform

Forecasting and detection of fatigue cracks play a key role in damage mitigation of mechanical structures (e.g., those made of polycrystalline alloys) to enhance their service life, and ultrasonic testing (UT) has emerged as a powerful tool for detection of fatigue cracks at early stages of damage evolution. Along this line, the work reported in this paper aims to improve the performance of fatigue crack forecasting and detection based on a synergistic combination of discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and Hilbert transform (HT) of UT data, collected from a computer-instrumented and computer-controlled fatigue-testing apparatus. Performance of the proposed method is evaluated by comparison with the images generated from a digital microscope, which are treated as the ground truth in this paper. The results of comparison reveal that forthcoming fatigue cracks can be detected ahead of their appearance on the surface of test specimens. The proposed method apparently outperforms both HT and conventional DWT, when they are applied individually, because the synergistic combination of DWT and HT provides a better characterization of UT signal attenuation for detection of fatigue crack damage.

Evolution of the microstructure and its parameters in copper-aluminum polycrystalline alloys during active plastic deformation with different stacking-fault energy

Evolution of the dislocation structure during active plastic deformation was carried out in copper-aluminum alloys with Al content of 0.5-14 at. % using transmission electron microscopy. Analysis of the types of the dislocation substructure as a function of the alloying element content and deformation degree was conducted. The following parameters of the defect substructure were measured: average scalar dislocation density, curvature-torsion of the crystal lattice and microtwin density. The effect of stacking fault energy on accumulation of defects in the alloys was observed and evaluated.

Carbides and Carbon Control in MC – Reinforced Superalloys

Polycrystalline alloys based on cobalt and elaborated by classical foundry are known since the middle of the last century. They are currently still used, notably for geometrically complex components working at high temperature. Beyond the oldest ones reinforced by chromium carbides, new principles of carbides–strengthened cobalt–based alloys have recently appeared. MC–type refractory mono–carbides allow maintaining the melting start temperature at a high level when they are present as single carbide phase. Their high temperature stabilities and script–like morphologies also favor high mechanical properties at elevated temperatures. Optimized MC–carbides fractions can be obtained with carbon contents, close to 0.4 wt.%C, for achieving significant strengthening without threat for the low and high temperature toughness. Controlling the carbon content is thus of prior importance. Unfortunately the most common metallographic apparatus used for measuring the chemical composition of alloys – the Energy Dispersion Spectrometers (EDS) attached to Scanning Electrons Microscopes (SEM) – are not able to analyze, with sufficient accuracy, carbon with so low contents. A simple indirect method using both EDS and SEM is proposed here to get some information about the carbon content in several MC–reinforced Co–based superalloys.