TESS Asteroseismology of α Mensae: Benchmark Ages for a G7 Dwarf and Its M Dwarf Companion

Asteroseismology of bright stars has become increasingly important as a method to determine the fundamental properties (in particular ages) of stars. The Kepler Space Telescope initiated a revolution by detecting oscillations in more than 500 main-sequence and subgiant stars. However, most Kepler stars are faint and therefore have limited constraints from independent methods such as long-baseline interferometry. Here we present the discovery of solar-like oscillations in α Men A, a naked-eye (V = 5.1) G7 dwarf in TESS’s southern continuous viewing zone. Using a combination of astrometry, spectroscopy, and asteroseismology, we precisely characterize the solar analog α Men A (T eff = 5569 ± 62 K, R ⋆ = 0.960 ± 0.016 R ⊙, M ⋆ = 0.964 ± 0.045 M ⊙). To characterize the fully convective M dwarf companion, we derive empirical relations to estimate mass, radius, and temperature given the absolute Gaia magnitude and metallicity, yielding M ⋆ = 0.169 ± 0.006 M ⊙, R ⋆ = 0.19 ± 0.01 R ⊙, and T eff = 3054 ± 44 K. Our asteroseismic age of 6.2 ± 1.4 (stat) ± 0.6 (sys) Gyr for the primary places α Men B within a small population of M dwarfs with precisely measured ages. We combined multiple ground-based spectroscopy surveys to reveal an activity cycle of P = 13.1 ± 1.1 yr for α Men A, a period similar to that observed in the Sun. We used different gyrochronology models with the asteroseismic age to estimate a rotation period of ∼30 days for the primary. Alpha Men A is now the closest (d = 10 pc) solar analog with a precise asteroseismic age from space-based photometry, making it a prime target for next-generation direct-imaging missions searching for true Earth analogs.

Effect of Molybdenum (Mo) Addition on Phase Composition, Microstructure, and Mechanical Properties of Pre-Alloyed Ti6Al4V Using Spark Plasma Sintering Technique

The effect of molybdenum additions on the phases, microstructures, and mechanical properties of pre-alloyed Ti6Al4V was studied through the spark plasma sintering technique. Ti6Al4V-xMo (where x = 0, 2, 4, 6 wt.% of Mo) alloys were developed, and the sintered compacts were characterized in terms of their phase composition, microstructure, and mechanical properties. The results show that the equiaxed primary alpha and Widmänstatten (alpha + beta) microstructure in pre-alloyed Ti6Al4V is transformed into a duplex and globular model with the increasing content of Mo from 0 to 6%. The changing pattern of the microstructure of the sample strongly influences the properties of the material. The solid solution hardening element such as Mo enhances mechanical properties such as yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, ductility, and hardness compared with the pre-alloyed Ti6Al4V alloy.

PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF BILLET PROCESSING ROUTE ON MICROSTRUCTURE, TEXTURE AND FATIGUE RESPONSE OF Ti834 FORGED DISC PRODUCTS

Non-standard processing routes for the manufacture of industrial scale Ti834 billet have been undertaken to investigate their effect on macrozones in final forged product. Microstructure, texture and dwell fatigue fracture surfaces were characterised from forged disc samples fabricated from these new billets. All processing routes showed a bimodal microstructure consisting of 25pct of primary alpha grains in a transformed beta matrix. Texture analysis has revealed variations in the presence and size of macrozones with relatively weak textures. Quasi-cleavage facets were present in all dwell fatigue samples although the fatigue life was doubled for the sample whose thermomechanical processing has the highest imposed strain.

Fatigue Performance of the Novel Titanium Alloy TIMETAL®407

TIMETAL®407 (Ti-407) is a novel titanium alloy formulated as a medium strength, highly ductile alloy offering a range of manufacturing cost reduction opportunities. It can be used as a direct replacement for Ti-6Al-4V or Ti-3Al-2.5V alloys, particularly in applications where energy absorption during fracture or HCF endurance are the key design criteria. The effect of thermo-mechanical processing on microstructure has been characterised and the room temperature high cycle, low cycle and dwell cycle fatigue properties of Ti-407 containing 30-40% primary alpha volume fraction are presented and discussed. These results are compared with data generated from Ti-6Al-4V processed to provide a similar but non-standard microstructure and demonstrate that Ti-407 shows superior HCF endurance strength, despite having a significantly lower tensile and yield strength.

Further Research on Hardenability of Ti-1023 β Alloy Leading to a New DOE

As part of a treatise on the hardenability of Ti-1023, a summary about the nucleation mechanisms of primary and secondary alpha, the viability of two-step aging, and existence of precipitation-free zones is provided. Assumptions are given on the nucleation mechanism of primary alpha particles and the effect of higher beta stabiliser content on stress-induced martensitic transformation. It is reminded that further research into two-step aging would be beneficial. A proposed design of the experiment deals with the existence of martensite in stressed samples, so that the martensitic transformation is minimized by an increased content of beta stabilisers, volume fraction of primary alpha, and beta grain size. Finally, a microstructure with stress-induced omega particles as precursors of secondary alpha particles may result in a better trade-off of mechanical properties; it is suggested that this be explored.

Microstructure formation during thermomechanical processing in Ti-17 alloy

The microstructure evolution during solution treatment at (alpha+beta) two phase region and subsequent aging process at 620 ˚C, after compressing the specimen in beta structure to different strain (0-70%) followed by cooling to room temperature has been investigated. Deformation strain hardly affects the total volume fraction of alpha phase after the solution treatment and aging process. On the other hand, with an increase in deformation strain, the volume fraction of the primary alpha phase increased although secondary alpha phase decreased, during the aging process, scuhdecrease in secondary alpha phase volume fraction results in a decrease in the strength. The loss of coherency of alpha/beta interphase boundaries at higher deformation strain promoted by dynamic recovery increases the interfacial mobility; which results in faster growth of primary alpha, thereby decreases secondary alpha precipitation.

The Kinetics of Primary Alpha Plate Growth in Titanium Alloys

The kinetics of primary α-Ti colony/Widmanstätten plate growth from the β are examined in Ti-6246, comparing a simple quasi-analytic model to experiment. The plate growth velocity depends sensitively both on the diffusivity D(T) of the rate-limiting species and on the supersaturation around the growing plate. These result in a maxima in growth velocity around 40 K below the transus, once sufficient supersaturation is available to drive the plate growth. In Ti-6246, the plate growth velocity was found to be around 0.32 μm min−1 at 850 °C, which was in good agreement with the model prediction of 0.36 μm min−1. The solute field around the growing plates, and the plate thickness, was found to be quite variable, due to the intergrowth of plates and soft impingement. This solute field was found to extend to up to 30 nm, and the interface concentration in the β was found to be around 6.4 at. pct Mo. It was found that the increasing O content from 500 to 1500 wppm will have minimal effect on the plate lengths expected during continuous cooling; in contrast, Mo approximately doubles the plate lengths obtained for every 2 wt pct Mo reduction. Alloys using V as the β stabilizer instead of Mo are expected to have much faster plate growth kinetics at nominally equivalent V contents. These findings will provide a useful tool for the integrated design of alloys and process routes to achieve tailored microstructures.

Effect of Heat Treatment on Impact Properties of TC10 Titanium Alloy

The impact properties of TC10 treated with different solid solution temperature were tested. The microstructure change and fracture morphology were observed. The effect of solution temperature on the impact properties of TC10 titanium alloy was studied. The results show that with the increase of solution temperature, the primary alpha phase decreases, when the temperature reached 950 degrees, all of the primary alpha phase changed into the beta phase. From the fracture appearance, the specimen changes from ductile fracture to brittle fracture, impact properties change with the temperature increased first and then decreased, appeared in the middle of a stable maximum value.

Tailoring Mechanical Properties of Extruded Ti-6Al-4V Alloy from the Blended Elemental Route via Microstructure Control

Vacuum-sintered billets of Ti-6Al-4V alloy from powder blend were extruded at two different temperatures: 1150 °C and 950 °C. The extruded material at 1150 °C was subjected to various heat treatments to obtain different microstructures: annealing in the β phase, β solution treatment and aging and α+β solution treatment and aging. The materials processed were characterised using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and the mechanical properties were measured by tensile test. The microstructure of both extrusions are fairly similar, consisting of lamellar colonies, and the mechanical properties are also comparable, with yield strengths of about 1000 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of about 1100 MPa and elongation at fracture of 8-9%. The β annealing treatment, through coarsening the lamellar microstructure, reduces the strength of the alloy while keeping a high ductility. Both solution treatments and aging, which produces aged martensite and aged martensite and primary alpha, respectively, increases the strength and reduces the ductility. There is a trade-off between ductility and strength when it comes to tailoring the microstructure, and the as-extruded Ti-6Al-4V condition is the one with the best balance between strength and ductility.