Grain Boundary and Misorientation Angle Dependent Thermal Transport in Single-layer MoS2

Grain boundaries (GBs) are inevitable defects in large-area MoS2 samples but play a key role in their properties, however, the influence of grain misorientation on thermal transport remains largely unknown...

A novel Nb superconducting joint with ultralow resistance fabricated by electron beam welding method for superconducting gravimeter

This paper presents a novel Nb superconducting joint with an ultralow resistance of 7.9 × 10-16 Ω, fabricated using the electron beam welding (EBW) method. After the EBW process, the two Nb filaments formed a single joint with a much larger grain size and smaller grain misorientation. More importantly, the resistance of the EBW Nb joint was nearly one magnitude lower than that of most conventional pressing joint. The ultralow resistance is essential for superconducting gravimeters, which require an extremely low drift rate. The EBW Nb joint allowed the superconducting gravimeter to have a much better performance when applied in the field of structural geology, geodesy, microgravity, and metrology. We believe that the EBW method could be one of the most promising joint fabrication methods for achieving maximum stability (less than 1 μgal/yr).

Effect of Martensitic Transformation and Grain Misorientation on Surface Roughening Behavior of Stainless Steel Thin Foils

The surface roughening (Ra), martensitic phase transformation (MPT), and grain misorientation (GMO) behavior of stainless steel 304 and 316 in various grain sizes (Dg) were studied experimentally, including five cycles of sequential uniaxial tensile stress testing and Scanning Electron Microscope-Electron Back Scattered Diffraction (SEM-EBSD) investigation. The MPT and GMO characteristics were sequentially investigated using tensile testing and SEM-EBSD analysis. The correlation between MPT, GMO, martensitic volume fraction (Mf), and Ra behavior were investigated. The experimental results showed that increasing the total strain from 5.0% to 25.0% increased the MPT, GMO, and Mf, which were transformed from the metastable austenitic phase in stainless steel (SUS) 304. The increasing total strain increased Ra for all kinds of Dg. Furthermore, SUS 304 and SUS 316 were used to compare the roughening mechanism. The MPT was very high and spread uniformly in fine grain of SUS 304 thin foil, but the MPT was low and not uniform in coarse grain of SUS 304 thin foil. There was no MPT in SUS 316 thin foil, both in coarse and fine grain. The GMO in fine grains, both in SUS 304 and SUS 316 thin foils, spread uniformly. The GMO in coarse grains, both in SUS 304 and SUS 316 thin foils, did not spread uniformly. Surface roughness increased higher in coarse grain than fine grain for both of SUS 304 and SUS 316 thin foil. SUS 304 increased higher than SUS 316 thin foil. The effect of inhomogeneous deformation due to the MPT is a more important factor than GMO in coarse grain.

Effect of Martensitic Transformation and Grain Size on the Surface Roughening Behavior in SUS 304 and SUS 316 Thin Metal Foils

The surface roughening and martensitic phase transformation (MPT) of SUS 304 and SUS 316 were studied through two experiments: a uniaxial tensile stress test, repeated for five cycles, and an Scanning Electron Microscope–Electron Backscaterr Diffraction (SEM-EBSD) investigation. The MPT and martensitic volume fraction (Mf) were evaluated following the tensile test. The correlation between MPT, Mf, and surface roughening behavior was investigated. The experiment showed that an increase in the strain level from 0.4% to 1% increased the MPT and Mf, which transformed from a metastable austenitic phase in SUS 304. The increased strain level increased the surface roughening for various grain sizes (Dg), from fine grain (Dg < 3 μm) to coarse grain (Dg ≥ 3 μm). SUS 304 and SUS 316 are used so that the surface roughening mechanism between SUS 304 and SUS 316, with different phase conditions and at a similar Dg, can be determined. The results showed that the surface roughening increased for both fine and coarse grain at strain levels of 0.4% and 1%; however, a larger increase of surface roughening was obtained for coarse grain. In coarse grain, surface roughening increased significantly not only with a low MPT, but also with a low grain deformation. In coarse grain, the surface roughening increased proportionally to the strain level (εp) because of the low MPT and weak grain. In fine grain, the surface roughening did not increase proportionally to the εp because of the high MPT, which increased the grain strength in SUS 304. In the fine grain of SUS 304, the increase of surface roughening was nearly the same both at strain levels of 0.4% and 1%, because the MPT and Mf were nearly the same. The surface roughening with the same εp and almost the same Dg in SUS 304 and SUS 316 fine grain was nearly the same, because the grain deformation almost produced the same relative inclination between neighboring grains in the initial state direction to the surface. The inter-grain movement changed the grain orientation. Based on kernel average misorientation (KAM) mapping, the local grain misorientation in SUS 304 was higher than that in SUS 316. This indicated that the fine-grain SUS 304 is harder than the fine-grain SUS 316. There is no MPT in SUS 316 because of the higher austenitic phase, which is affected by the austenitic former, such as Ni.

Twinning in SnO2-based ceramics doped with CoO and Nb2O5: morphology of multiple twins revealed by electron backscatter diffraction

Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was used for the analysis of multiple cyclic twins in cassiterite (SnO2), which form during sintering of SnO2 with small additions of CoO and Nb2O5. Grain misorientation analysis has shown that about one third of all grains contain {101} twin boundaries (TBs). The majority of these grains are contact twins, whereas a small fraction of grains are multiple, mainly cyclic twins. A procedure was developed in MTEX [Bachmann, Hielscher & Schaeben (2010). Solid State Phenom. 160, 63–88] for automated identification of crystallographically different types of cyclic twins and found two main types: coplanar twins composed of three or four domains with a common [010] axis and alternating twins composed of three to seven domains oriented along the [111] axis. Both types of cyclic twins have a characteristic common origin (nucleus) of all TBs, which is positioned eccentric relative to the grain section and the cycle is closed with a shorter non-crystallographic contact between the first and the last twin domain. The morphology of cyclic twins suggests that they form by nucleation in the initial stages of grain growth. The average size of twinned grains increases with the number of twin domains indicating the influence of TBs formation on the growth of composite grains.

Microstructure and Performance Analysis of Welded Joint of Spray-Deposited 2195 Al-Cu-Li Alloy Using GTAW

High-strength aluminum alloy fabricated using spray deposition technology possesses many advantages, such as fine crystal grains, low component segregation, uniform microstructure, and small internal stress. In this study, spray-deposited 2195 Al-Cu-Li alloy in forged state was used and welded using the gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process to test and verify the features of the fusion joint. Quantitative analysis was carried out to evaluate the relationship between the local microstructures and performances of the fusion joint, which was composed of four zones: weld metal, fusion zone, heat-affected zone, and base metal. The characteristic quantities of each zone, including recrystallized grain fraction, grain sizes, grain misorientation angle, and Vickers hardness, and their distributions were considered as the key factors affecting the performance of the joint because of welding thermal cycle impact on the fusion joint. To recognize the metallurgical characteristics of spray-deposited alloy 2195, a statistical algorithm based on the concept of the Hall–Petch relationship was proposed to validate the actual test results, which include the correlation effects of both the filler wire and welding process. The correlation between the microstructures and performances of several characteristic quantities were evaluated by integrating the above characteristic information of the fusion joint under the strong coupling of multiple factors. Thus, the advantages of weldability of spray-deposited alloy 2195 using GTAW could be understood in detail.

A Further Improvement in the Room-Temperature Formability of Magnesium Alloy Sheets by Pre-Stretching

Pre-stretching experiments were carried out on AZ31–0.5Ca magnesium alloy to alter the microstructure and texture for enhancing room-temperature formability. Compared to as-received alloy, the formability of a 5%-stretched sample was improved by 15%. This was attributed to enhanced strain hardening capability related to the weakening of basal texture and less homogeneous microstructure. In addition, in-grain misorientation axis analysis performed on the samples (as-received and stretched) also confirmed the higher activity of the non-basal slip systems in the 5%-stretched sample.

A grain boundary model considering the grain misorientation within a geometrically nonlinear gradient-extended crystal viscoplasticity theory

The main goal of the current work is to present a grain boundary model based on the mismatch between adjacent grains in a geometrically nonlinear crystal viscoplasticity framework including the effect of the dislocation density tensor. To this end, the geometrically nonlinear crystal viscoplasticity theory by Alipour et al. (Alipour A et al . 2019 Int. J. Plast. 118 , 17–35. ( doi:10.1016/j.ijplas.2019.01.009 )) is extended by a more complex free energy and a geometrical transmissibility parameter is used to evaluate the dislocation transmission at the grain boundaries which includes the orientations of slip directions and slip plane normals. Then, the grain boundary strength is evaluated based on the misorientation between neighbouring grains using the transmissibility parameter. In some examples, the effect of mismatch in adjacent grains on the grain boundary strength, the dislocation transmission at the grain boundaries and the Hall–Petch slope is discussed by a comparison of two-dimensional random-oriented polycrystals and textured polycrystals under shear deformation.

Gradient Crystal Plasticity: A Grain Boundary Model for Slip Transmission

Interaction between dislocations and grain boundaries (GBs) in the forms of dislocation absorption, emission, and slip transmission at GBs significantly affects size-dependent plasticity in fine-grained polycrystals. Thus, it is vital to consider those GB mechanisms in continuum plasticity theories. In the present paper, a new GB model is proposed by considering slip transmission at GBs within the framework of gradient polycrystal plasticity. The GB model consists of the GB kinematic relations and governing equations for slip transmission, by which the influence of geometric factors including the misorientation between the incoming and outgoing slip systems and GB orientation, GB defects, and stress state at GBs are captured. The model is numerically implemented to study a benchmark problem of a bicrystal thin film under plane constrained shear. It is found that GB parameters, grain size, grain misorientation, and GB orientation significantly affect slip transmission and plastic behaviors in fine-grained polycrystals. Model prediction qualitatively agrees with experimental observations and results of discrete dislocation dynamics simulations.