Development of a method for calculating the LTEC anisotropy of Zr alloys

The accuracy of determining the LTEC with respect to metals and alloys with an HCP lattice based on inverse pole figures (IPF) is analyzed depending on the number of experimental points on the IPF using three averaging options: (1) taking into account the irregular arrangement of reflections on the stereographic triangle according to Morris; (2) by the multiplicity factor and (3) with the same weight of each orientation. It is shown that when evaluating the LTEC for semi-finished products with a basal texture, 17 reflections on the IPF are sufficient to provide an error of <1% when using Morris averaging and the multiplicity factor; in the case of a prismatic texture, an error of <1% is provided by all three averaging options, while Morris averaging is minimal.

The research development of the structure in a-Fe Microcrystals with the Orientation deformed by compression with different values of the friction coefficient

The paper analyzes the change in the dislocation structure in a-Fe microcrystals with orientations <100> and <110> deformed by compression under conditions of limited flow with different values of the friction coefficient. The orientation stability of the microcrystal and texture is investigated when the compression axis deviates from the normal to the compression plane. Shooting and analysis of limited pole figures made it possible to establish that the operation of the OSS in the MC with the [100](001) orientation at different values of the friction coefficient at the sample-punch interface leads to a rotation of the latticework relatively to the MC axis. The specific conditions of plastic deformation under compression determined by the MC morphology prohibit displacement deyz., as the deformation is observed under conditions of limited flow. The operation of the OSS, consequently, leads to the MC partition with the [100] (001) orientation deformed by compression with the friction coefficient Kmax into parts and the rotation of the latticework around the growth axis. It is established the connection between the friction coefficient at the crystal-punch interface and the sliding geometry in a-Fe MCs deformed by compression under conditions of limited flow. The authors carried out the dimension of the friction ratio has a significant effect on the slip geometry and the dislocation structure formed in the MC of the [100] orientation deformed by compression along the (001) plane. Changes in the friction coefficient and the angle deviation of the compression axis from the normal to the compression plane in the MC with the [100] (001) orientation do not affect the slip geometry and the dislocation structure formed during plastic deformation.

Anisotropic Behavior of Al1050 through Accumulative Roll Bonding

In this study, Al1050 sheets were fabricated in five passes using the accumulative roll bonding (ARB) technique. For a more accurate and complete investigation, different tests were used, including a uniaxial tensile test. The results show that elongation increases about 50% for the annealed sample, which is 2.5 times that of the fifth pass (20%). A five-fold increase can be seen in tensile strength, which was 50 MPa in the annealed sample and reached 250 MPa at the end of the fifth pass. The annealed sample’s yield stress was 40 MPa, 4.5 times less than 180 MPa after five passes of ARB. Then, to evaluate sample hardness, the Vickers microhardness test was conducted in the samples’ depth direction, which recorded 39 HV for the annealed piece and 68 HV after the last ARB pass. These results show that the hardness increases by 1.8 times after five passes of ARB. In the next step, by conducting fractography tests after the sample fractures during the tensile test, the fracture’s mechanism and type were identified and explained. Finally, X-ray diffraction (XRD) was employed to produce pole figures of sample texture, and the anisotropy phenomena of the annealed sample and ARBed samples were wholly examined. In this study, with the help of pole figures, the anisotropic behavior after ARB was investigated and analyzed. In each step of the process, observing the samples’ texture states and the anisotropy magnificent was possible. According to the results, normal anisotropy of 0.6 in the annealed sample and 1.8 achieved after the fifth pass of ARB indicates that ARB leads to an increase in anisotropy.

Van Der Waals Epitaxial Growth of Bismuth Thin-film on Silicon (111) Substrate by MBE

Crystallinity of an 80-nm-thick bismuth thin film grown on Si(111) substrate by MBE was investigated. The highly (0003) textured Bi film contains two twinning domains with different bilayer stacking sequences. The basic lattice parameters c and a as well as b, the bilayer thickness, of the two domains were determined from a series of X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, and found that the differences are within 0.1% as compared with those of bulk Bi reported in literature, suggesting that the Bi film has been nearly fully relaxed. From the XRD φ-scans of asymmetric Bi (01-14), (10-15), (11-26) planes and Si (220) plane as well as selected area electron diffraction patterns and electron back scatter diffraction pole figures, we confirmed the well registration between the lattices of Si and Bi lattice, i.e. the ω angle difference between Bi[0003] and Si[111] and the φ angle different between Bi[01-14] and Si[220] are 0.056° and 0.25°, respectively, and thus concluded that the growth is a quasi-van der Waals epitaxy.

Microstructure, magnetic and electronic transport properties of reactively facing-target sputtered epitaxial Mn4N films

The structure, magnetic and electronic transport properties of epitaxial Mn4N films fabricated by the facing-target reactive sputtering method have been investigated systematically. The high-quality growth of Mn4N films was confirmed by X-ray θ-2θ, pole figures and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The Mn4N films exhibit ferrimagnetic with strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The saturation magnetization of Mn4N films decreases with increasing temperature, following the Bloch’s spin wave theory. The resistivity of Mn4N films exhibits metallic conductance mechanism. Debye temperature of Mn4N is estimated to be 85 K. The calculated residual resistivity ρxx0 of the 78.8 nm-thick Mn4N film is 30.56 μΩ cm. The magnetoresistances of Mn4N films display a negative signal and butterfly shape. The sign of anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) is positive, which infers that the AMR is dominated by the spin-up conduction electrons. Moreover, the transformation of fourfold to twofold symmetry for AMR and twofold to onefold symmetry for planar Hall resistivity is attributed to tetragonal crystal field effect.

Effect of the Elemental Content of Shells of the Bivalve Mollusks (Mytilus galloprovincialis) from Saldanha Bay (South Africa) on Their Crystallographic Texture

A both wild and farmed mussels in natural conditions, anthropogenic inputs are usually reflected in the increase of the content of specific elements. To determine the possible effect of the elemental patterns of farmed and wild mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) collected in the Saldanha Bay area (South Africa) on the crystallographic texture of the shells, the content of 20 elements in shells and 24 in the soft tissue of mussels was determined by neutron activation analysis. The crystallographic texture of mussel shells was analyzed using time-of-flight neutron diffraction. The wild mussels from open ocean site live in stressful natural conditions and contain higher amounts of the majority of determined elements in comparison with mussels farmed in closed water areas with anthropogenic loadings. The changes between the maximums of the same pole figures of the three samples are in the range of variability identified for the genus Mytilus. The content of Cl, Sr, and I was the highest in mussels from the open ocean site, which is reflected by the lowest mass/length ratio. The determined crystallographic textures of mussels are relatively stable as shown in the analyzed pole figures despite the concentrations of Na, Mg, Cl, Br, Sr, and I in shells, which significantly differ for wild and farmed mussels. The stability of the crystallographic texture that we observed suggests that it can be used as a reference model, where if a very different texture is determined, increased attention to the ecological situation should be paid.

Determining the Preferred Orientation of Silver-Plating via X-ray Diffraction Profile

Determining the preferred orientation of plating film is of practical importance. In this work, the Rietveld method and quantitative texture analysis (RM+QTA) are used to analyze the preferred orientation of plating silver film with XRD profile, whose <311> axial texture can be completely described by a set of exponential harmonics index, extracted from a single XRD profile, C41,1(0.609), C61,1(0.278), C81,1(−0.970). The constructed pole figures with the index of the exponential harmonic are following those measured by the multi-axis diffractometer. The method using exponential harmonic index can be extended to characterize the plating by electroplating in a quantitative harmonic description. In addition, a new dimension involving crystallite shape and size is considered in characterizing the preferred orientation.

ELECTROCHEMICAL POLYMORPHIC PHASE FORMATION IN METALS

The phenomenon of electrochemical phase formation in metals and alloys via a supercooled liquid state stage was discussed. Assuming the electrodeposited metal to be a product of formation and ultrarapid solidification of supercooled metallic liquid, a possibility of metastable phase formation during electrodeposition of polymorphous metals was suggested. It was anticipated that the polymorphic transition of the metal’s metastable form to the stable one occurs by shear, as does the martensitic transformation. To enable revealing an orientation relationship between grains of the two phases, a method for X-ray texture analysis of metals was developed using a combination of direct pole figures. It was established that the phase formation during electrodeposition of polymorphous metals produces metastable modifications typical of entities that crystallized from a liquid state at extremely high rates. In regards polymorphic transitions in metal electrodeposition, certain orientation relationships were observed between grains of the stable and the metastable phase, which is typical of phase transformations proceeding at extremely high rates. The results obtained provided additional arguments in favor of the phenomenon under discussion.

Texture of NiGe(Sn) on Ge(100) and its evolution with Sn content

The texture of the Ni monostanogermanide phase on a Ge(100) substrate was evaluated during a solid-state reaction, with a focus on the impact of Sn addition. Complementary X-ray diffraction analyses involving in situ X-ray diffraction, in-plane reciprocal space maps (RSMs) and pole figures were used to that end. A sequential growth of the phases for the Ni/Ge(Sn) system was found. An Ni-rich phase formed first, followed by the NiGe(Sn) phase. The NiGe and NiGe(Sn) layers were polycrystalline with different out-of-plane orientations. The number of out-of-plane diffraction peaks decreased with the Sn content, while the preferred orientation changed. In-plane RSM analyses confirmed these results. Sn addition modified the out-of-plane and in-plane orientations. Pole figure analysis revealed that numerous epitaxial texture components were present for the Ni/Ge system, while Sn addition reduced the number of epitaxial texture components. On the other hand, segregated Sn crystallized with an epitaxial alignment with the Ge substrate underneath.

Estimation of Phase Ratio in Bulk, Textured TWIP/TRIP Steels from Pole Figures

The volume fraction of austenite (γ), ε martensite and α′ martensite is of key importance in the research of TWIP/TRIP steels. When mechanical loading is involved, the crystallographic texture also develops, which complicates X-ray diffraction-based phase ratio determination. The problem is more pronounced when only a couple, or only one Bragg-reflection can be measured. A solution for such cases is to determine the ratio of the phases based on the pole distribution function of a selected Bragg-reflection of the present phases. In this manuscript, this method is reconsidered for and applied to non-transmittable bulk specimens for the first time in the reflection mode of XRD pole figure measurements. First, the method was applied to a series of γ–α′ powder mixtures. The results were compared to those obtained by the Rietveld method. Afterwards, the technique was applied to strongly textured, bulk TWIP/TRIP steel specimens which were tensile tested at different temperatures. It was shown that the results of the presented method were close to those of the Rietveld technique in the case of powder mixtures. The results of the tensile-tested steels revealed that the α′ content increases with decreasing test temperatures, and the variation of the α′ ratio correlates very well with the ultimate tensile strength versus the temperature, confirming the contribution of the α′ content to the strength of TWIP/TRIP steels.