Characterization and Calculation of the Dynamic Recrystallization Texture in Fe-3.0 Wt.% Si Alloy

High-temperature plane-strain compression tests were performed on Fe-3.0 wt.% Si alloy from 900 °C to 1150 °C at strain rates of 5 s−1 to 1 s−1, and the texture development from different initial textures was investigated by means of electron backscattered diffraction. Dynamic recrystallization occurs by strain-induced boundary migration, and the evolutions of the microstructure and different texture components vary with the initial texture. The critical orientation boundary separating the weakened and enhanced texture components moves with the initial texture, and a quantitative relationship is established to represent the dependence of the critical Taylor factor on the instantaneous texture. A model is proposed to describe the dynamic recrystallization texture by incorporating the oriented nucleation probability with a variable critical Taylor factor. The present work could improve the accuracy of hot deformation texture prediction based on strain-induced boundary migration.

EBSD Characterization of the Microstructure of 7A52 Aluminum Alloy Joints Welded by Friction Stir Welding

The microstructure and texture of materials significantly influence the mechanical properties and fracture behavior; the effect of microstructure in different zones of friction stir-welded joints of 7A52 aluminum alloy on fracture behavior was investigated in this paper. The microstructural characteristics of sections of the welded joints were tested using the electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) technique. The results indicate that the fracture is located at the advancing side of the thermomechanically affected zone (AS-TMAZ) and the stir zone (SZ) interface. The AS-TMAZ microstructure is vastly different from the microstructure and texture of other areas. The grain orientation is disordered, and the grain shape is seriously deformed under the action of stirring force. The grain size grows unevenly under the input of friction heat, resulting in a large amount of recrystallization, and there is a significant difference in the Taylor factor between adjacent grains and the AS-TMAZ–SZ interface. On the contrary, there are fine and uniform equiaxed grains in the nugget zone, the microstructure is uniform, and the Taylor factor is small at adjacent grains. Therefore, the uneven transition of microstructure and texture in the AS-TMAZ and the SZ provide conditions for crack initiation, which become the weak point of mechanical properties.

EBSD analysis of graphitized steel microstructure after compression deformation at room temperature

The graphitized steel has attracted considerable attention due to its excellent cutability and good properties at cold forming. Compression deformation at room temperature of graphitized steel (0.43 % C) with a ferrite-graphite microstructure was performed on a universal testing machine. Microstructures of deformed samples were studied using the analysis technique of Electron Back-Scattered Diffraction (EBSD). The evolution of microstructure morphology, texture, distribution of Kernel Average Misorintations (KAM) and the Taylor factor in the zone of large deformations of deformed samples with different degrees of deformation is discussed. The results show that the studied steel has a good ability to compression deformation. During compression deformation, with an increase in deformation degree the deformation morphology of the ferrite grain and graphite inclusions gradually stretch in the direction perpendicular to the compression axis and they are represented as fibrous forms. The orientation of ferrite grains in the matrix is gradually obvious, and the orientation of ferrite grains around graphite inclusions is not obvious, that is, the number of grains oriented to <100>, <111> in the matrix is much greater than around graphite inclusion. In addition, KAM and the Taylor factor in the large deformations region of compression samples show that the deformation degree of ferrite grains around graphite inclusions is less than that of ferrite grains in the matrix. The reason for this is that the soft graphite inclusions can reduce the degree of dislocation pile-up.

Phase Transformation Prediction Considering Crystallographic Orientation in Microgrinding Multiphase Material

This investigation proposes a physics-based model to predict the solid-state phase transformation of maraging steel subjected to microgrinding. In microgrinding, the effect of crystallography is significant on the grinding phase transformation in light of the fact that the depth of cut is on the same order of magnitude as the grain size. This paper proposes a predictive model of phase transformation considering crystallographic orientation (CO) with respect to the grinding direction based on the Taylor factor model. In addition, the flow stress model is modified by adding a CO sensitive term and incorporating the mechanical-thermal loadings. Furthermore, the temperature, temperature rate, strain rate, and Taylor factor are also combined in the model of phase transition. The kinetics parameters of the models are obtained by a regression analysis against experimental data. Finally, the modified models are validated with experiments data and compared with the previous prediction.

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Low-Carbon High-Strength Steel Fabricated by Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing

Wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is a novel technique for fabricating large and complex components applied in the manufacturing industry. In this study, a low-carbon high-strength steel component deposited by WAAM for use in ship building was obtained. Its microstructure and mechanical properties as well as fracture mechanisms were investigated. The results showed that the microstructure consisted of an equiaxed zone, columnar zone, and inter-layer zone, while the phases formed in different parts of the deposited component were different due to various thermal cycles and cooling rates. The microhardness of the bottom and top varied from 290 HV to 260 HV, caused by temperature gradients and an inhomogeneous microstructure. Additionally, the tensile properties in transversal and longitudinal orientations show anisotropy characteristics, which was further investigated using a digital image correlation (DIC) method. This experimental fact indicated that the longitudinal tensile property has an inferior performance and tends to cause stress concentrations in the inter-layer areas due to the inclusion of more inter-layer zones. Furthermore, electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) was applied to analyze the difference in Taylor factor between the inter-layer area and deposited area. The standard deviation of the Taylor factor in the inter-layer area was determined to be 0.907, which was larger than that in the deposited area (0.865), indicating nonuniform deformation and local stress concentration occurred in inter-layer area. Finally, as observed from the fracture morphology on the fractured surface of the sample, anisotropy was also approved by the comparison of the transversal and longitudinal tensile specimens.

Softening Effect on Fracture Stress of Pure Copper Processed by Asynchronous Foil Rolling

In order to study the size effect on the mechanical property of micro-scale metal, pure copper strips with thicknesses in the range of 20 µm to 600 µm were obtained through the asynchronous foil rolling technology. Progressive mechanical property tests indicated that the pure copper experiences softening effect at a micro-scale when the thickness is below 80 µm, which is contrary to the traditional work hardening theory. The related mechanisms were analyzed and discussed through the observation of microstructure and fracture morphology. The decrease of fracture stress with the decrease of thickness can be attributed to the decreased interfacial energy and dislocation density, which contributes to the release of the cumulative distortion energy and the tendency to soften. In addition, the distribution of misorientation angle and changed Taylor factor with the decrease of thickness are other important factors. The fracture morphology indicated a reduction in the number of micro-voids and the nature of fracture transformed from dimpled pattern to knife edge rupture with thickness. The traditional Hall-Petch relationship is no longer applicable due to the softening effect. A modified Hall-Petch relation considering the distribution of misorientation angle and Taylor factor was established, which provided a better relationship between flow stress and grain size.