Subramanya Sarma Vadlamani

Ultrafine grained (ufg) and nanocrystalline (nc) materials are widely researched due to significant improvements in yield and fracture strength. However, achieving a reasonable ductility in these materials is still a challenge. Recent results have shown that the combination of high strength and ductility could be achieved in precipitation hardening alloys through severe plastic deformation followed by annealing/ageing treatments. In the present work, the solutionised plates of an Al-Mg-Si alloy (modified AA6061 alloy) were subjected to severe cold rolling at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures to a true strain ∼1.6. The rolled sheets were aged to induce precipitation. The equilibrium second phase distribution for the above alloy was calculated using CALPHAD. The rolled and aged samples were analysed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), hardness and tensile tests. The stored energy obtained from DSC measurements was found to be independent of the rolling temperature. The volume fraction of S {1 2 3} 〈6 3 4〉 orientation is predominant (∼40%) in both the rolling conditions. The strength and ductility were simultaneously improved following ageing of the cryorolled (CR) and room temperature rolled (RT) samples. Transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed dislocation cell structures in the CR and RT conditions. Analysis of second phases revealed fine spherical Mn rich precipitates (most likely Al6Mn) following ageing. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The hot deformation behavior of alloy 617 has been studied by performing hot compression in a range of temperatures (1173-1473 K) and strain rates (0.001-10 s-1). The peak flow stress found to increase with Zener-Hollomon parameter (Z) following a hyperbolic-sine function relationship whereas peak strain followed power-law type relationship with Z. The average activation energy for the entire hot deformation domain was estimated to be 481 kJ mol-1. The experimental stress-strain data has been used to develop processing map employing dynamic material model. The material exhibits a wide stable domain below 0.1 s-1 spanning over 1250-1473 K, with a peak efficiency of ~45%. Based on the processing map and subsequent microstructural observation, the optimum hot deformation domain of alloy 617 is identified as 1323-1423 K and 0.001-0.1 s-1. Furthermore, microstructural observation alone has revealed that a significant DRX with grain refinement could also be obtained at high temperature (>1373 K) and high strain rate (>1 s-1) domain although processing map has marked this region as unstable domain.

In the present work, the effect of post weld heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of dissimilar friction stir weldments of Al alloys 6061and 2219 (in peak aged T6 temper) was investigated. The survey of microhardness profile in the as-welded samples showed fluctuations across the weld zone and a minimum in the hardness occurred in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of alloy 6061. After a post weld ageing treatment at 165°C for 18h, the hardness was found to increase in weld zone alone and there is no effective improvement in HAZ hardness. On the other hand, a post weld solution treatment at 520°C followed by ageing at 165°C for 18h resulted in significant improvement in hardness across the whole weldment. This is also reflected in the tensile strength of the joint. These results were correlated with microstructures, observed using optical, scanning and transmission electron microscopes.

Hot deformation behavior of a phosphorous-modified super austenitic stainless steel was studied in the temperature range of 1173–1423 K and strain rate range of 0.001–10 s− 1 employing thermomechanical simulator. The apparent activation energy for deformation in the above processing regime was estimated to be 482 kJ mol− 1. The deformation parameters were modeled using Arrhenius equation and Zener–Hollomon parameter (Z). Peak stress, critical stress for dynamic recrystallization, stress at which flow softening is maximum as well as steady state stress was found to exhibit a linear relationship with ln(Z/A). Strains corresponding to these stresses were also found to exhibit the relation ε=CZAp. Processing maps were developed at different plastic strains employing dynamic materials modeling. Microstructures corresponding to the different processing conditions were characterized employing electron back scatter diffraction. Based on the analysis of microstructure and processing map, the optimum processing domain for hot deformation is identified as strain rate range of 0.01–0.1 s− 1 and temperature range of 1300–1350 K. Although a significant recrystallization was observed following hot deformation in the strain rate ranges of 1–10 s− 1 and temperature ranges 1373–1423 K, this domain was marked as unstable in the processing map.

In the present work, the effect of deformation mode (uniaxial compression, rolling and torsion) on the microstructural heterogeneities in a commercial purity Ni is reported. For a given equivalent von Mises strain, samples subjected to torsion have shown higher fraction of high-angle boundaries, kernel average misorientation and recrystallization nuclei when compared to uniaxially compressed and rolled samples. This is attributed to the differences in the slip system activity under different modes of deformation.

The influence of the mode of deformation on recrystallisation behaviour of Ti was studied by experiments and modelling. Ti samples were deformed through torsion and rolling to the same equivalent strain of 0.5. The deformed samples were annealed at different temperatures for different time durations and the recrystallisation kinetics were compared. Recrystallisation is found to be faster in the rolled samples compared to the torsion deformed samples. This is attributed to the differences in stored energy and number of nuclei per unit area in the two modes of deformation. Considering decay in stored energy during recrystallisation, the grain boundary mobility was estimated through a mean field model. The activation energy for recrystallisation obtained from experiments matched with the activation energy for grain boundary migration obtained from mobility calculation. A multi-phase field model (with mobility estimated from the mean field model as a constitutive input) was used to simulate the kinetics, microstructure and texture evolution. The recrystallisation kinetics and grain size distributions obtained from experiments matched reasonably well with the phase field simulations. The recrystallisation texture predicted through phase field simulations compares well with experiments though few additional texture components are present in simulations. This is attributed to the anisotropy in grain boundary mobility, which is not accounted for in the present study.

An investigation was conducted to examine the effect of molybdenum (Mo) content on the grain size, lattice defect structure and hardness of nickel (Ni) processed by severe plastic deformation (SPD). The SPD processing was applied to Ni samples with low (~0.3 at%) and high (~5 at%) Mo concentrations by a consecutive application of cryorolling and high-pressure torsion (HPT). The grain size and the dislocation density were determined by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray line profile analysis, respectively. In addition, the hardness values in the centers, half-radius and peripheries of the HPT-processed disks were determined after ½, 5 and 20 turns. The results show the higher Mo content yields a dislocation density about two times larger and a grain size about 30% smaller. The smallest value of the grain size was ~125 nm and the highest measured dislocation density was ~60×1014 m−2 for Ni-5% Mo. For the higher Mo concentration, the dislocation arrangement parameter was larger indicating a less clustered dislocation structure due to the hindering effect of Mo on the rearrangement of dislocations into low energy configurations. The results show there is a good correlation between the dislocation density and the yield strength using the Taylor equation. The α parameter in this equation is slightly lower for the higher Mo concentration in accordance with the less clustered dislocation structure.

In this work, a novel idea of combining two established microstructural engineering approaches viz., grain boundary engineering (GBE) and grain boundary serration (GBS) through optimization of thermomechanical and thermal processing in Alloy 617 is investigated and the superior resistance of GBE+GBS microstructure to the high-temperature hot corrosion is demonstrated. To achieve the GBE+GBS microstructure, the GBS treatment was introduced as a part of the GBE processing schedule (i.e., incomplete GBE+GBS) and following the GBE treatment (i.e., complete GBE+GBS). The extent of GBS is found to be similar in all the processed specimens. However, the extent of GBE is observed to be lower in the specimens undergoing incomplete GBE+GBS. This is due to the occurrence of recrystallization and consequent infrequent multiple twinning. On the other hand, a higher extent of GBE is achieved in the specimens subjected to complete GBE+GBS owing to the retention of the optimized GBE microstructure following the GBS treatment. The synergistic influence of GBE and GBS on the hot corrosion behavior is assessed by exposing the as-received (AR) as well as optimized grain boundary engineered and serrated (GBES) specimens to a salt mixture at 1273 K. The percolation depth after 24h and 48h exposure is significantly lower in the GBES specimen (∼55 µm and ∼115 µm, respectively) than the AR condition (∼305 µm and ∼630 µm, respectively). This is ascribed to the incorporation of Σ3n (n ≤3) and serrated boundaries in the GBES microstructure which obstructed the infiltration of harmful species into the alloy.

Supersaturated Cu-3 at.% Ag alloy was rolled at liquid nitrogen temperature and then annealed at 623 K up to 120 min. The evolution of the microstructure as a function of annealing time was studied. In the initial stage of the heat-treatment a heterogeneous microstructure was developed where both the dislocation density and the solute Ag concentration in the Cu matrix varied considerably. In the regions where the initial Ag particles have a very small size and/or large Cu/Ag interface energy, dissolution occurred due to the Gibbs-Thomson effect while in other volumes the solute Ag concentration decreased to the equilibrium level. In the regions where the solute Ag concentration increased due to dissolution, a considerable fraction of dislocations formed during rolling was retained in the Cu matrix after annealing. In the volumes where the solute Ag content decreased due to precipitation, significant reduction in the dislocation density was observed. The evolution and the stability of this heterogeneous microstructure were investigated experimentally and discussed using model calculations.

Fe-15wt.% ZrO2 nanocomposite powder was synthesized via mechanical milling with an aim to study the morphology of the powder particles and refinement of the oxide and Fe crystallites during milling. Detailed microstructural and microchemical investigations were carried out in order to optimize the milling condition and to highlight the advantages for the choice of ZrO2. A homogeneous mixture was confirmed by X-ray mapping and ZrO2 dispersoids were observed to retain crystallinity even after 100h of milling. It was also observed that both Fe and ZrO2 crystallites refine to very fine nanocrystalline (nc) sizes after such milling. The result has 2-fold significance: (a) Yttria, which is a standard dispersoid in oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels, usually amorphised under similar conditions, which is detrimental to its structural stability and (b) nanocrystallites of Fe have useful magnetic properties. Modified Williamson-Hall technique (mod. W-H) was employed to measure the size and dislocation density of the matrix ferrite phase. Nanoindentation technique was used to evaluate the nanohardness of the milled powder as a function of milling duration.