Deformation behavior and microstructural evolution during hot compression of an a+b Ti-6.5Al-3.5Mo-1.5Zr-0.3Si alloy

The effect of processing parameters on the flow response and microstructural evolution of the a+b titanium alloy Ti-6.5Al-3.5Mo-1.5Zr-0.3Si has been studied by conducting isothermal hot compressive tests at a strain rate of 0.01-10 s-1 at 860-1100°C. The true stress-true strain curves of the sample hot-compressed in the a+b phase region exhibit a peak stress followed by continuous flow softening, whereas in the b region, the flow stress attains a steady-state regime. At a strain rate of 10 s-1, the alloy exhibits plastic flow insta-bilities. According to the kinetic rate equation, the apparent activation energies are estimated to be about 674-705 kJ/mol in the a+b region and 308-335 kJ/mol in the b region, respectively. When deformed in the a+b region, the globularization process of the a colony structure occurs, and a dynamic recrystallized microstructures are observed to show bimodal. Dynamic recrystallization can take place in the b region irrespective of starting deformed structures.     

Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of a large-sized ingot of Mg-9Gd-3Y-1.5Zn-0.5Zr (wt%) alloy after a lower-temperature homogenization treatment

In this paper, a large-sized ingot of Mg-9Gd-3Y-1.5Zn-0.5Zr (wt%) alloy with a diameter of 600 mm was successfully prepared by the semi-continuous casting method. The alloy was subsequently annealed at a relatively low temperature of 430℃ for 12 h as a homogenization treatment. The microstructure and room-temperature mechanical properties of the alloy were investigated systematically. The results show that the as-cast alloy contained a mass of discontinuous lamellar-shaped 18R long-period stacking ordered (LPSO) phases with a composition of Mg₁₀ZnY and an α-Mg matrix, along with net-shaped Mg₅(Y,Gd) eutectic compounds at the grain boundaries. Most of the eutectic compounds dissolved after the homogenization treatment. Moreover, the amount and dimensions of the lamellar-shaped LPSO phase obviously increased after the homogenization treatment. The structure of the phase transformed into 14H-type LPSO with composition Mg₁₂Zn(Y,Gd). The mechanical properties of the heat-treated large-sized alloy ingot are uniform. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and tensile yield strength (TYS) of the alloy reached 207.2 MPa and 134.8 MPa, respectively, and the elongation was 3.4%. The high performances of the large-sized alloy ingot after the homogenization treatment is attributed to the strengthening of the α-Mg solid solution and to the plentiful LPSO phase distributed over the α-Mg matrix.     

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of an Fe–18Ni–16Cr–4Al base alloy during aging at 950℃

The development of Gen-IV nuclear systems and ultra-supercritical power plants proposes greater demands on structural materials used for key components. An Fe–18Ni–16Cr–4Al (316-base) alumina-forming austenitic steel was developed in our laboratory. Its microstructural evolution and mechanical properties during aging at 950℃ were investigated subsequently. Micro-structural changes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. Needle-shaped NiAl particles begin to precipitate in austenite after ageing for 10 h, whereas round NiAl particles in ferrite are coarsened during aging. Precipitates of NiAl with different shapes in different matrices result from differences in lattice misfits. The tensile plasticity increases by 32.4% after aging because of the improvement in the percentage of coincidence site lattice grain boundaries, whereas the tensile strength remains relatively high at approximately 790 MPa.