Evolutions of diffusion activation energy and Zener–Hollomon parameter of ultra-high strength Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Zr alloy during hot compression

The changes of stress level for the ultra-high strength Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Zr alloy were described by constitutive equation with considering lattice diffusion of aluminum, zinc, magnesium and copper. Zener–Hollomon(Z)parameter expression based on the constitutive equation with considering lattice diffusion was used to reflect the changes of microstructure. The critical stress σcfor the initiation of dynamic recrystallization(DRX) was introduced to calculate the Z parameter. Steady-state dislocation density ρsatand critical dislocation density ρcfor the initiation of DRX decreased with the increase of deformation temperature. The dependence of diffusion activation energy Q on temperature and strain rate was given and the effects of deformation conditions on Q were discussed in detail. Microstructural evolution revealed that low angle boundaries(2–5°) created in the process of dynamic recovery(DRV) could convert into subgrain boundary, thus the original grains were divided into subgrains, and then subgrains transformed into DRX grains by the way of progressive rotation. When the Z value was high(ln Z 30.9), DRV was the main softening mechanism. With the decrease of Z value, both of DRV and DRX played an important roles in softening effect, while with the further decrease of Z value(ln Z 28.6), DRX became the main softening mechanism. Continuous dynamic recrystallization(CDRX) and discontinuous dynamic recrystallization(DDRX) operated together under the condition of lower Z value, but CDRX was confirmed as the dominant DRX mechanism.     

Effects of Gd solutes on hardness and yield strength of Mg alloys

Relative contribution of individual strengthening mechanisms to the yield strength of Mg–0–15 wt%Gd alloys were investigated.Alloys with different grain size were prepared by adding Zr and hot extrusion.Hardness and tensile/compression yield strength were tested on the alloys after solid solution treatment and extrusion.HallPetch constants were calculated with hardness and tensile/compressive data.The results showed that the hardness of Mg–Gd alloys with similar Gd content and different grain size were almost the same,which indicates that grain size had little effect on hardness.The hardness linearly increased with rising Gd content(d H_v/dc≈25 kg mm~(-2)/at%Gd).The tensile and compressive yield strengths enhanced with the increase of Gd content for all alloys in different conditions.In addition,the tensile/compressive(t/c)yield asymmetry of extruded alloys decreased with increasing Gd content.Large t/c yield asymmetry ratio(1.77)was observed for pure Mg,and with increasing Gd content this value decreased to 1.With the increasing of tensile strength,the stress intensity factor,k_y,decreased from 0.27 MPa m~(1/2)for Mg–2 wt%Gd alloy to 0.19 MPa m~(1/2) for Mg–5 wt%Gd alloy,then increased to 0.29 MPa m~(1/2) for Mg–15 wt%Gd alloy.However,k_yincreased linearly form 0.16–0.31 MPa for compression test.The influence of grain size strengthening was eliminated,and the yield strength of tension and compression both linearly increased with c~n,where c is the atom concentration of Gd,and n=1/2 or 2/3.     

Bioinspired and hydrophobic alkyl-silanized protective polymer coating for Mg alloy

The modification of silica coating surfaces by trimethylsilylation has contributed to enhanced hydrophobicity(θ_w~o90°)against fluid permeation and corrosion in Na Cl.These alkyl-silanized coatings were deployed to protect Mg alloy after reinforcing their internal structures with nanosilica powder.The reduced wetness of coating surfaces is attributed to their chemically-modified surface morphology,and this has been compared to the reticulate leaf structures of lotus plant.The optimum amount of silylating additive(hexamethyldisilazane)required to prepare a hydrophobic coating with minimum water adhesion has been established.Barrier performance of coatings were examined by electrochemical and surface analyses in 5 wt%Na Cl.The corrosion resistance of these coatings is a result of the direct contribution of their bulk stability and surface hydrophobicity,and this is expressed in terms of the variation of electrochemical parameters with exposure time.These coatings may have emerging industrial applications,including a future in metal surface treatments and anticorrosion paints.     

Doping inorganic ions to regulate bioactivity of Ca –P coating on bioabsorbable high purity magnesium

Performance of biomaterials was strongly affected by their surface properties and could be designed artificially to meet specific biomedical requirements. In this study, F(F), Si O2 4(Si), or HCO 3(C)-doped Ca–P coatings were fabricated by biomimetic deposition on the surface of biodegradable high-purity magnesium(HP Mg). The crystalline phases, morphologies and compositions of Ca–P coatings had been characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy(EDS). The biomineralization and corrosion resistance of doped Ca–P coatings had also been investigated. The results showed that the Ca–P coating with or without doped elements mainly contained the plate-like dicalcium phosphate dehydrate(DCPD) phase. The doped F, Si, or C changed the surface morphology of Ca–P coatings after mineralization. Doped F enhanced the mineralization of Ca–P coating, and doped Si retarded the mineralization of Ca–P coating.However, H2 evolution of HP Mg discs with different Ca–P coatings was close to 0.4–0.7 ml/cm2 after two-week immersion. That meant that the corrosion resistance of the Ca–P coatings with different or without doped elements did not change significantly.     

A Note on Trace Polynomial

In this paper, we mainly study the relation of two cyclically reduced words w and w ′on the condi- tion they have the same trace polynomial (i.e., tr w= trw ′). By defining an equivalence relation through such operators on words as inverse, cyclically left shift, and mirror, it is straightforward to get that w ~ w ′ implies tr w = tr w ′. We show by a counter example that tr w = tr w ′ does not imply w ~ w ′. And in two special cases, we prove that tr w = tr w ′ if and only if w ~ w ′.     

Modeling the hot working behavior of near-α tita nium alloy IMI 834

The hot working behavior of near-a titanium alloy IMI 834 with a duplex starting microstructure was studied using the technique of processing map.The processing map was interpreted in terms of the microstrucmral processes occurring during deformation,based on the values of dimensionless parameter η which represents the energy dissipation through microstructural processes.An instability criterion（ξ<0） was also applied to demarcate the flow instability regions in the processing map.Both the parameters（η and ξ） were computed using the experimental data generated by carrying out hot compression tests over a range of temperatures（850-1060℃） and strain rates(3×10^-4-1/s).The deterministic domains observed under the investigated temperature and strain rate conditions were attributed to continuous dynamic recrystallization or globularisation of a lamellae,dynamic recrystallization and growth of β grains through microstructural observations.An unified strain compensated constitutive equation was established to describe the hot working behavior of the material in the selected temperature-strain rate range.The established constitutive equation was validated using standard statistical parameters such as correlation coefficient and average absolute relative error.     

Influence of slip system combination models on crystal plasticity finite element simulation of NiTi shape memory alloy undergoing uniaxial compression

The influence of various slip system combination models on crystal plasticity finite element simulation of Ni Ti shape memory alloy subjected to uniaxial compression deformation is investigated according to three combinations of slip systems, including combination of {010}100and {110}111slip modes, combination of {110}100and {110}111slip modes and combination of {110}100, {010}100and {110}111slip modes, which consist of 18, 18 and 24 slip systems, respectively. By means of simulating mechanical response,strain distribution, stress distribution and Schmid factor, it can be found that in terms of simulation accuracy,combination of {110}100and {110}111slip modes is in good agreement with combination of {110}100,{010}100and {110}111slip modes. The contribution of {110}100slip mode to plastic strain is primary in plastic deformation of Ni Ti shape memory alloy, whereas {010}100slip mode, which makes small contribution to plastic deformation, can be regarded as the unfavorable slip mode. In the case of large plastic strain, the {010}100slip mode contributes to the formation of(001) [010] texture component, while {110}100and {110}111slip modes facilitate the formation of γ-fibre(111) texture.     

Fault-Tolerant Control for a Class of Uncertain Systems with Actuator Faults

The problem of fault-tolerant controller design for a class of polytopic uncertain systems with actuator faults is studied in this paper. The actuator faults are presented as a more general and practical continuous fault model. Based on the affine quadratic stability (AQS), the stability of the polytopic uncertain system is replaced by the stability at all corners of the polytope. For a wide range of problems including H∞ and mixed H 2 /H∞ controller design, sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the robust stability and performance of the closed-loop system in both normal and fault cases. In the framework of the linear matrix inequality (LMI) method, an iterative algorithm is developed to reduce conservativeness of the design procedure. The effectiveness of the proposed design is shown through a flight control example.     

On the Application of PCA Technique to Fault Diagnosis

In this paper, we briefly address the application of the standard principal component analysis (PCA) technique to fault detection and identification. Based on an analysis of the existing test statistic, we propose a new test statistic, which is similar to the Hawkin’s TH 2 statistic but without the numerical drawback. In comparison with the SPE index, the threshold setting associated with the new statistic is computationally simpler. Our further study is dedicated to the analysis of fault sensitivity. We consider the off-set and scaling faults, and evaluate the test statistic by viewing its sensitivity to the faults. Our final study focuses on identifying off-set and scaling faults. To this end, two algorithms are proposed. This paper also includes some critical remarks on the application of the PCA technique to fault diagnosis.     

CoPt-Co hybrid supported on amino modified SiO_2 nanospheres as a high performance catalyst for hydrogen generation from ammonia borane

CoPt-Co hybrids were successfully supported on amino modified SiO_2 nanospheres by a chemical reduction method at a temperature of 278 K.The solid carrier i.e.amino modified SiO_2,provides numerous anchoring sites for the metal nanoparticles(NPs)to improve the dispersion while reducing the size of metal NPs.The supported NPs displayed a narrow particle size distribution on the SiO_2 surface with an average diameter of 12 nm.The XRD results alongside with the binary alloy phase diagram suggest that the resulted NPs are bimetallic,composed of CoPt and amorphous Co.Among the prepared materials,the solid with the specific composition of SiO_2@Pt_(0.1)Co_(0.9)was proved to be effective catalyst for ammonia borane(AB)hydrolysis in aqueous solution.The turnover frequency(TOF)value of the supported nanocatalyst was 25.59mol_(H_2)min~(-1)·mol_M~(-1),almost twice as that of unsupported Pt_(0.1)Co_(0.9)NPs while the activation energy was 37.05 kJ mol~(-1).Furthermore,the SiO_2@Pt_(0.1)Co_(0.9)composite manifested high catalytic activity even after five cycles of reuse.     

Controllable synthesis,XPS investigation and magnetic property of multiferroic BiMn_2O_5 system: The role of neodyme doping

In this work, a novel series of multiferroic materials BiMn_2O_5 doped by Neodyme has been prepared by a sol-gel method at low temperature. The crystallographic studies using X-ray diffraction and Rietveld Refinement techniques showed the formation of single-phase samples for all compositions, crystallizing in a mullite-type orthorhombic perovskite structure, space group Pbam(Z = 4). The SEM techniques confirmed the formation of single-phase materials with excellent mapping distribution. Raman and infrared spectroscopic measurements were performed and combined with lattice dynamics simulations to describe the room-temperature vibrational properties of all samples. The X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy(XPS) were measured in the energy range of 0–1400 eV at room temperature. The Fermi level E_F was defined with the accuracy of 0.127, 0.32 and 0.48 eV for BiMn_2O_5, Bi_(0.9)Nd_(0.1)Mn_2O_5 and Bi_(0.8)Nd_(0.2)Mn_2O_5 respectively. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows the existence of Mn~(4+) state. Magnetic measurements indicate Neél temperature T_N at 31, 40 and 61 K for BiMn_2O_5,Bi_(0.9)Nd_(0.1)Mn_2O_5 and Bi_(0.8)Nd_(0.2)Mn_2O_5 respectively.     

Hot deformation characteristics of as-cast high-Cr ultra-super-critical rotor steel with columnar grains

Isothermal hot compression tests of as-cast high-Cr ultra-super-critical (USC) rotor steel with columnar grains perpendicular to the compression direction were carried out in the temperature range from 950 to 1250°C at strain rates ranging from 0.001 to 1 s-1. The softening mechanism was dynamic recovery (DRV) at 950°C and the strain rate of 1 s-1, whereas it was dynamic recrystallization (DRX) under the other conditions. A modified constitutive equation based on the Arrhenius model with strain compensation reasonably predicted the flow stress under various deformation conditions, and the activation energy was calculated to be 643.92 kJ·mol-1. The critical stresses of dynamic recrystallization under different conditions were determined from the work-hardening rate (θ)–flow stress (σ) and -?θ/?σ–σ curves. The optimum processing parameters via analysis of the processing map and the softening mechanism were determined to be a deformation temperature range from 1100 to 1200°C and a strain-rate range from 0.001 to 0.08 s-1, with a power dissipation efficiency η greater than 31%.     

Earth-abundant photovoltaic semiconductor NaSbS_2 in the rocksalt-derived structure:A first-principles study

NaSbS_2 was recently proposed as a novel photovoltaic semiconductor with earth-abundant component elements,but its fundamental material properties have not been well studied.The systematical first-principles calculations for its electronic,optical and defect properties were carried out in the present study,and the results show that:i)NaSbS_2 in the rocksalt-derived structure has a quasi-direct band gap and thus may have long minority carrier lifetime;ii) its absorption coefficients are as high as 10~4～10~5 cm~(-1) for the visible light and almost isotropic despite that the structure is distorted relative to the high-symmetry rocksalt structure;iii) the effective masses of the electron and hole carriers are anisotropic with much larger values along the z direction than in the x-y plane,and hence the orientational control of thin films should be important for enhancing the photovoltaic performance;iv) the valence and conduction band edges of NaSbS_2 are close to those of CuGaSe_2) so the n-CdS/pCuGaSe_2 device structure can be inherited to form the n-CdS/p-NaSbS_2 solar cells;v) the acceptor defects (Na_(Sb)antisites and Na vacancies) have very high concentration,making the synthesized NaSbS_2 always be p-type;vi)the S-rich condition can suppress the formation of deep-level donor defects (S vacancies and Sb_(Na) antisites) and therefore should be adopted for fabricating high-efficiency NaSbS_2 solar cells.     

Global Existence and Optimal Decay Rate of the Compressible Magnetohydrodynamic Equation with Potential Force

In this paper, we consider the three dimensional compressible viscous magnetohydrodynamic equations(MHD) with the external potential force. We first derive the corresponding non-constant stationary solutions. Next, we show global wellposedness of the initial value problem for the three dimensional compressible viscous magnetohydrodynamic equations, provided that the initial data is close to the stationary solution. Finally, based on the elaborate energy estimates for the nonlinear system and L~p-L~q decay estimates of the linearized equation, we show the optimal convergence rates of the solution in L~q-norm with 2≤q≤6 and its first derivative in L~2-norm when the initial perturbation is bounded in L~p-norm with 1≤p6/5.     

Stress corrosion cracking of X80 pipeline steel exposed to high pH solutions with different concentrations of bicarbonate

Susceptibilities to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of X80 pipeline steel in high pH solutions with various concentrations of HCO₃? at a passive potential of ?0.2 V vs. SCE were investigated by slow strain rate tensile (SSRT) test. The SCC mechanism and the effect of HCO₃? were discussed with the aid of electrochemical techniques. It is indicated that X80 steel shows enhanced susceptibility to SCC with the concentration of HCO₃? increasing from 0.15 to 1.00 mol/L, and the susceptibility can be evaluated in terms of current density at ?0.2 V vs. SCE. The SCC behavior is controlled by the dissolution-based mechanism in these circumstances. Increasing the concentration of HCO₃? not only increases the risk of rupture of passive films but also promotes the anodic dissolution of crack tips. Besides, little susceptibility to SCC is found in dilute solution containing 0.05 mol/L HCO₃? for X80 steel. This can be attributed to the inhibited repassivation of passive films, manifesting as a more intensive dissolution in the non-crack tip areas than at the crack tips.     

Influence of growth conditions on the electrochemical synthesis of SnS thin films and their optical properties

Tin sulfide (SnS) thin films were prepared by electrodeposition onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrates using an aqueous solution containing SnCl₂ and Na₂S₂O₃ at various deposition potentials (E) and bath concentrations. The pH value and temperature of the solution were kept constant. The deposited films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), photoluminescence (PL), and ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy. The FESEM images demonstrated that changes in the deposition potential (E) and solution concentration led to marked changes in the morphology of the deposited SnS films. Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) results showed that the Sn/S atomic ratio strongly depended on both the solution concentration and the deposition potential. To obtain an Sn/S atomic ratio approximately equal to 1, the optimal Sn2+/S₂O₃2- molar ratio and E parameter were 1/8 and -1.0 V, respectively. The XRD patterns showed that the synthesized SnS was obviously polycrystalline, with an orthorhombic structure. The effects of the variations of bath concentration and deposition potential on the band-gap energy (E_g) were studied using PL and UV–Vis experiments. The PL spectra of all the SnS films contained two peaks in the visible region and one peak in the infrared (IR) region. The UV–Vis spectra showed that the optical band-gap energy varies from 1.21 to 1.44 eV.     

Thermal shock resistance and crack growth behavior of Aurivillius phase Bi_4Ti_3O_(12)-based ferroelectric ceramics

A type of W/Cr co-doped Bi_4Ti_3O_(12)(ab. BTWC) ceramics were synthesized utilizing the traditional solid-state reaction process, and its thermal shock resistance(TSR) as well as the crack growth behavior was systematically investigated by water quenching technology. It can be found by the succeeded fractographic analysis that many edge thermal cracks began to appear in the samples subjected to thermal shock with ΔT=400°C. According to an integrated TSR model, the critical thermal-shock temperature difference ΔTCwas calculated to be 356°C. Moreover, it can be noticed that the indenter induced crack growth behaviors under thermal shock loads presented three stages, i.e. no growth, large growth, and moderate growth, along with ΔT increasing from 0°C to 700°C. Finally, the asymmetry of P-E hysteresis loops was observed and understood by the orientated polarization of defect dipoles after the sample was thermally shocked, while the water-quenching process above the Curie temperature of the ceramics could lead to a random orientation of the defect dipoles. This research can not only evaluate the service conditions of Bi_4Ti_3O_(12) high-temperature piezoceramics, but also understand the failure mechanism of bismuth layer structured ferroelectric ceramics in the case of thermal shock.