Abstract: A cold-drawn Ti50.8 at.% Ni wire was annealed at 600 °C for 30 min, followed by aging at 250 °C for different times. A microstructure with small grains and nanoscaled precipitates was obtained. The thermally induced martensite transformation is suppressed in the samples aged for 4 h or longer, leaving a one-stage R-phase transition between −150 and +150 °C. The transformation behavior, work output and recovery stress associated with the R-phase transition are presented.

Abstract: This work encompasses an in-depth transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography study of Ti-stabilized austenitic steel irradiated with Fe-ions. The focus is on radiation induced segregation and precipitation, and in particular on how Ti and TiC affect these processes. A 15-15Ti steel (grade: DIN 1.4970) in two thermo-mechanical states (cold-worked and aged) was irradiated at different temperatures up to a dose of 40 dpa. At low irradiation temperatures, the cold-worked and aged materials evolved to a similar microstructure dominated by small Si and Ni clusters, corresponding to segregation to small point defect clusters. TiC precipitates, initially present in the aged material, were found to be unstable under these irradiation conditions. Elevated irradiation temperatures resulted in the nucleation of nanometer sized Cr enriched TiC precipitates surrounded by Si and Ni enriched shells. In addition, nanometer sized Ti- and Mn-enriched G-phase (M6Ni16Si7) precipitates formed, often attached to TiC precipitates. Post irradiation, larger number densities of TiC were observed in the cold-worked material compared to the aged material. This was correlated with a lower volume fraction of G-phase. The findings suggest that at elevated irradiation temperatures, the precipitate-matrix interface is an important point defect sink and contributes to the improved radiation resistance of this material. The study is a first of its kind on stabilized steel and demonstrates the significance of the small Ti addition to the evolution of the microstructure under irradiation. (C) 2020 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Recently developed beta-metastable Ti grades take advantage of the simultaneous activation of TRIP and TWIP effects for enhancing their work hardening rate. However, the role of each plasticity mechanism on the macroscopic mechanical response is still unclear. In this work, the nucleation mechanism of the first activated plasticity mechanism, namely {112} < 111 > twinning, was investigated. Firstly, post-mortem TEM analysis showed that twins nucleate on pre-existing microstructural defects such as thermal jogs with the zonal dislocation mechanism. The precipitation of the omega phase on twin boundaries has been observed, as well as the emission of numerous dislocations from super-jogs present in these twin boundaries. It is also shown that {112} < 111 > twins act as effective dislocation sources for the subsequent plasticity mechanisms such as beta -> alpha '' martensitic transformation and {332} < 111 > twinning. Secondly, in situ TEM tensile testing of the investigated Ti grade highlighted the primary role of the initial defect configuration present in the microstructure. It is shown that twins cannot nucleate without the presence of specific defects allowing the triggering of the dislocation decomposition needed for the twinning mechanism highlighted in investigated bulk samples.

Abstract: The interaction between dislocations and nano-precipitates during deformation directly influences hardening response of precipitation-strengthening metals such as Al-Mg-Si alloys. However, how coherent and semi-coherent nano-precipitates accommodate external deformation applied to an Al alloy remains to be elucidated. In-situ tensile experiments in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) were conducted to study the dynamic process of dislocations cutting through coherent needle-like beta '' precipitates with diameters of 3 similar to 8 nm. Comprehensive investigations using in-situ, ex-situ TEM and atom probe tomography uncovered that beta '' precipitates were firstly sheared into small fragments, and then the rotation of the fragments, via sliding along precipitate/matrix interfaces, destroyed their initially coherent interface with the Al matrix. In contrast, semi-coherent beta' precipitates with sizes similar to beta '' were more difficult to be fragmented and accumulation of dislocations at the interface increased interface misfit between beta' and the Al matrix. Consequently, beta' precipitates could basically maintain their needle-like shape after the tensile deformation. This research gains new insights into the interaction between nano-precipitates and dislocations. (C) 2021 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract: In this paper, we report atomic scale observations and formation mechanisms of a high-density of antiphase boundaries (APBs) within an ultra-fine-grained Fe4Al13 intermetallic layer at an Al/steel interface after a heat treatment at 596 degrees C. The results reveal that the APBs are formed by nucleation and the glide of partial dislocations with Burgers vector of b/3[010] (b = 12.47 angstrom). The intensive activation of APBs locally transforms the Fe4Al13 structure from the quasicrystal approximant structure to a quasicrystal. Very few stacking faults and nanotwins are observed indicating that the formation of planar defects is mainly driven by this transformation. This new insight on the formation of high density of APBs could possibly lead to an improvement in toughness by increasing the strength/ductility balance of this intermetallic.

Abstract: Self-healing strategies aim at avoiding part repair or even replacement, which is time consuming, expen-sive and generates waste. However, strategies for metallic systems are still under-developed and solid-state solutions for room temperature service are limited to nano-scale damage repair. Here we propose a new healing strategy of micron-sized damage requiring only short and low temperature heating. This new strategy is based on damage localization particles, which can be healed by fast diffusing atoms of the matrix activated during heat treatment. The healing concept was successfully validated with a com-mercial aluminum alloy and manufactured by Friction Stir Processing (FSP). Damage was demonstrated to initiate on particles that were added to the matrix during material processing. In situ 2D and 3D nano -imaging confirmed healing of the damaged material and showed that heating this material for 10 min at 400 degrees C is sufficient to heal incipient damage with complete filling of 70% of all damage (and up to 90% when their initial size is below 0.2 mu m). Furthermore, strength is retained and the work of fracture of the alloy is improved by about 40% after healing. The proposed Programmed Damage and Repair healing strategy could be extended to other metal based systems presenting precipitation. (C) 2022 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Recent observations made by the authors revealed the activation of stress induced amorphization and sliding at grain boundary in olivine [1], a mechanism which is expected to play a pivotal role in the viscosity drop at the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary and the brittle -ductile transition in the lithospheric mantle. However, there is a lack of information in the literature regarding the intrinsic mechanical properties and the elementary deformation mechanisms of this material, especially at time scales relevant for geodynamics. In the present work, amorphous olivine films were obtained by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The mechanical response including the rate dependent behavior are investigated using a tension -on -chip (TOC) method developed at UCLouvain allowing to perform creep/relaxation tests on thin films at extremely low strain rates. In the present work, strain rate down to 10-12 s- 1 was reached which is unique. High strain rate sensitivity of 0.054 is observed together with the activation of relaxation at the very early stage of deformation. Furthermore, digital image correlation (DIC), used for the first time on films deformed by TOC, reveals local strain heterogeneities. The relationship between such heterogeneities, the high strain rate sensitivity and the effect of the electron beam in the scanning electron microscope is discussed and compared to the literature.

Abstract: A novel class of nanostructured Zr50Cu50 (%at.) metallic glass films with superior and tunable mechanical
properties is produced by pulsed laser deposition. The process can be controlled to synthetize a wide
range of film microstructures including dense fully amorphous, amorphous embedded with nanocrystals
and amorphous nano-granular. A unique dense self-assembled nano-laminated atomic arrangement
characterized by alternating Cu-rich and Zr/O-rich nanolayers with different local chemical enrichment
and amorphous or amorphous-crystalline composite nanostructure has been discovered, while
significant in-plane clustering is reported for films synthetized at high deposition pressures. This unique
nanoarchitecture is at the basis of superior mechanical properties including large hardness and elastic
modulus up to 10 and 140 GPa, respectively and outstanding total elongation to failure (>9%), leading to
excellent strength/ductility balance, which can be tuned by playing with the film architecture. These
results pave the way to the synthesis of novel class of engineered nanostructured metallic glass films
with high structural performances attractive for a number of applications in microelectronics and
coating industry.

Abstract: Intragranular amorphization shear lamellae are found in deformed olivine aggregates. The detailed trans-mission electron microscopy analysis of intragranular lamella arrested in the core of a grain provides novel information on the amorphization mechanism. The deformation field is complex and heteroge-neous, corresponding to a shear crack type instability involving mode I, II and III loading components. The formation and propagation of the amorphous lamella is accompanied by the formation of crystal defects ahead of the tip. These defects are geometrically necessary [001] dislocations, characteristics of high-stress deformation in olivine, and rotational nanodomains which are tentatively interpreted as disclinations. We show that these defects play an important role in dictating the path followed by the amorphous lamella. Stress-induced amorphization in olivine would thus result from a direct crystal-to -amorphous transformation associated with a shear instability and not from a mechanical destabilization due to the accumulation of high number of defects from an intense preliminary deformation. The pref-erential alignment of some lamellae along (010) is a proof of the lower ultimate mechanical strength of these planes.(c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Acta Materialia Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )