Microstructure

Austenite formation, which originated from a fined-grained ferrite plus carbide microstructure, was observed during tensile testing at
973 K (60 K below Ae1, the equilibrium austenite–pearlite transformation temperature). Scanning electron microscopy, electron
backscatter diffraction and atom probe tomography results reveal the mechanism of austenitic transformation below Ae1. The initial
fine-grained microstructure, in combination with the warm deformation process, determines the occurrence of strain-induced austenite formation below Ae1. The initial fine-grained microstructure essentially contains a higher dislocation density to facilitate the formation of Cottrell atmospheres and a larger area fraction of ferrite/carbide interfaces which serve as austenite nucleation sites. The warm deformation promotes the Ostwald ripening process and the increase in dislocation density, and hence promotes the accumulation of local high carbon concentrations in the form of Cottrell atmospheres to reach a sufficiently high thermodynamic driving force for austenite nucleation. The critical carbon concentration required for the nucleation of austenite was calculated using classical nucleation theory, which correlated well with the experimental observations.

The ZA-27 alloy is a zinc-aluminium casting alloy that has been frequently used as the material for sleeves of plain bearings. It has good physical, mechanical and tribological properties. However, one of the major disadvantages is its dimensional instability over a period of time (ageing). To overcome this, copper in the alloy may be replaced with silicon. Coarsening of silicon particles can be controlled by a suitable addition of strontium. In this paper, the commercial ZA-27 alloy and six different Zn25Al alloys (with 1 and 3 wt. % silicon; and with 0, 0.03 and 0.05 wt. % strontium) were obtained by casting in the preheated steel mould. Casting of the alloys was carried out at a laboratory level. In the alloys containing silicon, a finer dendritic structure was noticed compared to the structure of the commercial ZA-27 alloy. The addition of strontium influenced the size and distribution of primary silicon particles. Needle-like particles of eutectic silicon were changed into the fibrous ones. The presence of silicon and strontium did not significantly affect mechanical properties of the obtained Zn25Al alloys compared to mechanical properties of the commercial ZA-27 alloy. Wear rate of the alloys containing silicon was lower than that of the ZA-27 alloy. The addition of strontium further lowers the wear rate and slightly increases the coefficient of friction.

Acta Materialia 80 (2014) 77–93
The microstructure evolution of pure Mg and two Mg–rare-earth alloys (Mg–3 wt.% Dy and Mg–3 wt.% Er) was studied during in
situ compression tests by electron backscatter diffraction and electron channelling contrast imaging. Strain localization and the formation of an early stage shear band (“pre-shear band”) were observed in pure Mg during compressive deformation below 5% engineering strain. In the experiments percolative grain clusters with prevalent basal slip as a precursor for shear band formation was observed. This collective grain-cluster shear behaviour was analysed in more detail using crystal plasticity simulations, revealing a percolation of intense basal slip activity across grain boundaries as the mechanism for shear band initiation. Plane trace analysis, Schmid factor calculation and deformation transfer analysis at the grain boundaries were performed for the activated twins. It appears that many activated tension twins exhibit pronounced non-Schmid behaviour. Twinning appears to be a process of accommodating local strain rather than a response to macroscopic strain.

Colloidal suspensions of nanoparticles are increasingly employed in the fabrication process of electronic devices using inkjet-printing technology and a consecutive thermal treatment. The evolution of internal stresses during the conversion of silver nanoparticle-based ink into a metallic thin-film by a thermal sintering process has been investigated by in-situ XRD using the sin2ψ method. Despite the CTE mismatch at the film/substrate interface, the residual stress in silver films (below 70 MPa) remains lower than in conventional PVD thin-films, as a result of the remaining porosity. A Warren-Averbach analysis further showed that the crystallite growth is associated with a minimization of the twin fault density and the elastic microstrain energy above 150°C. A stabilization of the microstructure and internal stress is observed above 300°C. Inkjet-printing technology thus appears as a good alternative to conventional metallization techniques and offers significant opportunities asset for interconnect and electronic packaging.

Powder neutron diffraction and dielectric spectroscopy were used to investigate both crystallographic and dielectric permittivity properties of a Sr2KNb5O15 single phase ferroelectric oxide with nanosized grains ranging from 35 nm to 90 nm. Measurements were carried out in the temperature range from 10 K (cryogenic) to 550 K. All neutron diffraction data were indexed on the basis of a tetragonal double unit cell. From 10 K to room temperature the space group of the Sr2KNb5O15 ferroelectric phase was considered to be P4bm. The refinement of the paraelectric phase (at 550 K) was determined in the centrosymmetric space group P4/mbm. Dielectric spectroscopy measurements were performed in a thermal cycle. A set of four phase transitions non-related to symmetry changing was detected from Rietveld analysis of neutron powder diffraction data. During a thermal cycle, in the cryogenic temperature domain, strong thermal hysteresis is developed. Both phase transition and thermal hysteresis were correlated. These phenomena are associated with Nb-cation atomic displacements in the NbO6 octahedra along the c-axis direction and of the domain with different frequencies involving grains as well as an excess of interfaces ascribed to the grain boundary. The bulk/grain boundary interfaces in nanostructured ceramics are correlated with the thermal stability phenomenon.

In this study, the influence of single stage and double stage sintering routes on the microstructure and indentation hardness of nanoscale α-Al2O3 particles have been investigated. The nanoscale alumina particles were compacted by Uniaxial pressing technique. Sintered nanoscale α-Al2O3 particles have been shown to have excellent mechanical properties to be used in the manufacture of nanotubes and nanowires. Among the sintering routes, α-Al2O3 ceramic particles sintered by double stage sintering route showed comparatively higher resistance to indentation than single stage sintering route. The densification achieved by double stage sintering route is higher than single stage sintering route. Based on scanning electron microscope images, the microstructure of samples sintered by double stage sintering route contained less porosity than conventional/ single stage sintering route. The increase in hardness achieved by double stage sintering route can be attributed to higher densification and suppressed grain growth during final stage sintering.