Nanostructured Materials in Extreme Environments: Nanostructured Metals in Coupled or Multiple Extreme Environments
Sponsored by: TMS Materials Processing and Manufacturing Division, TMS Structural Materials Division, TMS: Nanomechanical Materials Behavior Committee, TMS: Advanced Characterization, Testing, and Simulation Committee, TMS: Mechanical Behavior of Materials Committee, TMS: Nuclear Materials Committee
Program Organizers: Haiming Wen, Missouri University of Science and Technology; Nan Li, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Youxing Chen, University of North Carolina Charlotte; Yue Fan, University of Michigan; Niaz Abdolrahim, University of Rochester; Khalid Hattar, University of Tennessee Knoxville; Ruslan Valiev, UFA State Aviation Technical University; Zhaoping Lu, University of Science and Technology Beijing
Tuesday 8:00 AM
March 21, 2023
Room: Aqua 303
Location: Hilton
Session Chair: Youxing Chen, University of North Carolina, Charlotte
8:00 AM Invited
Coupled Extreme Environments the True Challenge for Nuclear Materials: Peter Hosemann1; Minsung Hong2; Franziska Schmidt3; Rasheed Auguste2; John Scully4; Ho Lun Chan4; Farida Selim5; Djamel Kaoumi6; 1University of California at Berkeley; 2University of California, Berkeley; 31University of California, Berkeley; 4University of Virginia; 5Bowling Green State University; 6North Carolina State University
Nuclear applications are among the most challenging environments for materials today. While radiation, high temperature, corrosive environments, stress, and long periods of performance are a challenge under any circumstance it is the simultaneous presence of all of it that creates the true challenge, makes materials selection difficult and leads to phenomena not observed elsewhere. This work assesses the effects of irradiation and corrosion at elevated temperature on model and engineering alloys and materials. Helium implanted material and corroded materials are explored and the combination of Helium bubble migration while oxide layer growth occurs are studied finding a strong influence of Kirkendall effects on the mechanism. A combinatorial study of positron annihilation spectroscopy and electrical impedance spectroscopy bring insight into the effects of radiation on pre-formed passive layers advancing our understanding of transport across interfaces. In addition, we highlight the simultaneous irradiation and corrosion of materials in lead bismuth eutectic and introduce a new in-situ corrosion rate measurement tool.
8:25 AM Invited
Solute Partitioning and its Influence on Stability and Mechanical Behavior in Nanocrystalline Alloys: Thomas Koenig1; Ilias Bikmukhametov1; Ankit Gupta2; Garritt Tucker2; Gregory Thompson1; 1University of Alabama; 2Colorado School of Mines
Nanocrystalline stability can be achieved through the partitioning of a solute species to the grain boundaries. While this partitioning brings about stability, it also reduces the solid solution strengthening within the material and alters the deformation mechanisms governed by such boundaries. In this presentation, a Ni nanocrystalline alloy with P solute is investigated in terms of its thermal stability and corresponding mechanical hardness. While solid strengthening is reduced by the P partitioning, we demonstrate that this can be mitigated using a ternary addition that remains in solution with Ni, namely Cu. The addition of Cu also influences the kinetics of P partitioning as well as P clusters evolve in the nanostructure. Furthermore, the presence of P in the boundaries alters the mechanisms by which grain boundary deformation is accommodated, revealing a boundary composition and grain size dependence through atomistic simulations.
8:50 AM Invited
Critical Assessment of Grain Size Stability and its Role on Microstructure Preservation Under Extreme Stimuli: Billy Hornbuckle1; Kris Darling1; Anit Giri1; Anthony Roberts1; Cyril Williams1; Scott Turnage1; Dan Casem1; 1US Army Research Laboratory
The motivation of the nanocrystalline metals community has been to increase microstructural stability to its fullest extent. However, the implication of achieving this end state, i.e. true absolute stability, has not been fully conceptualized. Doing so, provides a new frontier for fundamental discovery where opportunities exist beyond the perceived mechanical limits, which have been called out in this discipline of science. Such a concept raises many new questions related to thermophysical properties especially in extreme environments. This talk will discuss aspect of microstructural rejuvenation and unprecedented damage absorption under intense irradiation, shock loading, and other forms of deformation in the CuTa family of alloys. The collective data shows a unification in response allowing new conclusions to be drawn about the potential of these materials in extreme environments. Finally, with grain boundaries fully stabilized, the next stage of alloy development is presented for CuTa alloys.
9:15 AM
Nanoindentation Measurements at Combined High Strain Rates and Elevated Temperatures: Benoit Merle1; Christopher Walker2; Christopher Zenk3; George Pharr2; 1University of Kassel; 2Texas A&M University; 3FAU Erlangen-Nuernberg
Nanoindentation is a versatile method for measuring the microscopic mechanical properties of materials under varied temperatures, albeit only at slow strain rates < 0.1 s-1. Recent developments have increased the permissible constant strain rate to 100 s-1 at room temperature. Here, both capabilities are combined in order to investigate the influence of high strain rates on the strength anomaly of L12 intermetallic compounds. From nanoindentation measurements on Ni3Si under varied temperature and strain rate conditions, it is concluded that high strain rates lead to an extension of the anomalous temperature range.
9:35 AM Break
9:55 AM Invited
Nanostructured Metallic Materials with Thick Grain Boundaries: Jie Ding1; Ruizhe Su1; Dajla Neffati2; Yashashree Kulkarni2; Xinghang Zhang1; 1Purdue University; 2University of Houston
Nanocrystalline metallic materials have high mechanical strength with limited plasticity. Grain boundaries (GBs) act as effective barriers to the transmission of dislocations and consequently lead to strengthening. Conventional GBs have a thickness of 1-2 atomic layers, typically 0.5 nm. When GB thickness increases to several nm, the mechanical response of metallic materials can change significantly. Here we show examples of thick GBs in nanocrystalline Ni alloy and CoAl intemetallic alloy. In situ micropillar compression studies coupled with MD simulations suggest that the thick GBs play a major role in tailoring the strength and plasticity of metallic materials. The implications of these findings on the discovery of advanced materials and new deformation mechanisms will be discussed.
10:20 AM
Radiation Instability of Thermally Stable Nanocrystalline Pt-Au System: Ryan Schoell1; Chris Barr1; Douglas Medlin1; Dave Adams1; Yasir Mahmood2; Remi Dingreville1; Fadi Abdeljawad2; Brad Boyce1; Khalid Hattar1; 1Sandia National Laboratory; 2Clemson University
Nanocrystalline microstructures are desirable due to their improved mechanical strength as well as providing sinks for radiation damage; however, the far-from-equilibrium nature of a nanocrystalline microstructure often leads to grain growth under various external stimuli such as thermal, mechanical loading, and radiation. In this work, we show how stability to one external stimulus does not mean stability to other external stimuli. Specifically, we show how a nanocrystalline Pt-10Au system is relatively stable under thermal and mechanical loading but not irradiation using high energy Au ions. A combination of Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), high resolution STEM, and modeling was used to illuminate the possible mechanisms of grain growth under different external stimuli and explain why microstructural stability only occurs under specific stimuli. SNL is managed and operated by NTESS under DOE NNSA contract DE-NA0003525.
10:40 AM
Irradiation and Corrosion Behavior of Nanostructured Grade 91 and FeCrAl Alloys for Nuclear Applications: Joshua Rittenhouse1; Matthew Luebbe1; Mahmut Cinbiz2; Lingfeng He2; Haiming Wen1; 1Missouri University of Science and Technology; 2Idaho National Laboratory
Nanostructuring of steels is a promising method of improving irradiation resistance along with improving other properties including mechanical strength and potentially corrosion resistance. Kanthal D (ferritic Fe-21Cr-5Al) and Grade 91 (ferritic/martensitic Fe-9Cr-1Mo) are both candidate materials for use in fuel cladding and structural components in existing and future reactor designs. This work demonstrates that mechanical properties of ultrafine-grained and nanocrystalline Grade 91 and Kanthal D are improved prior to irradiation and better maintained under neutron irradiation at 300 and 500 oC when compared to their coarse-grained counterparts. Microstructural characterization utilizing transmission electron microscopy techniques shows the mechanisms governing the improved irradiation resistance in the nanostructured steels. Mass loss, glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy and microstructural data demonstrate the corrosion resistance of the nanostructured Grade 91 and Kanthal D, which is overall similar to and in certain cases improved compared to that of their coarse-grained counterparts.
11:00 AM
A Stable and Irradiation Resistant Ultrafine-grained Aluminum Crossover Alloys: Patrick Willenshofer1; Matheus Tunes2; Oliver Renk1; Peter Uggowitzer1; Stefan Pogatscher1; 1Montanuniversitaet Leoben; 2Los Alamos National Laboratory
Nanostructured materials are not only known for their unique mechanical properties, but also for their high radiation resistance compared to the coarse-grained counterpart. This is due to their high amount of interfaces (i.e. grain boundaries), which serve as sinks for defects and thus limit the formation of dislocation loops. However, under irradiation or upon heating the material may encounter grain coarsening whereby losing their initiated designed properties. In this study, we present a strategy to stabilise the ultrafine-grained microstructure of an AlMgZnCuAg crossover alloy by precipitating irradiation-resistant T-phase at the nanoscale. Furthermore, we are investigating the radiation stability of this alloy in extreme environments during in-situ transmission electron microscopy, and are setting a new benchmark regarding the radiation survivability level in aluminum alloys. The findings of our study make the UFG-AlMgZnCuAg a promising material for space missions in the extreme environment of the solar system.
11:20 AM Invited
A New Type of Nuclear Materials: Nanocrystalline ODS Steels: Tongde Shen1; 1Yanshan University
Nanocrystalline metals are often radiation tolerant but with a relatively low thermal stability under high temperature and/or irradiation environments. We have recently used thermodynamic and kinetic approaches to stabilizing and processing a 304L-type nanocrystalline austenitic ODS steel. This steel has extremely high yield strength between 2 and 3 GPa, a high thermal stability of approx. 1000 oC, extremely high creep resistance (with a steady creep rate of approx. 10-7 s-1 at 700 oC and 500 MPa), high oxidation resistance in air at 1000 oC, low radiation hardening, high structure stability against high-temperature irradiation, and extremely high resistance against radiation-induced swelling and helium bubble coarsening. In addition, 9Cr ferritic/martensitic- and 14Cr ferritic-type nanocrystalline ODS steels with similarly exceptional properties have been also processed. The underlying mechanisms for these excellent properties are analyzed. Our work should help design a new type of nuclear materials with improved performances for extreme environments.