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A prominent strengthened Y2O3 stabilized t-ZrO2 (YSTZ)/MgO nanocomposite coating is achieved by the plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) process and in-situ synthesized YSTZ reinforced phase with a quantitative control approach. The idea of activating double slip systemic semi-coherent interface dislocations in YSTZ/MgO nanocomposite coating to realize crack self-healing is proposed. High dislocation densities are associated with {101} YSTZ slip and {111} MgO slip system to coordinate interfacial deformation to stop crack initiation and propagation. This crack propagation path can absorb more fracture energy, providing more opportunities for crack deflection and bridge, which closes crack and realizes crack self-healing.

In this work, the trade-off between transformation toughening of ZrO2/TiO2 ceramic coatings and low temperature (293.15 K∼203.15 K) was achieved by adjusting the grain size of t-ZrO2 (dt-ZrO2). A negative correlation between dt-ZrO2 and phase transition temperature (Ms) was also established based on strain energy and chemical free energy in ZrO2/TiO2 ceramic coatings. Interestingly, t-ZrO2 grains lost toughening effects when the dt-ZrO2 reaches the critical size (20 nm) even under cooling and stress. This is attributed to the number of dislocations per unit volume increases 1.5 times with the dt-ZrO2 decreases from 40 nm to 20 nm, which aggravates the lattice distortion and dislocation tangle and leads to the fracture toughness increases by 32.5% at 203.15 K. Therefore, the interfacial cohesion of the semi-coherent interface between (011) t-ZrO2 and (110) TiO2 was enhanced and t-ZrO2 was completely stabilized when dt-ZrO2 reaches critical size. This work elucidates the effect of size effect on Ms and provides a reference for transformation toughening of ceramic coatings at cryogenic temperature.

This work reveals the relaxation phenomenon induced by the localized atomic segregation during harmonic vibrations, which engenders substantial fluctuations in the dynamic modulus. The relaxation peak occurs when the dynamic modulus undergoes a sudden increase upon temperature reduction to −20 °C. This occurrence is caused by interstitial carbon atoms undergoing segregation and dragging dislocations to accumulate near grain boundaries. It leads to an increase in elastic strain energy, resulting in local stress concentrations and cracks initiation in heat affected zone (HAZ) and weld zone (WZ). The elevated value of the dynamic modulus within the HAZ facilitates a substantial internal accumulation of elastic strain energy. Consequently, this accumulation allows cracks to propagate rapidly along grain boundaries within the HAZ. Secondary cracks form in dispersed localized stress concentration zones in the WZ, which can inhibit crack propagation during harmonic vibration. This work will provide detailed insights and theoretical studies on the harmonic vibrational behavior of heterogeneous metals at low temperatures.

Abstract Due to potentially hostile behaviors and elusive habitats, moray eels (Muraenidae) as one group of apex predators in coral reefs all across the globe have not been well investigated. Here, we constructed a chromosome-level genome assembly for the representative Reeve’s moray eel (Gymnothorax reevesii). This haplotype genome assembly is 2.17 Gb in length, and 97.87% of the sequences are anchored into 21 chromosomes. It contains 56.34% repetitive sequences and 23,812 protein-coding genes, of which 96.77% are functionally annotated. This sequenced marine species in Anguilliformes makes a good complement to the genetic resource of eel genomes. It not only provides a genetic resource for in-depth studies of the Reeve’s moray eel, but also enables deep-going genomic comparisons among various eels.

Strain hardening remains challenging for maintaining the plasticity of metals, especially those of high strength. The hetero-deformation induced (HDI) stress can effectively alleviate the problem, specifically with a large mechanical response mismatch. Accordingly, the strain localization and hardening in dual-phase steel consisting of ductile ferrite (F) and almost undeformed bainite (B) were investigated by calculating HDI stress (σh) based on the tensile load-unload-reload (LUR) hysteresis loop and modified equation. Of particular note is that strain localization first appears in the ferrite, and then transfers to the F/B interface during tensile LUR. The generated σh by the accumulation of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) inhibits the mobile dislocation, thereby reducing the strain difference, which promotes the transfer of strain localization. The transformation of strain localization changes the hardening behavior from ferrite hardening to F/B interfacial hardening. The results state clearly that the σh enhances strain hardening while induced strain localization maintains tensile plasticity. Eventually, with the increase σh, the failure of dual-phase steel tends to transition from initial ductile fracture to brittle fracture.

Magnesium (Mg) alloys are popular among structural materials due to their high specific strength and good machinability. However, poor corrosion resistance limits its application in harsh environments, which requires ceramic coating to overcome the shortage of corrosion sensitivity. In this work, ZrO2/MgO ceramic coating was in situ synthesized by plasma electrolytic oxide (PEO) technology, coatings with different pore structures were fabricated by adjusting the pH of the electrolyte, and X-ray computed tomography (XCT) is used to quantitatively investigate the pore structure in ceramic coating. As the pH of the electrolyte increases from 3 to 12, the Zr(OH)4 colloidal particles from electropositive to electronegative charges. Electropositive Zr(OH)4 moves to the anode by diffusion, while electronegative Zr(OH)4 participates in the growth of the coating by electromigration. Due to the electromigration mode at pH = 12, the ZrO2 deposited around the pores caused a change in the pore structure from interconnected to isolated, which resulted in a reduction of the overall porosity to 8.06%. Isolated pores effectively prevent the penetration of corrosive media, resulting in the corrosion current density (icorr) being nearly 46 times lower than the coating with pH = 3. This study presents a novel strategy of adjusting pore structure to enhance the corrosion resistance of ZrO2 ceramic coating, which may have implications for various applications.

More efficient resource utilization and increased crop utilization rate are needed to address the growing demand for food. The efficient quality testing of key agricultural products such as potatoes, especially the rapid testing of key nutritional indicators, has become an important strategy for ensuring their quality and safety. In this study, visible and near infrared (Vis/NIR) transmittance spectroscopy (600–900 nm) was used for the online analysis of multiple quality parameters in potatoes. The study concentrated on comparing three one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN) models, specifically, the fine-tuned DeepSpectra, the fine-tuned 1D-AlexNet, and classic CNN, with UVE-PLS (uninformative variable elimination–partial least squares) models. These models utilized spectral data for the real-time detection of dry matter (DM) content in potatoes. To address the challenges posed by limited data from Vis/NIR, this study strategically implemented data augmentation techniques. This approach significantly enhanced the robustness and generalization capabilities of the models. The 1D-AlexNet and DeepSpectra models achieved 0.934 and 0.913 R2P and 0.0603 and 0.0695 g/100 g RMSEP for DM, respectively. Compared to UVE-PLS, the R2P value improved by 21.31% (0.770 to 0.934) for the 1D-AlexNet model and 18.64% (0.770 to 0.913) for the DeepSpectra model. The RMSEP value was reduced by 47.31% (0.114 to 0.0603) for 1D-AlexNet, and 39.30% (0.114 to 0.0695) for the DeepSpectra model. As a result, this study would be helpful for researching the online Vis/NIR transmission determination of potato DM using deep learning. These results highlighted the immense potential of employing specific spectral features in deep-learning models for a more precise and efficient online assessment of agricultural quality. This advancement provided some insight and reference for further contributing to the evolution of more targeted and efficient quality assessment methods in agricultural products.

Tensile tests were carried out on X80 steel girth welds with four different parameters (no deviation of welding parameters, inadequate number of welding layers, inadequate preheating temperature and inadequate interpass temperature) under automatic welding technology. The strain distribution behavior, strain hardening law and the influence of welding parameter deviation on mechanical properties were studied during tensile deformation. The results show that the strain localization occurs at the interface of the weld filler layer when the preheating temperature of the weld is inadequate and the interpass temperature of the weld is inadequate, and the strain localization occurs at the maximum thickness of the filler layer when the number of welding layers is inadequate. The deviation of welding parameters significantly reduces the strength of girth weld. The yield strength and tensile strength are the lowest when the interpass temperature is inadequate. When the interpass temperature is inadequate, the strain hardening ability deteriorates rapidly. When there is no deviation of welding parameters, the fracture is dimple shaped, which is typical ductile fracture. When the welding parameters deviate, the fracture of the girth weld is a mixed fracture of toughness and brittleness; When the number of welding layers is inadequate, it is mainly brittle fracture; When preheating temperature and interpass temperature are inadequate, ductile fracture is the main mechanism.

In this paper, micro harmonic vibration was applied to the typical titanium alloys to clarify their damping performance at cryogenic temperatures. The effects of vibration modulus at different frequencies were elaborately analyzed, and the crack propagation mechanism was discussed. The increase of internal dislocations improves the damping performance and eventually leads to interface cracking, which is positively correlated with frequency. More importantly, dislocations of β phase aggregated at the interface, leading to interface cracks and transgranular fractures by stress concentration. Whereas, dislocations in the α phase are first activated and then glide toward the boundary to cause cracking, resulting in intergranular fracture. During harmonic vibration at 0∼−60 °C with 200 Hz, the crack propagation of α phase always has a hysteresis behavior compared with that of β phase. When ΔK = 0.137 MPa m1/2 (−60 °C, 200 Hz), the second crack tip of β phase is deflected in different directions, leading to higher harmonic vibration energy is consumption. As a result, the crack growth rate slows down and the damping performance reaches its peak. This contribution is expected to provide experimental data and theoretical support for the vibration damping behavior of typical titanium alloys at cryogenic temperature.

In this work, the microstructure evolution characteristics after 3% pre-strained at different strain rates are elaborated to reveal the effect on the mechanical behavior of dual-phase steel. The results showed the strain field simulated by the representative volume element model shows obvious strain heterogeneity, and the degree of strain localization intensifies with the increase of the strain rate. There is sufficient time to complete the dynamic transition among geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs)-low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs)-middle angle grain boundaries (MAGBs)-high angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) at low strain rates (10−4 s−1∼10−3 s−1), thereby releasing strain distortion energy. As the strain rate increases, the transformation process from LAGBs to HAGBs is hindered due to the shortened strain response time. It can promote the accumulation of high-density GNDs and LAGBs inside the grains, which intensifies strain localization. The incomplete evolution of the microstructure caused by the pre-strain history becomes a resistance to dislocation motion during re-deformation, and more importantly, the higher the strain rate, the more severe the hardening rate loss. This leads to an increase in yield strength and a decrease in uniform elongation, which drastically deteriorates the mechanical stability of the steel.

Ceramic coatings are in general a kind of brittle material because they are predominantly made up of ionic crystals that avoid dislocation motion caused by lattice distortion. In this regard, a remarkable toughened ZrO2/MgO nanocomposite coating is obtained by the plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) process and in-situ synthesized ZrO2 with quantitative control approach. It is revealed that the toughening behavior of the ZrO2/MgO coating is related to the coordination and diversion of lattice distortion at the metallic oxide interface, which induces distinct dislocation motion at the interface. The semicoherent interface between m-ZrO2 and MgO is verified to act as a buffer to realize toughening of the nanocomposite coating through dislocation slipping induced by lattice coordinated distortion. Simultaneously, significant interfacial lattice distortion transfer and dislocation pinning are discovered at the semicoherent interface between t-ZrO2 and MgO, which are beneficial to toughness enhancement of the nanocomposite coating. The results indicate that the toughening effect occurs along with dislocation slipping and pinning caused by lattice distortion of the ZrO2/MgO semicoherent interface, which enables the toughness of novel nanocomposite coating to reach 2.7 times of the traditional PEO coating.

The influence of morphology of the Ti2Cu phase on biological corrosion and antibacterial properties of Ti-Cu alloy was investigated by micro-galvanic corrosion. Elongated “micro-galvanic cells” were formed between lamellar Ti2Cu phase (L-Ti2Cu) and α-Ti matrix due to the different Volta potentials. The corrosion rate (Vcorr) of L-Ti2Cu was twice that of granular Ti2Cu phase (G-Ti2Cu) because lamellar Ti2Cu phase had more galvanic interface. The release of Cu2+ ions in L-Ti2Cu was 55 % higher than G-Ti2Cu, reaching 99.5 % of the antibacterial rate in L-Ti2Cu and providing a great potential in clinical application for dental implants.

Fe-based amorphous powder and shell-core-structured composite powder prepared by ball-milling Fe-based amorphous powder with 10 wt.% Ni/Al powder, were used to fabricate Fe-based amorphous coating and Fe-based amorphous composite coating by plasma spray process, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis results showed that the composite coating was comprised of multi-component amorphous Fe62.8Ni13.6Cr9.9Mo8.6Si1.6C2.3B0.9 layer and crystalline Ni3Al layer. Compared with Fe-based amorphous coating, the composite coating exhibited a more compact structure. The corrosion resistance of Fe-based amorphous coating, which was tested by potentiodynamic polarization method in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution, was significantly improved by using shell-core-structured composite powder. The composite coating showed lower corrosion current density (12.5 μA/cm2) and passive current density (9.0 mA/cm2) than Fe-based amorphous coating. The improved corrosion resistance of the composite coating is attributed to the dense structure and the formation of passivation film.

The effects of CuSO4 concentration, voltage and treating time on the hemisphere emissivity and corrosion resistance of AZ31B magnesium-alloy black micro-arc oxidation coatings were studied by orthogonal experiment. The microstructure, phase composition, corrosion resistance and hemisphere emissivity of the coating were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electrochemical test and infrared emissivity spectrometer, respectively. The results showed that the influences of each factor on corrosion current density and the hemisphere emissivity are as follows: voltage > treating time > CuSO4 concentration. The black MAO coatings are mainly composed of WO3, MgAl2O4, CuAl2O4, MgO, CuO and MgF2. The CuO and CuAl2O4 phases are the main reasons for blackness of the coatings. The coating exhibits the best corrosion resistance under the conditions of CuSO4 concentration 1.5 g/L, oxidation voltage 500 V and treating time 10 min. Additionally, the variation trends of hemispherical emissivity and roughness of the black MAO coating are the same when the composition of the coatings is similar. When the concentration of CuSO4 is 1.5 g/L, the oxidation voltage is 450 V and the treatment time is 10 min, the coating with the highest hemispherical emissivity of 0.84 can be obtained.

Short-time processing route has been designed to manufacture cost-affordable and high-quality powder metallurgy (PM) metastable β titanium alloy, containing rapid powder consolidation (modified thermomechanical pressing), one-step thermomechanical processing (simple open die uniaxial hot forging by industrial press) and fast heat treatment (one-step annealing at various temperatures for only one hour). Based on comprehensive microstructure characterizations and mechanical property examinations, underlying microstructural evolution mechanism and microstructure-property relationship of the produced alloys were uncovered and elucidated thoroughly. Homogeneous macrostructure and fine-grain microstructure without undissolved particles and large pores are obtained for the alloy after thermomechanical powder consolidation as a result of the concurrent effect of external deformation and high-temperature diffusion. One-step open-die forging is verified to produce full-dense and sound PM alloy pancake with large-scale and high strength. Attributed to the harmonious concurrence of hierarchical α precipitation and heterogeneous grain structure, synergistic strength-ductility combinations are achieved for the alloy after specific processing and heat treatment with the tensile strength and strain at failure values of 1386.5 MPa/7.3% and 1252.3 MPa/9.0%, respectively. These strength-ductility combinations are comparable and/or even better than other metastable β titanium alloys prepared by some PM and ingot metallurgy approaches with relatively high cost and time consumption.

The effects of (NH4)2ZrF6 concentration, voltage and treating time on the corrosion resistance of ZK61M magnesium alloy micro-arc oxidation coatings were studied by orthogonal experiments. The SEM result shows that the surface roughness and porosity of MAO coatings increased with (NH4)2ZrF6 concentration, voltage and treating time as a whole, except the porosity decreased with treating time. EDS, XRD and XPS analysis show that (NH4)2ZrF6 was successfully incorporated into coatings by reactive incorporation, coatings are dominantly composed of ZrO2, MgO, MgF2 and amorphous phase Mg phosphate. Potentiodynamic polarization was used to evaluate the corrosion property of coatings. When the concentration of (NH4)2ZrF6 is 6 g/L, the voltage is 450 V, and the treating time is 15 min, the coating exhibits the best corrosion resistance which corrosion current density is four magnitudes lower than substrate attributed to the incorporation of ZrO2 and the deposition of MgF2 in the micropores.

Titanium alloys are widely used in aerospace, chemical, biomedical and other important fields due to outstanding properties. The mechanical behavior of Ti alloys depends on microstructural characteristics and type of alloying elements. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different Cu contents (2.5 wt.%, 7 wt.% and 14 wt.%) on mechanical and frictional properties of titanium alloys. The properties of titanium alloy were characterized by tensile test, electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, reciprocating friction and wear test. The results show that the intermediate phase that forms the eutectoid structure with α-Ti was identified as FCC Ti2Cu, and no primary β phase was formed. With the increase of Cu content, the Ti2Cu phase precipitation in the alloy increases. Ti2Cu particles with needle structure increase the dislocation pinning effect on grain boundary and improve the strength and hardness of titanium alloy. Thus, Ti-14Cu shows the lowest elongation, the best friction and wear resistance, which is caused by the existence of Ti2Cu phases. It has been proved that the mechanical and frictional properties of Ti-Cu alloys can be adjusted by changing the Cu content, so as to better meet its application in the medical field.

A CoCrCuFeNiTi0.8 high-entropy alloy was prepared using directional solidification techniques at different withdrawal rates (50 μm/s, 100 μm/s, 500 μm/s). The results showed that the microstructure was dendritic at all withdrawal rates. As the withdrawal rate increased, the dendrite orientation become uniform. Additionally, the accumulation of Cr and Ti elements at the solid/liquid interface caused the formation of dendrites. Through the measurement of the primary dendrite spacing (λ1) and the secondary dendrite spacing (λ2), it was concluded that the dendrite structure was obviously refined with the increase in the withdrawal rate to 500 μm/s. The maximum compressive strength reached 1449.8 MPa, and the maximum hardness was 520 HV. Moreover, the plastic strain of the alloy without directional solidification was 2.11%, while the plastic strain of directional solidification was 12.57% at 500 μm/s. It has been proved that directional solidification technology can effectively improve the mechanical properties of the CoCrCuFeNiTi0.8 high-entropy alloy.

Diffusion reaction was a crucial route to enhance the wear resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloys surface. In this work, the Ni/Cu/Ni composite layers were fabricated on the surface of Ti-6Al-4V alloy by electroplate craft, and then different annealing temperatures were applied to further optimize its tribological properties. The diffusion behaviors at various temperatures were systematically analyzed to reveal the physical mechanism of the enhanced tribological properties of the coatings. It was demonstrated that CuxTiy and NixTiy intermetallic compounds with high hardness and strength were produced in the Ni/Cu/Ni coating, which acted as the reinforcing phases and improved the microhardness, reduced the friction coefficient, and lessened the wear rate. Specially, this effect reached the maximum when the annealing temperature was 800 °C, showing excellent wear resistance. This work revealed the relationship between annealing temperatures and tribological properties of the Ni/Cu/Ni coating, and proposed wear mechanism, aiming to improve the surface performance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy by appropriate diffusion behavior.

In this work, a CuCe alloy was prepared using a directional solidification method at a series of withdrawal rates of 100, 25, 10, 8, and 5 μm/s. We found that the primary phase microstructure transforms from cellular crystals to cellular peritectic coupled growth and eventually, changes into dendrites as the withdrawal rate increases. The phase constituents in the directionally solidified samples were confirmed to be Cu2Ce, CuCe, and CuCe + Ce eutectics. The primary dendrite spacing was significantly refined with an increasing withdrawal rate, resulting in higher compressive strength and strain. Moreover, the cellular peritectic coupled growth at 10 μm/s further strengthened the alloy, with its compressive property reaching the maximum value of 266 MPa. Directional solidification was proven to be an impactful method to enhance the mechanical properties and produce well-aligned in situ composites in peritectic systems.

This work aims to improve the properties of aluminum foams including the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance by electrodepositing a SiC/TiN nanoparticles reinforced Ni−Mo coating on the substrate. The coatings were electrodeposited at different voltages, and the morphologies of the coating were detected by SEM (scanning electron microscope) to determine the most suitable voltage. We used XRD (x-ray diffraction) and TEM (transmission electron microscope) to analyze the structure of the coatings. The aluminum foams and the substrates on which the coatings were electrodeposited at a voltage of 6.0 V for different electrodeposition times were compressed on an MTS (an Electro-mechanical Universal Testing Machine) to detect the mechanical properties. The corrosion resistance before and after the electrodeposition experiment was also examined. The results showed that the coating effectively improved the mechanical properties. When the electrodeposition time was changed from 10 min to 40 min, the Wv of the aluminum foams increased from 0.852 J to 2.520 J and the σs increased from 1.06 MPa to 2.99 MPa. The corrosion resistance of the aluminum foams was significantly improved after being coated with the Ni−Mo−SiC−TiN nanocomposite coating. The self-corrosion potential, pitting potential, and potential for primary passivation were positively shifted by 294 mV, 99 mV, and 301 mV, respectively. The effect of nanoparticles on the corrosion resistance of the coatings is significant.

Semi-solid processing (SSP) is a popular near-net-shape forming technology for metals, while its application is still limited in titanium alloy mainly due to its low formability. Recent works showed that SSP could effectively enhance the formability and mechanical properties of titanium alloys. The processing parameters such as temperature and forging rate/ratio, are directly correlated with the microstructure, which endow the alloy with different chemical and physical properties. Specifically, as a key structural material for the advanced aero-engine, the burn resistant performance is a crucial requirement for the burn resistant titanium alloy. Thus, this work aims to assess the burning behavior of Ti14, a kind of burn resistant alloy, as forged at different semi-solid forging temperatures. The burning characteristics of the alloy are analyzed by a series of burning tests with different burning durations, velocities, and microstructures of burned sample. The results showed that the burning process is highly dependent on the forging temperature, due to the fact that higher temperatures would result in more Ti2Cu precipitate within grain and along grain boundaries. Such a microstructure hinders the transport of oxygen in the stable burning stage through the formation of a kind of oxygen isolation Cu-enriched layer under the burn product zone. This work suggests that the burning resistance of the alloy can be effectively tuned by controlling the temperature during the semi-solid forging process.