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The strain-rate dependence of slip persistence in TiZrNbHfTa was investigated using microcantilever bending tests instead of conventional single-crystal tensile tests. These tests were performed using micrometre-sized cantilevers fabricated within a grain of the polycrystalline material, and the ψ--Χ relationship was obtained in detail. Bending tests were conducted in two strain rates to determine the ψ--Χ relationship. The results showed that the slip plane macroscopically persisted on the {112} plane in the high-strain-rate test, while in the low-strain-rate test, the apparent slip plane roughly coincided with the plane where the maximum shear stress was applied. Detailed tracing of the slip bands, using atomic force microscopy, on the specimen surface showed that the slip plane was microscopically persisted on the {112} plane in high-strain-rate tests, while in low-strain-rate tests, the slip plane often cross-slipped between the {112} and {110} planes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse in a common framework the properties of the Voronoi tessellations resulting from regular 2D and 3D crystals and those of tessellations generated by Poisson distributions of points, thus joining on symmetry breaking processes and the approach to uniform random distributions of seeds. We perturb crystalline structures in 2D and 3D with a spatial Gaussian noise whose adimensional strength is α and analyse the statistical properties of the cells of the resulting Voronoi tessellations using an ensemble approach. In 2D we consider triangular, square and hexagonal regular lattices, resulting into hexagonal, square and triangular tessellations, respectively. In 3D we consider the simple cubic (SC), body-centred cubic (BCC), and face-centred cubic (FCC) crystals, whose corresponding Voronoi cells are the cube, the truncated octahedron, and the rhombic dodecahedron, respectively. In 2D, for all values α>0, hexagons constitute the most common class of cells. Noise destroys the triangular and square tessellations, which are structurally unstable, as their topological properties are discontinuous in α=0. On the contrary, the honeycomb hexagonal tessellation is topologically stable and, experimentally, all Voronoi cells are hexagonal for small but finite noise with α0.5), memory of the specific initial unperturbed state is lost, because the statistical properties of the three perturbed regular tessellations are indistinguishable. When α>2, results converge to those of Poisson-Voronoi tessellations. In 2D, while the isoperimetric ratio increases with noise for the perturbed hexagonal tessellation, for the perturbed triangular and square tessellations it is optimised for specific value of noise intensity. The same applies in 3D, where noise degrades the isoperimetric ratio for perturbed FCC and BCC lattices, whereas the opposite holds for perturbed SCC lattices. This allows for formulating a weaker form of the Kelvin conjecture. By analysing jointly the statistical properties of the area and of the volume of the cells, we discover that also the cells shape heavily fluctuates when noise is introduced in the system. In 2D, the geometrical properties of n-sided cells change with α until the Poisson-Voronoi limit is reached for α>2; in this limit the Desch law for perimeters is shown to be not valid and a square root dependence on n is established, which agrees with exact asymptotic results. Anomalous scaling relations are observed between the perimeter and the area in the 2D and between the areas and the volumes of the cells in 3D: except for the hexagonal (2D) and FCC structure (3D), this applies also for infinitesimal noise. In the Poisson-Voronoi limit, the anomalous exponent is about 0.17 in both the 2D and 3D case. A positive anomaly in the scaling indicates that large cells preferentially feature large isoperimetric quotients. As the number of faces is strongly correlated with the sphericity (cells with more faces are bulkier), in 3D it is shown that the anomalous scaling is heavily reduced when we perform power law fits separately on cells with a specific number of faces.

Hexagonal dislocation networks (HDNs) formed by the reaction of <1 1 1>/2 screw dislocations are frequently observed in association with anomalous slip in body-centred cubic (bcc) metals. However, its role assigned in anomalous slip remains obscure due to the absence of quantitative description of its response to uniaxial loading. Here, systematic atomistic simulations are performed in molybdenum (Mo) to study the responses of a typical HDN to different applied loadings. The simulation results are used to develop a quantitative yield criterion for the HDN motion under uniaxial loading. Based on this criterion together with the yield equation that can account for the non-Schmid behaviours of an isolated <1 1 1>/2 screw dislocation, the transition from primary to anomalous slips with the loading direction is predicted to be consistent with the experimental observations in many bcc metals including Mo. This work also sheds light on other experimental results such as the lack of dead-band and the displacement accompanying anomalous slip. In addition, the reason for the absence of anomalous slip in bcc iron (Fe) is found by comparison of the reaction between <1 1 1>/2 screw dislocations in Mo and Fe. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Hydrogen-selective membranes formed from body centred cubic alloys can exhibit very high hydrogen permeability, but are prone to brittle failure due to excessive hydrogen absorption. Until issues associated with this are overcome, these materials will not provide a viable alternative to Pd-based membranes. Multi-phase V–Ni–Ti alloys which contain a significant proportion of a BCC component show promise for this application. In order to examine this system in greater detail, alloys of the general form V85−x Ti x Ni15, in which x was varied between 0 and 30 (at.%), were fabricated via arc melting and electrical-discharge wire cutting. Hydrogen permeation measurements of Pd-coated samples at 400°C showed a monotonic increase in permeability with increasing Ti, reaching a maximum of 1.0×10−7 mol H2 m−1 s−1 Pa−0.5 for the V55Ti30Ni15 alloy at 400°C. The driving force for hydrogen transport is provided by hydrogen absorption, which varies non-linearly with Ti content, and is dependent on the volume fraction of BCC phase, and levels of Ti and Ni solution in the BCC phase. Diffusion coefficients of atomic H through the bulk alloys alloys are dependent largely on microstructure. Whereas the V85Ni15 alloy forms a single phase microstructure, progressive substitution of V with Ti introduced several minor phases; a NiTi-type phase (formed when x ≥5), and a NiTi2-type phase (formed when x ≥10), both as V-containing solid solutions. These minor phases act as barriers to hydrogen diffusion, resulting in a significantly reduced diffusion coefficient compared to single-phase BCC alloys. Importantly, the mechanical stability of these alloys appears to be enhanced by the multi-phase microstructure. These alloys therefore show great promise for meeting future flux, cost and durability targets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Despite their inherent high permeability, unalloyed body-centred cubic (BCC) metals are prone to brittle failure due to their excessive hydrogen solubility. The primary challenge for BCC metal membrane development is therefore to control the solubility to a point where embrittlement is inhibited, while increasing the rate of hydrogen diffusion through the alloy. This can be potentially achieved through alloying, with several V-based BCC alloys exhibiting much improved resistance to embrittlement compared to pure vanadium, while maintaining higher hydrogen permeabilities than palladium alloys. While several binary and ternary V-based alloys have been investigated, a systematic approach is needed to properly evaluate potential alloying elements. In response, alloys of the general formula V85Ni10M5 (atom%), where M is Si, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Pd, Ag, or Al have been fabricated, coated with 500nm of Pd, and their microstructure, hydrogen permeability and hydrogen solubility evaluated. The results obtained showed small compositional variations can lead to large changes in permeability, whereas diffusivity is less-dependent on composition. Formation of multi-phase microstructures can enhance the permeability by increasing the vanadium content and hydrogen solubility of the BCC primary phase. The multiphase V85Ni10Ti5 alloy exhibited a hydrogen permeability of 9.3×10−8 molm−1 s−1 Pa−0.5 at 400°C. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The process of fracture in ductile metals involves the nucleation, growth, and linking of voids. This process takes place both at the low rates involved in typical engineering applications and at the high rates associated with dynamic fracture processes such as spallation. Here we study the growth of a void in a single crystal at high rates using molecular dynamics (MD) based on Finnis-Sinclair interatomic potentials for the body-centred cubic (bcc) metals V, Nb, Mo, Ta, and W. The use of the Finnis-Sinclair potential enables the study of plasticity associated with void growth at the atomic level at room temperature and strain rates from 109/s down to 106/s and systems as large as 128 million atoms. The atomistic systems are observed to undergo a transition from twinning at the higher end of this range to dislocation flow at the lower end. We analyse the simulations for the specific mechanisms of plasticity associated with void growth as dislocation loops are punched out to accommodate the growing void. We also analyse the process of nucleation and growth of voids in simulations of nanocrystalline Ta expanding at different strain rates. We comment on differences in the plasticity associated with void growth in the bcc metals compared to earlier studies in face-centred cubic (fcc) metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]