Nanoscale mapping of residual stresses in Al 2024 alloys using correlative and multimodal scanning transmission electron microscopy.

A methodology for the mapping of residual stresses in metal alloys has been developed by analyzing an isotropic and homogeneous Al2024 alloy with scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), combined with diffraction (4DSTEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (STEM-EELS) techniques of TEM. The investigations on the alloy's microstructure and elemental distributions were also carried out with conventional dark-field STEM (DFSTEM) and X-ray energy dispersive (EDS) techniques, respectively. Using the STEM-EELS technique, the Young's modulus ( Y _M ) is mapped in the (001) plane of the Al alloy in the same regions where the residual strain maps are generated in [ 1 ‾ 00] and [010] directions by using 4DSTEM technique. The Y M vs. residual strain plot for the Al 2024 alloy revealed that the value of Y M decreased by about ∼ 7 % after the tensile residual strain reached 0.02 %. Whereas such a decrease in Y M happens after the compressively residual strain reaches -0.015 %. The residual stress maps were also obtained in accordance with the Hooke's law i.e., by multiplying Y M map with the corresponding residual strain maps.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)