Papers by Author: Dmitri A. Molodov

Abstract: The effect of cold working followed by annealing on the development of ultrafine grained microstructure and mechanical properties of an Fe-12%Mn-0.6%C-1.5%Al medium-manganese steel was studied. The steel was cold rolled with intermediate annealings and then annealed at 873 K or 923 K for 30 min. The yield strength and total elongation of the Fe-12Mn-0.6C-1.5Al steel after cold rolling were 1200 MPa and 14%, respectively. The heat treatments resulted in the formation of two phase (austenite-ferrite) ultrafine grained microstructures with average grain sizes of 0.9 to 1.2 μm, depending on the annealing temperature. The annealed ultrafine grained steel samples exhibit the yield strength in the range of 800-950 MPa, the ultimate tensile strength in the range of 1150-1200 MPa, and total elongation of 12% to 19%.

Abstract: Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to analyze the curvature-driven shrinkage of individual cylindrical grains with geometrically different boundaries in Al. Grains with <100> tilt and mixed tilt-twist boundaries with the misorientations 5.5°, 16.3°, and 22.6° were simulated. The results revealed that the shrinking grains with tilt boundaries concurrently rotate increasing the misorientation angles, whereas grains with the mixed boundaries did not rotate during their shrinkage. Apparently, the grain boundary geometry/structure has a crucial impact on the observed rotational behavior of the computed grains. The grains with tilt boundaries rotate due to the lack of effectively operating mechanisms for annihilation of edge dislocations, which compose such boundaries. In contrast, for the mixed boundaries composed of edge-screw dislocations the sufficiently fast operating mechanisms of dislocation elimination are available, which facilitates grain shrinkage without rotation.

Abstract: The regularities of static recrystallization in an Fe-0.3C-17Mn-1.5Al TWIP steel subjected to cold rolling and annealing were studied. The cold rolling led to noticeable increase in the dislocation density, extensive mechanical twinning and shear banding. The subsequent annealing resulted in the development of recovered or recrystallized microstructure depending on the rolling reduction and the annealing temperature. An increase in the rolling reduction promoted the recrystallization development, which led to ultrafine-grained microstructure with a grain size below 10 μm. The developed ultrafine-grained steel samples are characterized by beneficial mechanical properties.

Abstract: The influence of thermo-mechanical treatment consisting of cold rolling followed by recrystallization annealing on the grain size and mechanical properties of a high-Mn TWIP steel was studied. An Fe-23Mn-0.3C-1.5Al TWIP steel (wt. %) was subjected to extensive cold rolling with a reduction of 80% (true strain of ∼1.6) and then annealed in the temperature interval ranging from 400 to 900 °C during 20 minutes. Recovery processes took place below 500 °C, partial recrystallization was evident at ~550°C and fully recrystallized structure evolved after annealing at 600 °C and higher. The static recovery resulted in a slight decrease in the yield strength from 1400 MPa to 1250 MPa and the ultimate tensile strength from 1540 MPa to 1400 MPa whereas the total elongation of 4% did not changed. The recrystallization development led to a drastic drop of strength and an increase in ductility. The yield strength of 225 MPa, the ultimate tensile strength of 700 MPa and the total elongation of 79% was obtained after annealing at 900 °C. Correspondingly, the grain size increased from 0.2 μm to 6.2 μm with increase in anneal temperature from 550 to 900°C.

Abstract: Recent research on grain boundary migration is reviewed. Novel in-situ measuring techniques based on orientation contrast imaging and the experimental results obtained on specially grown bicrystals are presented. Particularly, the investigated faceting and migration behavior of low angle grain boundaries under the curvature force in aluminum bicrystals was addressed. In contrast to the pure tilt boundaries, which remained straight/flat and immobile during annealing at elevated temperatures, mixed tilt-twist boundaries readily assumed a curved shape and steadily moved under the capillary force. Computational analysis revealed that this behavior is due to the inclinational anisotropy of grain boundary energy, which in turn depends on boundary geometry. The migration of planar grain boundaries induced by a magnetic field was measured in bismuth and zinc bicrystals. Various structurally different boundaries were investigated. The results revealed that grain boundary mobility essentially depends on the misorientation angle and the inclination of the boundary plane. Stress driven boundary migration in aluminium bicrystals was observed to be coupled to a tangential translation of the grains. The activation enthalpy of high angle boundary migration was found to vary non-monotonously with misorientation angle, whereas for low angle boundaries the migration activation enthalpy was virtually the same. The motion of the mixed tilt-twist boundaries under stress was observed to be accompanied by both the translation of adjacent grains parallel to the boundary plane and their rotation around the boundary plane normal.

Abstract: The faceting and migration behavior of low angle <100> grain boundaries in high purity aluminum bicrystals was investigated. In-situ technique based on orientation contrast imaging was applied. In contrast to the pure tilt boundaries, which remained straight/flat and immobile during annealing at elevated temperatures, mixed tilt-twist boundaries readily assumed a curved shape and steadily moved under the capillary force. Computational analysis revealed that this behavior is due to the inclinational anisotropy of grain boundary energy, which in turn depends on boundary geometry – the energy of pure tilt low angle <100> boundaries is anisotropic, whereas that of mixed tilt-twist boundaries isotropic with respect to boundary inclination.

Abstract: Effect of cold rolling on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a Fe-23Mn-0.3C-1.5Al (in wt. %) TWIP steel with an initial grain size of 24 μm was studied. Extensive deformation twinning occurred upon reduction by rolling. The volume fraction of the deformation twins attained about 0.2 at a reduction of 20%. Then, the intensity of deformation twinning gradually decreased with increasing the total rolling reduction. The average twin thickness of about 20 nm remained unchanged, although the distance between twins progressively reduced with increasing strain. The deformation banding was observed after a reduction of 60%. The thickness and volume fraction of microshear bands increased with increasing rolling reduction. The cold rolling led to significant strengthening of the steel that is accompanied by a drop on ductility. The yield stress (YS) increased from 235 MPa in the initial state to 1400 MPa after cold rolling with a reduction of 80%, whereas the elongation to failure decreased from 96% to 4%, respectively.

Abstract: A recently introduced processing route consisting of cold rolling and recovery annealing allows the production of TWIP steels with high yield strength along with appreciable uniform elongation due to the thermal stability of mechanically induced nanoscale twins. A wide range of strength-ductility combinations was obtained using recovery and recrystallization annealing of 30%, 40%, and 50% cold-rolled Fe-23Mn-1.5Al-0.3C TWIP steel. Texture measurement during cold rolling and annealing was proven to be a suitable tool to determine the optimal deformation degree and annealing time for this processing method. As a consequence, texture analysis can be used to predict the final materials properties.

Abstract: Texture evolution during static primary recrystallization of an austenitic Fe-28Mn-0.28C TWIP steel was analyzed. The cold-rolled material, which showed a Brass-type texture at medium (30% and 50%), and additionally a γ-fiber at high (80%) deformation degrees, was subjected to isothermal annealing at 700°C. The influence of rolling degree/starting texture on the development of particular texture components was studied. After recrystallization a weakened, retained rolling texture was observed for the examined reduction levels. In addition to the deformation components, Brass and Goss, further α-fiber components were formed mainly by annealing twinning leading to the development of this fiber.

Abstract: Microstructure and texture evolution of a 60% cold-rolled Fe-22.3Mn-0.3C alloy during annealing at 550°C were studied. Shear bands, triple junctions and grain boundaries were found to be the preferential nucleation sites. The orientations of the nuclei from these sites were found to be mainly random, but also partly located in α-(//ND) and γ-fibers (//ND). After annealing, fine recrystallized grains formed with abundant annealing twins which had a strong impact on the texture development. The final texture was of low intensity and revealed a weak α-fiber.