Papers by Author: I. Alvarez-Armas

Abstract: This paper focuses on the identification of activated slip system in flat specimens of hot- and cold-rolled UNS S32750 DSS plates subjected to low-cycle fatigue, paying particular attention on the existence of the K-S relationship. Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) technique was used to determine the local crystallographic properties of both phases. Although 27182 couples of α/γ grains were analyzed, the crystallographic K-S relationships were rarely observed between them. As a conclusion, it was observed that microcracks were mostly nucleated at grain boundaries and rarely at the extrusions.

Abstract: The kinetics of short crack growth during cycling has been studied in a superduplex stainless steel in aged condition. After few cycles, slip lines appear distributed in both phases but the preferred phase for microcrack nucleation is the ferrite. Contrary to the exponential behavior observed in the as-received material, the growth rate of microcracks in aged condition follows a rather linear law. Internal dislocation structures were studied in the near surface region; microbands that sometimes extend over several grains were found at approximately 45º of the tensile axis on ferrite grains. The origin of the microbands has been analyzed and correlated with the microcracks.

Abstract: The cyclic behaviour of the steel EUROFER 97 during isothermal plastic strain-controlled tests was investigated at room temperature and at 550°C. Under these test conditions, the steel shows, after the first few cycles, a cyclic softening following a power-law function that continues up to failure. The rate of softening increases with temperature, being very pronounced at temperatures above 500°C. The evolution of the flow stress during cycling was studied by analyzing the so-called “back” and “friction” stresses obtained from the hysteresis loops measured along the entire test. From the analysis of the hysteresis loops and corroborated by electron microscopy observations, it can be concluded that the strong cyclic softening observed on these samples with a "tempered martensite" structure is produced by the softening exhibited by both stresses. However, the importance of each of these stresses on the softening depends on the applied strain amplitude and temperature. It was observed that, at low temperatures and applied strains, the friction stress shows the strongest influence on the cyclic softening. On the contrary, at higher temperatures and applied strains the back stress reveals the most important changes occurring in the interior of the material.

Abstract: The cyclic hardening–softening response, the cyclic stress–strain curve and the substructure evolution of a high nitrogen duplex stainless steel S32750 have been evaluated and the results compared with reference to low and medium nitrogen duplex stainless steels, S32205 and S32900 grades, respectively. The beneficial effects of nitrogen on the cyclic properties of most modern alloys have been analyzed in terms of the flow stress components, i.e. the internal and the effective stress.

Abstract: In this work, the formation of fatigue cracks is considered as a nucleation process due to the development of a characteristic microstructure formed just beneath the specimen surface. Strain controlled cyclic tests were carried out at room temperature at total strain ranges εt = 0.8 and 1.2% in flat specimens of SAF 2507 Duplex Stainless Steel (DSS). The results show that for this DSS, at εt = 0.8%, the correlation between phases (Kurdjumov-Sacks crystallographic relation) plays an important role in the formation of microcracks. On the other hand, at εt = 1.2%, microcracks initiate in the ferritic phase and the K-S relation does not seem to affect the formation of the cracks.

Abstract: The cyclic behavior of type DIN 1.4460 duplex stainless steels in as-received and aged conditions was investigated at room temperature and at 500°C. At room temperature, the aged samples showed embrittlement effects such as loss of toughness and reduction of fatigue life. At 500°C, beneficial effects of the synergy between temperature and strain cycling were observed. It is proposed that at high temperature in the ferrite the strain cycling can decompose the chemical composition fluctuations, promoting a demodulation of the spinodal decomposition formed by aging.