Papers by Author: Michael J. Mills

Abstract: Intergranular corrosion is a significant concern for Al-Mg alloys when subjected to a corrosive salt-water environment. To address this issue, the standard composition of a 5XXX series aluminum alloy (AA5083) was modified in an attempt to improve the alloy’s overall corrosion resistance through alloying and thermal processing. The concept being that through alloying and heat treatments, desirable precipitate phases such as τ- and/or τ-copper rich phase(s) that are known to offer corrosion resistance would potentially form that could effectively improve intergranular corrosion behavior. Therefore, the chemical composition of standard AA5083 was modified by adding various amounts of copper and zinc. Sensitization heat treatments were then performed to determine the specific conditions under which these phases would form. LOM, SEM, STEM imaging and conventional TEM were used to analyze microstructural features. Corrosion was attributed to a network of detrimental Mg-rich grain boundary precipitates in the standard alloy. Alloying with Cu and Zn can offer improved intergranular corrosion behavior. The mechanism seems to be either by delaying or eliminating precipitation at the grain boundaries.

Abstract: Crept microstructures in g-TiAl based alloys reveal a preponderance of 1/2[110]-type jogged-screw dislocations, suggesting that the rate of creep deformation is controlled by the glide of such dislocations. A creep model based on these microstructural observations has been recently developed. This leads to an excellent prediction of creep rates and stress exponents. In this paper, the framework of this model including the verification and validation of the functional dependencies of various microstructural model parameters is reviewed. It has also been observed that creep phenomenology is extremely sensitive to microstructure – fully lamellar g-based alloys exhibit lower creep rates and higher stress exponents even though the deformation microstructure is similar to that in equiaxed alloys. The modifications made to the model that account for the constrained nature of deformation in lamellar alloys are discussed. The applicability of the model is explored in materials systems, including a-Ti and a+b Ti alloys where similar creep exponents and deformation structures have been observed. Finally, the relevance, applicability and shortcomings of the model are critically analyzed.