Papers by Author: Yinong Liu

Abstract: This study presents a numerical model for deformation behaviour of near-equiatomic NiTi holey plates using finite element method. Near-equiatomic NiTi alloy deforms via stress-induced AM martensitic transformation, which exhibits a typical hystoelastic mechanical behaviour. In this model, the transformation stress is decomposed into two components: the hyperelastic stress, which describes the main reversible aspect of the deformation process, and the hysteretic stress, which describes the irreversible aspect of the process. It is found that with increasing the level of porosity of the holey plate, the nominal stress for the AM transformation decreases and the strain increases. In addition, the stress-strain slope over the stress plateau also increases with increasing the porosity. While the porosity level has a strong effect on global stress-strain behaviour of the holey plate, regularity of the arrangement of the holes is found to have negligible effect.

Abstract: YAG nanopowders were synthesized by a co-precipitation method using ammonium hydrocarbonate and ammonia water as the precipitants respectively. The influences of precipitants on chemical compositions, phase transformation and sinterability of the prepared powders, and transmittance of the vacuum-sintered YAG ceramics were studied. The sinterability of powders synthesized using ammonium hydrocarbonate as precipitant is better than that with ammonia water. Pure YAG phase can be obtained by calcining the hydrate precursor at 1200°C, while some impurity phases exist when calcining the carbonate precursor at the same temperature. Transparent YAG ceramics were fabricated by vacuum sintering at 1700°C for 5 h using the YAG nanopowders, and their in-line transmittance is about 60% in the visible light range.

Abstract: Open-cell Al O ceramic foams with uniform cell structures and dense cell struts were fabricated by centrifugal slip casting using the plant seeds as the templates. The rheological characteristic of Al O slurries with up to 50 vol.% solid content was investigated. The shrinkage matching between the Al O green compact and the plant seeds during drying was studied. The effect of solid contents of slurries on change of green density of cell struts along the height of compacts was analyzed. The drying and sintering schedule of Al O green cakes were studied. The results indicated mass segregation of Al O particles with different sizes during centrifugal process was negligible for slurries with high solid loadings with 50 vol. %. The cell struts of green bodies had high density of 63.8% TD. After sintered at 1500 °C for 2 h, the final products had dense cell struts with high sintered density of 98.9%TD and homogeneous microstructure. The porosity and compressive strength of sintered products was 66.5% and 5.26 MPa, respectively.

Abstract: The effect of purity of amorphous boron raw materials on properties of the hot pressed SiC doped MgB2 superconductor was investigated. MgB2 superconductors with magnetic Jc over 106 A/cm2 and remaining Jc of 105 A/cm2 at 4.2 K and 5 T were fabricated by hot pressing using both high purity (99.00%) and low purity (88.84%) boron powders. XRD analysis shows that purity of the boron powders has little effect on phase component of the MgB2 samples. If the main impurity in amorphous boron is Mg, low purity low cost boron powder is suitable as one of the raw materials for fabricating MgB2. Particle sizes of boron has significant effect on microstructure and properties of MgB2. Smaller boron particle size leads to smaller grain size of MgB2, higher density, higher lattice distortion, and thus higher magnetic Jc.

Abstract: Shape memory characteristics and superelasticity of an temperature gradient annealing(TGA) treated equiatomic Ti-Ni alloy have been investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry(DSC), thermal cycling tests under constant load and tensile tests. By annealing 25% cold worked alloy under the temperature gradient from 658 K to 466 K, 7 K variation in TR*and 19 K variation in Ms* were obtained along the length of sample(150mm). Temperature dependence of transformation elongation(dε/dT) of TGA treated Ti-Ni alloy wires was in the range of 0.05 %/K and 0.01 %/K depending on annealing temperature ranges. The dε/dT obtained from TGA treated sample under the temperature gradient from 658 K to 466 K was 0.03 %/K. TGA treated alloy showed the clear superelastic recovery.

Abstract: Near-equiatomic Ni-Ti alloys are known to exhibit shape memory effect associated with a B2↔B19’ martensitic transformation. These alloys are often used in various cyclic modes in application, typically as actuators and sensors. The B2↔B19’ martensitic transformation in Ni-Ti is accompanied with a large lattice distortion. Cycling through this transformation, induced thermally, mechanically or by the combination of the two, is found to cause structural damage to the alloys, hence changes their functional properties. This study investigates the effect of transformation cycling and heat treatment on the property stability of near-equiatomic Ti-Ni. It was found that in the case of thermally induced transformation cycling, incomplete transformation cycles caused less structural damage to the matrix than full transformation cycles whereas in the case of mechanically induced transformation cycling via pseudoelasticity in tension, partial or full transformation cycling caused similar property changes. The indifference of the case of pseudoelastic cycling is attributed to the localisation of the deformation, commonly known as the Lüders-type deformation.

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the application of fundamental thermodynamic theories in the analysis of thermoelastic martensitic transformations in shape memory alloys, with a particular reference to polycrystalline NiTi. The discussion is delivered in two parts. The first part presents a concise overview of the fundamental theories of thermodynamics of thermoelastic martensitic transformations established in the past 30 years. The second part focuses on the principles governing the application of the theories, interpretation of the thermodynamic parameters defined in the theories, experimental determination of the parameters, and some common misperceptions and unjustified assumptions in practice concerning these parameters.