Papers by Keyword: Grain Subdivision

Abstract: An ultra-low carbon IF steel was heavily deformed up to an equivalent strain of 36 at various high temperatures of ferrite single-phase region and various strain rates. Effects of temperature and strain rate on the microstructures evolved in torsion deformation were clarified. On the other hand, it was found that homogeneous ultrafine grained structures were not obtained by the present torsion deformation though very high strain was applied. The coarser grain sizes than those obtained by conventional severe plastic deformation (like ARB) were due to the deformation at higher temperature and lower strain rate, but lower fraction of high-angle grain boundaries in the torsion specimen was suggested to be attributed to the characteristics of monotonic torsion (or simple shear) deformation including the way of strain evaluation.

Abstract: The sheet of pure Al (99.99%) single crystal having (1 12)[110] orientation was deformed up to equivalent strain of 6.4 by the accumulative roll-bonding (ARB) process. The microstructures and orientation of the single crystal ARB-processed by various cycles were characterized by the EBSP measurement. After 1cycle-ARB process, the crystal was macroscopically subdivided into two matrices (macroscopic grain subdivision). These matrices exhibits two different variants of brass orientation, which are (1 01)[121] and (011)[211]. In addition to the macroscopic grain subdivision, microscopic grain subdivision also occurred within the matrix to form an ultrafine grained structure in the single crystal specimen after high strains.

Abstract: The relationship between grain subdivision mechanisms of a crystalline metal and the strain gradient under severe plastic deformation is studied by using molecular dynamics simulations in quasi two dimensions. Two problems are simulated for single crystal models: (a) uniaxial tensile and compressive deformation and (b) localized shear deformation. In the case of uniaxial deformation, a large number of dislocation pairs with opposite Burgers vectors are generated under deformation, but most dislocations are vanished due to pair annihilation under relaxation. Therefore, no dislocation boundary can be formed. On the other hand, in case of localized shear deformation with large strain gradient, dislocation boundaries are formed between undeformed and deformed regions. These dislocations can be regarded as geometrically necessary dislocations. Consequently, the importance of the strain gradient to make grain boundaries under plastic deformation can be confirmed by atomic simulations.

Abstract: Ultra-low carbon steel (ferritic steel), commercial purity aluminum and high purity copper were heavily deformed by the accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process, and the microstructural evolution during the ARB was analyzed. Significant grain refinement by grain subdivision mechanism was confirmed in all three kinds of materials. On the other hand, microstructure refinement slowed down with increasing strain and the grain size stayed in nearly a constant value in the ultrahigh strain region. The mechanism of the grain size saturation was discussed.

Abstract: The ceramics fuel of UO2, irradiated in power reactors, has restructuring at high burnup, around 70MWd/kgU, which is near in the scope of future fuel utilization with improving economy. The original grains are divided into sub-grains of 100 nm scale and segregation of fission gas (Xe, Kr) grows bubbles resulting in volumetric swelling of the fuel. This restructuring was investigated in the field of nuclear engineering of power reactor fuel industry. This presentation briefly provides observations of this restructuring and some of engineering consequences. In a mechanism study a new approach, combing accelerator irradiation and computational science has been started and some of initial results are presented.

Abstract: An oxygen free high conductivity (OFHC) copper (99.99%) was intensely deformed by the accumulative roll-bonding (ARB) process up to equivalent strain of 4.8 at ambient temperature. The microstructure evolution during the ARB process was explained by grain subdivision. The deformed specimens revealed dislocation cell structures at low strain and elongated ultra fine grains separated by high angle boundaries at high strain. The spacing of the high angle lamellar boundary exponentially decreased as a function of strain. The fractions of high angle boundaries (HAB) and the low angle boundaries (LAB) were nearly equal even at strain of 3.2, which was significantly different from the ARB processed Al alloys and ferritic steel where the HAB fraction was above 70% at the same strain. TEM observations indicated a mixed microstructure of dislocation boundaries and cell walls with dislocation tangle at low strain of 1.6, and small recrystallized grains partly appeared above strain of 3.2. As a result, the LAB fraction due to partial recrystallization was high even at strain of 4.8. The occurrence of recrystallization is attributed to high purity of the OFHC copper, the accumulated dislocation density, and the adiabatic heating during the ARB process of one-pass large reduction without lubrication.

Abstract: Ultra low-carbon interstitial free (IF) steel having ferrite (b.c.c.) single phase was deformed to various equivalent strains ranging from 0.8 to 5.6 by the accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process at 500°C. The microstructure and crystallographic feature of the deformed specimens were characterized mainly by FE-SEM/EBSD analysis. Grain subdivision during the plastic deformation up to very high strain was clarified quantitatively. After heavy deformation above 4.0 of strain, the specimens showed the lamellar boundary structure uniformly, in which the mean spacing of the lamellar boundaries was about 200nm and more than 80% of the boundaries were high-angle ones. Annealing behavior of the ARB processed IF steel strongly depended on the strain. The specimens deformed to medium strains exhibited discontinuous recrystallization characterized by nucleation and growth, while the specimens deformed above strain of 4.0 showed continuous recrystallization. The recrystallization behaviors are discussed on the basis of the microstructural and crystallographic parameters quantitatively measured in the as-deformed samples.