RESUMEN
The hydrogen sorption properties of single-phase bcc (TiVNb)100-xCrx alloys (x = 0-35) are reported. All alloys absorb hydrogen quickly at 25 °C, forming fcc hydrides with storage capacity depending on the Cr content. A thermodynamic destabilization of the fcc hydride is observed with increasing Cr concentration, which agrees well with previous compositional machine learning models for metal hydride thermodynamics. The steric effect or repulsive interactions between Cr-H might be responsible for this behavior. The cycling performances of the TiVNbCr alloy show an initial decrease in capacity, which cannot be explained by a structural change. Pair distribution function analysis of the total X-ray scattering on the first and last cycled hydrides demonstrated an average random fcc structure without lattice distortion at short-range order. If the as-cast alloy contains a very low density of defects, the first hydrogen absorption introduces dislocations and vacancies that cumulate into small vacancy clusters, as revealed by positron annihilation spectroscopy. Finally, the main reason for the capacity drop seems to be due to dislocations formed during cycling, while the presence of vacancy clusters might be related to the lattice relaxation. Having identified the major contribution to the capacity loss, compositional modifications to the TiVNbCr system can now be explored that minimize defect formation and maximize material cycling performance.
RESUMEN
High entropy alloys (HEA) have been one of the most attractive groups of materials for researchers in the last several years. Since HEAs are potential candidates for many (e.g., refractory, cryogenic, medical) applications, their properties are studied intensively. The most frequent method of HEA synthesis is arc or induction melting. Powder metallurgy is a perspective technique of alloy synthesis and therefore in this work the possibilities of synthesis of HfNbTaTiZr HEA from powders were studied. Blended elemental powders were sintered, hot isostatically pressed, and subsequently swaged using a special technique of swaging where the sample is enveloped by a titanium alloy. This method does not result in a full density alloy due to cracking during swaging. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) of mechanically alloyed powders resulted in a fully dense but brittle specimen. The most promising result was obtained by SPS treatment of gas atomized powder with low oxygen content. The microstructure of HfNbTaTiZr specimen prepared this way can be refined by high pressure torsion deformation resulting in a high hardness of 410 HV10 and very fine microstructure with grain size well below 500 nm.
RESUMEN
Refractory high entropy alloys (HEA) are promising materials for high temperature applications. This work presents investigations of the room temperature tensile mechanical properties of selected 3 and 4 elements medium entropy alloys (MEA) derived from the HfNbTaTiZr system. Tensile testing was combined with fractographic and microstructure analysis, using scanning electron microscope (SEM), wavelength dispersive spectroscope (WDS) and X-Ray powder diffraction (XRD). The 5 element HEA alloy HfNbTaTiZr exhibits the best combination of strength and elongation while 4 and 3 element MEAs have lower strength. Some of them are ductile, some of them brittle, depending on microstructure. Simultaneous presence of Ta and Zr in the alloy resulted in a significant reduction of ductility caused by reduction of the BCC phase content. Precipitation of Ta rich particles on grain boundaries reduces further the maximum elongation to failure down to zero values.
RESUMEN
Nanowires are basic components of interconnects at the nanoscale level in electronic as well as in electromechanical devices. Presently, there is a fast growing interest in their synthesis as well as in their mechanical testing. Focused ion beams now allow machining pillars with diameters as small as a few tens of nanometres and nanoindenter systems allow measuring strains at the atomic scale and compressive stresses up to the 10 GPa range. Such pillars typically contain less than millions of atoms, which makes their modelling and the modelling of their mechanical properties at the atomic scale realistic. A few Molecular Dynamics studies are presently available, discussing deformation mechanisms in thin narrow crystalline nanowires, but the literature about nanoalloy wires and nanostructured wires, as they can be synthesized from clusters, is almost non-existent. In the latter, the dislocation activity may be inhibited, leading to specific mechanical properties. By means of large scale computations, we use Ni3A1 to discuss the mechanical properties of crystalline and nanostructured nanowires. We also compare wires to their bulk counterparts. Both isothermal and isoenergetic whereby mechanical work converts into heat in the system-deformation mechanisms are considered. The comparison between pair correlation functions, stress distributions, configuration analysis and strain stress relations capture most of the stress-induced evolution mechanisms of nanowires with different diameters and structures, including elastic properties, dislocation activity, grain rotation and boundary motion, local melting, superplasticity and fracture. A structural transition which may be martensitic is predicted for the first time at the nanoscale level, suggesting possible shape memory properties of nanoalloy nanowires.