Structural Materials Commons^™

Stress Relaxation Cracking In 347h Austenitic Steel Weldments Under Various Heat Treatments: Experiments And Modeling, Yi Yang

Doctoral Dissertations

347H austenitic stainless steel exhibits exceptional creep and corrosion resistance, rendering it an exemplary candidate for pipeline materials, particularly in mid- to high-temperature working conditions. However, due to constraints in component dimensions, welding has been chosen as the preferred method for joining pipeline systems extensively employed in nuclear power plants, fossil fuel plants, and petrochemical companies. The welding process entails the accumulation of residual stress during the cooling stage, along with the introduction of microstructure evolution. Moreover, the residual stress field and microstructure continuously evolve under service conditions, thereby intensifying the susceptibility of crack initiation and propagation. The initial residual …

Cracking And Earing Phenomenon In Deep-Drawn Stainless Steel Alloys: Role Of Transformation Kinetics, Microstructure, And Texture, Peijun Hou

Doctoral Dissertations

The enhancement of formability of advanced high-strength TRIP-assisted steel alloys is a challenging assignment for industrial application due to the cracking phenomenon. The critical factor governing the cracking behavior is residual-stress concentration resulting from the inhomogeneous plastic deformation and microstructural evolution during the forming processes. Martensitic phase transformation kinetics, constituent phases, and crystallographic texture in TRIP-assisted steel alloys are correlated to the microstructure evolution, resulting in phase-specific stress concentration. In the current study, we are aiming at understanding the fundamental mechanisms responsible for the cracking phenomenon and thus improving the formability of TRIP-assisted steel alloys. Four stainless steel (SS) alloys …

Experimental And Computational Investigation Of High Entropy Alloys For Elevated-Temperature Applications, Haoyan Diao

Doctoral Dissertations

To create and design novel structural materials with enhanced creep-resistance, fundamental studies have been conducted on high-entropy alloys (HEAs), using (1) thermodynamic calculations, (2) mechanical tests, (3) neutron diffraction, (4) characterization techniques, and (5) crystal-plasticity finite-element modeling (CPFEM), to explore future candidates for next-generation power plants.

All the constituent binary and ternary systems of the Al-Cr-Cu-Fe-Mn-Ni and Al-Co-Cr- Fe-Ni systems were thermodynamically modeled within the whole composition range. Comparisons between the calculated phase diagrams and literature data are in good agreement. The Al_xCrCuFeMnNi HEAs have disordered [face-centered-cubic (FCC) + body-centered-cubic (BCC)] crystal structures. Excessive alloying of the Al …

Microstructure And Creep Deformation Behavior Of A Hierarchical-Precipitate-Strengthened Ferritic Alloy With Extreme Creep Resistance, Gian Song

Doctoral Dissertations

Hierarchical NiAl [nickel-aluminium compound]/Ni₂TiAl [nickel-titanium-aluminum compound] or single Ni₂TiAl-precipitate-strengthened ferritic alloys have been developed by adding 2 or 4 weight percent [wt. %] of Ti [titanium] into a previously-studied NiAl-precipitate-strengthened ferritic alloy. A systematic investigation has been conducted to study the interrelationships among the composition, microstructure, and mechanical behavior, and provide insight into deformation micro-mechanisms at elevated temperatures.

The microstructural attributes of hierarchical or single precipitates are investigated in the Ti-containing ferritic alloys. Transmission-electron microscopy in conjunction with the atom-probe tomography is employed to characterize the detailed precipitate structure. It is observed that the 2-wt.-%-Ti alloy …

Microstructures And Mechanical Behavior Of Nial-Strengthened Ferritic Alloys At Room And Elevated Temperatures, Zhiqian Sun

Doctoral Dissertations

In order to improve the thermal efficiency and decrease the greenhouse gases emission, it is required to increase the steam temperature and pressure in fossil-energy power plants. In the United States, research has been performing in order to push steam temperature to 760 Celsius degree and steam pressure to 35 MPa. However, the highest operational temperature for current commercial heat-resistant ferritic steels is ~ 620 Celsius degree. In this sense, new advanced ferritic alloys with better creep resistance are needed, considering such service conditions in next-generation ultra-supercritical fossil-energy power plants.

Coherent B2-ordered NiAl-type precipitates have been employed to reinforce the …

Computational And Experimental Study Of Structure-Property Relationships In Nial Precipitate-Strengthened Ferritic Superalloys, Shenyan Huang

Doctoral Dissertations

Ferritic superalloys strengthened by coherent ordered NiAl B2-type precipitates are promising candidates for ultra-supercritical steam-turbine applications, due to their superior resistance to creep, coarsening, oxidation, and steam corrosion as compared to Cr ferritic steels at high temperatures. Combined computational and experimental tools have been employed to investigate the interrelationships among the composition, microstructure, and mechanical behavior, and provide insight into deformation micromechanisms at elevated temperatures.

Self and impurity diffusivities in a body-centered-cubic (bcc) iron are calculated using first-principles methods. Calculated self and impurity diffusivities compare favorably with experimental measurements in both ferromagnetic and paramagnetic states of bcc Fe. The calculated …

Micromechanical Studies Of Intergranular Strain And Lattice Misorientation Fields And Comparisons To Advanced Diffraction Measurements, Lili Zheng

Doctoral Dissertations

Inhomogeneous deformation fields arising from the grain-grain interactions in polycrystalline materials have been evaluated using a crystal plasticity finite element method and extensively compared to neutron diffraction measurements under fatigue crack growth conditions. The roles of intergranular deformation anisotropy, grain boundary damage, and non-common deformation mechanisms (such as twinning for hexagonal close packed crystals) are systematically evaluated. The lattice misorientation field can be used to determine the intragranular deformation behavior in polycrystals or to describe the deformation inhomogeneity due to dislocation plasticity in single crystals. The study of indentation-induced lattice misorientation fields in single crystals sheds lights on the understanding …

Residual Stress Characterization In Structural Materials By Destructive And Nondestructive Techniques, Ajit K. Roy, Anand Venkatesh, Vikram Marthandam, Satish Dronavalli, Douglas P. Wells, Ronald Rogge

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Transmutation of nuclear waste is currently being considered to transform long-lived isotopes to species with relatively short half-lives and reduced radioactivity through capture and decay of minor actinides and fission products. This process is intended for geologic disposal of spent nuclear fuels for shorter durations in the proposed Yucca Mountain repository. The molten lead-bismuth-eutectic will be used as a target and coolant during transmutation, which will be contained in a subsystem vessel made from materials such as austenitic (304L) and martensitic (EP-823 and HT-9) stainless steels. The structural materials used in this vessel will be subjected to welding operations and …