Christer Persson

Alloy design for intrinsically ductile refractory high-entropy alloys

Refractory high-entropy alloys (RHEAs), comprising group IV (Ti, Zr, Hf), V (V, Nb, Ta), and VI (Cr, Mo, W) refractory elements, can be potentially new generation high-temperature materials. However, most existing RHEAs lack room-temperature ductility, similar to conventional refractory metals and alloys. Here, we propose an alloy design strategy to intrinsically ductilize RHEAs based on the electron theory and more specifically to decrease the number of valence electrons through controlled alloying. A new ductile RHEA, Hf0.5 Nb 0.5 Ta 0.5Ti1.5Zr, was developed as a proof of concept, with a fracture stress of close to 1 GPa and an elongation of near 20%. The findings here will shed light on the development of ductile RHEAs for ultrahigh-temperature applications in aerospace and power-generation industries.

Initial DNA interactions of the binuclear threading intercalator Λ,Λ-[μ-bidppz(bipy)4Ru2]4+: an NMR study with [d(CGCGAATTCGCG)]2.

Binuclear polypyridine ruthenium compounds have been shown to slowly intercalate into DNA, following a fast initial binding on the DNA surface. For these compounds, intercalation requires threading of a bulky substituent, containing one RuII, through the DNA base-pair stack, and the accompanying DNA duplex distortions are much more severe than with intercalation of mononuclear compounds. Structural understanding of the process of intercalation may greatly gain from a characterisation of the initial interactions between binuclear RuII compounds and DNA. We report a structural NMR study on the binuclear RuII intercalator Λ,Λ-B (Λ,Λ-[μ-bidppz(bipy)4Ru2]4+; bidppz=11,11′-bis(dipyrido[3,2-a:2′,3′-c]phenazinyl, bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine) mixed with the palindromic DNA [d(CGCGAATTCGCG)]2. Threading of Λ,Λ-B depends on the presence and length of AT stretches in the DNA. Therefore, the latter was selected to promote initial binding, but due to the short stretch of AT base pairs, final intercalation is prevented. Structural calculations provide a model for the interaction: Λ,Λ-B is trapped in a well-defined surface-bound state consisting of an eccentric minor-groove binding. Most of the interaction enthalpy originates from electrostatic and van der Waals contacts, whereas intermolecular hydrogen bonds may help to define a unique position of Λ,Λ-B. Molecular dynamics simulations show that this minor-groove binding mode is stable on a nanosecond scale. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first structural study by NMR spectroscopy on a binuclear Ru compound bound to DNA. In the calculated structure, one of the positively charged Ru2+ moieties is near the central AATT region; this is favourable in view of potential intercalation as observed by optical methods for DNA with longer AT stretches. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy suggests that a similar binding geometry is formed in mixtures of Λ,Λ-B with natural calf thymus DNA. The present minor-groove binding mode is proposed to represent the initial surface interactions of binuclear RuII compounds prior to intercalation into AT-rich DNA.

Rapid thermomechanical tempering of iron–carbon martensite

Abstract Tempering of martensite under simultaneous compressive stress has been studied within the temperature range of 20–400°C. Resistive heating was utilised to obtain rapid heating and cooling cycles of a few seconds. Material was obtained from a medium carbon pearlitic railway wheel steel, quench hardened to obtain martensitic structure. Greater than ∼150°C dilatation effects where observed below the global yielding point of the material. Microstraining around dislocations in the body centred tetragonal crystallographic structure or viscous flow at higher temperatures was a probable explanation to this material behaviour. Hence, external stress may have an important influence on the tempering progression of martensitic steel. The trials also showed that tempering of martensite progresses fast, is near instantaneous and is independent of the presence of external stress or not.

Stability of Residual Stresses Created by Shot Peening in Monotonic Loading and at the Presence of Load Reversals - Experiments and Modeling

As a method for mechanical surface treatment, shot peening has been widely used to improve the fatigue strength of materials. However, the influence of residual stresses introduced by shot peening depends on their stability. The stability of residual stresses during fatigue may be studied in two stages: the first cycle and successive cyclic loading. In this study the stability and development of the residual stresses during the first cycle of strain controlled fatigue of normalized steel was investigated. The influence of total strain amplitude and the loading direction was studied. The residual stresses were obtained using the x-ray diffraction technique. It was shown that the stability and relaxation of the residual stresses depend both on the amount and the direction of the loading stresses. Finite element modeling (FEM) was used to rationalize the experimental data. Very good agreement between the experimental and FEM results were observed

Comparison between fatigue crack growth modelled by continuous dislocation distributions and discrete dislocations

Short fatigue cracks are known to have a growth behaviour different from that of long cracks, the latter well predicted by linear elastic fracture mechanics. Short cracks can grow at high rates at load levels well below the threshold value for long cracks, before entering into the long crack region, or arrest and become nonpropagating cracks. The growth behaviour of short cracks is strongly influenced by the microstructure of the material, such as grain boundaries and direction of slip planes within the grains, as well as of local plasticity around the crack tip. Microstructurally short cracks, typically shorter than a few grains, grow in a single shear mechanism along specific slip planes within the grains, cf. Suresh [1], leading to a zigzag crack path, cf. Fig.1.