F. C. Laabs

Measurement of filament spacing in deformation processed CuNb alloys

Abstract Previous studies of Cu-20 vol.% Nb alloys used optical and SEM techniques to evaluate the thickness and spacing of the Nb filaments. It had been known that the filament sizes were smaller than the resolution limit of the SEM at high deformation strain but it was assumed that this problem would not significantly change the observed trends. Results of this TEM study using dark-field techniques on the same materials show that the previous SEM measurements significantly overestimated the spacing at the higher deformations. Analysis of resistivity data on the samples also confirms this result. The strength dependence on Cu channel spacing, t Cu , was found to display a large transition region, with the dependence changing from a t Cu −0.5 at low strains to a t Cu −0.38 at high strains. The significance of these results is discussed. It is also pointed out that the filament sizes observed at high strains in these materials range to below 20 nm and they exhibit strength/filament size characteristics similar to vapor deposited nanocrystalline materials.

Strength and electrical conductivity of a deformation-processed Cu-5 Pct Nb composite

A Cu-5 pct Nb alloy was deformation processed by wire drawing to very large reductions (99.9993 pct) and the strength and electrical conductivity properties compared with similarly deformation processed Cu-20 pct Nb. The results showed that the Cu-5 pct Nb alloy was transformed into a composite material with the original Nb dendrites becoming ribbonlike filaments in a similar fashion to higher Nb-containing Cu-Nb alloys. The degree of strength increase with increasing deformation processing greatly exceeds rule-of-mixtures expectations at higher degrees of deformation processing, where the Nb becomes highly aligned with the wire axis. A 5 pct Nb addition appears to contain close to the minimum amount of Nb phase necessary to produce appreciable strengthening during deformation processing of Cu-Nb alloys. The strength-conductivity properties of the deformation-processed Cu-5 pct Nb alloy show significant improvements in strength over the best commercial alloys in the conductivity range of 80 to 90 pct international annealed copper standard (IACS).

Epitaxial lift-off of thin InAs layers

We describe the use of the epitaxial lift-off technique to remove thin layers of InAs from the GaAs substrates on which they were grown and subsequently bonded to glass and silicon substrates. Lift-off was accomplished by taking advantage of the high etching selectivity between AlSb and InAs in an aqueous hydrofluoric acid etching solution, allowing a thin layer of AlSb to serve a sacrificial layer to facilitate the lift-off of the InAs. The InAs layers were transferred with little measurable effect on the electrical and structural properties of the films, as evidenced by Hall effect and x-ray measurements. The technique can easily be extended to transfer more-complex GaSb/AlSb/InAs structures.

Characterization of strength and microstructure in deformation processed Al-Mg composites

The microstructures, mechanical properties and electrical resistivity have been evaluated for deformation processed Al-20 vol % Mg and Al-13 vol % Mg composites. The Mg second phase adopts a convoluted, ribbon shape filamentary morphology after deformation. Both the size and spacing of these filaments decreases with deformation. The strength of these composites increases exponentially with reduced spacing of Mg filaments. The electrical resistivity of these Al-Mg composites is slightly higher than that of pure Al.

Effect of hydrogen on the mechanical properties of a deformation processed Cu-20% Nb composite

The influence of H on the mechanical properties of a deformation processed Cu-20% Nb composite was analysed and compared with the results on similarly processed pure Cu and pure Nb. In this composite the matrix phase (Cu) is relatively resistant to H while the filamentary phase (Nb) is highly susceptible to H embrittlement. The results show that H, in an amount equivalent to that which causes embrittlement of pure Nb, causes no significant deleterious influence on the mechanical properties of Cu-20% Nb. Apparently the ductile Cu matrix creates a favourable stress state for the hydrogenated Nb filaments so that they are constrained from fracturing and continue to deform in a ductile manner.

Observations of multi-phase microstructures in R2(Fe1-xCox)14B where R = Nd or Dy

Abstract Multi-phase microstructures were observed in the psuedo-quaternary phase field of the 2–14–1 magnet materials Nd2Fe14B, Nd2Co14B, Dy2Fe14B, and Dy2Co14B. At equilibrium, (Nd1−yDyy)2(Fe1−xCox)14B had heretofore been widely assumed to be single phase where 1>x>0 and 1>y>0. In this study, three-phase microstructures were observed in (Nd1−yDyy)2(Fe1−xCox)14B when x>0.3 and y>0.5. The Curie temperatures and peritectic decomposition temperatures for Nd2(Fe1−xCox)14B are reported for several values of x in the range 1>x>0.

A comparison of strengthening mechanisms in rolled and axisymmetrically deformed Ti-20Y composites

AbstractTwo Ti-20%Y metal-metal composites were deformation processed: one axisymmetrically and the other by rolling. The microstructures, preferred crystallographic orientations, and tensile strengths of each were measured periodically as the deformation progressed. The axisymmetrically deformed Ti matrix developed a [10

Filament contact within situ Nb3Sn superconducting wire

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