Jens Gibmeier

X-Ray Tensor Tomography

Here we introduce a new concept for x-ray computed tomography that yields information about the local micro-morphology and its orientation in each voxel of the reconstructed 3D tomogram. Contrary to conventional x-ray CT, which only reconstructs a single scalar value for each point in the 3D image, our approach provides a full scattering tensor with multiple independent structural parameters in each volume element. In the application example shown in this study, we highlight that our method can visualize sub-pixel fiber orientations in a carbon composite sample, hence demonstrating its value for non-destructive testing applications. Moreover, as the method is based on the use of a conventional x-ray tube, we believe that it will also have a great impact in the wider range of material science investigations and in future medical diagnostics.

Determination of Residual Stresses in Low Transformation Temperature (LTT -) Weld Metals using X-ray and High Energy Synchrotron Radiation

Crack and fatigue resistance are relevant evaluation criteria for welded joints and are decreased by tensile residual stresses resulting from the welding and cooling process, while compressive residual stresses can have a positive influence on the characteristics mentioned. In order to generate compressive residual stresses, a set of post weld treatment procedures is available, like shot peening, hammering, etc. These procedures have the disadvantage that they are time and cost extensive and have to be applied after welding. As another point, such technologies can only produce compressive stresses at the top surface, i.e. can only contribute to the reduction of the risk of cracks initiated at the surface, like fatigue cracks. A chance to generate compressive stresses over the complete weld joint during the welding procedure is offered by the so-called Low Transformation Temperature (LTT -) filler wires. Compared to conventional wires, these materials show lower phase transformation temperatures, which can work against cooling-related tensile stresses, resulting from respective shrinkage restraint. In consequence, distinct compressive residual stresses can be observed within the weld and adjacent areas. The strength of these fillers makes them potentially applicable to high-strength steel welding. Welds produced with different LTT — filler wires have shown different levels and distributions of the resulting residual stresses depending on the specific transformation temperature. The transformation temperatures are determined by temperature measurement. Classical X-ray diffraction as well as diffraction methods using high energy synchrotron radiation have been used for residual stress analysis. By means of high energy synchrotron diffraction in reflection mode residual stress depth gradients can be determined non-destructively. The phase selective nature of the diffraction measurements enables the simultaneous determination of the phase specific residual stresses of all contributing crystalline phases within one experiment. The application of white beam diffraction implies recording of a multitude of diffraction lines within the energy range of the provided energy spectrum of the white beam. By this means phase specific residual stress depth distributions up to distances of 150 μm below the surface can be analysed for steel using the energy dispersive set-up of the HMI-beamline EDDI at the Bessy site, Berlin, providing an energy range between 20–150 keV. As a side effect quantitative phase analysis can be carried out using white energy dispersive diffraction e.g. the determination of the content of retained austenite in the weld.

Fatigue Performance of Medical Ti6Al4V Alloy after Mechanical Surface Treatments

Mechanical surface treatments have a long history in traditional engineering disciplines, such as the automotive or aerospace industries. Today, they are widely applied to metal components to increase the mechanical performance of these. However, their application in the medical field is rather rare. The present study aims to compare the potential of relevant mechanical surface treatments on the high cycle fatigue (R = 0.1 for a maximum of 10 million cycles) performance of a Ti6Al4V standard alloy for orthopedic, spinal, dental and trauma surgical implants: shot peening, deep rolling, ultrasonic shot peening and laser shock peening. Hour-glass shaped Ti6Al4V specimens were treated and analyzed with regard to the material’s microstructure, microhardness, residual stress depth profiles and the mechanical behavior during fatigue testing. All treatments introduced substantial compressive residual stresses and exhibited considerable potential for increasing fatigue performance from 10% to 17.2% after laser shock peening compared to non-treated samples. It is assumed that final mechanical surface treatments may also increase fretting wear resistance in the modular connection of total hip and knee replacements.

In Situ Observation of Phase Transformations during Welding of Low Transformation Temperature Filler Material

Tensile residual stresses introduced by conventional welding processes diminish the crack resistance and the fatigue lifetime of welded components. In order to generate beneficial compressive residual stresses at the surface of a welded component, various post-weld treatment procedures are available, like shot peening, hammering, etc. These post-weld treatments are, however time and cost extensive. An attractive alternative is to generate compressive stresses over the complete weld joint in the course of the welding procedure by means of so-called Low Transformation Temperature (LTT) filler materials. The volume change induced by the transformation affects the residual stresses in the weld and its vicinity. LTT fillers exhibit a relatively low transformation temperature and a positive volume change, resulting in compressive residual stresses in the weld area. In-situ measurements of diffraction profiles during real welding experiments using Gas Tungsten Arc (GTA)-welding process were realized successfully for the first time. Transformation temperatures during heating and subsequent cooling of LTT welding material could be assessed by means of energy dispersive diffraction using high energy synchrotron radiation. The results show that the temperature of martensite start (Ms) is strongly dependent on the content of alloying elements. In addition the results indicate that different phase transformation temperatures are present depending on the welding depth. Additional determination of residual stresses allowed it to pull together time and temperature resolved phase transformations and the resulting phase specific residual stresses. It was shown, that for the evaluation of the residual stress state of LTT welds the coexisting martensitic and austenitic phases have to be taken into account when describing the global stress condition of the respective material in detail.

Residual Stresses in Multilayer Welds with Different Martensitic Transformation Temperatures Analyzed by High-Energy Synchrotron Diffraction

Low Transformation Temperature (LTT) alloys were developed in order to control the residual stress development by the martensitic phase transformation already during cooling of the weld metal. The positive effect of such LTT alloys on the mitigation of detrimental tensile residual stresses during welding has already been confirmed on the basis of individual laboratory tests. Within the current project it was experimentally investigated whether the phase transformation mechanisms are effective under increased restraint due to multi-pass welding of thicker specimens. The local residual stress depth distribution was analyzed non-destructively for V-type welds processed by arc welding using energy dispersive synchrotron X-ray diffraction (EDXRD). The use of high energy (20 keV to 150 keV) EDXRD allowed for the evaluation of diffraction spectra containing information of all contributing phases. As the investigated LTT alloy contains retained austenite after welding, this phase was also considered for stress analysis. The results show in particular how the constraining effect of increased thickness of the welded plates and additional deposited weld metal influences the level of the residual stresses in near weld surface areas. While the longitudinal residual stresses were reduced in general, in the transition zone from the weld to the heat-affected zone (HAZ) compressive residual stresses were found.

Residual stress in steel fusion welds joined using low transformation temperature (LTT) filler material

Welding residual stress is of major concern for structural integrity assessment in industrial components. Shear and volume strains resulting from the austenite-martensite-transformation affect the development of residual stress during welding. Controlling the phase transformation allows adjustment of the welding residual stress. Low transformation temperature (LTT) weld filler materials exhibiting reduced MS-temperatures allow postponing the phase transformation. The associated strain arising from the delayed transformation compensates for the thermal contraction strains and as such may reduce tensile or even introduce compressive residual stress. In this article we discuss the tri-axial residual stress distribution in 15 mm S690Q steel plates joined with LTT filler materials with 10 wt% Cr and a Ni-content that varies from 8 to 12 wt%. Using complementary synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction stress analysis the macroscopic residual stress was derived from the phase specific lattice strain and phase fraction of martensite and retained austenite, respectively. The local phase specific unstrained lattice parameters were determined using stress relieved combs. The investigation revealed increasing phase fraction of retained austenite with increasing Ni-content. Further, independent of the Ni-content in each weld in the fusion zone, significant compressive residual stresses were found in the longitudinal direction, which are balanced by tensile residual stresses in the heat affected zone (HAZ). In the weld transverse and normal direction the stress distribution is qualitatively similar but less in magnitude. The increased amount of retained austenite reduces the compressive stress arising from shear and volume strains during the delayed phase transformation and therefore no significant increase in compression was observed for decreasing MS-temperatures.

Time- and temperature-resolved synchrotron X-ray diffraction: observation of phase transformation and strain evolution in novel low temperature transformation weld filler materials

Solid-state phase transformations and the evolution of thermal and elastic strains in novel low temperature transformation (LTT) weld filler materials in the near surface region are monitored in real time by means of an innovative experimental set-up at the PDIFF (powder diffraction) beamline at the synchrotron light source ANKA (Angströmquelle Karlsruhe) at the KIT (Karlsruhe Institute for Technology). The key components of the diffraction set-up are two fast microstrip line detectors, which enables the strain evolution to be followed as a function of time and temperature for a 0.5 s counting time. During controlled heating and cooling cycles, as well as during near welding cycles, the martensite–austenite–martensite phase transitions are analysed. The transformation kinetics are monitored during resistance heating of small chips of the pure LTT alloys and during gas tungsten arc welding of simplified LTT welds using a specially designed welding rig for in-situ studies on the diffraction instruments. Under the mechanically unconstrained condition allowing free thermal expansion and shrinkage, the LTT alloys are found to exhibit decreasing transformation temperatures Ac and MS and increasing phase fraction of retained austenite for increasing Ni content. The strain evolution during welding reveals increased compressive stresses upon welding, which is attributed to the martensite formation upon cooling, which counteracts the thermal contraction strains. Comparison of the transformation temperatures reveals higher values than in the pure LTT alloys, but no variation between the different alloys. On the one hand, this is attributed to preferred grain orientation affecting the diffraction measurements and the determination of the transformation temperatures. On the other hand, it is possible that with the different chemical compositions of the LTT alloys and the mechanical constraints during welding, the evolution of the residual strain and stress may vary and result in counteracting affects with respect to lowered martensite start temperatures.

Fast in situ phase and stress analysis during laser surface treatment: A synchrotron x-ray diffraction approach

An in situ stress analysis by means of synchrotron x-ray diffraction was carried out during laser surface hardening of steel. A single exposure set-up that based on a special arrangement of two fast silicon strip line detectors was established, allowing for fast stress analysis according to the sin(2)ψ x-ray analysis method. For the in situ experiments a process chamber was designed and manufactured, which is described in detail. First measurements were carried out at the HZG undulator imaging beamline (IBL, beamline P05) at the synchrotron storage ring PETRA III, DESY, Hamburg (Germany). The laser processing was carried out using a 6 kW high power diode laser system. Two different laser optics were compared, a Gaussian optic with a focus spot of ø 3 mm and a homogenizing optic with a rectangular spot dimension of 8 × 8 mm(2). The laser processing was carried out using spot hardening at a heating-/cooling rate of 1000 K/s and was controlled via pyrometric temperature measurement using a control temperature of 1150 °C. The set-up being established during the measuring campaign allowed for this first realization data collection rates of 10Hz. The data evaluation procedure applied enables the separation of thermal from elastic strains and gains unprecedented insight into the laser hardening process.

Round Robin Test on the Determination of Residual Stress Depth Distributions by X-ray Diffraction

A round robin test on the determination of residual stress depth profiles of shot peened surfaces by X-ray diffraction was carried out within the scope of the BRITE-EURAM project ENSPED (European Network of Surface and Prestress Engineering and Design). 12 ENSPED-partners (8 industrial partners and 4 research institutes) participated in the round robin test. The aim of the test was to ensure the capability of the different partners to determine a residual stress depth distribution properly. Two batches of specimens were manufactured of a heat treatable steel, german grade 42 CrMo 4, - a normalized and a quenched and tempered state. The specimens were shot peened afterwards. In addition to the residual stress values determined by the partners, the raw-data of the measurements were evaluated by one of the research institutes as a reference using a common evaluation software. This evaluation was performed with respect to the individually chosen measurement set-up and the respective measurement parameters. Results will be presented by ensuring the anonymity of the different partners.

Investigations on the Initial Stress Evolution During Atmospheric Plasma Spraying of YSZ by In Situ Curvature Measurement

The residual stresses within plasma-sprayed coatings are an important factor that can influence the lifetime as well as the performance in operation. The investigation of stresses evolving during deposition and post-deposition cooling for atmospheric plasma spraying of yttria-stabilized zirconia coatings using in situ measurement of the samples curvature is a powerful tool for identifying the factors that contribute to stress generation. Under various spray conditions, the first deposition pass leads to a significantly larger increase in samples curvature than the subsequent passes. It is shown in this work that the amount of curvature change at the onset of spraying is significantly influenced by the spray conditions, as well as by the substrate material. More information on the origin of this steep curvature increase at the onset of spraying was obtained by single splat experiments, which yielded information on the splat bonding behavior under various conditions. A comparison of the compressive yield strength for different substrate materials indicated the influence of substrate residual stress relaxation. Residual stress measurements using the incremental hole-drilling method and x-ray diffraction confirmed that the coating deposition affects the substrate residual stress level. The yield strength data were combined with the substrate near-surface temperature during deposition, obtained by finite element simulations, and with the measured residual stress-profile. This revealed that residual stress relaxation is the key factor for the initial curvature increase.