Tetsuya Matsunaga

One-dimensional migration of interstitial clusters in SUS316L and its model alloys at elevated temperatures

For self-interstitial atom (SIA) clusters in various concentrated alloys, one-dimensional (1D) migration is induced by electron irradiation around 300 K. But at elevated temperatures, the 1D migration frequency decreases to less than one-tenth of that around 300 K in iron-based bcc alloys. In this study, we examined mechanisms of 1D migration at elevated temperatures using in situ observation of SUS316L and its model alloys with high-voltage electron microscopy. First, for elevated temperatures, we examined the effects of annealing and short-term electron irradiation of SIA clusters on their subsequent 1D migration. In annealed SUS316L, 1D migration was suppressed and then recovered by prolonged irradiation at 300 K. In high-purity model alloy Fe-18Cr-13Ni, annealing or irradiation had no effect. Addition of carbon or oxygen to the model alloy suppressed 1D migration after annealing. Manganese and silicon did not suppress 1D migration after annealing but after short-term electron irradiation. The suppression was attributable to the pinning of SIA clusters by segregated solute elements, and the recovery was to the dissolution of the segregation by interatomic mixing under electron irradiation. Next, we examined 1D migration of SIA clusters in SUS316L under continuous electron irradiation at elevated temperatures. The 1D migration frequency at 673 K was proportional to the irradiation intensity. It was as high as half of that at 300 K. We proposed that 1D migration is controlled by the competition of two effects: induction of 1D migration by interatomic mixing and suppression by solute segregation.

Modeling of fluctuating interaction energy between a gliding interstitial cluster and solute atoms in random binary alloys

Fluctuation in microscopic distribution of solute atoms will act as a barrier for glide motion (i.e. 1D migration) of interstitial clusters in random alloys. We proposed an analytical model in which the total interaction energy between an interstitial cluster and solute atoms is a superposition of the interaction potential between the cluster and individual solute atom. Then we examined the nature of fluctuation in the total interaction energy of a gliding cluster. The average amplitude of the fluctuation was directly proportional to the square root of both the solute concentration and the cluster radius . The distance separating local peaks in the fluctuation was virtually independent of and , but showed dependence only on the range of the interaction potential. We proposed a model for another fluctuation in the interaction energy because of solute–solute interaction that is effective at high . The models interpreted the results of the molecular statics simulations of the fluctuating interaction energy for interstitial clusters (7i, 61i and 217i) in dilute and concentrated Fe–Cu alloys with random solute distribution. We proposed that the fluctuation in the interaction energy is responsible for the short-range 1D migration that is observed in various alloys in electron irradiation experiments. The distance between local peaks would give the characteristic length of 1D migration in concentrated alloys.

Radiation-induced glide motion of interstitial clusters in concentrated alloys

We propose a mechanism for glide motion, i.e. one-dimensional (1D) migration, of interstitial clusters in concentrated alloys driven by high-energy particle irradiation. Interstitial clusters are fundamentally mobile on their respective 1D migration tracks, but in concentrated random alloys they are stationary at the position where the fluctuating formation energy achieves a local minimum. Irradiation changes the microscopic distribution of solute atoms through atomic displacement and recovery of the produced Frenkel pairs, which causes cluster 1D migration into a new stable position. In molecular dynamics simulations of interstitial clusters up to 217i in Fe–Cu alloys, stepwise 1D migration was observed under interatomic mixing or shrinkage of the cluster: a single 1D migration was induced by two exchanges per atom or cluster radius change by two interatomic distances. The 1D migration distance ranged up to several nanometers. We compared the frequency and distance of 1D migration with those for in situ observation using high-voltage electron microscopy, allowing for the extremely large rate of interatomic mixing and cluster shrinkage in the present simulation.

Effect of dislocation and grain boundary on deformation mechanism in ultrafine-grained interstitial-free steel

Ultrafine-grained interstitial-free steel fabricated by the accumulative roll-bonding method was subjected to tensile tests and analyses of AFM, TEM and XRD to identify the effects of interaction between dislocations and grain boundaries (GB) on the deformation mechanism. The AFM analyses indicated that the main deformation mechanism of this material changed from dislocation motion to grain boundary sliding (GBS) with decreasing strain rate. TEM observations and XRD analysis revealed showed that dislocations piled up at GB and the dislocation density decreased with increasing strain. Those suggest the dislocations are absorbed into GB during deformation, activating slip-induced GBS.

Grain Boundary Sliding during Low Temperature Creep of Ultrafine and Coarse Grained Aluminum

HCP metals show new dislocation creep at temperatures below 0.3 Tm with stresses below σ0.2, while FCC metals show it above σ0.2. In the former, grain boundaries absorb the dislocations through slip-induced grain-boundary sliding, while in the latter dislocations are accommodated by cross slip at cell walls. The difference comes from the difference in the crystal symmetry. In UFG-Al at low temperatures, it is anticipated that grains without cell structure lead creep deformation similar to CG HCP metals rather than CG Al. UFG Al specimens were fabricated by ARB method. They showed remarkable creep behavior at less than σ0.2 similary to CG HCP metals. It posseses stress exponent of about three, grain-size exponent of almost zero, and very low apparent activation energy of 20 kJ/mol, and also grain boundary sliding behavior is obserbed by AFM.