Grain Boundary Segregation and Intermetallic Precipitation in Coarsening Resistant Nanocrystalline Aluminum Alloys

Devaraj, Arun; Wang, W.; Vemuri, R.; Kovarik, L.; Jiang, X.; Bowden, M.; Trelewicz, J. R.; Mathaudhu, S.; Rohatgi, Aashish

doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2018.09.038

Title: Grain Boundary Segregation and Intermetallic Precipitation in Coarsening Resistant Nanocrystalline Aluminum Alloys

Journal Article · 20 September 2018 · Acta Materialia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2018.09.038 · OSTI ID:1477775

^[1]; Wang, W. ^[2]; Vemuri, R. ^[1]; Kovarik, L. ^[1]; Jiang, X. ^[1]; Bowden, M. ^[1];

^[2]; Mathaudhu, S. ^[3]; Rohatgi, Aashish ^[1]

Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Stony Brook Univ., Stony Brook, NY (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States)

In-spite of all of the unique properties of nanocrystalline materials, they are notorious when it comes to their susceptibility to thermally induced grain coarsening, thus imposing an upper limit to their application temperature. In this study, we demonstrate a coupled Monte Carlo-molecular dynamics simulation-guided experimental approach of improving the resistance to thermally induced grain coarsening in light-weight nanocrystalline Al-Mg alloys. The structure, grain boundary segregation of Mg, and extent of grain coarsening of the Al-Mg alloys were characterized using plan view and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography. Coarsening resistance is attributed to a combination of thermodynamic stabilization of grain boundaries by controlled Mg segregation, and kinetic stabilization through pinning of the boundaries with nanoscale intermetallic precipitates. Furthermore, we highlight the opportunities in extending the upper limit of application temperature for nanocrystalline alloys by using a complementary thermodynamic and kinetic stabilization approach.

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Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 1477775

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1636947

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-135423; PII: S135964541830750X

Journal Information:: Acta Materialia, Vol. 165; ISSN 1359-6454

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 70 works

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