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

Journal Article · · Acta Materialia
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [1]
  1. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  2. Stony Brook Univ., Stony Brook, NY (United States)
  3. 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.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1477775
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1501848; OSTI ID: 1636947
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA--135423; {"PII: S135964541830750X","Journal ID: ISSN 1359-6454"}
Journal Information:
Acta Materialia, Journal Name: Acta Materialia Vol. 165; ISSN 1359-6454
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (2)

Atomistic Study of the Effect of Magnesium Dopants on the Strength of Nanocrystalline Aluminum journal February 2019
Interaction of precipitate with shear–coupled grain boundary migration journal October 2019