The effect of heat treatment at various temperatures (650, 850, 1050, and 1100°C) and dwell times (10 min and 1 h) on the metallurgical and microstructural evolution as well as on the related tensile properties of stainless steel 316L processed by selective laser melting (SLM) has been systematically evaluated. The metallurgical and microstructural features such as defects, stability of the columnar–cellular structure and substructure, second phase particles, and phase transformation imparted by SLM and heat treatment have been discussed. It has been shown that the processing conditions specific to SLM significantly alter the kinetics of phase evolution compared to standard welding techniques which affects the accuracy of the prediction. The influence of these characteristics on tensile properties and hardness was elucidated. It was disclosed that with increasing heat treatment temperature there was a gradual increase in elongation but a decrease in strength related to the dislocation density and the development of the microstructure.
Microhardness variations across the friction stir welded (FSW) and impulse friction stir welded (IFSW) AA2024–T351 joints have been elucidated by the transformations of the S–Al2CuMg phase with a special focus on a distinguished hardness peak within the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the impulse welds. The increase in hardness within the stir zone (SZ) originated from the partial re-precipitation of the initial Guinier-Preston-Bagaryatsky zones (GPB) and metastable S needles, previously dissolved.) Formation and growth of stable S precipitates via coalescence accounted for the softening through the thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ). The peak strengthening within the HAZ of the IFSW joints was mainly caused by the dense needle-shaped S particles, which can be explained by a mutual influence of the process specific temperature and strain cycles. Dislocations and subgrain boundaries introduced to the material due to plastic deformation facilitated the nucleation of strengthening S precipitates in the HAZ. It demonstrates that the impact of deformation should be considered by the characterization of the precipitation development in the HAZ.
The objective of this work is to investigate the strain localization
and slip activation of the microstructure of oligo-crystalline 316LVM steel struts evolving during different cyclic bending deformation stages (number of cycles) and loading conditions (maximum stress and neutral). A micro-scale three-point bending fixture was designed and incorporated into a micro tensile/compression machine inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to perform in-situ electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) measurements during different phases of cyclic fatigue testing. The following results were obtained:
1) The quantitative strain could be compared after each stage of
deformation.
2) The rotation of the grains orientations is observed during the cyclic deformation while the morphology did not change significantly. The results contribute to the understanding of the evolution of the microstructure at low strain variations under bending fatigue conditions, and can support the prediction of the fatigue life of 316LVM stainless steel oligocrystalline microdevices like coronary artery stents.
A necklace structure composed of fine grains formed by dynamic recrystallization was uncommonly observed at the pre-existing grain boundaries during the hot compression of a BCC Fe-25Al-1.5Ta alloy containing C14 - (Fe, Al)2Ta Laves phase precipitates. Two possible mechanisms for necklace formation were proposed; particle-stimulated nucleation and grain boundary bulging, depending on whether the original grain boundaries are occupied by C14 particles, or they are free of them. Recrystallization was initiated preferentially around the clusters of large particles at the boundaries containing particles. In contrast, the bulging of the original grain boundaries by strain-induced boundary migration was observed as a preliminary stage for necklace formation at the particle-free boundaries. The necklace structure expanded into the deformed volume in such a way that low-angle subgrain boundaries decorating the necklace layers transformed into grains with increasing deformation strain.
For over two decades, vascular stents have been widely used to treat clogged vessels,serving as a scaffold to enlarge the narrowed lumen and recover the arterial flow area. High-purityoligocrystalline austenitic steel is usually applied for the production of stents. Despite the popularityand benefit of stenting, it still may cause serious clinical adverse issues, such as in-stent restenosisand stent fracture. Therefore, the study of the mechanical properties of stents and in particularthe prediction of their life cycles are in the focus of materials research. In our contribution, withinthe finite element method, a two-scale model of crack initiation in the microstructure of stents iselaborated. The approach is developed on the basis of the physically based Tanaka–Mura model(TMM), considering the evolution of shear bands during the crack initiation phase. The model allowsfor the analysis of the microstructure with respect to the life cycles of real materials. The effects ofdifferent loading conditions, grain orientation, and thickness of the specimen on Wöhler curves wereanalysed. It was found that the microstructural features of oligocrystals are very sensitive to differentloading conditions with respect to their fatigue behaviour and play a major role in fatigue crackinitiation. Different grain-orientation distributions result in qualitative and quantitative differencesin stress distribution and in the number of cycles for crack initiation. It was found that presence ofa neutral zone in the cut-out of the microstructure under three-point-bending loading conditionschanges the qualitative and quantitative patterns of stress distribution and affects the number ofcycles for crack initiation. It was found that under both tensile and bending loading conditions,thicker specimens require more cycles for crack initiation. The Wöhler curves for crack initiation inoligocrystalline microstructures of stents could be compared with the ones in the experiment, takinginto account that for high cyclic fatigue (HCF), typically, more than 70% of the cycles refer to crackinitiation. The developed numerical tools could be used for the material design of stents