TY - JOUR A1 - Was, G.S. A1 - Bahn, C.-B. A1 - Busby, J. A1 - Cui, B. A1 - Farkas, D. A1 - Gussev, M. A1 - Rigen He, M. A1 - Hesterberg, J. A1 - Jiao, Z. A1 - Johnson, D. A1 - Kuang, W. A1 - McMurtrey, M. A1 - Robertson, I. A1 - Sinjlawi, A. A1 - Song, M. A1 - Stephenson, K. A1 - Sun, K. A1 - Swaminathan, Srinivasan A1 - Wang, M. A1 - West, E. T1 - How irradiation promotes intergranular stress corrosion crack initiation N2 - Irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) is a form of intergranular stress corrosion cracking that occurs in irradiated austenitic alloys. It requires an irradiated microstructure along with high temperature water and stress. The process is ubiquitous in that it occurs in a wide range of austenitic alloys and water chemistries, but only when the alloy is irradiated. Despite evidence of this degradation mode that dates back to the 1960s, the mechanism by which it occurs has remained elusive. Here, using high resolution electron backscattering detection to analyze local stress-strain states, high resolution transmission electron microscopy to identify grain boundary phases at crack tips, and decoupling the roles of stress and grain boundary oxidation, we are able to unfold the complexities of the phenomenon to reveal the mechanism by which IASCC occurs. The significance of the findings impacts the mechanical integrity of core components of both current and advanced nuclear reactor designs worldwide. KW - Irradiation KW - Stress corrosion cracking KW - Grain boundaries KW - Oxidation KW - Austenitic alloys PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-595748 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmatsci.2024.101255 SN - 0079-6425 VL - 143 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Elsevier AN - OPUS4-59574 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Lehmusto, Juho T1 - The effect of humidity on the initial oxidation of the refractory high-entropy superalloy AlMo0.5NbTa0.5TiZr N2 - Unlike conventional alloys, which typically consist of one main element, high-entropy alloys (HEAs) contain five or more principal elements. When compared with conventional alloys, HEAs may possess desirable properties such as improved strength/hardness, remarkable wear resistance, high structural stability, and notable oxidation resistance. However, due to the numerous possibilities of alloy composition, only a small fraction of HEAs has been characterized in terms of their mechanical and chemical properties. A refractory high-entropy superalloy AlMo0.5NbTa0.5TiZr, with its superalloy-like microstructure, belongs to the first group of a subclass of such Al-containing refractory HEAs that has recently drawn attention. The alloy has a nanoscale microstructure consisting of B2 and bcc phases, enabling high-temperature compressive strengths beyond conventional Ni-based alloys. This feature could improve turbine efficiency in the aerospace and power production industries. However, the microstructure has been reported to be sensitive to heat treatment after which it loses mechanical performance when the intragranular hexagonal Al-Zr-based intermetallic forms. This might be connected with the phase stability in the material. Then again, the addition of Al has been reported to improve the oxidation resistance of the material, but also that HEA materials tend to show pronounced zones of internal aging caused by diffusion during oxidation. These previous results imply that further research on the thermodynamic stability of the alloy is required. Furthermore, the oxidation behavior (both external and internal) and the role of humidity in the process are not fully understood. With such a multi-component material, the grain boundaries are expected to play a key role in the oxidation process, serving as short-circuit pathways for diffusion. To shed more light on the oxidation behavior of the AlMo0.5NbTa0.5TiZr alloy, experiments were carried out for 24 hours at 800 °C under both dry (21% O2 + 79% N2) and humid (8% O2 + 74% N2 + 18% H2O) atmospheres. After the experiments, the samples were characterized with XRD, SEM-EDS, and EPMA. The alloy oxidized rapidly under both studied atmospheres, resulting in a visibly oxidized region with a thickness of around 1.5 microns (dry) and 3.8 microns (humid). The porosity of the oxidized regions differs from one another: a thin layer of pores was detected in the outermost part of the oxidized zone under dry conditions, whereas the pores were distributed throughout the oxidized zone under humid conditions. Furthermore, the presence of humidity affected the phase formation. The grain boundaries, while still recognizable, differed visually from the grains in the as-received material, indicating the active role of grain boundaries during the oxidation. In addition, in the exposed samples, cracks along the grain boundaries were detected. Interestingly, cracks were also located within the grains. This could originate from the diffusion of species from the grains to the grain boundaries, which has changed the composition of grains. As a consequence, cracks formed most likely during cooling due to the Pilling-Bedworth effect. The formation of cracks suggested that the macro-scale homogeneity of the material may change during operation at high temperatures due to the active grain boundaries. T2 - High Temperature Corrosion and Oxidation 2023 Workshop CY - Marktheidenfeld, Germany DA - 25.09.2023 KW - High-Entropy superalloy KW - Oxidation behavior KW - Grain boundaries KW - Microstructure Evolution KW - High-Temperature Performance PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-63850 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ikeda, Yuki A1 - Ni, H.C. A1 - Chakraborty, A. A1 - Ghassemi-Armaki, H. A1 - Zuo, J.M. A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza A1 - Maaß, Robert T1 - Segregation-induced grain-boundary precipitation during early stages of liquid-metal embrittlement of an advanced high-strength steel N2 - Liquid-metal embrittlement (LME) of galvanized (Zn-coated) advanced high-strength steels is a long-known problem in materials science. Here we reveal the initial microstructural processes underneath the Zn-coating that lead to LME-microcrack initiation in the steel substrate. We track the microstructural evolution during the first tens of milliseconds and find pronounced signatures of Fe-Zn intermetallic precipitation in both ferrite grain boundaries and at internal ferrite-oxide phase boundaries. In concert with novel CALPHAD-integrated density-based thermodynamic modelling, we demonstrate that Zn-rich intermetallic phase-nucleation can occur at markedly low processing temperatures due to a segregation transition. We show that a small Znenrichment caused by Zn bulk-diffusion during the initial temperature rise in a joining process is sufficient to induce the segregation transition and subsequent nucleation of Fe-Zn intermetallic grain-boundary phases, which the experiments link to crack initiation sites. These findings direct focus onto LME-controlling microstructural and thermodynamic phenomena at temperatures below the ductility trough and the austenite formation temperature. KW - Resistance spot welding KW - Liquid-metal embrittlement KW - Steels KW - Grain boundaries PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-581067 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2023.119243 VL - 259 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier Ltd AN - OPUS4-58106 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Maaß, Robert T1 - Liquid Metal Embrittlement in High-Strength Steels N2 - One contribution of materials science to energy efficiency is the continuous development of novel high-performance structural materials that push the strength-ductility envelope. A prominent example are modern advanced high-strength steels (AHSSs), which have enabled considerable weight reductions in the automotive sector, thereby enabling greenhouse emission reductions. To protect such advanced alloys from property degradation via corrosion, zinc (Zn) coatings are often applied through galvanization. Whilst protective, a Zn-coating comes with problems – the AHSS substrate becomes susceptible for liquid-metal embrittlement (LME) than can be the origin of significant mechanical property degradation when liquified Zn infiltrates into the steel substrate. Being for from understood, we focus here on non-cracked environments to capture the early stages of LME. This approach revealed the nucleation and growth of nano-scale intermetallic phases inside uncracked GBs (Materials Today Advances 13, 100196, 2022), highlighting the complex multi-phase microstructure developing before cracking occurs. To shed further light on the early stages of LME in AHSSs, we also consider the microstructural evolution of interrupted welds. We discuss our findings in the context of the time-resolved substructure evolution right beneath the interface between the AHSS and the Zn-based coating and track how Zn progressively infiltrates the substrate along phase and grain boundaries. The experimental results are further corroborated with thermodynamic simulations. T2 - ASATM CY - Singapore DA - 10.01.2023 KW - Liquid-metal embrittlement KW - Steels KW - Grain boundaries KW - Micro-cracking PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-60647 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Murugan, Jegatheesan T1 - Thermodynamics of Grain Boundary Segregation in Fe-Ni-Cr Alloy Systems N2 - Phase stability in multi-components alloy systems is still largely unknown, especially at the internal interfaces. Grain boundary (co-)segregation is one of the main causes of instability and therefore safety issues in microstructures. In this work, the segregation in FCC Fe-Ni-Cr alloy system, which is the base for several steels, super-alloys and high entropy alloys, is studied. The density-based phase-field model is advanced to compute the segregation of Fe, Ni and Cr at the grain boundary corresponding to the bulk composition. Here the relative density of the grain boundary to the bulk is the mean-field parameter of the model. The necessary thermodynamic parameters of the bulk are obtained from the CALPHAD database. We performed high-throughput screening of the elemental segregation at the grain boundary across the stable bulk compositions at different temperatures (723 K, 1023 K and 1323 K). The results reveal complex enrichment/depletion of each element depending on the alloy composition and temperature. Opposite segregation of Ni and Cr and co-segregation of Ni and Fe is observed for almost all compositions at 723 K, but a changing trend is observed with increasing temperature. We discuss the origin and consequences of these segregation behaviours in the light of magnetic ordering effects. T2 - Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) 2024 CY - Darmstadt, Germany DA - 24.09.2024 KW - Segregation KW - Grain boundaries KW - CALPHAD PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-62343 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ikeda, Yuki A1 - Han, Seungchang A1 - Wallis, Theophilus A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza A1 - Maaß, Robert T1 - On the preference of liquid-metal embrittlement along high-angle grain-boundaries in galvanized steels N2 - Focusing on the early stages of liquid-metal embrittlement (LME) of Zinc (Zn) coated advanced high-strength steels, we show that the Zn infiltration path prior to grain-boundary decohesion and therefore cracking distinctly follows high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs). This selective transport prior to LME-induced microcracking rationalizes the experimentally observed post-mortem cracking along martensitic HAGBs. We discuss the selective Zn transport and GB-weakening in terms of an misorientation-angle dependent atomic density and diffusivity, and its effect on GB-segregation. KW - Liquid-metal embrittlement KW - Advanced high-strength steels KW - Grain boundaries PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-631103 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2025.116723 SN - 1359-6462 VL - 265 SP - 1 EP - 5 PB - Elsevier Inc. AN - OPUS4-63110 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -