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A wide range of properties in crystalline materials is affected by the presence of dislocations, the carriers of plastic deformation. Dislocations can be thought of as filiform structures, characterized by geometrical factors such as their Burgers vector, slip plane, length per unit volume (dislocation density) and line direction. In technical materials such as functional and structural alloys, as well as in minerals, the understanding of bulk deformation driven by dislocation activity is of paramount importance, and thus also the techniques that allow its characterization. Since decades, diffraction contrast in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) is widely implemented to image and describe two-dimensional (2D) projections of dislocation substructures in thin foils [1]. Recently, the use of electron tomography was applied for the first time to fully reconstruct a 3D dislocation network in a GaN epilayer [2]. Although this latter technique has gained popularity, it usually requires an elaborate experimental setup, as well as sophisticated image post-processing methods for a successful reconstruction. Stereoscopic methods in the TEM also have traditionally allowed the three-dimensional (3D) observation of dislocations [e. g. 3]. For this purpose, the same region of a TEM foil is imaged using the same diffraction vector with two beam directions slightly tilted from each other. Subsequently, the pair of images is observed with help of stereo-viewers or 3D glasses. Based on this principle, a system based on a special hardware and software combination was developed for segmentation and analysis of stereomicroscopy data in biological research, and it was also used to analyze simple dislocation structures [4]. In the present contribution a simple software tool is introduced, which has been developed to reconstruct, visualize and quantify dislocation substructures in the thicker regions of electron-transparent foils. A special focus is set on the use of scanning (S)TEM for its implementation.
As depicted in Figure 1, the tool is based on the separate tracing of dislocation line segments on both images of a stereo-pair. The points 1, 2 and 3 are marked on the images viewed by the left and right eyes (Figures 1a and b, respectively), showing an relative displacement Δx on the superimposed images in the anaglyph of Figure 1c. This Δx is given by the point’s depth Δh and by the stereo-angle ϑ, as shown in Figure 1d. By knowing the beam direction for the left and right images (BL and BR, respectively), ϑ can be determined, and hence also Δh. Once the depth information from all traced nodes is gained, a reconstruction is made (Figure 1e) where the line length can directly be read from the tool’s interface. The setup is merely geometrical and only needs the relative tilt between both images, the direction of the tilt axis and the image calibration, thus allowing asymmetrical tilts with respect to the foil normal. The foil thickness is measured directly from the endings of the dislocations on the bottom and top surfaces of the TEM foil, and is determined as t ~ 370 nm for the region in Figure 1. With t, the volume is in Figure 1e is also known, and the total dislocation density of the region is calculated as ρt = 44.4 x 1012 m∙m-3. It is clear from Figure 1 that in the Ni-base superalloy presented here, the dislocation substructures are highly localized towards the interface between the two phases of which the microstructure is composed, γ and γ’ (labeled in Figure 1a). The reconstructed model allows a separation of the dislocation densities within the γ and the γ’ phases and at their interface, which would be rather difficult by using common methods such as the one proposed by Ham [5]. Thus the partial dislocation densities are measured as ργ = 1.7 x 1012 m∙m-3, ργ’ = 2.7 x 1012 m∙m-3 and ργ/γ’ = 40.0 x 1012 m∙m-3. The tool also incorporates the knowledge of the crystallographic positions at the two tilts to enable plotting the line segment orientations. One can chose to display the resulting line directions as an interactive table; as an additional spherical spatial graph, where all lines extend from the center of a sphere; as a 2D plot of the spherical coordinates θ and φ; or as points plotted on a stereographic projection.
Thus, a simple software tool has been developed that allows the reconstruction, visualization and quantification of foil thickness, localized dislocation densities (or other filiform substructures) and orientations based on only one stereo-pair
Oxidation of a Fe-13Cr alloy under water vapor at 600 °C produced a zone of nano-sized precipitation underneath the outside scale formed by iron oxides and Fe‒Cr spinel. The majority of the spinel layer shows a mixed orientation relationship to the ferritic matrix {100}α || {100}sp & <011>α || <001>sp. However, also the discovered precipitated particles are characterized by the same crystallographic orientation relationship to the respective ferritic parent grain. The habit of the precipitates is best described by a lath morphology with their main axis parallel to <100> of ferrite.
Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) in an scanning electron microscope (SEM) have been applied to characterize the oxide layer in the micrometer scale. The clearly smaller precipitates were subsequently investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Specimens have been prepared by focused ion-beam (FIB) milling at an area previously characterized by EBSD. They cover the ferritic base material, but mainly the precipitation zone and the Fe‒Cr spinel layer. Energy filtered selected area diffraction (SAD) in the conventional (C)TEM and high-angle annular darkfield (HAADF) imaging in the scanning (S)TEM mode were employed in the characterization of the specimens.
Dislocations, as carriers of plastic deformation, affect important properties in technical materials, e. g., plasticity. The realistic description of plastic deformation caused by dislocations demands the representative measurement of their features, e.g., line direction, slip plane, Burgers vector and density. Bulk deformation of structural and functional alloys requires reliable data from large regions. The filiform nature of dislocations interacting with complex microstructures additionally demands observation and analysis techniques that allow resolving the details of their interactions in space. The use of electron tomography for this purpose is bound to difficult and time consuming experimental setups, which are not always applicable to any material. In this contribution a new tool is presented, which enables the three-dimensional reconstruction, visualization and quantification of dislocation densities and directions from manual tracing of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) stereo-pairs. Examples are shown from samples of a creep-deformed monocrystalline Ni-base superalloy.
Experimental study on M23C6 nucleation and growth mechanisms in Ni-base superalloy single crystals
(2017)
The addition of carbon to Ni-base superalloy single crystals has been increasingly carried out to improve low angle grain boundary (LAGB) resistance and castability. Consequently, the precipitation of carbides is highly probable during long-term application of components subjected to higher temperatures (> 1000 °C). While the view on the role of carbides as strengthening or detrimental is polemical, their inevitable increased presence in carbon-doped alloys must be addressed. In the present work, the evolution of M23C6 carbides forming in the commercial grade Ni-base superalloy LEK 94 during high-temperature and low-stress creep exposure is assessed. Although carbon is not intentionally added to the LEK 94 alloy, it admits up to 0.1 at. %, which together with the high content of M23C6-forming transition metals, leads to their precipitation. The precipitation is induced here during creep experiments at 1020 °C and a nominal applied stress of 160 MPa along [001]. The correlation of precipitation and external load is carried out by evaluating the carbides in the gage section of parallel and circularly notched cylindrical samples, as well as in their heads. Characterization is made by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Although primary MC carbides form mostly in interdendritic regions during casting, high temperature exposure induces M23C6 carbide nucleation especially in the γ phase of dendritic regions, where a stronger partitioning of refractory elements is present. The carbides have a needle shape with their main axis on 〈100〉 and a cube-on-cube orientation relationship. They present incoherent {100} facets along their elongated region and semi-coherent {111} facets at their ends. Their nucleation and growth mechanisms are discussed based on microstructural observation under different experimental conditions.
Thermodynamic study of a refractory complex concentrated alloy (rCCA) using the CALPHAD method
(2019)
Multi-principal-element alloys (MPEAs), have recently come to the attention of the scientific community due to their potential for improving properties such as, e.g. mechanical strength and oxidation resistance in high temperature structural applications. The AlMo0.5NbTa0.5TiZr refractory (r)CCA is one such candidate, showing a two-phase microstructure after a two-stage heat treatment under argon atmosphere at a controlled cooling rate. Since the application conditions intended for this alloy require a long-term high temperature (> 700 °C) mechanical and oxidation resistance, it becomes necessary to assess the possible phase development in this regime. The diagrams reveal that two BCC-based phases could form during alloy solidification, where one phase would be enriched with Mo, Nb and Ta while the other phase, with Al, Ti and Zr. Activity oxides diagrams show that a stable form of aluminum oxide (α-Al2O3, Pearson symbol: hR10, corundum) can be formed.