Circumventing Solidification Cracking Susceptibility in Al-Cu Alloys Prepared by Laser Powder Bed Fusion.

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of Al-Cu alloys shows high susceptibility to cracking due to a wide solidification temperature range. In this work, 2024 alloys were manufactured by LPBF at different laser processing parameters. The effect of processing parameters on the densification behavior and mechanical properties of the LPBF-processed 2024 alloys was investigated.

In Situ Mapping of Phase Evolutions in Rapidly Heated Zr-Based Bulk Metallic Glass with Oxygen Impurities.

Metallic glasses exhibit unique mechanical properties. For metallic glass composites (MGC), composed of dispersed nanocrystalline phases in an amorphous matrix, these properties can be enhanced or deteriorated depending on the volume fraction and size distribution of the crystalline phases. Understanding the evolution of crystalline phases during devitrification of bulk metallic glasses upon heating is key to realizing the production of these composites.

Programming Crystallographic Orientation in Additive-Manufactured Beta-Type Titanium Alloy.

Additively manufactured metallic materials typically exhibit preferential <001> or <110> crystallographic orientations along the build direction. Nowadays, the challenge is to program crystallographic orientation along arbitrary 3D direction in additive-manufactured materials. In this work, it is established a technique of multitrack coupled directional solidification (MTCDS) to program the <001> crystallographic orientation along an arbitrary 3D direction in biomedical beta-type Ti-Nb-Zr-Ta alloys via laser powder bed fusion (LPBF).

In situ correlation between metastable phase-transformation mechanism and kinetics in a metallic glass.

A combination of complementary high-energy X-ray diffraction, containerless solidification during electromagnetic levitation and transmission electron microscopy is used to map in situ the phase evolution in a prototype Cu-Zr-Al glass during flash-annealing imposed at a rate ranging from 10 to 10 K s and during cooling from the liquid state. Such a combination of experimental techniques provides hitherto inaccessible insight into the phase-transformation mechanism and its kinetics with high temporal resolution over the entire temperature range of the existence of the supercooled liquid. On flash-annealing, most of the formed phases represent transient (metastable) states - they crystallographically conform to their equilibrium phases but the compositions, revealed by atom probe tomography, are different.

Density, excess volume, and structure of Fe-Cr-Ni melts.

The relationship between the excess volume and the structure of Fe-Cr-Ni melts is investigated using containerless levitation and in situ high-energy synchrotron x-ray diffraction techniques. The density of six hypoeutectic Fe-Cr-Ni alloys along the 72 wt. % Fe isopleth was measured in the stable and undercooled regions, and the excess volume was evaluated as a function of Cr concentration.

Fast-current-heating devices to study in situ phase formation in metallic glasses by using high-energy synchrotron radiation.

Details of fast-resistive-heating setups, controlled heating ranging from ∼10 K s to ∼10 K s, to study in situ phase transformations (on heating and on cooling) in metallic glasses by high-energy synchrotron x-ray diffraction are discussed. Both setups were designed and custom built at the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW Dresden) and have been implemented at the P02.1 Powder Diffraction and Total Scattering Beamline and the P21.

Fabrication of Metastable Crystalline Nanocomposites by Flash Annealing of CuZrAl Metallic Glass Using Joule Heating.

Flash Joule-heating was applied to the CuZrAl metallic glass for designing fully crystalline metastable nanocomposites consisting of the metastable B2 CuZr and low-temperature equilibrium CuZr phases. The onset of crystallization was in situ controlled by monitoring resistivity changes in the samples. The effect of heating rate and annealing time on the volume fraction of the crystalline phases and mechanical properties of the nanocomposites was studied in detail.

Optimizing mechanical properties of FeCoNiSiB high entropy alloy by inducing hypoeutectic to quasi-duplex microstructural transition.

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have inspired considerable interest due to their attractive physical and mechanical properties. In this work, the microstructural evolution induced by different heat treatments on rapidly solidified hypoeutectic precursors of a FeCoNiSiB HEA is investigated and correlated with the corresponding mechanical properties. The microstructures of the rapidly solidified precursors are composed of primary fcc solid solution dendrites embedded in a eutectic matrix.

Liquid-liquid hierarchical separation and metal recycling of waste printed circuit boards.

Waste electrical and electronic equipment is rapidly increasing worldwide, resulting in a large quantity of waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs). There is a great challenge on how to efficiently separate mixed metals in WPCBs, which consists of more than 10 elements including hazardous Cr, Pb and Cd. In this work, based on atomic interactions, a method of liquid-liquid hierarchical separation is developed to separate the mixed metals dissociated from the pyrolyzed WPCBs of mobile phones.

Local melting to design strong and plastically deformable bulk metallic glass composites.

Recently, CuZr-based bulk metallic glass (BMG) composites reinforced by the TRIP (transformation-induced plasticity) effect have been explored in attempt to accomplish an optimal of trade-off between strength and ductility. However, the design of such BMG composites with advanced mechanical properties still remains a big challenge for materials engineering. In this work, we proposed a technique of instantaneously and locally arc-melting BMG plate to artificially induce the precipitation of B2 crystals in the glassy matrix and then to tune mechanical properties.

Structural, electronic and kinetic properties of the phase-change material Ge2Sb2Te5 in the liquid state.

Phase-change materials exhibit fast and reversible transitions between an amorphous and a crystalline state at high temperature. The two states display resistivity contrast, which is exploited in phase-change memory devices. The technologically most important family of phase-change materials consists of Ge-Sb-Te alloys.

Liquid-liquid transition in a strong bulk metallic glass-forming liquid.

Polymorphic phase transitions are common in crystalline solids. Recent studies suggest that phase transitions may also exist between two liquid forms with different entropy and structure. Such a liquid-liquid transition has been investigated in various substances including water, Al2O3-Y2O3 and network glass formers.

Structure of Te-rich Te-Ge-X (X = I, Se, Ga) glasses.

The structure of glassy Te(78)Ge(11)Ga(11), Te(79)Ge(16)Ga(5), Te(70)Ge(20)Se(10) and Te(73)Ge(20)I(7)--promising materials for far infrared applications--was investigated by means of x-ray and neutron diffraction as well as extended x-ray absorption fine structure measurements at various edges. Experimental data sets were fitted simultaneously in the framework of the reverse Monte Carlo simulation technique. Short range order in Te(85)Ge(15) was reinvestigated by fitting a new x-ray diffraction measurement together with available neutron diffraction and extended x-ray absorption fine structure data.