3D microscopy at the nanoscale reveals unexpected lattice rotations in deformed nickel.

In polycrystalline metals, plastic deformation is accompanied by lattice rotations resulting from dislocation glide. Following these rotations in three dimensions requires nondestructive methods that so far have been limited to grain sizes at the micrometer scale. We tracked the rotations of individual grains in nanograined nickel by using three-dimensional orientation mapping in a transmission electron microscope before and after in situ nanomechanical testing.

Effect of the Severe Plastic Deformation on the Corrosion Resistance of a Tantalum-Tungsten Alloy.

Tantalum and its alloys are regarded as equipment construction materials for processing aggressive acidic media due to their excellent properties. In this study, the influence of severe rolling (90%) on the dissolution rate of a cold-rolled Ta-4%W sheet in different directions was investigated during immersion testing and the corresponding mechanism was discussed. The results show that the dissolution rate of the cold-rolled sample is significantly lower than that of the undeformed sample.

Simultaneous Enhancement of Mechanical and Magnetic Properties in Extremely-Fine Nanograined Ni-P Alloys.

Exploring structural effects that influence both the mechanics and magnetism in nanocrystalline materials, particularly extremely-fine nanograined ones with grain sizes down to several nanometers, is of high interest for developing multifunctional materials combining superior mechanical and magnetic performances. We found in this work that electrodeposited extremely-fine nanograined Ni-P alloys exhibit a significant enhancement of magnetization, simultaneously along with an increase in hardness, after low-temperature annealing. The relaxation of non-equilibrium structures, precipitation of the second phase and the segregation of P atoms to grain boundaries (GBs) during annealing have then been sequentially evidenced.