Scientific Events

Host: Prof. Dierk Raabe Location: Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Seminar Room 1

Topological Optimization and Textile Manufacturing of 3D Lattice Materials

Topological Optimization and Textile Manufacturing of 3D Lattice Materials
Recent advances in topological optimization methodologies for design of internal material architecture, coupled with the emergence of micro- and nanoscale fabrication processes, 3D imaging, and micron scale testing methodologies, now make it possible to design, fabricate, and characterize lattice materials with unprecedented control. This talk will describe a collaborative effort that employs scalable 3D textile manufacturing, location specific joining, and vapor phase alloying to produce metallic lattices with a wide range of internal architectures, alloy compositions, and mechanical and functional properties. The project involves three length scales. The highest level (component scale) spans centimeters to meters and encompasses gradients in unit cell architecture, porosity, and the creation of sandwich structures. The second level (architectural unit cells) spans tens of microns to millimeters and employs architectural optimization to design the geometry of the braided/woven structure. The smallest level (microstructure) spans nanometers to tens of microns focuses on vapor phase alloying of the wires after textile manufacturing. Topology optimization allows properties to be decoupled and tailored for specific applications. Dramatic enhancements in permeability have been balanced with modest reductions in stiffness and are being used to develop heat exchanger materials with high thermal transport, low impedance, low thermal gradients and high temperature strength. In a parallel effort, architectural designs to maximize both structural resonance and inter-wire friction are also being employed to develop metallic lattices capable of mechanical damping at elevated temperatures. These examples will be used to highlight the benefits to be gained by development of metallic lattice materials with a wide range of tailorable properties. [more]

Use of computational and physical simulation on arc welding heat affected zone microstructure evolution studies

Use of computational and physical simulation on arc welding heat affected zone microstructure evolution studies
The heat affected zone (HAZ) is most commonly the critical part of welding joint and the comprehension of the thermal cycle it suffers during welding and its effects on the final microstructure is fundamental to predict and reduce the properties degradation on that zone. The traditional approach to study the HAZ involves several welding tests varying the principal parameters (voltage, current and welding speed) with subsequent mechanical testing. These welding trials could be very time, material and cost demanding; could not replicate the plant/field true welding conditions (need for small scale/plant no available for research tests) and still may not provide a profound insight on the mechanisms in play as the thermal history would not be evaluated. In this context, it is very interesting to use simulation techniques that have evolve significantly in the last two decades to optimize the research effort. In one side, we have the material computational simulation development, with the use of finite element methods and double ellipsoid heat source model to describe the process (thermometallurgic – mechanical coupling) and methods like CALPHAD, Phase Field and Cellular Automata to describe the microstructure evolution in details. One the other side, there are equipment (Gleeble) capable of applying very rapid and controlled thermo-mechanical cycles (acquired in the computational simulation) to a sample, so to produce physical simulated specimen that represents the HAZ region of interest, enabling more detailed characterization and some mechanical testing in isolated microstructures. This permits some validation of the computational simulation too. Seizing these techniques potential, LNTSold have been developing a series of studies in welding simulation to characterize the HAZ of different steels for oil and gas industry applications. For the X100M API 5L steel pipe, it was simulated on FEA software (Sysweld) the welding process of the pipe (SAW) and the field pipeline assembly (GMAW). The main concern for this steel is the toughness reduction it may be subject to in the HAZ, with possible formation of local brittle zones due to the evolution of very sensible constituents as the martensita-austenite (MA) constituent. From the bibliography reference, the two HAZ critical regions are the coarse grain region and the intercritically re-heated coarse grain region, so it was studied the thermal cycle of these regions with heat input variation in the FEA software. The thermal cycle was then reproduced in Gleeble samples to produce specimens for microscopy (focus on the MA constituent morphology and quantity analysis) and for Charpy impact test, to assess the toughness losses. The results indicate that the MA morphology depends very much on the peak temperature and that its quantity does not seem to control directly the impact resistance. For an AISI 4130 steel connector, it was performed a study with FEA software (Sysweld) and CALPHAD software (JMatPro) of the coarse grain HAZ region of the last welding passes, focusing in the hardness prediction and considering the post-weld heat treatment. A simulated CCT diagram and an experimental one were developed to include phase and hardness prediction in the FEA modelling. Then some heat treatment conditions (temperature x time) were evaluated using CALPHAD, trying to optimize the production time. All welding and the best heat treatment conditions were physically reproduced in Gleeble. The simulated CCT showed initially a good correlation with the experimental one, but the FEA hardness prediction was more precise using the experimental CCT. It was possible to achieve the hardness requirements and even increase the impact resistance with a faster heat treatment with close relation to simulation results. Finally, the welding of a 9% Ni steel pipe with Ni 625 alloy filler metal was also simulated in the FEA software and the different HAZ regions reproduced in Gleeble with dilatometry analysis to study the reversion and retention of austenite, which plays an important role in this steel tenacity. The goal it is also to isolate the microstructure and study its hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility. [more]

Additive Manufacturing, 3D Printing, Porosity and Synchrotron Experiments

Additive Manufacturing, 3D Printing, Porosity and Synchrotron Experiments
3D printing of metals has advanced rapidly in the past decade and is used across a wide range of industry. Many aspects of the technology are considered to be well understood in the sense that validated computer simulations are available. At the microscopic scale, however, more work is required to quantify and understand defect structures, which affect fatigue resistance, for example. Synchrotron-based 3D X-ray computed microtomography (µXCT) was performed at the Advanced Photon Source on a variety of AM samples using both laser (SLM) and electron beam (EBM) powder bed; this showed systematic trends in porosity. Optical and SEM characterization of powders used in additively manufacturing (AM) reveals a variety of morphologies and size distributions. Computer vision (CV), as a subset of machine learning, has been successfully applied to classify different microstructures, including powders. The power of CV is further demonstrated by application to detecting and classifying defects in the spreading in powder bed machines, where the defects often correspond to deficiencies in the printed part. In addition to the printed material, a wide range of powders were measured and invariably exhibited porosity to varying degrees. Outside of incomplete melting and keyholing, porosity in printed parts is inherited from pores or bubbles in the powder. This explanation is reinforced by evidence from simulation and from dynamic x-ray radiography (DXR), also conducted at the APS. DXR has revealed a wide range of phenomena, including void entrapment (from powder particles), keyholes (i.e., vapor holes) and hot cracking. Keyhole depth is linearly related to the excess power over a vaporization threshold. Concurrent diffraction provides information on solidification and phase transformation in, e.g., Ti-6Al-4V and stainless steel. High Energy (x-ray) Diffraction Microscopy (HEDM) experiments are also described that provide data on 3D microstructure and local elastic strain in 3D printed materials, including Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-7Al. The reconstruction of 3D microstructure in Ti-6Al-4V is challenging because of the fine, two-phase lamellar microstructure and the residual stress in the as-built condition. Both the majority hexagonal phase and the minority bcc phase were reconstructed. [more]

Early stages of high temperature oxidation and sulphidation studied by synchrotron X-ray diffraction and spectroscopy

Early stages of high temperature oxidation and sulphidation studied by synchrotron X-ray diffraction and spectroscopy
Ferritic high temperature alloys are widely used as boiler tube and heat exchanger materials in thermal power plants. All technologies have in common that the applied materials are exposed to different temperatures, process pressures and reactive atmospheres which lead to a change of the material properties and a further degradation of the material. Material changes caused by ageing in highly corrosive and toxic gases such as SO2 are mainly studied ex situ after the reaction is finished.The presentation will focus on a novel approach to study high temperature oxidation and sulphidation of alloys aged in a strongly corrosive environment in real time by energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXRD). A special designed corrosion reactor was used to combine high temperature gas corrosion experiments with the collection of diffraction pattern. For this technique high energetic white X-ray radiation (10-100 keV) was used instead of conventional monochromatic radiation. It enables us to study crystallization procedures on short and medium time scales (1 min < t < 24 h) as a function of process time.X-ray diffraction is not phase sensitive for structural very similar oxide phases such as Fe2O3 and Cr2O3. To enlighten the formation mechanism of protective Cr2O3 at high temperature in corrosive atmosphere for different ferritic alloys an experimental setup for X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy (XANES) in corrosive environment was developed and put into operation. The presentation will provide an overview of the possibilities of high temperature corrosion analysis using synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction and spectroscopy techniques. [more]

Variational Methods in Material Modeling: Applications of Hamilton’s Principle

The aim of modern material modeling is the realistic prediction of the behavior of materials and construction parts by numerical simulation. Experimental investigations prove that the microstructure and thus the mechanical properties may vary under loads. It is thus essential to describe the load-dependent microstructure in these cases by material models to close the system of fundamental physical equations. One elegant way for the derivation of such material models is given by the Hamilton principle which belongs to the class of variational, energy-based modeling strategies. The talk starts with fundamental investigations for modeling the simple harmonic oscillator. Afterwards, the presented modeling concept is generalized to the Hamilton principle which is also applicable to deformable solids with evolving microstructure. As first example for such materials, phase transformations in solids are modeled. The numerical results are compared to experimental observations and an industrially relevant application is presented. In the last part of the talk, the universal character of the Hamilton principle is demonstrated by solving the inverse problem of topology optimization. To this end, a growth approach as observed in biological processes is presented which computes component structures with minimal weight at maximum stiffness. [more]

New concepts in electrochemistry – from magnetic structuring of macroscopic layers to single nanoparticle analysis

New concepts in electrochemistry – from magnetic structuring of macroscopic layers to single nanoparticle analysis
Electrochemistry is a well-established technique for the electrodeposition of thin films for corrosion protection or of 3D structures for integrated circuits. It is also key to most approaches for sustainable energy conversion and storage and it is widely utilized in sensors for the detection and quantification of ions and biomolecules. In this presentation novel concepts adopting classical electrochemical methods for the fabrication and characterization of magnetic materials at the micro- and nanoscale will be presented.First the influence of magnetic fields on electrochemical deposition will be discussed using the magnetic-field assisted fabrication of structured electrodeposits in the milli- and micrometer range as an example. The relevant magnetic forces and their effect on local mass transport control will be discussed.[1,2]Electrochemistry will then be highlighted as a powerful tool for the characterization of magnetic nanoparticles beyond conventional imaging methods. For superparamagnetic Fe3O4 core Au shell nanoparticles electrochemical analysis of the particle coating quality will be shown.[3] Advancing from this, single nanoparticle electrochemistry will be presented as a new method that provides hitherto inaccessible insights into magnetic field effects on single nanoparticles in suspensions. Thus, magnetic field enhanced particle agglomeration and altered particle corrosion dynamics can be detected on a single particle level.[4]Fig. 1: Magnetic field assisted structuring of electrodeposits (left) and electrochemical characterization of magnetic core shell nanoparticles (right).References:[1] K. Tschulik, C. Cierpka, A. Gebert, L. Schultz, C.J. Kähler, M. Uhlemann, , Anal. Chem. 2011, 83, 3275–3281.[2] K. Ngamchuea, K. Tschulik, R. G. Compton, Nano Res. 2015, 8, 3293–3306.[3] K. Tschulik, K. Ngamchuea, C. Ziegler, M. G. Beier, C. Damm, A. Eychmueller, R. G. Compton, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2015, 25, 5149–5158.[4] K. Tschulik, R. G. Compton, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2014, 16, 13909–13913. [more]

MULTICOMPONENT AND HIGH-ENTROPY ALLOYS

Conventional strategy for developing metallurgical alloys is to select the main component based on a primary property requirement, and to use alloying additions to confer secondary properties. This strategy has led to the development of many successful alloys based on a single main component with a mix of different alloying additions to provide a balance of required in-service properties. Typical examples include high temperature Ni superalloys, wrought Al alloys and corrosion resistant stainless steels. However, conventional alloy development strategy leads to an enormous amount of knowledge about alloys based on one component, but little or no knowledge about alloys containing several main components in approximately equal proportions. Theories for the occurrence, structure and properties of crystalline phases are similarly restricted to alloys based on one or two main components. Information and understanding is highly developed about alloys close to the corners and edges of a multicomponent phase diagram, with much less known about alloys in the centre of the diagram. This talk describes a range of other multicomponent alloying strategies and gives a number of examples of high-entropy and other multicomponent alloys. [more]
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