Search Results
The impact of chemical short-range order on the thermophysical properties of medium- and high-entropy alloys
2024, Andreoli, Angelo F., Fantin, Andrea, Kasatikov, Sergey, Bacurau, Vinícius P., Widom, Michael, Gargarella, Piter, Mazzer, Eric M., Woodcock, Thomas G., Nielsch, Kornelius, Coury, Francisco G.
The unusual behavior observed in the coefficient of thermal expansion and specific heat capacity of CrFeNi, CoCrNi, and CoCrFeNi medium/high-entropy alloys is commonly referred to as the K-state effect. It is shown to be independent of the Curie temperature, as demonstrated by temperature-dependent magnetic moment measurements. CoCrFeNi alloy is chosen for detailed characterization; potential reasons for the K-state effect such as texture, recrystallization, and second-phase precipitation are ruled out. An examination of the electronic structure indicates the formation of a pseudo-gap in the Density of States, which suggests a specific chemical interaction between Ni and Cr atoms upon alloying. Hybrid Monte Carlo/Molecular Dynamic (MC/MD) simulations indicate the presence of non-negligible chemical short-range order (CSRO). Local lattice distortions are shown to be negligible, although deviations around Cr and Ni elements from those expected in a fully disordered structure are experimentally observed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The determined bonding distances are in good agreement with MC/MD calculations. A mechanism is proposed to explain the anomalies and calorimetric experiments and their results are used to validate the mechanism.
Machine learning for additive manufacturing: Predicting materials characteristics and their uncertainty
2023, Chernyavsky, Dmitry, Kononenko, Denys Y., Han, Jun Hee, Kim, Hwi Jun, van den Brink, Jeroen, Kosiba, Konrad
Additive manufacturing (AM) is known for versatile fabrication of complex parts, while also allowing the synthesis of materials with desired microstructures and resulting properties. These benefits come at a cost: process control to manufacture parts within given specifications is very challenging due to the relevance of a large number of processing parameters. Efficient predictive machine learning (ML) models trained on small datasets, can minimize this cost. They also allow to assess the quality of the dataset inclusive of uncertainty. This is important in order for additively manufactured parts to meet property specifications not only on average, but also within a given variance or uncertainty. Here, we demonstrate this strategy by developing a heteroscedastic Gaussian process (HGP) model, from a dataset based on laser powder bed fusion of a glass-forming alloy at varying processing parameters. Using amorphicity as the microstructural descriptor, we train the model on our Zr52.5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10Ti5 (at.%) alloy dataset. The HGP model not only accurately predicts the mean value of amorphicity, but also provides the respective uncertainty. The quantification of the aleatoric and epistemic uncertainty contributions allows to assess intrinsic inaccuracies of the dataset, as well as identify underlying physical phenomena. This HGP model approach enables to systematically improve ML-driven AM processes.
Controlling the Young’s modulus of a ß-type Ti-Nb alloy via strong texturing by LPBF
2022, Pilz, Stefan, Gustmann, Tobias, Günther, Fabian, Zimmermann, Martina, Kühn, Uta, Gebert, Annett
The ß-type Ti-42Nb alloy was processed by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) with an infrared top hat laser configuration aiming to control the Young’s modulus by creating an adapted crystallographic texture. Utilizing a top hat laser, a microstructure with a strong 〈0 0 1〉 texture parallel to the building direction and highly elongated grains was generated. This microstructure results in a strong anisotropy of the Young’s modulus that was modeled based on the single crystal elastic tensor and the experimental texture data. Tensile tests along selected loading directions were conducted to study the mechanical anisotropy and showed a good correlation with the modeled data. A Young’s modulus as low as 44 GPa was measured parallel to the building direction, which corresponds to a significant reduction of over 30% compared to the Young’s modulus of the Gaussian reference samples (67–69 GPa). At the same time a high 0.2% yield strength of 674 MPa was retained. The results reveal the high potential of LPBF processing utilizing a top hat laser configuration to fabricate patient-specific implants with an adapted low Young’s modulus along the main loading direction and a tailored mechanical biofunctionality.
Designing the microstructural constituents of an additively manufactured near β Ti alloy for an enhanced mechanical and corrosion response
2022, Hariharan, Avinash, Goldberg, Phil, Gustmann, Tobias, Maawad, Emad, Pilz, Stefan, Schell, Frederic, Kunze, Tim, Zwahr, Christoph, Gebert, Annett
Additive manufacturing of near β-type Ti-13Nb-13Zr alloys using the laser powder bed fusion process (LPBF) opens up new avenues to tailor the microstructure and subsequent macro-scale properties that aids in developing new generation patient-specific, load-bearing orthopedic implants. In this work, we investigate a wide range of LPBF parameter space to optimize the volumetric energy density, surface characteristics and melt track widths to achieve a stable process and part density of greater than 99 %. Further, optimized sample states were achieved via thermal post-processing using standard capability aging, super-transus (900 °C) and sub-transus (660 °C) heat treatment strategies with varying quenching mediums (air, water and ice). The applied heat treatment strategies induce various fractions of α, martensite (α', α'') in combination with the β phase and strongly correlated with the observed enhanced mechanical properties and a relatively low elastic modulus. In summary, our work highlights a practical strategy for optimizing the mechanical and corrosion properties of a LPBF produced near β-type Ti-13Nb-13Zr alloy via careful evaluation of processing and post-processing steps and the interrelation to the corresponding microstructures. Corrosion studies revealed excellent corrosion resistances of the heat-treated LPBF samples comparable to wrought Ti-13Nb-13Zr alloys.
A novel approach to fabricate load-bearing Ti6Al4V-Barium titanate piezoelectric bone scaffolds by coupling electron beam melting and field-assisted sintering
2022, Riaz, Abdullah, Polley, Christian, Lund, Henrik, Springer, Armin, Seitz, Hermann
A critical-size bone defect in load-bearing areas is a challenging clinical problem in orthopaedic surgery. Titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) scaffolds have advantages because of their biomechanical stability but lack electrical activity, which hinders their further use. This work is focused on the fabrication of Ti6Al4V-Barium Titanate (BaTiO3) bulk composite scaffolds to combine the biomechanical stability of Ti6Al4V with electrical activity through BaTiO3. For the first time, a hollow cylindrical Ti6Al4V is additively manufactured by electron beam melting and combined with piezoelectric BaTiO3 powder for joint processing in field-assisted sintering. Scanning electron microscope images on the interface of the Ti6Al4V-BaTiO3 composite scaffold showed that after sintering, the Ti6Al4V lattice structure bounded with BaTiO3 matrix without its major deformation. The Ti6Al4V-BaTiO3 scaffold had average piezoelectric constants of (0.63 ± 0.12) pC/N directly after sintering due to partial dipole alignment of the BaTiO3 tetragonal phase, which increased to (4.92 ± 0.75) pC/N after a successful corona poling. Moreover, the nanoindentation values of Ti6Al4V exhibited an average hardness and Young's modulus of (5.9 ± 0.9) GPa and (130 ± 14) GPa, and BaTiO3 showed (4.0 ± 0.6) GPa and (106 ± 10) GPa, respectively. It reveals that the Ti6Al4V is the harder and stiffer part in the Ti6Al4V-BaTiO3 composite scaffold. Such a scaffold has the potential to treat critical-size bone defects in load-bearing areas and guide tissue regeneration by physical stimulation.
Laser powder bed fusion of a superelastic Cu-Al-Mn shape memory alloy
2021, Babacan, N., Pauly, S., Gustmann, T.
Dense and crack-free specimens of the shape memory alloy Cu71.6Al17Mn11.4 (at.%) were produced via laser powder bed fusion across a wide range of process parameters. The microstructure, viz. grain size, can be directly tailored within the process and with it the transformation temperatures (TTs) shifted to higher values by raising the energy input. The microstructure, and the superelastic behavior of additively manufactured samples were assessed by a detailed comparison with induction melted material. The precipitation of the α phase, which inhibit the martensitic transformation, were not observed in the additively manufactured samples owing to the high intrinsic cooling rates during the fabrication process. Fine columnar grains with a strong [001]-texture along the building direction lead to an enhanced yield strength compared to the coarse-grained cast samples. A maximum recoverable strain of 2.86% was observed after 5% compressive loading. The first results of our approach imply that laser powder bed fusion is a promising technique to directly produce individually designed Cu-Al-Mn shape memory parts with a pronounced superelasticity at room temperature.
Laser powder bed fusion of Fe60(CoCrNiMn)40 medium-entropy alloy with excellent strength-ductility balance
2024, Yang, Shengze, Liu, Yang, Chen, Hongyu, Wang, Yonggang, Kosiba, Konrad
In this study, Fe60(CoCrNiMn)40 medium-entropy alloy (MEA) was fabricated by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) via mixing of pure Fe and FeCoCrNiMn powders, the processability, microstructure and mechanical properties were systematically investigated, and the mechanism of strengthening and toughening were revealed through combination of experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Results show that fraction of BCC phase decreased gradually with increasing volume energy density (VED), and thus heterostructue with varying FCC and BCC phases were produced through regulating the VED. The Fe60(CoCrNiMn)40 MEA (with scanning speeds of 700 and 800 mm/s) showed excellent strength-plasticity balance (e.g. 476 MPa, 612 MPa and 63 %) compared to the equiatomic FeCoCrNiMn HEA, which is ascribed to the synergistic strengthening and toughening effects involving the twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) and the reinforcement caused by the BCC phase (act as reinforced particle) embedded in the FCC matrix.
Experimental and numerical characterization of imperfect additively manufactured lattices based on triply periodic minimal surfaces
2023, Günther, Fabian, Pilz, Stefan, Hirsch, Franz, Wagner, Markus, Kästner, Markus, Gebert, Annett, Zimmermann, Martina
Lattices based on triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) are attracting increasing interest in seminal industries such as bone tissue engineering due to their excellent structure-property relationships. However, the potential can only be exploited if their structural integrity is ensured. This requires a fundamental understanding of the impact of imperfections that arise during additive manufacturing. Therefore, in the present study, the structure-property relationships of eight TPMS lattices, including their imperfections, are investigated experimentally and numerically. In particular, the focus is on biomimetic network TPMS lattices of the type Schoen I-WP and Gyroid, which are fabricated by laser powder bed fusion from the biocompatible alloy Ti-42Nb. The experimental studies include computed tomography measurements and compression tests. The results highlight the importance of process-related imperfections on the mechanical performance of TPMS lattices. In the numerical work, firstly the as-built morphology is artificially reconstructed before finite element analyses are performed. Here, the reconstruction procedure previously developed by the same authors is used and validated on a larger experimental matrix before more advanced calculations are conducted. Specifically, the reconstruction reduces the numerical overestimation of stiffness from up to 341% to a maximum of 26% and that of yield strength from 66% to 12%. Given a high simulation accuracy and flexibility, the presented procedure can become a key factor in the future design process of TPMS lattices.
Controlled synthesis of mussel-inspired Ag nanoparticle coatings with demonstrated in vitro and in vivo antibacterial properties
2021, Wang, Xiaowei, Xu, Kehui, Cui, Wendi, Yang, Xi, Maitz, Manfred F., Li, Wei, Li, Xiangyang, Chen, Jialong
The in-situ formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) via dopamine-reduction of Ag+ has been widely utilized for titanium implants to introduce antibacterial properties. In previous studies, the preparation of AgNPs has focused on controlling the feeding concentrations, while the pH of the reaction solution was ignored. Herein, we systematically determined the influence of various pH (4, 7, 10) and Ag+ concentrations (0.01, 0.1 mg/mL) on the AgNPs formation, followed by the evaluation of the antibacterial properties in vitro and in vivo. The results revealed that an alkaline environment was favourable for AgNP formation and resulted in more particles. Although the AgNPs bearing Ti had lower biocompatibilities, it was significantly improved after 7 days of mineralization in simulated body fluid. The outstanding antibacterial property of the AgNPs was well maintained after one day and seven days of implantation. Moreover, 3D micro-CT modelling showed that the pH 10/0.1 group exhibited remarkable osteogenesis, which may be due to their strong antibacterial properties and ability to promote mineralization. Therefore, we have demonstrated that the solution pH was as important as the feeding Ag+ concentration in determining AgNP formation, and it has paved the way for developing various AgNP-loaded surfaces that could meet different antibacterial needs.
Constrained incipient phase transformation in Ni-Mn-Ga films: A small-scale design challenge
2023, Fareed, Adnan, Rosalie, Julian M., Kumar, Sourabh, Kar, Satyakam, Hickel, Tilmann, Fähler, Sebastian, Maaß, Robert
Ni-Mn-Ga shape-memory alloys are promising candidates for large strain actuation and magnetocaloric cooling devices. In view of potential small-scale applications, we probe here nanomechanically the stress-induced austenite–martensite transition in single crystalline austenitic thin films as a function of temperature. In 0.5 µm thin films, a marked incipient phase transformation to martensite is observed during nanoindentation, leaving behind pockets of residual martensite after unloading. These nanomechanical instabilities occur irrespective of deformation rate and temperature, are Weibull distributed, and reveal large spatial variations in transformation stress. In contrast, at a larger film thickness of 2 μm fully reversible transformations occur, and mechanical loading remains entirely smooth. Ab-initio simulations demonstrate how an in-plane constraint can considerably increase the martensitic transformation stress, explaining the thickness-dependent nanomechanical behavior. These findings for a shape-memory Heusler alloy give insights into how reduced dimensions and constraints can lead to unexpectedly large transformation stresses that need to be considered in small-scale actuation design.