Friction stir welding (FSW) is a relatively new solid-state joining process. This joining technique is energy efficient, environment friendly, and versatile. In particular, it can be used to join high-strength aerospace aluminum alloys and other metallic alloys that are hard to weld by conventional fusion welding. FSW is considered to be the most significant development in metal joining in a decade. Recently, friction stir processing (FSP) was developed for microstructural modification of metallic materials. In this review article, the current state of understanding and development of the FSW and FSP are addressed. Particular emphasis has been given to: (a) mechanisms responsible for the formation of welds and microstructural refinement, and (b) effects of FSW/FSP parameters on resultant microstructure and final mechanical properties. While the bulk of the information is related to aluminum alloys, important results are now available for other metals and alloys. At this stage, the technology diffusion has significantly outpaced the fundamental understanding of microstructural evolution and microstructure–property relationships.

/pdf/friction-stir-welding-and-processing-3hu3ejo7ub.pdf

Friction Stir Welding and Processing

This essential reference for graduate students and researchers provides a unified treatment of earthquakes and faulting as two aspects of brittle tectonics at different timescales. The intimate connection between the two is manifested in their scaling laws and populations, which evolve from fracture growth and interactions between fractures. The connection between faults and the seismicity generated is governed by the rate and state dependent friction laws - producing distinctive seismic styles of faulting and a gamut of earthquake phenomena including aftershocks, afterslip, earthquake triggering, and slow slip events. The third edition of this classic treatise presents a wealth of new topics and new observations. These include slow earthquake phenomena; friction of phyllosilicates, and at high sliding velocities; fault structures; relative roles of strong and seismogenic versus weak and creeping faults; dynamic triggering of earthquakes; oceanic earthquakes; megathrust earthquakes in subduction zones; deep earthquakes; and new observations of earthquake precursory phenomena.

The Mechanics of Earthquakes and Faulting

Principles of equal-channel angular pressing as a processing tool for grain refinement

Nanocrystalline metals--with grain sizes of less than 100 nm--have strengths exceeding those of coarse-grained and even alloyed metals, and are thus expected to have many applications. For example, pure nanocrystalline Cu (refs 1-7) has a yield strength in excess of 400 MPa, which is six times higher than that of coarse-grained Cu. But nanocrystalline materials often exhibit low tensile ductility at room temperature, which limits their practical utility. The elongation to failure is typically less than a few per cent; the regime of uniform deformation is even smaller. Here we describe a thermomechanical treatment of Cu that results in a bimodal grain size distribution, with micrometre-sized grains embedded inside a matrix of nanocrystalline and ultrafine (<300 nm) grains. The matrix grains impart high strength, as expected from an extrapolation of the Hall-Petch relationship. Meanwhile, the inhomogeneous microstructure induces strain hardening mechanisms that stabilize the tensile deformation, leading to a high tensile ductility--65% elongation to failure, and 30% uniform elongation. We expect that these results will have implications in the development of tough nanostructured metals for forming operations and high-performance structural applications including microelectromechanical and biomedical systems.

/pdf/high-tensile-ductility-in-a-nanostructured-metal-siwm61h9tg.pdf

High tensile ductility in a nanostructured metal.

Particle reinforced metal matrix composites are now being produced commerically, and in this paper the current status of these materials is reviewed. The different types of reinforcement being used, together with the alternative processing methods, are discussed. Depending on the initial processing method, different factors have to be taken into consideration to produce a high quality billet. With powder metallurgy processing, the composition of the matrix and the type of reinforcement are independent of one another. However, in molten metal processing they are intimately linked in terms of the different reactivities which occur between reinforcement and matrix in the molten state. The factors controlling the distribution of reinforcement are also dependent on the initial processing method. Secondary fabrication methods, such as extrusion and rolling, are essential in processing composites produced by powder metallurgy, since they are required to consolidate the composite fully. Other methods, suc...

Particle reinforced aluminium and magnesium matrix composites

Paperback. The annealing of deformed materials is of both technological importance and scientific interest. The phenomena have been most widely studied in metals, although they occur in all crystalline materials such as the natural deformation of rocks and the processing of technical ceramics. Research is mainly driven by the requirements of industry, and where appropriate, the book discusses the extent to which we are able to formulate quantitative, physically-based models which can be applied to metal-forming processes.The subjects treated in this book are all active research areas, and form a major part of at least four regular international conference series. However, there have only been two monographs published in recent times on the subject of recrystallization, the latest nearly 20 years ago. Since that time, considerable advances have been made, both in our understanding of the subject and in the techniques available to the researcher.The

Recrystallization and Related Annealing Phenomena

The current understanding of the fundamentals of recrystallization is summarized. This includes understanding the as-deformed state. Several aspects of recrystallization are described: nucleation and growth, the development of misorientation during deformation, continuous, dynamic, and geometric dynamic recrystallization, particle effects, and texture. This article is authored by the leading experts in these areas. The subjects are discussed individually and recommendations for further study are listed in the final section.

/pdf/current-issues-in-recrystallization-a-review-12181rj4pn.pdf

Current issues in recrystallization: a review

The application of automated Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) in the scanning electron microscope, to the quantitative analysis of grain and subgrain structures is discussed and compared with conventional methods of quantitative metallography. It is shown that the technique has reached a state of maturity such that linescans and maps can routinely be obtained and analysed using commercially available equipment and that EBSD in a Field Emission SEM (FEGSEM) allows quantitative analysis of grain/subgrains as small as ∼0.2 μm. EBSD can often give more accurate measurements of grain and subgrain size than conventional imaging methods, often in comparable times. Subgrain/cell measurements may be made more easily than in the TEM although the limited angular resolution of EBSD may be problematic in some cases. Additional information available from EBSD and not from conventional microscopy, gives a new dimension to quantitative metallography. Texture and its correlation with grain or subgrain size, shape and position are readily measured. Boundary misorientations, which are readily obtainable from EBSD, enable the distribution of boundary types to be determined and CSL boundaries can be identified and measured. The spatial distribution of Stored Energy in a sample and the amount of Recrystallization may also be measured by EBSD methods.

F.J. Humphreys

Papers

Recrystallization and Related Annealing Phenomena

Current issues in recrystallization: a review

Review Grain and subgrain characterisation by electron backscatter diffraction

Dynamic recrystallisation and the development of microstructure during the high temperature deformation of magnesium

On mylonites in ductile shear zones