Showing papers by "Semyon Vaynman published in 2010"

A New Paradigm for Designing High-Fracture-Energy Steels

Abstract: The steels used for structural and other applications ideally should have both high strength and high toughness. Most high-strength steels contain substantial carbon content that gives poor weldability and toughness. A theoretical study is presented that was inspired by the early work of Weertman on the effect that single or clusters of solute atoms with slightly different atom sizes have on dislocation configurations in metals. This is of particular interest for metals with high Peierls stress. Misfit centers that are coherent and coplanar in body-centered cubic (bcc) metals can provide sufficient twisting of nearby screw dislocations to reduce the Peierls stress locally and to give improved dislocation mobility and hence better toughness at low temperatures. Therefore, the theory predicts that such nanoscale misfit centers in low-carbon steels can give both precipitation hardening and improved ductility and fracture toughness. To explore the validity of this theory, we measured the Charpy impact fracture energy as a function of temperature for a series of low-carbon Cu-precipitation-strengthened steels. Results show that an addition of 0.94 to 1.49 wt pct Cu and other accompanying elements results in steels with high Charpy impact energies down to cryogenic temperatures (198 K [–75 °C]) with no distinct ductile-to-brittle transition. The addition of 0.1 wt pct Ti results in an additional increase in impact toughness, with Charpy impact fracture energies ranging from 358 J (machine limit) at 248 K (–25 °C) to almost 200 J at 198 K (–75 °C). Extending this concept of using coherent and coplanar misfit centers to decrease the Peierls stress locally to other than bcc iron-based systems suggests an intriguing possibility of developing ductile hexagonal close-packed alloys and intermetallics.

Magnetic smart material application to adaptive X-ray optics

Abstract: We discuss a technique of shape modification that can be applied to thin walled (~100-400 micron thickness) electroformed replicated optics or slumped glass optics to improve the near net shape of the mirror as well as the midfrequency ripple. The process involves sputter deposition of a magnetic smart material (MSM) film onto a permanently magnetic material. The MSM material exhibits strains about 400 times stronger than ordinary ferromagnetic materials. The deformation process involves a magnetic write head which traverses the surface, and under the guidance of active metrology feedback, locally magnetizes the surface to impart strain where needed. Designs and basic concepts as applied to space borne X-ray optics will be described.

Role of Surfaces and Interfaces in Controlling the Mechanical Properties of Metallic Alloys

Abstract: This article explores the subtle effects of surfaces and interfaces on the mechanical properties of bulk metallic alloys using three examples: environmental effects on fatigue life, hydrogen embrittlement effects on the ductility of intermetallics, and the role of coherent precipitates in the toughness of steels. It is demonstrated that the marked degradation of the fatigue life of metals is due to the strong chemisorption of adsorbates on exposed slip steps that are formed during fatigue deformation. These adsorbates reduce the reversibility of slip, thus accelerating fatigue damage in a chemically active gas environment. For certain intermetallic alloys such as Ni(3)Al and Ni(3)Fe, the ductility depends on the ambient gas composition and the atomic ordering in these alloys, both of which govern the complex surface chemical reactions taking place in the vicinity of crack tips. Finally, it is shown that local stresses at a coherent precipitate-matrix interface can activate dislocation motion at low temperatures, thus improving the fracture toughness of bulk alloys such as steels at cryogenic temperatures. These examples illustrate the complex interplay between surface chemistry and mechanics, often yielding unexpected results.