Abstract
The widely recognized property improvements of nanocrystalline (NC) materials have generated significant interest; yet, they have been difficult to realize in engineering applications due to the propensity for grain growth in these interface-dominated systems. Although traditional pathways to thermal stabilization can slow the mobility of grain boundaries, recent theories suggest that solute segregation in NC alloys can reduce the grain boundary energy such that thermodynamic stabilization is achieved. Following the predictions of Murdoch et al., here we compare for the first time the thermal stability of a predicted NC stable alloy (Fe-10 at.% Mg) with a predicted non-NC stable alloy (Fe-10 at.% Cu) using the same processing and characterization methodologies. Results show improved thermal stability of the Fe-Mg alloy in comparison with the Fe-Cu, and thermally-evolved microstructures that are consistent with those predicted by Monte Carlo simulations.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
S.R. Agnew, B.R. Elliott, C.J. Youngdahl, K.J. Hemker, and J.R. Weertman, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 285, 391 (2000).
D.H. Jeong, F. Gonzalez, G. Palumbo, K.T. Aust, and U. Erb, Scr. Mater. 44, 493 (2001).
K.S. Kumar, H. Van Swygenhoven, and S. Suresh, Acta Mater. 51, 5743 (2003).
Z.B. Wang, N.R. Tao, S. Li, W. Wang, G. Liu, J. Luc, and K. Lu, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 352, 144 (2003).
R. Mishra, B. Basu, and R. Balasubramaniam, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 373, 370 (2004).
M.A. Meyers, A. Mishra, and D.J. Benson, Prog. Mater. Sci. 51, 427 (2006).
C.C. Koch, J. Mater. Sci. 42, 1403 (2007).
M. Dao, L. Lu, R.J. Asaro, J.T.M. De Hosson, and E. Ma, Acta Mater. 55, 4041 (2007).
B.L. Boyce and H.A. Padilla, Metall. Mater. Trans. A 42A, 1793 (2011).
K. Lücke and K. Detert, Acta Metall. 5, 628 (1957).
J.W. Cahn, Acta Metall. 10, 789 (1962).
E. Nes, N. Ryum, and O. Hunderi, Acta Metall. 33, 11 (1985).
M. Hillert, Acta Metall. 36, 3177 (1988).
K. Boylan, D. Ostrander, U. Erb, G. Palumbo, and K.T. Aust, Scr. Metall. Mater. 25, 2711 (1991).
A. Michels, C.E. Krill, H. Ehrhardt, R. Birringer, and D.T. Wu, Acta Mater. 47, 2143 (1999).
C.E. Krill, H. Ehrhardt, and R. Birringer, Z. Fur. Metall. 96, 1134 (2005).
J.R. Trelewicz and C.A. Schuh, Phys. Rev. B 79, 094112 (2009).
T. Chookajorn, H.A. Murdoch, and C.A. Schuh, Science 337, 951 (2012).
H.A. Murdoch and C.A. Schuh, Acta Mater. 61, 2121 (2013).
M. Saber, H. Kotan, C.C. Koch, and R.O. Scattergood, J. Appl. Phys. 113, 1 (2013).
K.A. Darling, M.A. Tschopp, B.K. VanLeeuwen, M.A. Atwater, and Z.K. Liu, Computat. Mater. Sci. 84, 255 (2014).
P.R. Cantwell, M. Tang, S.J. Dillon, J. Luo, G.S. Rohrer, and M.P. Harmer, Acta Mater. 62, 1 (2014).
F. Abdeljawad and S.M. Foiles, Acta Mater. 101, 159 (2015).
M.J. Rosen and J.T. Kunjappu, Surfactants and Interfacial Phenomena (New York: Wiley, 2012).
D. McLean, Grain Boundaries in Metals (London: Oxford University Press, 1957).
M. Guttmann, Metall. Trans. A 8, 1383 (1977).
J. Weissmüller, Nanostruct. Mater. 3, 261 (1993).
R. Kirchheim, Acta Mater. 50, 413 (2002).
H. Baker, Asm Handbook, Alloy Phase Diagrams, Vol. 03 (Materials Park: ASM International, 1992).
J.A. Knapp and D.M. Follstaedt, J. Mater. Res. 19, 218 (2004).
Astm E112-13, Standard Test Methods for Determining Average Grain Size (West Conshohocken: ASTM International, 2013).
T. Chookajorn and C.A. Schuh, Phys. Rev. B 89, 064102 (2014).
T. Chookajorn and C.A. Schuh, Acta Mater. 73, 128 (2014).
T. Chookajorn, M. Park, and C.A. Schuh, J. Mater. Res. 30, 151 (2015).
J. Eckert, J. Holzer, and W. Johnson, J. Appl. Phys. 73, 131 (1993).
Z. Chen, N. Kioussis, and N. Ghoniem, Phys. Rev. B 80, 184104 (2009).
Y.N. Gornostyrev, I.N. Kar’kin, and L.E. Kar’kina, Phys. Solid State 53, 1388 (2011).
S.N. Mathaudhu and B.L. Boyce, JOM 67, 2785 (2015).
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Drs. F. Abdeljawad and S. Foiles for useful discussions. All experiments (BGC, KH, MTM, and BLB) were fully supported by the DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering. CAS and TC acknowledge the support of the U.S. Army Research Office at MIT, under grant W911NF-14-1-0539. Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Clark, B.G., Hattar, K., Marshall, M.T. et al. Thermal Stability Comparison of Nanocrystalline Fe-Based Binary Alloy Pairs. JOM 68, 1625–1633 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-016-1868-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-016-1868-3