1
|
Guillen DP, Toloczko MB, Prabhakaran R, Zhu Y, Lu Y, Wu Y. Thermomechanical Properties of Neutron Irradiated Al 3Hf-Al Thermal Neutron Absorber Materials. MATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 16:5518. [PMID: 37629809 PMCID: PMC10456384 DOI: 10.3390/ma16165518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Revised: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023]
Abstract
A thermal neutron absorber material composed of Al3Hf particles in an aluminum matrix is under development for the Advanced Test Reactor. This metal matrix composite was fabricated via hot pressing of high-purity aluminum and micrometer-size Al3Hf powders at volume fractions of 20.0, 28.4, and 36.5%. Room temperature tensile and hardness testing of unirradiated specimens revealed a linear relationship between volume fraction and strength, while the tensile data showed a strong decrease in elongation between the 20 and 36.5% volume fraction materials. Tensile tests conducted at 200 °C on unirradiated material revealed similar trends. Evaluations were then conducted on specimens irradiated at 66 to 75 °C to four dose levels ranging from approximately 1 to 4 dpa. Tensile properties exhibited the typical increase in strength and decrease in ductility with dose that are common for metallic materials irradiated at ≤0.4Tm. Hardness also increased with neutron dose. The difference in strength between the three different volume fraction materials was roughly constant as the dose increased. Nanoindentation measurements of Al3Hf particles in the 28.4 vol% material showed the expected trend of increased hardness with irradiation dose. Transmission electron microscopy revealed oxygen at the interface between the Al3Hf particles and aluminum matrix in the irradiated material. Scanning electron microscopy of the exterior surface of tensile tested specimens revealed that deformation of the material occurs via plastic deformation of the Al matrix, cracking of the Al3Hf particles, and to a lesser extent, tearing of the matrix away from the particles. The fracture surface of an irradiated 28.4 vol% specimen showed failure by brittle fracture in the particles and ductile tearing of the aluminum matrix with no loss of cohesion between the particles and matrix. The coefficient of thermal expansion decreased upon irradiation, with a maximum change of -6.3% for the annealed irradiated 36.5 vol% specimen.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Donna Post Guillen
- Idaho National Laboratory, 995 University Blvd., Idaho Falls, ID 83401, USA
| | - Mychailo B. Toloczko
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA 99354, USA; (M.B.T.); (R.P.)
| | - Ramprashad Prabhakaran
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA 99354, USA; (M.B.T.); (R.P.)
| | - Yuanyuan Zhu
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA 99354, USA; (M.B.T.); (R.P.)
- Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Connecticut, 25 King Hill Road, Storrs, CT 06269, USA;
| | - Yu Lu
- Center for Advanced Energy Studies, Boise State University, 997 MK Simpson Blvd., Idaho Falls, ID 83401, USA; (Y.L.); (Y.W.)
| | - Yaqiao Wu
- Center for Advanced Energy Studies, Boise State University, 997 MK Simpson Blvd., Idaho Falls, ID 83401, USA; (Y.L.); (Y.W.)
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Microstructure and Thermal Deformation Behavior of Hot-Pressing Sintered Zr-6Al-0.1B Alloy. MATERIALS 2022; 15:ma15051816. [PMID: 35269047 PMCID: PMC8912060 DOI: 10.3390/ma15051816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2022] [Revised: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Zr-6Al-0.1B alloy rich in Zr3Al phase is prepared by hot-pressing sintering. The thermal deformation behavior of sintered Zr-6Al-0.1B is analyzed by isothermal compression tests at deformation temperatures of 950, 1050, and 1150 °C with strain rates of 0.01, 0.1, and 1 s−1. The results indicate that at the early stage of thermal deformation, the stress increases rapidly with the increase of strain and then reaches the peak value. Subsequently, the stress decreases with the increase of strain under the softening effect. On the whole, the true stress-strain curve shifts to the high stress area with the increase of strain rate or the decrease of deformation temperature, so the sintered Zr-6Al-0.1B alloy belongs to the temperature and strain rate sensitive material. For the microstructure evolution of sintered Zr-6Al-0.1B during the isothermal compression, the high strain rate can improve the grain refinement. However, because sintered Zr-6Al-0.1B is a low plastic material, too high strain rate will exceed the deformation capacity of the material, resulting in an increase in defects. The increase of deformation temperature also contributes to grain refinement, but when the temperature is too high, due to the decomposition of Zr3Al phase, the deformation coordination of the material decreases, leading to the increase of the probability of the occurrence of defects. This study verified the feasibility of hot-pressing sintering to prepare Zr-6Al-0.1B alloy rich in Zr3Al phase and laid the foundation of “hot-pressing sintering + canning hot-extrusion” process of Zr-6Al-0.1B alloy components.
Collapse
|
3
|
Abstract
Understanding the relation between crystal structure and electronic properties is crucial for designing new quantum materials with desired functionality. So far, controlling a chemical bond is less considered as an effective way to manipulate the topological electrons. In this paper, we show that the V–Al bond acts as a shield for protecting the topological electrons in Dirac semimetal VAl3. The Dirac electrons remain intact in the V1−xTixAl3 solid solutions, even after a substantial part of V atoms have been replaced. A Lifshitz transition from Dirac semimetal to trivial metal occurs as long as the V–Al bond is completely broken. Our finding highlights a rational approach for designing new quantum materials via controlling their chemical bond. Topological electrons in semimetals are usually vulnerable to chemical doping and environment change, which restricts their potential application in future electronic devices. In this paper, we report that the type-II Dirac semimetal VAl3 hosts exceptional, robust topological electrons which can tolerate extreme change of chemical composition. The Dirac electrons remain intact, even after a substantial part of V atoms have been replaced in the V1−xTixAl3 solid solutions. This Dirac semimetal state ends at x=0.35, where a Lifshitz transition to p-type trivial metal occurs. The V–Al bond is completely broken in this transition as long as the bonding orbitals are fully depopulated by the holes donated from Ti substitution. In other words, the Dirac electrons in VAl3 are protected by the V–Al bond, whose molecular orbital is their bonding gravity center. Our understanding on the interrelations among electron count, chemical bond, and electronic properties in topological semimetals suggests a rational approach to search robust, chemical-bond-protected topological materials.
Collapse
|
4
|
Augustine AM, Ravindran P. Role of W-site substitution on mechanical and electronic properties of cubic tungsten carbide. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2020; 32:145701. [PMID: 31855859 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/ab6428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
In order to understand the role of W-site substitution on properties of cubic tungsten carbide ([Formula: see text]-WC), we have investigated the structural, mechanical, and electronic properties of WXC2 (X = Si, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Ge, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, Sn, Hf, Ta, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Th, U) using first principles calculations based on density functional theory, within generalized gradient approximation. The structural optimization has carried out for all these compounds using force as well as stress minimization. The optimized structural parameters for experimentally known compounds are in good agreement with the available x-ray diffraction measurements and structural parameters for nineteen WXC2 compounds are newly predicted. The W-site substitution of the above-listed elements into [Formula: see text]-WC reduces the symmetry of the primitive lattice to tetragonal structure. The heat of formation ([Formula: see text]) and the mechanical stability studies are carried out to investigate the stability of these systems. The single-crystal elastic constants c ij , elastic moduli of the polycrystalline aggregates, anisotropy in elastic constants and related properties of the WXC2 materials have calculated and discussed in detail. The hardness of the above materials is predicted using two different criteria, based on the softest elastic mode as well as the Pugh's modulus ratio. There is a correlation in the hardness predicted from these two approaches except in the case of [Formula: see text]-WC. The chemical bonding interaction between the constituents is analysed using the density of states, crystal orbital Hamiltonian population, and charge density for selected systems. All these compounds are predicted to be metal and our calculations suggest that W-site substitutions do not improve the hardness of [Formula: see text]-WC. However, from the heat of formation studies, we have identified five new stable compounds such as CrWC2, NbWC2, ScWC2, YWC2, and UWC2 with reasonably good hardness and those need experimental verifications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anu Maria Augustine
- Department of Physics, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur 610005, India. Simulation Center for Atomic and Nanoscale MATerials, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, 610005, India
| | | |
Collapse
|
5
|
Sharma R, Dar SA, Parveen N, Srivastava V. A DFT investigation on electronic structure, charge density, mechanical stability and thermodynamic properties of XAl 3 (X =Sc, Yb and Lu) intermetallic compounds. J Mol Graph Model 2019; 94:107463. [PMID: 31593919 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2019.107463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2019] [Revised: 09/10/2019] [Accepted: 09/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The electronic structures of AuCu3-type XAl3 (X = Sc, Yb, Lu) compounds have been calculated using full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method within the density functional theory. The calculations have been performed using PBE-GGA, WC-GGA and PBE-sol GGA approximations. Electronic structures in these materials confirm metallicity. Our estimated ground state properties in case of ScAl3 are found in good agreement with the experimental values, while for YbAl3 and LuAl3 couldn't be compared owing to non-existence of data. Charge density plots illustrate Sc/Yb/Lu-Al bonds are covalent, which signify according to Poisson ratio. For this reason, various elastic modulii, bulk to shear modulus ratios, Cauchy pressures were determined and it was found that XAl3 compounds show brittle nature. Finally, specific heat capacity, Debye temperature and Grüneisen parameter under pressure (0-15 GPa) and temperature (0-1000 K) are also elucidated using quasi harmonic model.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ramesh Sharma
- Department of Applied Science, Feroze Gandhi Institute of Engineering & Technology, Raebareli, 229001, Uttar Pradesh state, India
| | - Sajad Ahmad Dar
- Department of Physics, Govt. Motilal Vigyan Mahavidyalya College, Bhopal, 462008, Madhya Pradesh State, India.
| | - Negeena Parveen
- Department of Physics, Barkatullah University, Bhopal, 462026, Madhya Pradesh State, India
| | - Vipul Srivastava
- Department of Physics, School of Chemical Engineering & Physical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, 144411, India
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
A New Superhard Phase and Physical Properties of ZrB₃ from First-Principles Calculations. MATERIALS 2016; 9:ma9080703. [PMID: 28773831 PMCID: PMC5512525 DOI: 10.3390/ma9080703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2016] [Revised: 08/11/2016] [Accepted: 08/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Using the first-principles particle swarm optimization algorithm for crystal structural prediction, we have predicted a novel monoclinic C2/m structure for ZrB3, which is more energetically favorable than the previously proposed FeB3-, TcP3-, MoB3-, WB3-, and OsB3-type structures in the considered pressure range. The new phase is mechanically and dynamically stable, as confirmed by the calculations of its elastic constants and phonon dispersion curve. The calculated large shear modulus (227 GPa) and high hardness (42.2 GPa) show that ZrB3 within the monoclinic phase is a potentially superhard material. The analyses of the electronic density of states and chemical bonding reveal that the strong B–B and B–Zr covalent bonds are attributed to its high hardness. By the quasi-harmonic Debye model, the heat capacity, thermal expansion coefficient and Grüneisen parameter of ZrB3 are also systemically investigated.
Collapse
|
7
|
Yannello VJ, Fredrickson DC. Generality of the 18-n Rule: Intermetallic Structural Chemistry Explained through Isolobal Analogies to Transition Metal Complexes. Inorg Chem 2015; 54:11385-98. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b02016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Vincent J. Yannello
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin−Madison, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| | - Daniel C. Fredrickson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin−Madison, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Kilduff BJ, Yannello VJ, Fredrickson DC. Defusing Complexity in Intermetallics: How Covalently Shared Electron Pairs Stabilize the FCC Variant Mo2CuxGa6–x (x ≈ 0.9). Inorg Chem 2015. [PMID: 26214504 DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b01333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Brandon J. Kilduff
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| | - Vincent J. Yannello
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| | - Daniel C. Fredrickson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Zhang J, Oganov AR, Li X, Dong H, Zeng Q. Novel compounds in the Zr-O system, their crystal structures and mechanical properties. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2015; 17:17301-10. [PMID: 26073292 DOI: 10.1039/c5cp02252e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
With the motivation of exploring new high-strength ceramics, ab initio evolutionary simulations are performed to search for all the stable compounds in the Zr-O system. We have found that not only the traditional compound ZrO2, but also the ordered suboxides R3̅-Zr6O, R3̅c-Zr3O, P3̅1m-Zr2O and P6̅2m-ZrO are stable at zero pressure. The crystal structure of semimetallic P6̅2m-ZrO consists of Zr-graphene layers and can be described as an intercalated version of the ω-Zr structure. An interesting massive Dirac cone is found in the three-dimensional (3D) band structure of P6̅2m-ZrO at the Γ-point. The elastic properties, the hardness and the correlation between the mechanical properties of Zr-O compounds and the oxygen content have been systematically investigated. Surprisingly, the hardest zirconium oxide is not ZrO2, but ZrO. Both P6̅2m-ZrO and P3̅1m-Zr2O exhibit relatively high hardness values of 14 GPa and 10 GPa, respectively. The anisotropic Young's modulus E, torsion shear modulus Gt and linear compressibility β have been derived for P6̅2m-ZrO and P3̅1m-Zr2O. Further analyses of the density of states, the band structure and the crystal orbital Hamilton population indicate that the electronic structure of Zr-O compounds is directly related to their mechanical properties. The simultaneous occurrence of the 3D-framework of Zr-O and the strong Zr-Zr bonds in P6̅2m-ZrO explains its high hardness.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jin Zhang
- Department of Geosciences, Center for Materials by Design, and Institute for Advanced Computational Science, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2100, USA.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Hao R, Zhang X, Qin J, Zhang S, Ning J, Sun N, Ma M, Liu R. Theoretical prediction of structural stability, electronic and elastic properties of ZrSi2 under pressure. RSC Adv 2015. [DOI: 10.1039/c5ra01964h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The elastic constants, DOS, charge density distribution and the fundamental thermodynamic data such as the specific heat, thermal expansion coefficient and Debye temperature under different temperatures and pressures are theoretically determined.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ruru Hao
- State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology
- Yanshan University
- Qinhuangdao 066004
- P. R. China
| | - Xinyu Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology
- Yanshan University
- Qinhuangdao 066004
- P. R. China
| | - Jiaqian Qin
- Metallurgy and Materials Science Research Institute
- Chulalongkorn University
- Bangkok 10330
- Thailand
| | - Suhong Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology
- Yanshan University
- Qinhuangdao 066004
- P. R. China
| | - Jinliang Ning
- State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology
- Yanshan University
- Qinhuangdao 066004
- P. R. China
| | - Na Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology
- Yanshan University
- Qinhuangdao 066004
- P. R. China
| | - Mingzhen Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology
- Yanshan University
- Qinhuangdao 066004
- P. R. China
| | - Riping Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology
- Yanshan University
- Qinhuangdao 066004
- P. R. China
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Han JJ, Wang CP, Liu XJ, Wang Y, Liu ZK. First-principles calculation of structural, mechanical, magnetic and thermodynamic properties for γ-M23C6 (M = Fe, Cr) compounds. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2012; 24:505503. [PMID: 23172712 DOI: 10.1088/0953-8984/24/50/505503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
We report the results of our first-principles calculations of structural stability, mechanical, magnetic, and thermodynamic properties for γ-M(23)C(6) (M = Fe, Cr) compounds with each of the four metal Wyckoff sites being occupied in turn by Fe. The thermodynamic properties and the temperature dependence of the mechanical behavior of γ-M(23)C(6) compounds are investigated based on the quasi-harmonic Debye model. The results show that the thermodynamic properties of γ-M(23)C(6) (M = Fe, Cr) compounds are more dependent on the position of Fe atoms than the amount of Fe.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J J Han
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, People's Republic of China
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
12
|
Zhang M, Wang H, Wang H, Zhang X, Iitaka T, Ma Y. First-Principles Prediction on the High-Pressure Structures of Transition Metal Diborides (TMB2, TM = Sc, Ti, Y, Zr). Inorg Chem 2010; 49:6859-64. [DOI: 10.1021/ic100214v] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Meiguang Zhang
- National Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China
- Department of Physics, BaoJi University of Arts and Sciences, Baoji 712007, People's Republic of China
| | - Hui Wang
- National Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China
| | - Hongbo Wang
- National Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China
| | - Xinxin Zhang
- National Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China
| | - Toshiaki Iitaka
- Computational Astrophysics Laboratory, RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Yanming Ma
- National Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Ab-initio calculation of structural, electronic, and optical characterizations of the intermetallic trialuminides ScAl3 compound. J SOLID STATE CHEM 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jssc.2010.03.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
|
14
|
FUJIKAWA SI. Scandium in pure aluminum and aluminum alloys –its behavior and addition effects. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1999. [DOI: 10.2464/jilm.49.128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
|
15
|
Ravindran P, Subramoniam G, Asokamani R. Ground-state properties and relative stability between the L12 and DOa phases of Ni3Al by Nb substitution. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER 1996; 53:1129-1137. [PMID: 9983569 DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.53.1129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/12/2023]
|
16
|
Ravindran P, Asokamani R. Electronic structure, phase stability, equation of state, and pressure-dependent superconducting properties of Zr3Al. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER 1994; 50:668-678. [PMID: 9975728 DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.50.668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/12/2023]
|
17
|
Srinivasan S, Desch P, Schwarz R. Metastable phases in the Al3X (X = Ti, Zr, and Hf) intermetallic system. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1991. [DOI: 10.1016/0956-716x(91)90059-a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
|
18
|
|