Compressive Fracture Behavior of Bi-added Ni50Mn28Ga22 Ferromagnetic Shape Memory Alloys

ABSTRACTIn order to develop NiMnGa/polymer composite materials, a production of single-crystal-like NiMnGa particles is important and should be developed for better quality. Although mechanical pulverization is a promising method by utilizing intrinsic intergranular brittleness of NiMnGa polycrystalline ingots, the amount of lattice defects introduced during mechanical crushing needs to be minimized. This must be achieved by enhancement of intergranular brittleness of NiMnGa particles. In this study, the effect of Bi addition on the compressive fracture behavior of polycrystalline Ni50Mn28Ga22 was investigated where Bi was expected to be segregated to the grain boundaries in NiMnGa, similar to Bi segregation to the grain boundaries in Ni. It was found that only intergranular fracture was observed in Ni50Mn28Ga22 polycrystals with 0.3 at.% Bi addition, although a mixture of intergranular and transgranular fracture was observed in Bi-free Ni50Mn28Ga22 polycrystal. Microalloying of Bi into NiMnGa enhances intergranular embrittlement. A number of spherical particles of Bi were confirmed on the fractured surface of Bi-doped NiMnGa polycrystals. The formation of Bi particles is a proof of the grain boundary segregation of Bi in NiMnGa.

Development of NiMnGa/Polymer Composite Materials

In this paper the recent development of NiMnGa-particles-embedded polymer-matrix magnetodriven composites achieved by our group is described. The NiMnGa single-crystal particles can be easily fabricated by mechanically crushing the polycrystalline ingots due to intrinsic intergranular brittleness. The elastic back stress from the matrix polymer induces the reverse reorientation of martensite variants after removing the magnetic field. However, the actuation strain observed was very small around 10ppm which was 1/1000 times lower than the calculated value. Some possible reasons for the disagreement are that the crystallographic orientation of NiMnGa particles is random distribution, lattice defects introduced during crushing suppress reorientation of martensite variants, and that the elastic restriction from the matrix polymer is higher than expected. Therefore, the martensite variant reorientation behavior of the NiMnGa/silicone composites has been investigated from the viewpoint of (1) volume fraction of matrix polymer, (2) elastic modulus of polymer and (3) direction of magnetic field applied. And also, the internal structures of the composites were directly evaluated by microfocused X-ray computed tomography (µ-CT).

Interaction of boron with crystal defects in B2-ordered FeAl alloys

ABSTRACTIntermetallic alloys are often doped with boron to suppress their intrinsic room-temperature intergranular brittleness. The commonly admitted mechanism of this effect, i.e. an intergranular segregation of boron, seems not to be the only important feature. In this work, boron interactions with numerous kinds of crystal defects (point defects, dislocations, grain boundaries) are studied in B-doped FeAl (B2) alloys containing 40 at. % Al. The intergranular segregation of boron is first characterized. Both an equilibrium and a non-equilibrium (due to a solute atom / thermal vacancy interaction) segregation mechanisms are identified. Strong tendency of boron to segregate to the dislocations lines is shown by direct measurements by atom probe field ion microscopy (AP FIM). This segregation is shown to induce a local depletion in Al in the vicinity of defects.

Structure of Grain Boundaries in L12 Alloys at Finite Temperatures: Effects of Deviations from Stoichiometry

ABSTRACTAtomic structures of grain boundaries in Ni3Al and Cu3Au has been studied using a Monte Carlo relaxation technique and many body central force potentials to describe interatomic forces. The purpose of this work is to investigate the temperature dependence of the compositional order in the boundary region for both stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric alloys. In the former case the boundaries in Ni3Al remain ordered up to very high temperatures while boundaries in Ni3Al disorder at relatively low temperatures. In the non-stoichiometric case, the surplus of nickel in the bulk leads to segregation to grain boundaries and to a significant chemical disordering in the boundary region. The surplus of aluminum also leads to segregation but without disordering in the boundary region. Using these results we discuss the intrinsic brittleness of grain boundaries in Ni3Al as well as the effect of stoichiometry on the intergranular brittleness.

Alloy Design of Ordered Intermetallics

Ordered intermetallics based on aluminides and silicides constitute a unique class of metallic materials possessing promising high-temperature properties. However, brittle fracture and poor ductility have limited their use as engineering materials in most cases. During the past ten years extensive research has been conducted on ordered intermetallics. As a result, significant progress has been made in identifying various causes of brittle fracture, and their relative importance in different ordered alloys. In some cases this understanding has helped achieve dramatic improvements in ductility. We review here three different classes of brittle fracture in ordered intermetallics and discuss the results in terms of model alloy systems chosen from each class. Ni3A1 and NiAl are discussed as prototypical ordered alloys prone to intrinsic intergranular brittleness. They are used to review our current understanding of intrinsically weak grain boundaries and the mechanisms by which boron is thought to suppress intergranular fracture. Next, FeAl and Fe3A1 are discussed as examples of ordered intermetallics that are susceptible to environmental embrittlement at ambient temperatures. Recent discoveries in these two alloy systems are reviewed with special emphasis on some of the rather interesting but subtle effects of test environment. Finally, A13X type intermetallics (A13 Sc, Al3Ti-base, and Al3 Zr-base alloys) are discussed as examples of ordered alloys that have high symmetry (L12 structure), are relatively soft, yet cleave transgranularly with very little ductility. In all these cases, experimental results are compared with theoretical calculations.