Dislocation re-emission induced staged work hardening in graphene-nanotwin reinforced Cu: A molecular dynamics simulation study

Graphene and nanotwins are two effective reinforced microstructural features to achieve improved mechanical properties of metallic composites, while the two features are generally applied separately. In this study, graphene/nano-twinned Cu nanocomposites models with different arrangement of the graphene and twin boundaries were designed by using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and the dislocation processes and the interactions between dislocation and graphene/twin were simulated and investigated. The simulation results indicated the arrangement of graphene and nanotwin affects the work hardening behaviors in the graphene/nano-twinned Cu composites, i.e., two staged work hardening behavior corresponded to cyclic process of dislocation hindrance-absorption-reemission in the model with relatively small twin spacing and twin-graphene spacing, while the work hardening dominated by dislocation intersection and multiplication occurred in the model with large twin-spacing. The simulation provided herein demonstrated that the special arrangement of graphene and nanotwins led a way to tailoring the mechanical properties of metallic composites with various work hardening behaviors. Graphical abstract Highlights 1. Dislocation reactions between twins and graphene were simulated and analyzed. 2. Twin-graphene distance and the twin distance play key roles in the reaction. 3. The mechanism corresponding to work hardening changes in the limited two distances.

About the Role of Interfaces on the Fatigue Crack Propagation in Laminated Metallic Composites

The influence of gradients in hardness and elastic properties at interfaces of dissimilar materials in laminated metallic composites (LMCs) on fatigue crack propagation is investigated experimentally for three different LMC systems: Al/Al-LMCs with dissimilar yield stress and Al/Steel-LMCs as well as Al/Ti/Steel-LMCs with dissimilar yield stress and Young’s modulus, respectively. The damage tolerant fatigue behavior in Al/Al-LMCs with an alternating layer structure is enhanced significantly compared to constituent monolithic materials. The prevalent toughening mechanisms at the interfaces are identified by microscopical methods and synchrotron X-ray computed tomography. For the soft/hard transition, crack deflection mechanisms at the vicinity of the interface are observed, whereas crack bifurcation mechanisms can be seen for the hard/soft transition. The crack propagation in Al/Steel-LMCs was studied conducting in-situ scanning electron microscope (SEM) experiments in the respective low cycle fatigue (LCF) and high cycle fatigue (HCF) regimes of the laminate. The enhanced resistance against crack propagation in the LCF regime is attributed to the prevalent stress redistribution, crack deflection, and crack bridging mechanisms. The fatigue properties of different Al/Ti/Steel-LMC systems show the potential of LMCs in terms of an appropriate selection of constituents in combination with an optimized architecture. The results are also discussed under the aspect of tailored lightweight applications subjected to cyclic loading.

Sustainable development and enhancement of cracking processes using metallic composites

Metallic composites represent a vital class of materials that has gained increased attention in crude oil processing as well as the production of biofuel from other sources in recent times. Several catalytic materials have been reported in the literature for catalytic cracking, particularly, of crude oil. This review seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of existing and emerging methods/technologies such as metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), metal–matrix composites (MMCs), and catalytic support materials, to bridge information gaps toward sustainable advancement in catalysis for petrochemical processes. There is an increase in industrial and environmental concern emanating from the sulphur levels of oils, hence the need to develop more efficient catalysts in the hydrotreatment (HDS and HDN) processes, and combating the challenge of catalyst poisoning and deactivation; in a bid to improving the overall quality of oils and sustainable use of catalyst. Structural improvement, high thermal stability, enhanced cracking potential, and environmental sustainability represent the various benefits accrued to the use of metallic composites as opposed to conventional catalysts employed in catalytic cracking processes.

Analysis of the Strain Distribution and Texture Measurements in Asymmetric Rolling (AR) and Asymmetric Accumulative Roll Bonding (AARB)

Severe plastic deformation (SPD) with strong shear component is required to promote both grain refinement and texture randomization. When Asymmetric rolling (AR) is applied as asymmetric accumulative roll bonding (AARB), it enables the production of architectured microstructures and metallic composites. Finite element (FE) simulations of AR and AARB were employed to understand the influence of pass thickness reduction (PTR) on the through thickness variation of the velocity gradient. The influence of the PTR up to a total thickness reduction of 50% and the effect of a single 50% reduction step in a bi-layer bonding condition was analyzed. The influence of these process parameters on the strain and rigid body rotation components was compared with the experimental data obtained on an AA1050 aluminum. A better shear to compression ratio across the sheet thickness is achieved by PTRs lower than 30%; at a PTR of 50% the texture is dominated by the frictional shear generated at the roll-sheet interface and the process has a stronger compressive character. This indicates that simple ARB followed by AR with smaller PTRs should generate a better shear distribution than AARB alone.

Metallic Composites, Prepared by Deformation Processing

The main point of successful manufacture of metallic composites by direct bonding of dissimilar materials is achieving a homogeneous interface bonding. Two different types of deformation techniques for fabrication of metal composites were investigated. The first one was developed on the basis of high pressure torsion associated with a high energy impact on the material where part of energy involved can be dissipated via non equilibrium phase transition realization. This deformation due to high shear deformations allows not only to form a nanostructure, but also to bond dissimilar metals. Moreover, this method allows for a relatively short time and in a number of compounds to receive in one step at room temperature monolithic composites of sufficient size to certify the structure and properties. The second technique is diffusion bonding which integrate one material with the other by pressure under high temperature. In order to clarify the bonding mechanism by plastic deformation of dissimilar materials, the microstructural and some mechanical properties were studied in the processed samples.

Improvement of Mechanical Properties of Laminated Composites by Using Cryogenic Roll Bonding

Laminated metal composites are composed of alternating layers of metals or alloys, bonding together at their interface, which have gained extensive attention because of their advantages such as improved fracture toughness, impact behavior, corrosion, wear and damping capacity. Roll bonding is the most widely used method to process many metallic composites. In this study, we fabricated some kinds of Al/Ti/Al sandwich-like laminated composites by cryogenic roll bonding. We find that cryogenic roll bonding techniques can improve the mechanical properties of laminated composites. Finally, we will discuss the mechanism of improvement in bonding strength and mechanical properties.