Stability of nanostructured : amorphous aluminum-manganese alloys

[摘要] Nanocrystalline alloys have attracted interest for decades because of their improved mechanical strength without sacrificing ductility, but structural stability has always been an issue. In this work, bulk aluminum-manganese (Al-Mn) nanocrystalline alloys have been synthesized using room temperature ionic liquid electrodeposition, by which various nanostructures and dual-phase structures can be created by controlling the Mn solute incorporation level. The manganese exhibits grain boundary segregation in the Al-Mn solid solution in the as-deposited condition, which contributes to enhanced stability of the nanostructure. The grain boundary properties of the nanostructured alloys were studied via three dimensional atom probe tomography and aberration-corrected scanning electron microscopy. The segregation energies were calculated based on the experimental results and compared with the values calculated from a thermodynamic-based segregation model. Upon heating of the nanostructured and dual-phase alloys, a variety of complex phase transformations occur. A combination of X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, as well as differential scanning calorimetry were employed to understand the phase transformation mechanisms and grain growth processes. A Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov analytical model was proposed as a descriptive method to explain the phase transformation sequence. Using the parameters extracted from the analytical model, predictive time-temperature transformation diagrams were constructed. The stability region of the alloy in time-temperature space is thus established, providing a simple way to evaluate nanostructure stability.

[发布机构] Massachusetts Institute of Technology