Vol 119, No 1 (2018)

Magnetoelastic demagnetization of steel samples under cyclic tensile loads has been analyzed. It has been established that values of residual magnetization that correspond to peak loads are characterized by the power-law dependence on the number of loading cycles. In some cases, in the region of high loads, the qualitative transition to exponential dependence has been observed. Coefficients of the power-law approximation of peak magnetization depend on the value of amplitude load and have specific characteristics in the vicinity of characteristic loads. The ratios of approximated slide load coefficients depending on the load are common for the three considered samples, and there is an outburst in the vicinity of the fatigue limit, which can be used as the basis for developing the rapid nondestructive method for determination of this limit.

The resistance of Fe_0.56Ni_0.44 alloy nanowires (fabricated by template synthesis using polymer track membranes) 60 and 100 nm in diameter to radiation with powerful pulsed 85% C⁺ + 15% H⁺ ions (E = 20 keV, j = 100 A/cm², τ = 90 ns) has been investigated. The conclusion that nanosized regions of explosive energy release, so-called thermal spikes, which are thermalized regions of dense cascades of atomic displacements heated to several thousand degrees (in which the thermal pressure can reach several tens of GPa), play an important role in the nanowire structure change is drawn. These are observed as melted nanosized regions on the nanowire surface. Calculations have shown that energy supplied by an ion beam during the action of a single pulse in the used mode (provided that thermal radiation and thermal conductivity serve as energy sinks) can be both sufficient and insufficient to completely melt nanowires depending on their orientation with respect to the ion beam. The bending and failure of nonmelted nanowires is explained by the generation and propagation of post-cascade shock waves.

The aim of this study was to compare the influence of intercritical quenching (IQ), step quenching (SQ) and quenching plus tempering (QT) heat treatments on the microstructure and tensile properties of 1.7Ni–1.5Cu–0.5Mo–0.2C pre-alloyed powder metallurgy (P/M) steels. In the microstructures of the IQ and SQ specimens partial martensite having Ni-rich phases formed up in the soft ferritic matrix. It was observed that unlike Mo, a Cu alloying element dissolved homogeneously in the specimens. The martensite volume fraction (MVF) in the SQ specimens was higher than that in the IQ specimens. It was found that macrohardness, yield and tensile strengths increased, whereas microhardness of ferrite and elongation decreased with increasing MVF. However, with this increase, microhardness values of martensite phases decreased in the IQ specimen, while they increased in SQ specimens. It was observed that the yield, tensile, and elongation values of the QT specimens were lower than those of all intercritically annealed specimens having the same hardness values.

The use of high-speed methods to measure deformation, load, and the dynamics of deformation bands, as well as the correlation between the intermittent creep characteristics of the AlMg6 aluminum–magnesium alloy and the parameters of the acoustic emission signals, has been studied experimentally. It has been established that the emergence and rapid expansion of the primary deformation band, which generates a characteristic acoustic emission signal in the frequency range of 10–1000 Hz, is a trigger for the development of a deformation step in the creep curve. The results confirm the accuracy of the mechanism of generating an acoustic signal associated with the emergence of a dislocation band on the external surface of the specimen.

The microstructure and thermal stability of multifiber in situ Cu-18Nb composites with a true strain (e) of 10.2 and 12.5 have been studied by the methods of scanning and transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. It has been established that niobium dendrites in the copper matrix acquire the shape of ribbons with thicknesses of less than 100 nm under strong plastic deformation. As the strain grows, the thickness of niobium ribbons decreases, and the degree of axial texture 〈110〉Nb║〈111〉Cu║DA (drawing axes) and the macrostresses in the crystal lattice of niobium increase. Interplanar distances between adjacent {110}Nb planes are stretched in the longitudinal section of the composites and reduced in their transversal section under the action of macrostresses. It has been shown that, as a result of the annealing of these composites, niobium fibers sustain coagulation, which begins at 300°C, actively develops with increasing temperature, and leads to the appreciable softening of a composite at 700°C. The softening of a composite after the annealing is accompanied by the relaxation of macrostresses in niobium and the recovery of its unit cell parameters to standard values.