Photoluminescence in the blue and green regions is observed for the first time in nanocrystals of Nd2Zr2O7 synthesized by gel combustion method. This emission is attributed to the presence of oxygen vacancies.

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Lightweighting of automobiles by use of novel low-cost, high strength-to-weight ratio structural materials can reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and in turn CO2 emission. Working towards this goal we achieved high strength in a low cost β-titanium alloy, Ti–1Al–8V–5Fe (Ti185), by hierarchical nanostructure consisting of homogenous distribution of micron-scale and nanoscale α-phase precipitates within the β-phase matrix. The sequence of phase transformation leading to this hierarchical nanostructure is explored using electron microscopy and atom probe tomography. Our results suggest that the high number density of nanoscale α-phase precipitates in the β-phase matrix is due to ω assisted nucleation of α resulting in high tensile strength, greater than any current commercial titanium alloy. Thus hierarchical nanostructured Ti185 serves as an excellent candidate for replacing costlier titanium alloys and other structural alloys for cost-effective lightweighting applications.

At high strain rates, the fragmentation of expanding structures of ductile materials, in general, starts by the localization of plastic deformation in multiple necks. Two distinct mechanisms have been proposed to explain multiple necking and fragmentation process in ductile materials. One view is that the necking pattern is related to the distribution of material properties and defects. The second view is that it is due to the activation of specific instability modes of the structure. Following this, we investigate the emergence of necking patterns in porous ductile bars subjected to dynamic stretching at strain rates varying from 10 to 0.5×10 using finite-element calculations and linear stability analysis. In the calculations, the initial porosity (representative of the material defects) varies randomly along the bar. The computations revealed that, while the random distribution of initial porosity triggers the necking pattern, it barely affects the average neck spacing, especially, at higher strain rates. The average neck spacings obtained from the calculations are in close agreement with the predictions of the linear stability analysis. Our results also reveal that the necking pattern does not begin when the Considère condition is reached but is significantly delayed due to the stabilizing effect of inertia.

We explore the possibility of engineering the crack path by controlling a material's microstructure in order to increase its crack growth resistance. Attention is confined to a specific type of microstructure that is encountered in a variety of structural metals and alloys-second phase particles distributed in a ductile matrix. The type of controlled microstructure modeled is characterized by various sinusoidal distributions of particles with fixed mean particle spacing. Three dimensional, finite deformation small scale yielding calculations of mode I crack growth are carried out for such controlled microstructures using an elastic-viscoplastic constitutive relation for a progressively cavitating solid. The results show that appropriately engineered sinusoidal distributions of particles can give fracture toughness values 2 to 3 times greater than a random distribution of particles with the same mean particle spacing. Tearing modulus values can be increased by a factor of 1.5 to 2. The greatest crack growth resistance generally occurs when the amplitude and the wavelength of the sinusoidal distribution are increased together. When the amplitude and the wavelength of the sinusoidal distribution do not increase together the crack can jump from one crest (or trough) to the next crest (or trough) which tends to reduce the crack growth resistance. Fracture surface roughness statistics are also calculated. In contrast to the essentially universal value for random distributions of particles, the value of the computed Hurst exponent is found to depend on the amplitude and the wavelength of the sinusoidal profile. A correlation is found between the computed fracture toughness values and values of characteristic length scales of the fracture surface roughness.

A model based on discrete unit events coupled with a graph search algorithm is developed to predict intergranular fracture. The model is based on two hypotheses: (i) the key unit event associated with intergranular crack propagation is the interaction of a grain boundary crack with a grain boundary segment located at an angle with the initial crack plane; and (ii) for a given crack path, the overall crack growth resistance can be calculated using the crack growth resistance of a collection of unit events. Next, using a directed graph containing the connectivity of grain boundary junctions and the distances between them, and crack deflection versus crack growth resistance data, a directed graph in the J-resistance space is created. This graph contains information on the crack growth resistance for all possible crack paths in a given grain microstructure. Various crack growth resistance curves are then calculated including those corresponding to: (i) a local resistance minimum; (ii) a global minimum; and (iii) for verification, a path specified by microstructure-based finite element calculations. The results show that the proposed method based on discrete unit events and graph search can predict the crack path and the crack growth resistance for cracks that propagate from one grain boundary junction to another. The proposed computationally inexpensive model can be used to design material mi

a b s t r a c tThe micromechanics of plastic deformation and phase transformation in a three-phase advanced high strength steel are analyzed both experimentally and by microstructurebased simulations. The steel examined is a three-phase (ferrite, martensite and retained austenite) quenched and partitioned sheet steel with a tensile strength of $ 980 MPa. The macroscopic flow behavior and the volume fraction of martensite resulting from the austenite-martensite transformation during deformation were measured. In addition, micropillar compression specimens were extracted from the individual ferrite grains and the martensite particles, and using a flat-punch nanoindenter, stress-strain curves were obtained. Finite element simulations idealize the microstructure as a composite that contains ferrite, martensite and retained austenite. All three phases are discretely modeled using appropriate crystal plasticity based constitutive relations. Material parameters for ferrite and martensite are determined by fitting numerical predictions to the micropillar data. The constitutive relation for retained austenite takes into account contributions to the strain rate from the austenite-martensite transformation, as well as slip in both the untransformed austenite and product martensite. Parameters for the retained austenite are then determined by fitting the predicted flow stress and transformed austenite volume fraction in a 3D microstructure to experimental measurements. Simulations are used to probe the role of the retained austenite in controlling the strain hardening behavior as well as internal stress and strain distributions in the microstructure.

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