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No description available.

<div>Defects are unavoidable, life-limiting and dominant sites of damage and subsequent failure in a material. Ni-based superalloys are commonly used in high temperature applications and inevitably found to have defects in the form of inclusions, voids and microscopic cracks which are below the resolution of standard inspection techniques. A mechanistic understanding of the role of defects in such industrially relevant bulk polycrystalline material is essential for philosophies of design and durability to follow and ensure structural integrity of components in the inevitable presence of such defects. The current understanding of defect-mediated damage, in bulk Ni superalloys, is limited by experimental techniques that can capture the local micromechanical state of the material surrounding the defect. In this work, we combine mechanical testing with in-situ, non-destructive 3-D X-ray characterization techniques to obtain rich multi-modal datasets at the microscale to interrogate complex defect-microstructure interactions and elucidate the mechanisms of failure around defects. The attenuated X-ray beam, after passage through the material, is utilized through computed micro-tomography to characterize the defects owing to its sensitivity to density differences in the material. The diffracted X-ray beam, after illuminating the material, is employed through high energy diffraction microscopy in various modes to interrogate the evolving micromechanical state around the discovered defects.</div><div>Three case studies are performed with specimens made of a Ni-based superalloy specially designed and fabricated to have internal defects in the form of: (i) an inclusion, (ii) a microscopic crack, and (iii) voids. In each case, the grain scale information is investigated to reveal heterogeneity in the local micromechanical state of the material as a precursor for the onset of failure. Models and simulations based on finite element or crystal plasticity are utilized, wherever necessary, to assess the factors essential to the underlying mechanism of failure. In the first case study, the detrimental effects of an inclusion in initiating a crack upon cyclic loading is interrogated and the state of bonding, residual stresses, and geometrical stress concentrations around the inclusion are demonstrated to be of utmost importance. In the second case study, the propagation of a short fatigue crack through the microstructure is examined to reveal the crystallographic nature of crack growth through the (i) alignment of the crack plane with the most active slip system, (ii) the correlation between the crack growth rate and the maximum resolved shear stresses, and (iii) the dependence of the crack growth direction on microplasticity within grains ahead of the crack front. In the third case study, the role of voids in ductile failure under tensile loading is explored to illuminate the activation and operation of distinct mechanisms of inter-void shear and necking under the control of the local state of stress triaxiality and the local plasticity within the grains at critical sites of fracture.</div><div>In summary, a grain scale description of the micromechanical state has been unambiguously determined through experiments to examine the heterogeneity around defects in the material. It has enabled us to identify and isolate the nature of factors essential to the activation of specific mechanisms at the onset failure. The grain scale thus provides an ideal physical basis to understand the fundamentals of defect mediated damage and failure instilling trust in the predictive capabilities of models that incorporate the response of the grain structure. The generated datasets can be used to instantiate and calibrate such models at the grain level for higher fidelity. </div>

Les composants des industries de l'aéronautique, du spatial ou de l'énergie sont souvent en fonctionnement dans des environnements sévères où les températures et les pressions peuvent atteindre des valeurs importantes. Les matériaux traditionnels sont alors remplacés par des superalliages dits réfractaires, l'Inconel 718 est un de ces matériaux. Ils sont en particulier caractérisés par la conservation de leurs propriétés mécaniques à hautes températures. L'Inconel 718 est un alliage à base nickel, réputé comme difficile à usiner. Cette difficulté de mise en forme, liée à ses caractéristiques physiques et mécaniques, impose généralement une utilisation très importante de fluides de coupe ; ceux-ci représentent une fraction significative du coût de la pièce usinée. L'objectif est alors de migrer vers l'usinage à sec et grande vitesse. Cependant, du fait des caractéristiques mécaniques et du caractère réfractaire de l'Inconel 718, les surfaces générées peuvent être affectées thermiquement durant l'opération d'usinage avec la mise en place de contraintes résiduelles en traction néfastes pour la tenue en service des pièces usinées. Au travers des travaux présentés, nous nous proposons de montrer la faisabilité de l'usinage à sec de l'Inconel 718 et ses conséquences sur l'intégrité des surfaces réalisées. Des essais de tournage sous lubrification et à sec ont été réalisés dans des conditions de semi-finition avec un outil en carbure de tungstène revêtu. Les surfaces et sous surfaces ont été observées et qualifiées par un ensemble de moyens : microscope à interférométrie, microscope électronique à balayage, microduromètre, goniomètre rayons X pour l'analyse des contraintes résiduelles. L'analyse de l'intégrité des surfaces a permis de mettre en évidence les principaux facteurs influents. La qualité des surfaces produites dépendant de la maîtrise de la température de coupe, une technique de mesure des températures a alors été développée pour une opération de fraisage ; elle est basée sur la technologie des thermocouples. Les essais menés ont permis de déterminer la température en surface et en sous surface ; ces informations sont des éléments importants de validation d'un modèle thermique de la coupe. Enfin, à la suite d'essais de fraisage périphérique et de la mesure des efforts pour différentes conditions de coupe, nous présentons une comparaison entre ces résultats expérimentaux et une modélisation du procédé. La modélisation correspond à une approche thermomécanique de la coupe. En termes d'efforts, la comparaison est tout à fait satisfaisante ; un prolongement de cette approche pour valider l'aspect thermique, est toutefois envisagé.

The aerospace industry is constantly striving to becoming more economical and environmentally friendly. One of many efforts to achieve this is the Lightcam project which in this case is evaluating the use of additive manufacturing in the form of electron beam melting in conjunction with the nickel-based superalloy, Alloy 718. This combination is not fully explored and examined. For this purpose, a demonstrator vane was produced and it was subsequently evaluated in this thesis. The evaluation was performed in as-built condition and was divided in non-destructive testing, evaluation of these methods and metallographic review to confirm the results, and potentially revealing more properties. The non-destructive testing was performed using conventional radiography and computed tomography. Both methods struggled to deliver complete and reliable results, for varying reasons. Radiography could deliver results of the whole vane, but these were impossible to evaluate due to the rough surface created by the electron beam melting process. The computed tomography on the other hand was not affected by the rough surface and produced usable, though not complete, results of the vane. The reason for the computed tomography’s inability to deliver complete results was the material, varying thickness and complex geometry of the vane. As a complement and to verify the results from the non-destructive testing, a metallographic examination was conducted. These tests were conducted with the aim of answering the following three questions:  What non-destructive testing methods are suitable to evaluate Alloy 718 components manufactured with electron beam melting? - Neither radiography nor computed tomography are suitable as a sole evaluation method, for various reasons. All surface dependent methods were deemed unsuitable without testing due to the rough surface. What types of defects and in what quantity can they be found in the produced vane? - Defects found are: Porosity and lack of fusion, both found as internal and partially external and in varying sizes. Where are the defects located? - Pores are mainly found in the center of sections modeled to a 3mm thickness. Lack of fusion was found between build layers in all thicknesses. Apart from these results, hardness was found to vary depending on build height, increasing from the bottom towards the top. Microstructure was also found to vary with the build height, but always consisting of either equiaxed or columnar grains. / Lightcam

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No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The challenges faced in today’s industry require materials capable of working in chemically aggressive environments at elevated temperature, which has fueled the development of oxidation resistant materials. All-Oxide Ceramic Matrix Composites (OCMC) are a promising material family due to their inherent chemical stability, moderate mechanical properties, and low weight. However, limited information exists regarding their behavior when in contact with other high-temperature materials such as superalloys. In this work three sets of tribological tests were performed: two at room temperature and one at elevated temperature (650 °C). The tests were performed in a pin-on-disk configuration testing Inconel 718 (IN-718) pins against disks made with an aluminosilicate geopolymeric matrix composite reinforced with alumina fibers (N610/GP). Two different loads were tested (85 and 425 kPa) to characterize the damage on both materials. Results showed that the pins experienced ~ 100 % wear increase when high temperature was involved, while their microstructure was not noticeably affected near the contact surface. After high temperature testing the OCMC exhibited mass losses two orders of magnitude higher than the pins and a sintering effect under its wear track, that led to brittle behavior. The debris generated consists of alumina and suggests a possible crystallization of the originally amorphous matrix which may destabilize the system. The data suggests that while the composite’s matrix is stable, wear will not develop uncontrollably. However, as soon as a critical load/temperature combination is attained the matrix is the first component to fail exposing the reinforcement to damage which drastically deteriorates the integrity of the component.