The heat affected zone (HAZ) of friction stir welded Al 7075 T7 shows diminished corrosion resistance properties when compared with the parent material. Corrosion attack in this region of the weld is primarily intergranular and is associated with the presence of precipitate free zones. Current TEM research conducted at Brigham Young University by Dr. Bin Cai finds a correlation between precipitate free zone (PFZ) width and grain boundary geometry. As both grain boundary geometry and the PFZ are associated with modes of failure in 7XXX aluminum, this paper makes a comparison of grain boundary character distributions (GBCD) in the HAZ and the parent metal via multi-section plane five-parameter stereology. The stereology is conducted in a convenient macroscopic coordinate frame, associated with the HAZ. This is the first investigation to determine the GBCD in the HAZ of friction-stirred weld material and requires multiple section plane sampling. It is discovered that aluminum here exhibits the property of non-sidedness, a long assumed but unproven characteristic. Further comparisons between the two microstructures are conducted relative to (2-dimensional) grain boundary network connectivity, recovered from EBSD data in each section plane. It is shown that the relative fraction of grain boundaries of misorientation character associated with smaller PFZ size is larger in the HAZ as compared to the parent material. A commensurate decrease in the connectivity (radius of gyration) of grain boundaries of character conducive to larger PFZ size is also found in the HAZ, relative to the parent material. Distribution of inclinations changes as a function of grain boundary geometry. Surface area per unit volume of CSL and low angle random (LAR) misorientations increases in the HAZ, while high angle random (HAR) boundaries decrease. In the case of LAR and some CSL boundaries, a reorientation occurs in which macroscopic normals of these interfaces rotate. It is anticipated that these significant changes in the GBCD within the HAZ could be important in terms of understanding the post-weld mechanical and physical properties in friction-stirred materials.

abstract: The initial microstructure of oxide fuel pellets can play a key role in their performance. At low burnups, the transport of fission products has a strong dependence on oxygen content, grain size distribution, porosity and grain boundary (GB) characteristics (crystallography, geometry and topology), all of which, in turn depend on processing conditions. These microstructural features can also affect the fuel densification, thermal conductivity and microstructure evolution inside the reactor. Understanding these effects can provide insight into microstructure evolution of fuels in-pile. In this work, mechanical and ion beam serial sectioning techniques were developed to obtain Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) data, both in 2-D and 3-D, for depleted UO2+X pellets manufactured under different conditions. The EBSD maps were used to relate processing conditions to microstructural features, with emphasis on special GBs according to the Coincident Site Lattice (CSL) model, as well as correlations between pore size and location in the microstructure. Furthermore, larger grains (at least 2.5 times the average grain size) were observed in all the samples and studied. Results indicate that larger grains, in samples manufactured under different conditions, dominate the overall crystallographic texture and have a fairly strong GB texture. Moreover, it seems that the preferential misorientation axis for these GBs, regardless of the O/M, is {001}. These results might be related to GB energy and structure and, suggest that the mechanism that controls grain growth seems to be independent of both processing conditions and stoichiometry. Additionally, a sample was heat treated to relate grain growth and crystallography. The results indicate that at least two mechanisms were involved. Lengthening of GBs was observed for larger grains. Another mechanism of grain growth was observed, in this case, grains rotate to match a neighboring grain forming a larger grain. In the new grain, the misorientation between the two neighboring grains decreases to less than 5 degrees, forming a new larger grain. The results presented in this work indicate that detailed studies of the initial microstructure of the fuel, with emphasis on the crystallography of grains and GBs could help to give insights on the in-pile microstructural evolution of the fuel. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering 2014

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