Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Multilayered aluminium alloy composites were produced by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) to very high strain to generate sheet materials consisting of either 32 or 64 alternating layers of Al and Al-0.3w.%Sc alloy. Based on the starting heat treatment condition of the Al(Sc) alloy and the roll bonding temperature, several different Al/Al(Sc) combinations were produced: (i) SSSS-ARB (Al(Sc) in the supersaturated condition; Tdef = 200 ???C; 32 layers); (ii) Aged-ARB (Al(Sc) in the artificially aged condition; Tdef = 200 ???C; 32 layers), and (iii) SSSS-ARB-HT (Al(Sc) in the SSSS condition; Tdef = 350 ???C; 64 layers). Regardless of the roll bonding conditions, Al(Sc) in the form of a dispersion of ultrafine Al3Sc particles strongly impedes structural changes during thermomechanical processing whereas Al readily undergoes extensive dynamic and static restoration. The major aim of the thesis is to understand the effect of initial microstructure and processing conditions on microstructural development in these multilayered Al/Al(Sc) composites. The microstructures were investigated mainly by backscatter electron (BSE) and ion channeling contrast (ICC) imaging in the DualBeam Platform and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) whereas the crystallographic nature of the microstructures were investigated by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and the various diffraction techniques available in the TEM. The mechanical properties of the materials were investigated by hardness and tensile testing. The deformation microstructure and texture of these two alloy combinations were strongly influenced by both the initial heat treatment condition of the Al(Sc) alloy whereby large-scale shear bands are generated during rolling when a dispersion of fine Al3Sc particles is present in the Al(Sc) layers. The deformation mechanism of both SSSS-ARB and Aged-ARB was strongly controlled by the relative hardening behaviour of adjacent layers. In Aged-ARB, a higher magnitude of in-plane shear stress, exceeding the flow stress of Al(Sc), was operative at the interfaces between layers; this was shown to cause the shear banding in this material. All materials were annealed for up to 6h at 350 ??C. This extended annealing generated alternating layers of coarse grains (Al layers) and a recovered substructure (Al(Sc) layers) with the substantial waviness of the layers in both Aged-ARB and SSSS-ARB-HT being inherited from the as-deformed material. While the Al(Sc) layers remain unrecrystallized in all materials due to particle pinning effects, the Al layers underwent continuous and discontinuous recrystallization after low and high temperature roll bonding, respectively. Shear banding in Aged-ARB also resulted in a reduction in intensity of the rolling texture components and had a randomizing effect on the recrystallization texture of the Al layers. The Al/A(Sc) multilayered composites were found to conform to the classic inverse strength/ductility relationship and no significant improvement in ductility (for a given strength) was evident. The barriers to achieving an excellent combination of ductility and strength (i.e. toughness) in these materials were identified to be delamination of the layers, which can be largely reduced (or eliminated) by careful control of starting materials (heat treatment condition and thickness) as well as the processing parameters during ARB.

TRIP-assisted multiphase steels exhibit an excellent balance of strength and ductility, which makes them very attractive for the automotive industry. These remarkable mechanical properties can be attributed mainly to the continuous transformation of retained austenite into martensite during straining (TRansformation Induced Plasticity). The aim of this thesis was to clarify the interaction between the hot rolling conditions, the formation of microstructure, and the resulting mechanical properties. Various rolling simulation techniques were employed to determine how the composite microstructure is formed during the various steps of multi-stage thermomechanical processing. The interaction between deformation and phase transformation is highlighted, particularly from the viewpoint of the transformation texture.

The microstructures and performance of Ni-based alloys and Ni-WC (nickel-tungsten carbide) composite overlays deposited by plasma transferred arc welding have been studied. The Ni-alloy overlays had similar microstructures consisting of Ni dendrites, with interdendritic Ni-based eutectics, borides and carbides. Low hardness alloy overlays contained a smaller fraction of interdendritic phases relative to the high hardness alloys. The interdendritic regions make a significant contribution to the hardness since they are more than twice as hard as primary dendrites. The Ni-WC composites contained similar phases, however WC dissolution was observed leading to the formation of other carbides. Ni-alloys with low carbon and Cr content exhibited the lowest WC dissolution. The Ni-WC overlays produced using these dilute alloys generally performed better in ASTM G65 wear tests. This was likely due to the reduced dissolution which avoided formation of brittle secondary phases, maintaining a short mean free path between WC particles and allowing increased impact energy absorption. / Materials Engineering

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Dionisios G. Vlachos, Dept. of Chemical Engineering. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-118).

The way in which the myocardium responds to its mechanical environment must be understood in order to develop reasonable treatments for congestive heart failure. The first step toward this understanding is to characterize and quantify the cardiac microstructure in healthy and diseased hearts. Myocardium has a laminar architecture made up of myolaminae, which are sheets of myocytes surrounded by a collagen weave. By enhancing the contrast between the myocytes and the surrounding collagen, the myocardium can be investigated and its laminar structure can be quantified. Many of the techniques that have been used to view the microstructure of the heart require the use of toxic or caustic chemicals for fixation or staining. An efficient imaging method that uses polarization microscopy and enhances the contrast between the collagen and myocytes while minimizing the use of harmful chemicals was developed in this research. Collagen is birefringent; therefore its visibility should be enhanced through polarization microscopy and image processing. The sheet angles were viewed directly by cutting slices of a rat septum perpendicular to the fiber angle. Images of different polarization combinations were taken and a region of interest was selected on the sample. Image processing techniques were used to reduce the intensity variation on the images and account for the variable gain of the camera. The contrast between the collagen and myocytes was enhanced by comparing adjusted images to the background and looking at a single image this comparison produced. Although the contrast was enhanced, the embedding media reduced the collagen signal and the enhancement was not as striking as expected.

Copper has become the metal of choice for metallization, owing to its high electrical and thermal conductivity, relatively higher melting temperature and correspondingly lower rate of diffusivity. Most of the current studies can get high strength copper thin films but on an expense of conductivity. This study proposes a technique to deposit high strength and high conductivity copper thin films on different silicon substrates at room temperature. Single crystal Cu (100) and Cu (111) have been grown on Si (100) and Si (110) substrates, respectively. Single crystal Cu (111) films have a high density of growth twins, oriented parallel to the substrate surface due to low twin boundary energy and a high deposition rate. The yield strengths of these twinned Cu films are much higher than that of bulk copper, with an electrical resistivity value close to that of bulk copper. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and nanoindentation techniques were used to show that high density twins are sole reason for the increase in hardness of these thin films. The formation of growth twins and their roles in enhancing the mechanical strength of Cu films while maintaining low resistivity are discussed.

TRIP-assisted multiphase steels exhibit an excellent balance of strength and ductility, which makes them very attractive for the automotive industry. These remarkable mechanical properties can be attributed mainly to the continuous transformation of retained austenite into martensite during straining (TRansformation Induced Plasticity). The aim of this thesis was to clarify the interaction between the hot rolling conditions, the formation of microstructure, and the resulting mechanical properties. Various rolling simulation techniques were employed to determine how the composite microstructure is formed during the various steps of multi-stage thermomechanical processing. The interaction between deformation and phase transformation is highlighted, particularly from the viewpoint of the transformation texture.

Chromium martensitic hot-work tool steel (AISI H13) is commonly used as die material in hot forming techniques such as die casting, hot rolling, extrusion and hot forging. They are developed to endure the severe conditions by high mechanical properties attained by a complex microstructure. Even though the hot-work tool steel has been improved over the years by alloying and heat treatment, damages still occur. Thermal fatigue is believed to be one of the most common failure mechanisms in hot forming tools. In this thesis tools used in hot forging and die casting were examined to determine damage, material response, thermal fatigue crack initiation and propagation. Different chromium martensitic hot-work tool steels, heat treated at four different austenitizing temperatures were experimentally tested in thermal fatigue and isothermal fatigue. The materials were then evaluated using X-ray line broadening analysis and transmission electron microscopy to explore the relation between fatigue softening and the change in microstructure. The high temperature fatigue softening was also simulated using an elasto-plastic, non-linear kinematic and isotropic model. The model was implemented in a numerical simulation to support the integration of die design, tool steel properties and its use. It was found that the dominant damage mechanisms in the investigated tools were thermal fatigue and that tool material experiences a three stage softening at high temperature loading. The primary stage was concluded to be influenced by the dislocation density and the second stage by the temper resistance i.e. carbide morphology. The microstructural changes during the softening stages were also connected to the non-linear kinematic and isotropic model. The general aim of this thesis is to increase the knowledge of the chromium martensitic hot-work tool steel damage, performance and microstructure.