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In this work, X-ray and neutron powder diffraction experiments and complementary solid-state NMR spectroscopy are used to characterise NaNbO₃-based perovskite phases. Samples of NaNbO₃, KₓNa₁₋ₓNbO₃ and LiₓNa₁₋ₓNbO₃ are synthesised using a variety of techniques and subsequently characterised. For NaNbO₃, it is observed that at least two room temperature perovskite phases can co-exist, P and Q, and that each phase can be formed exclusively by manipulating the synthetic approach utilised. Phase Q can also be formed by the substitution of a small amount of K⁺ or Li⁺ for Na⁺. The room temperature phases of these materials are also analysed using NMR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. It is found that, for KₓNa₁₋ₓNbO₃, preferential A-site substitution of K⁺ for Na⁺ may occur, and this observation is supported using a range of NMR techniques and density functional theory calculations. The high-temperature phase behaviour of NaNbO₃ and KₓNa₁₋ₓNbO₃ (x = 0.03 to 0.08) is analysed using high-resolution neutron and X-ray powder diffraction to determine when phase changes occur and to characterise each phase. Characterisation of these materials is supported used complementary symmetry mode analysis. For the LiₓNa₁₋ₓNbO₃ perovskite system, complex phase behaviour is observed at room temperature. High-resolution neutron powder diffraction data shows that, over the range 0.08 < x < 0.20, phase Q may co-exist with a rhombohedral phase, with the proportions of the two highly dependent upon the synthetic conditions used. Furthermore, using X-ray diffraction and NMR spectroscopy, phase Q is shown to undergo a crystal-to-crystal transition to the rhombohedral phase. For higher values of x, two compositionally-distinct rhombohedral phases are formed, termed Na-R3c and Li-R3c, as determined from neutron powder diffraction data.

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Analysis of the shapes of diffraction peak profiles (DPPA) is a widely used method for characterising the microstructure of crystalline materials. The DPPA method can be used to determine details about a sample that include, the micro-strain, crystal size or dislocation cell size, dislocation density and arrangement, quantity of planar faults and dislocation slip system population.The main aim of this thesis is to evaluate the use of DPPA in studying the deformation of metals. The alloys studied are uni-axially deformed samples of nickel alloy, nickel-200, 304 and 316 stainless steel alloys and titanium alloys, Ti-6Al-4V and grade 2 CP-titanium.A number of DPPA methods were applied to these metals: a full-width method; a method that attributes size and strain broadening to the Lorentzian and Gaussian integral breadth of a Voigt; different forms of the variance method; the Williamson-Hall method; the alternative method; and variations of the Warren-Averbach method. It is found that in general the parameters calculated using the different methods qualitatively agree with the expectations and differences in the deformation of the different metals. For example, the dislocation density values found for all metals, are approximately the same as would be expected from TEM results on similar alloys. However, the meaning of the results are ambiguous, which makes it difficult to use them to characterise a metal. The most useful value that can be used to describe the state of a metal is the full-width. For a more detailed analysis the Warren-Averbach method in a particular form, the log format fitted to individual Fourier coefficients, is the most useful method.It was found that the shape of different diffraction peaks change in different texture components. These changes were found to be different for the different metals. A method to calculate the shape of diffraction peaks, in different texture components, using a polycrystal plasticity models was investigated. It was found that for FCC metals, the use of a Taylor model was able to qualitatively predict the changes in the shape of diffraction peaks, measured in different texture components. Whereas, for titanium alloys, a model which used the Schmid factor was able to qualitatively explain the changes. The differences in the FCC alloys was attributed to being due to differences in the stacking fault energy of the alloys. For nickel, which develops a heterogeneous cell structure, an additional term describing changes in the crystal size in different orientations is required. The differences between the titanium alloys were shown to be due the presence of twinning in CP-titanium and not in Ti-6Al-4V. This difference was thought to cause an additional broadening due to variations in intergranular strains in twinned and non-twinned regions. The use of polycrystal plasticity models, to explain the shape of diffraction peaks, raises questions as to the validity of some of the fundamental assumptions made in the use of most DPPA methods.

Title: The magnetocrystalline anizotropy in the TbTX compounds Author: Milan Klicpera Department: Department of Condensed Matter Physics Supervisor: doc. Mgr. Pavel Javorský, Dr. Supervisor's e-mail address: javor@mag.mff.cuni.cz Abstract: The subject of this work is the study of structural, magnetic and trans- port properties of the TbNi(Al,In) series to finding connections between magne- tocrystalline anisotropy and lattice parameters of the structure of the TbTX com- pounds. Polycrystalline TbNiAl1−xInx samples were prepared by melting. The phase and crystal structure analysis were provided on samples. We performed the measurements of the magnetization, susceptibility, specific heat, resistivity, low temperature X-ray diffraction and powder neutron diffraction. From the neutron diffraction data we refined lattice parameters and propagation vectors of the series. The main propagation is (000) and second weaker component has the propagation vector (1 2 0 1 2 ). The change of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy from uniaxial to planar type occurs for compounds with x between 0.4 and 0.5. Keywords: magnetization, X-ray and neutron diffraction, electrical resistivity.

This work presents an in-depth study of the crystal structures and hydrogen sorption potential of the Li - N - H and Li - Na - N - H systems. The structures of the materials have been studied using X-ray and neutron diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and inelastic neutron scattering. The behavior of the materials during heating was studied using variable temperature X-ray diffraction, intelligent gravimetric analysis in conjunction with neutron diffraction, intelligent gravimetric analysis combined with mass spectrometry and differential scanning calorimetry. The role of cation disorder in the Li - N - H (D) system has been explored, indicating that crystallographic ordering of the Li⁺ ions within lithium amide and lithium imide significantly affects the hydrogen sorption properties of the materials. Order-disorder transitions were observed both during hydrogen desorption from ordered LiNH₂ and during deuterium adsorption on ordered Li₂ND. Such transitions were not observed in disordered samples of the materials. The intrinsic disorder and the stoichiometry of Li - N - H(D) materials was shown to depend strongly on the techniques used during their synthesis. Studies regarding the synthesis, crystal chemistry and decomposition properties of the mixed Li / Na amides are presented. Two distinct mixed Li / Na amides of formulae Li₃Na(NH₂)₄ and LiNa₂(NH₂)₃ were observed in the LiNH₂ / NaNH₂ phase space. Na was also seen to be soluble in LiNH₂, forming sodium-doped LiNH₂ . Li₃Na(NH₂)₄ and Na-doped LiNH₂ were found to exhibit significant cation non-stoichiometry, whereas LiNa₂(NH₂)₄ was shown to exist as a line phase material. Thermogravimetric and calorimetric studies of the mixed Li / Na amides suggested that these materials decompose primarily with loss of H₂.

The thesis reports improvements in the characterization techniques for stress and texture in crystalline materials by x-ray and neutron powder diffraction. Furthermore, advances are made in texture evolution modelling and validation against experimental observations. In the beginning, the fundamental assumption of diffraction strain analysis is numerically examined and verified, namely, that the lattice parameter value determined from fitting the diffraction pattern is equal to the average lattice parameter within the gauge volume. Next, the task of shear strain determination from powder diffraction measurements is addressed. A method is developed and implemented for the complete 2D strain tensor determination from the multi-directional energy-dispersive x-ray diffraction patterns. The method not only offers a way to evaluate the shear strain, but also provides a better overall strain averaging approach. Rotation and translation of sample and/or detectors in powder diffraction mode can effectively increase the pole figure coverage and thus the accuracy of texture determination. However, the movements also introduce uncertainties and aberrations into data analysis due to the changes in the diffraction volume and transmitted intensity. In order to overcome these problems, accurate <strong>single exposure</strong> texture characterization techniques are proposed based on several different powder diffraction setups. Numerical analyses are carried out to prove that any simple texture in cubic polycrystals can be effectively determined using single exposure Debye-Scherrer diffraction pattern analysis. Several experiments are reported on collecting Debye-Scherrer diffraction patterns, multi-directional energy-dispersive x-ray diffraction patterns and multi-directional TOF neutron setup. Efficient data processing procedures of the diffraction patterns for ODF determination are presented. Crystal plasticity finite element models are developed to model the texture evolution in polycrystalline engineering samples during manufacturing. In the present thesis, quantitative measures extracted from orientation distribution function are employed to make precise comparison between the model and experiment. Unlike the simple uni-axial compression and tension considered in the literature, in the present thesis the complex texture evolution during linear friction welding is modelled as a sequence of different shear deformations.

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This thesis is devoted to the numerical and experimental investigation of residual stress and deformation in polycrystalline metallic alloys at different scales. The emphasis in the current study is placed on establishing the connection between the simulation of deformation by the Finite Element (FE) method and experimental characterisation by synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). Of particular importance is the interpretation of modelling results and their validation by careful comparison with experimental data. The concept of eigenstrain was used extensively throughout the report to study the residual elastic strain distributions and their sources. A pseudo-thermal strain FE procedure was used systematically to simulate the residual stress states in samples and engineering components of different shape and dimensionality. The case of 1-D strain variation was considered using the example of a plastically bent bar. The direct and inverse problems of eigenstrain analysis were solved, and validated experimentally by the use of XRD and EDM slitting methods. A novel 2-D discrete inverse eigenstrain algorithm was proposed and implemented to reconstruct the residual stress distribution in a worn rail head. The link between the residual stress and deformation history was studied via thermo-mechanical modelling of the Linear Friction Welding (LFW) process. To advance the understanding of polycrystalline deformation behaviour across the scales, a crystal plasticity model was employed to simulate the elastic-plastic deformation behaviour of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. A post-processor was developed to extract the average elastic strains for orientation-specific grain groups and to compare them with XRD data. A “peak constructor” post-processor was developed that utilised the knowledge of both the elastic strain and dislocation density. In a further development step, a strain gradient crystal plasticity formulation was adopted to account for the local dislocation evolution. Intra-granular deformation analysis was carried out and micro-beam Laue experimental diffraction technique was used for validation. Thus, local lattice arrangement was studied at the microscopic, intragranular scale. Special attention was paid to the phenomenon of Laue spot “streaking”, indicative of the local lattice misorientation caused by dislocation activity during deformation. The results presented in this thesis contributed to the fundamental understanding of the residual stress and deformation in polycrystalline metallic alloys and lead to more than 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings, which are listed in the Appendix.