The last seven hot rolling passes of the ferritic stainless steels (FSS) AISI 430 and AISI 433 (the latter an Al-added variant of 430) were simulated on Gleeble-1500D® and Gleeble-3800TM® thermo-mechanical simulators to investigate the effect of temperature, strain rate and inter-pass time on the development of texture in these steel grades and its subsequent influence on ridging. The compression tests were carried out over a wide range of strain rates (0.1 s-1 to 5 s-1, 25 s-1 and 50 s-1) and temperatures (1100 to 820 oC) with different inter-pass times (2 s, 10 s, 20 s and 30 s). The transition temperature from dynamic recrystallization (which may introduce a texture change) to dynamic recovery (in which no texture changes are expected) was determined by examining the relationship between the mean flow stress and the deformation temperature in multi-pass tests. Both macrotexture (XRD) and microtexture (EBSD) analyses were employed to characterise and study the texture present in these steels. It was found that the texture in the central layer of the compressed sample is a strong recrystallization-type. The through-thickness textural and microstructural banding was found to be responsible for ridging in these grades of stainless steels. Dynamic recrystallization which promotes the formation of the desired ã-fibre texture leading to high ductility, formability and eventually reduction or elimination of ridging, was found to occur in both AISI 430 and AISI 433 at high temperatures, low strain rates and longer inter-pass times with multi-pass testing. Generally AISI 433 has a stronger gamma texture developed than the AISI 430 when hot rolled under similar conditions, which leads to improved ductility and less ridging in AISI 433 than AISI 430. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering / unrestricted

Die Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Erweiterung der für dicke Proben schon mit Erfolg eingesetzten Werkstoffanalytischen Methode Elektronenstrahl-Mikroanalyse (ESMA) mittels Peak/Untergrund-Verhältnissen auf die Analyse von dünnen Schichten (unter 1 μm) zur qualitative und quantitativen Elementanalyse sowie zur Ermittlung von Schichtdicken. Weiterhin wird auf der Basis von einer ESMA-Methode für zwei dünne Schichten auf einem Substrat wird ein Modell zur Ermittlung des Phasenwachstumskoeffizienten für eine intermetallische Phase die sich bei der Diffusion zwischen einer dünnen Schicht und einem Substrat bildet, mittels ESMA-Messungen bei gleichzeitiger Erwärmung der Probe dargestellt. / The paper deals with the application of the materials analysis method EPMA by peak-to-background ratios, which is currently being used for the analysis of thick samples successfully, to thin layers (less than 1 μm) for the quantitative element analysis as well as for thickness prediction. In addition a model has been established on the Basis of an EPMA method for two films on a substrate for deriving the phase growth coefficient of an inter-metallic phase which grows during the diffusion between a thin layer and a substrate from EPMA measurements while simultaneously heating the sample.

La spectroscopie EPES (Elastic Peak Electron Spectroscopy) permet de mesurer le pourcentage he d’électrons rétrodiffusés élastiquement par la surface d’un échantillon soumis à un bombardement électronique. C’est une méthode non destructive et extrêmement sensible à la surface. L'objectif de ce travail est de modéliser le cheminement des électrons élastiques dans la matière grâce à une simulation informatique basée sur la méthode Monte Carlo. Cette simulation contribue de manière essentielle à la connaissance et à l'interprétation des résultats expérimentaux obtenus par spectroscopie EPES. Nous avons, de plus, adapté cette simulation à différentes surfaces transformées à l’échelle micrométrique et nanométrique. A l’aide d’une méthode originale, basée sur une description couche par couche du matériau, j’ai réalisé un programme informatique (MC1) rendant compte du cheminement des électrons élastiques dans les différentes couches du matériau. Le nombre d’électrons ressortant de la surface dépend de nombreux paramètres comme : la nature du matériau à étudier, l’énergie des électrons incidents, l’angle d’incidence, les angles de collection des analyseurs. De plus, je me suis intéressé à l’effet de la rugosité de la surface et j’ai démontré qu’elle joue un rôle déterminant sur l’intensité du pic élastique. Ensuite, grâce à l’association de la spectroscopie EPES et de la simulation Monte Carlo, j’ai déduit les modes de croissance de l’or sur substrat d’argent et de cuivre. Les effets de l’arrangement atomique et des pertes énergétiques de surfaces ont ensuite été étudiés. Pour cela, une deuxième simulation MC2 tenant compte de ces deux paramètres a été réalisée permettant d’étudier les surfaces à l’échelle nanométriques. Ces paramètres jusqu’alors non pris en compte dans notre simulation MC1, joue un rôle essentiel sur l’intensité élastique. Ensuite, j’ai obtenu une formulation simple et exploitable pour l’interprétation des résultats obtenus par la simulation MC2 pour un analyseur RFA. Afin de valider, les différents résultats de la simulationMC2, j’ai réalisé des surfaces de silicium nanostructurées, à l’aide de masques d’oxyde d’alumine réalisés par voie électrochimique. J’ai pu créer des nano-pores par bombardement ionique sous ultravide sur des surfaces de silicium. Afin de contrôler la morphologie de la surface, j’ai effectué de l’imagerie MEB ex-situ. La simulation Monte Carlo développée associée aux résultats EPES expérimentaux permet d’estimer la profondeur, le diamètre et la morphologie des pores sans avoir recours à d’autres techniques ex-situ.Cette simulation MC2 permet de connaître la surface étudiée à l’échelle nanométrique. / EPES (Elastic Peak Electron Spectroscopy) allows measuring the percentage he of elastically backscattered electrons from the surface excited by an electron beam. This is a non destructive method which is very sensitive to the surface region. The aim of this work is to model the trajectory of elastic electrons in the matter with a computer simulation based on Monte Carlo method. This simulation allows interpreting experimental results of the EPES spectroscopy. We have moreover adapted this simulation for different surfaces transformed to micrometer and nanometer scales. Using an original method, based on a description of material layer by layer, I realized a computer program (MC1) that takes into account the path of elastic electrons in different layers of material. The number of electrons emerging from the surface depends on many parameters such as: the electron primary energy, the nature of the material, the incidence angle and the collection angles of the analyzer. In addition, I was interested in the effect of surface roughness and I showed that it plays an important role in the intensity of the elastic peak. Then, through an association of the EPES and the Monte Carlo simulation results, I deduced the growth patterns of gold on silver and copper substrates. The effects of the atomic arrangement and the surface excitations were then studied. For this, a new simulation MC2 that takes into account these two parameters has been developed to study nanoscale surfaces. These parameters not previously included in our MC1simulation play a important role in the elastic intensity. Then I have got a simple formula for interpreting the results obtained by the simulation for a RFA analyzer. To validate the different results of the simulation MC2, I realized nano-structured silicon surfaces, using aluminium oxide masks. Nano-pores have been created by Ar+ ions bombardment in UHV chamber on silicon surfaces.To control the morphology of the surfaces, I realized SEM images (Techinauv Casimir) ex-situ. The Monte Carlo simulations, developed here, associated with the EPES experimental results can estimate the depth, the diameter, the morphology of pores without the help of other ex-situ techniques.

Die Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Erweiterung der für dicke Proben schon mit Erfolg eingesetzten Werkstoffanalytischen Methode Elektronenstrahl-Mikroanalyse (ESMA) mittels Peak/Untergrund-Verhältnissen auf die Analyse von dünnen Schichten (unter 1 μm) zur qualitative und quantitativen Elementanalyse sowie zur Ermittlung von Schichtdicken. Weiterhin wird auf der Basis von einer ESMA-Methode für zwei dünne Schichten auf einem Substrat wird ein Modell zur Ermittlung des Phasenwachstumskoeffizienten für eine intermetallische Phase die sich bei der Diffusion zwischen einer dünnen Schicht und einem Substrat bildet, mittels ESMA-Messungen bei gleichzeitiger Erwärmung der Probe dargestellt. / The paper deals with the application of the materials analysis method EPMA by peak-to-background ratios, which is currently being used for the analysis of thick samples successfully, to thin layers (less than 1 μm) for the quantitative element analysis as well as for thickness prediction. In addition a model has been established on the Basis of an EPMA method for two films on a substrate for deriving the phase growth coefficient of an inter-metallic phase which grows during the diffusion between a thin layer and a substrate from EPMA measurements while simultaneously heating the sample.

Frequent systematic misindexing of electron backscatter diffraction patterns with five differently oriented pseudosymmetric solutions was observed for the cubic α-Al(Fe,M)Si phase with M = Mn, Cr encountered in secondary Al-Si casting alloy. That misindexing can be ascribed to the close structural relationship of the cubic crystal structure of α-Al(Fe,M)Si to that of the corresponding icosahedral quasicrystal. Robust identification of the correct among the five nearby solutions during automatic indexing can be achieved, which sensitively depends on the accuracy of Kikuchi-band detection applying Hough-space related indexing methods. Based on the correct crystallographic orientation solution, facets of the particles with bulk polyhedral and Chinese script morphology were determined to be {110} planes. Likewise, the habit planes of the α-Al(Fe,M)Si phase particles located at the naturally occurring oxide film are {110} planes.