La prévention contre la corrosion est un facteur déterminant pour la durabilité des matériaux. Historiquement, le développement des applications des matériaux avancés n'est pas envisageable sans une approche scientifique poussée des mécanismes fondamentaux qui conduisent à la dégradation en service. L'histoire humaine a été ponctuée par les progrès technologiques, qui ont tous été permis par les progrès de la science des matériaux, de l'âge du fer à l'âge de silicium. Par exemple, c'est la fusion du minerai qui a fait basculer l'humanité de l'âge de pierre aux premiers alliages (bronze) et la fondation ultérieure d'une société basée sur les métaux. Ces métaux retournent à l'état naturel en suivant des lois thermodynamiques et cinétiques. l'objet de la thèse vise à comprendre le comportement de certains matériaux dits passivables pour tenter de proposer des lois de comportement à partir du modèle du défaut ponctuel. Cette approche s'appuie sur des caractérisations électrochimique et physico-chimique des matériaux métalliques considérés. / Corrosion control is an important facet of durable and responsible engineering. Historically, the development of advanced materials applications stymied without sufficient scientific understanding of the fundamental mechanisms that dominate degradation in the system of application. Human history has been punctuated by advances in technology, all of which were enabled by advances in materials science, from the iron age to the silicon age. For instance, it was the invention of smelting ores that brought humanity out of the stone age, leading to the first alloys (bronze) and the subsequent foundation of a metals based society. During the infancy of the planet earth, around four billion years ago, the first photosynthesizers began converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. However, oxygen gas was not released into the atmosphere in great quantities because it was immediately bound up with dissolved metals in the ocean; mostly iron, forming a large fraction of the iron ores we rely upon. Producing such metals from oxides formed during the previous four billion years involves flying in the face of the thermodynamic desire to return to the oxide state.

This project is a fundamental proof of concept to look at the feasibility of using field activated abrasive particles to achieve material removal on a substrate. There are a few different goals for this project. The first goal is to prove through visualization that particle movement can be influenced and controlled by changes in electric field. The second goal is to fundamentally prove that particles controlled by electric field can remove material from a substrate. Third, it should be shown that changes in electric field can control the amount of material being removed in a given amount of time. A mathematical model will be presented which predicts metallic material removal rates based on changes in electric field strength. In this project, a technique combining concepts from electrokinetics, electrochemical mechanical planarization, and contact mechanics is proposed, aiming at enhancing planarization performance. By introducing an AC electric field with a DC offset, we try to achieve not only a better control of metallic material removal but also more flexible manipulation of the dynamic behaviour of abrasive particles. The presence of electric field will lead to electrokinetic phenomena including electroosmotic flow of an electrolyte solution and electrophoretic motion of abrasive particles. As a result, we aim to improve both the mechanical performance of planarization that is largely determined by the polishing parameters (e.g. down pressure, rotation speed, pads, and types of abrasives) and the chemical performance of planarization that is governed by selective and collective reactions of different chemical ingrediants of the slurry with the sample surface. The aim is also to understand and improve the interactions of abrasive particles with the sample.

Cette thèse traite des effets de pré-écrouissage, monotone ou cyclique, sur le comportement cyclique et la durée de vie en fatigue (traction-compression à température ambiante). Les matériaux utilisés sont un alliage de nickel-chrome (80-20%), un acier inoxydable austénitique 316L et du cuivre pur. Ils présentent une aisance croissante au glissement dévié ; un paramètre considéré comme majeur pour expliquer les écarts de sensibilité aux effets de mémoire de pré-écrouissage existants entre ces matériaux.Des courbes d'écrouissage cyclique obtenues suite à des chargements multi-paliers sur des échantillons pré-écrouis sont comparées à celles des matériaux vierges. Cette comparaison permet de tracer des cartographies d'effet mémoire. Différents effets y sont observés et leurs origines discutées via une approche par partition de contrainte. Enfin, des essais de fatigue sont effectués pour chaque domaine de mémoire de pré-écrouissage et leurs conséquences sur la durée de vie sont discutées / This work focuses on the effect of a pre-hardening, either monotonic or cyclic, on the cyclic behavior and the fatigue life during tension-compression tests at room temperature. Materials used are a nickel-chromium alloy (80-20%), a 316L austenitic stainless steel and OFHC pure copper. They present an increasing ease to the cross-slip : a deformation mechanism identified as a key parameter to understand the distinct memory effect sensibilities existing between materials.Cyclic stress-strain curves obtained from sequential loadings on prestrained samples are compared to the ones of virgin materials. Such comparison allows plotting memory effect maps. According to these memory plots, different pre-hardening effects exist and their origins are discussed through a stress-partition analysis. Finally, fatigue tests are carried out for each domain of the prestrain memory and their consequences on fatigue life are discussed

Metallic materials and oxygen can be a volatile combination when accompanied by ignition mechanisms. Once ignited, metallic materials can readily burn in high pressure oxygen atmospheres, releasing an enormous amount of energy and potentially destroying equipment, space missions and resulting in the loss of life. The potential losses associated with these fires led to research into the conditions under which metal fires propagate. Several organisations, including the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), have published recommended standard test practices with which to assess the relative flammability of metallic materials. These promoted ignition tests, so called because samples are ignited with an overwhelming source of energy, are typically used to examine two important parameters as an indication of a metallic material's flammability: Threshold Pressure (TP) and the Regression Rate of the Melting Interface (RRMI). A material's TP is the minimum pressure at which it burns, therefore, TPs of different materials can be compared to assess which materials are most suited for a range of high pressure applications. The RRMI is a useful measure for ranking materials, particularly if they have the same TP, but can be used as a ranking method irrespective of TP. In addition, it is a crucial parameter to aid in understanding the complex burning process and is one of the few experimental parameters that can be measured. Promoted ignition test standards specify a standard sample geometry to use when performing the test, typically a 3.2 mm diameter cylindrical rod. The recent addition of a 3.2 × 3.2 mm square rod as an optional standard sample geometry raises the issue of how the geometry of a sample affects its flammability. Promoted ignition test results for standard geometries are often applied to assess the flammability risk for the complex geometries of real components within oxygen systems, including regulators, valves, piping etc. Literature shows that sample geometry has a significant effect on material rankings when rankings are based on testing of standard geometries, for example, cylindrical rods, compared to non-standard geometries, for example, sintered filters and meshes. In addition, the RRMI has been shown to be dependent on a sample's cross-sectional area (XA). However, it remains unclear, from a simple heat transfer analysis, why the RRMI is dependent on XA or how the shape of a sample affects its melting rate. These questions are particularly relevant since understanding how sample geometry affects burning contributes to two important research goals: to be able to accurately model and predict the flammability risk of a metallic component without the need for physical testing, and to understand the effects of different sample geometries on their relative flammabilities within the standard tests used. Promoted ignition tests were conducted on iron rods with cylindrical, rectangular and triangular cross sections for a range of XAs. Their RRMIs were measured and analysed using a statistical approach which allowed differences in RRMI to be quantitatively assessed. Statistically significant differences in RRMI were measured for rods with the same XA but of different shape. Furthermore, the magnitude of the difference was dependent on XA. Triangular rods had the fastest RRMIs, followed by rectangular rods and then cylindrical rods. Differences in RRMI based on rod shape are due to heat transfer effects and the dynamic motion of the attached molten mass during the drop cycle. The corners of the rectangular and triangular rods melt faster due to their locally higher Surface Area to Volume ratio (SA/V). This dynamic effect increases the area of contact between the molten mass and the solid rod (solid liquid interface (SLI)) which facilitates increased heat transfer to the rod resulting in a faster RRMI. This finding highlights the importance of the SLI in the heat transfer process. Although the SLI is largely dependent on the XA, the shape of the rod causes subtle changes to the size of the SLI and thus affects heat transfer, burning and observed RRMI. The relationship between rod diameter, test pressure and Extent of Reaction (ER), the proportion of metal that reacts (oxidises) whilst attached to the burning rod, was investigated. During promoted ignition testing of iron rods of varying diameter the detached drops were rapidly quenched by immersion in a water bath. Microanalysis techniques were used to qualitatively assess the ER as a function of pressure and rod diameter. It was found that the pressure dramatically affects ER. High pressure tests resulted in a slag mass consisting of oxide, with no unreacted iron, whereas low pressure tests resulted in a significant fraction of unreacted iron within the slag. This indicates that the ER contributes directly to the observed increase in RRMI with increasing test pressure. At high pressures the ER is not affected by rod diameter, since all available liquid metal reacted, but at low pressures ER is a function of rod diameter, ER decreases as XA increases. This thesis also investigates the analysis of promoted ignition test data through suitable statistical methods. Logistic regression is identified as an appropriate method for modelling binary burn/no-burn test data. The relationship between the reaction probability, defined as the probability that a sample will undergo sustained burning, and pressure, is evaluated for two different data sets. The fits of the logistic regression models are assessed and found to model the available data well. The logistic regression method is contrasted with the confidence levels associated with binary data based on the Bernoulli distribution. It is concluded that a modelling approach is beneficial in providing an overall understanding of the transition between pressures where no burning occurs and pressures where burning is expected.

Este trabalho busca avaliar a ductilidade de ligas metálicas utilizando como ferramenta a teoria da mecânica do dano proposta por Kachanov e desenvolvida por Lemaitre, a qual é apresentada desde as hipóteses básicas até as equações que modelam a deterioração de um material em regime de fratura dúctil. Como o enfoque do trabalho é a predição de trincas em processos de conformação mecânica, em especial estampagem de chapas, o mecanismo de formação destes defeitos é revisado, buscando na literatura o entendimento de como os parâmetros microestruturais influenciam na fratura dúctil. Ensaios de tração foram efetuados em corpos de prova retirados de chapas de aço SAE 1050 em duas condições microestruturais, cementita esferoidizada em matriz ferrítica e ferritaperlita, e em duas direções em relação à laminação da chapa original, paralelo e transversal. A evolução do dano foi medida de maneira indireta por meio da variação do módulo elástico e as propriedades mecânicas necessárias para utilização do modelo de Lemaitre foram calculadas. Por meio de difração de raios X, efetuamos o estudo da evolução da textura cristalográfica, apresentado na forma de figuras de distribuição de orientação e análise da intensidade das principais fibras encontradas em aços laminados a quente. Não foi observada influência significativa do tipo de microestrutura e da direção de deformação na evolução da textura. Por fim, o modelo de evolução de dano de Lemaitre foi transformado em um algoritmo numérico e implementado no código comercial Abaqus, em sua versão explícita, por meio do uso da subrotina VUMAT. Resultados foram obtidos e comparados com os experimentos, validando a aplicação do modelo. A evolução do dano para o aço SAE 1050 também foi comparada com resultados para outros aços ao manganês encontrados na literatura. Relações empíricas entre o teor de carbono e parâmetros como a deformação limite para início do dano, resistência à evolução do dano e dano máximo suportado foram desenvolvidas e apresentadas, com o intuito de funcionar como guias gerais para cálculo sem a necessidade de uma bateria de ensaios dedicados, facilitando a utilização da teoria da mecânica do dano em condições industriais. / The aim of the present work is to evaluate the ductility of metallic alloys employing the theory of damage mechanics as suggested by Kachanov and developed by Lemaitre, which is presented since its basic hypothesis until the equation that model the material deterioration under a regime of ductile fracture. As the focus of the work is the fracture prediction during mechanical working processes (mainly sheet metal stamping), the mechanism of formation of these defects is revised, based upon literature data, aiming at the understanding of how the material microstructural parameters influence ductile fracture. Tensile tests have been performed on samples obtained from SAE 1050 steel sheets for two microstructural conditions namely spheroidized cementite and regular ferrite-perlite for two rolling directions (rolling and transverse directions). In those tests, damage evolution has been measured indirectly through the materials variation in the Young modulus with strain, obtaining the mechanical properties, needed to be used in the calculation of Lemaitres model. Through X-ray diffraction measurements, the crystallographic texture evolution, presented in the form of orientation distribution functions and the associated fiber intensities observed for both microstructural conditions, has been evaluated. No major influence has been observed in this texture evolution, for the tested conditions. Finally, the Lemaitre damage evolution model has been transformed into a numerical algorithm and implemented in the Abaqus commercial code, in its explicit form, through the VUMAT sub-routine. Results have been obtained and compared with the experimental values, validating the suggested model. Damage evolution for the SAE 1050 steel has been also compared with results from literature for other C-Mn steels. Empirical relationships between C level and damage parameters such as limit strain for damage initiation, resistance to damage evolution and maximum allowable damage, have been developed and presented, envisaging their application as general guidelines, without requiring a sequence of dedicated tests, making easier the usage of damage mechanics under industrial conditions.

L'objectif de ce travail de thèse est de proposer un modèle numérique permettant de simuler la mise en forme de viroles métalliques par un procédé de formage incrémental. Ce procédé de mise en forme est particulièrement intéressant pour les industriels car il permet d'une part de réduire les pertes de matière première et d'autre part d'obtenir des pièces avec des propriétés mécaniques améliorées. La mise au point du procédé reste néanmoins une étape fastidieuse et le recours à l'outil numérique devient indispensable si l'on souhaite atteindre le meilleur rapport qualité/coût-délai. À cette fin, le comportement mécanique d'un acier faiblement allié a été étudié à travers divers essais de traction et de cisaillement. Les résultats de ces essais mettent en évidence que le matériau présente une faible anisotropie de comportement, une faible sensibilité à la vitesse de déformation et un écrouissage cinématique (effet Bauschinger). Cette base de données expérimentales a ensuite servi à l'identification de plusieurs modèles de comportement élastoplastique phénoménologique. Deux modèles numériques différents ont alors été développés au sein du code de calculs par éléments finis Abaqus afin de simuler le formage d'une pièce de référence et d'une étude de cas industriel. Les résultats de ces simulations montrent que le modèle tridimensionnel fournit une bonne représentation du procédé de formage a contrario du modèle bidimensionnel axisymétrique construit notamment afin de réduire les temps de calculs. Par ailleurs, une étude de la sensibilité du modèle éléments finis aux différents modèles de comportement identifiés a été menée. Les résultats de cette étude ont permis de mettre en évidence que la description du comportement plastique n'a qu'une faible influence sur la géométrie de la pièce déformée alors même que le comportement élastique joue un rôle bien plus important notamment au regard du calcul du retour élastique des pièces. Il a également été montré que le choix d'une forme particulière de géométrie de pièce permettait de réduire considérablement ce phénomène. Enfin, une étude sur la modélisation du comportement du matériau avec un modèle moins phénoménologique a été entreprise. Elle permet d'avoir un caractère plus générique avec un nombre de paramètres inférieurs aux modèles phénoménologiques en considérant les hétérogénéités du matériau. Elle ouvre la voie à l'utilisation de modèle de comportement prenant en compte des phénomènes physiques au sein d'un modèle éléments finis sur une opération de formage. / This Ph.D. thesis aims to propose a numerical model for modelling the incremental forming process of a metallic thin wall short tube. This process is especially interresting for manufacturer because it allows to reduce the material raw losses and to increase the mechanical properties of the part. The technical development of the process is a tedious step and the numerical simulation becomes necessary if the best ratio quality/cost-delay must be reach. To achieve this goal, the mechanical behaviour of a low-allow steel was studied with uniaxial and shear tests. The results of this tests highlight that the material has a low anisotropic behaviour, a low strain rate sensitivity and kinematic hardening (Bauschinger effect). Then, this experimental database was used to identify several elastic-plastic phenomenological behaviour laws. Two different numerical models were developed in the finite element code Abaqus to simulate the forming of a reference part and an industrial study. Results of simulation show that tridimensional model is a good representation of the forming process contrary to the bidimensional model built to reduce the CPU time. Furthermore, a finite element model sensibility study of the identifying behaviour models has been carried out. The results of this study highlight that plastic behaviour description has a low influence on the formed part geometry. However, the elastic behaviour has an important influence in particular on the calculated springback. Moreover, it was shown that the choice of a particular part geometry reduce in an important way this phenomenon. Finaly, a study about the material behaviour modeling with a less phenomenological model was done. This latter is a more generic model with a lower parameters number compared with phenomenological models taking into account material heterogeneities. This study innovates for the behaviour model taking account of physical phenomenon in finite elements model on a forming process.

Este trabalho busca avaliar a ductilidade de ligas metálicas utilizando como ferramenta a teoria da mecânica do dano proposta por Kachanov e desenvolvida por Lemaitre, a qual é apresentada desde as hipóteses básicas até as equações que modelam a deterioração de um material em regime de fratura dúctil. Como o enfoque do trabalho é a predição de trincas em processos de conformação mecânica, em especial estampagem de chapas, o mecanismo de formação destes defeitos é revisado, buscando na literatura o entendimento de como os parâmetros microestruturais influenciam na fratura dúctil. Ensaios de tração foram efetuados em corpos de prova retirados de chapas de aço SAE 1050 em duas condições microestruturais, cementita esferoidizada em matriz ferrítica e ferritaperlita, e em duas direções em relação à laminação da chapa original, paralelo e transversal. A evolução do dano foi medida de maneira indireta por meio da variação do módulo elástico e as propriedades mecânicas necessárias para utilização do modelo de Lemaitre foram calculadas. Por meio de difração de raios X, efetuamos o estudo da evolução da textura cristalográfica, apresentado na forma de figuras de distribuição de orientação e análise da intensidade das principais fibras encontradas em aços laminados a quente. Não foi observada influência significativa do tipo de microestrutura e da direção de deformação na evolução da textura. Por fim, o modelo de evolução de dano de Lemaitre foi transformado em um algoritmo numérico e implementado no código comercial Abaqus, em sua versão explícita, por meio do uso da subrotina VUMAT. Resultados foram obtidos e comparados com os experimentos, validando a aplicação do modelo. A evolução do dano para o aço SAE 1050 também foi comparada com resultados para outros aços ao manganês encontrados na literatura. Relações empíricas entre o teor de carbono e parâmetros como a deformação limite para início do dano, resistência à evolução do dano e dano máximo suportado foram desenvolvidas e apresentadas, com o intuito de funcionar como guias gerais para cálculo sem a necessidade de uma bateria de ensaios dedicados, facilitando a utilização da teoria da mecânica do dano em condições industriais. / The aim of the present work is to evaluate the ductility of metallic alloys employing the theory of damage mechanics as suggested by Kachanov and developed by Lemaitre, which is presented since its basic hypothesis until the equation that model the material deterioration under a regime of ductile fracture. As the focus of the work is the fracture prediction during mechanical working processes (mainly sheet metal stamping), the mechanism of formation of these defects is revised, based upon literature data, aiming at the understanding of how the material microstructural parameters influence ductile fracture. Tensile tests have been performed on samples obtained from SAE 1050 steel sheets for two microstructural conditions namely spheroidized cementite and regular ferrite-perlite for two rolling directions (rolling and transverse directions). In those tests, damage evolution has been measured indirectly through the materials variation in the Young modulus with strain, obtaining the mechanical properties, needed to be used in the calculation of Lemaitres model. Through X-ray diffraction measurements, the crystallographic texture evolution, presented in the form of orientation distribution functions and the associated fiber intensities observed for both microstructural conditions, has been evaluated. No major influence has been observed in this texture evolution, for the tested conditions. Finally, the Lemaitre damage evolution model has been transformed into a numerical algorithm and implemented in the Abaqus commercial code, in its explicit form, through the VUMAT sub-routine. Results have been obtained and compared with the experimental values, validating the suggested model. Damage evolution for the SAE 1050 steel has been also compared with results from literature for other C-Mn steels. Empirical relationships between C level and damage parameters such as limit strain for damage initiation, resistance to damage evolution and maximum allowable damage, have been developed and presented, envisaging their application as general guidelines, without requiring a sequence of dedicated tests, making easier the usage of damage mechanics under industrial conditions.

A large number of advanced structural materials are based on metallic materials where alloying additions play a key role in imparting the required properties. Most of the commercially important aluminium alloys are classified by the nature of the alloying additions. Among them the 2219, 2618, 5086, and 7075 are important class of lightweight alloys that plays critical role in modern engineering application. However, despite having a series of commercially useful aluminum alloys for commercial applications the increasing need of improved performance requires newer development in particular for applications that require high strength at elevated temperatures and performance at extreme environments. Precipitations of the intermetallic compounds containing copper during thermal treatments play a very important role in developing high strength aluminium alloys. Although,these precipitates are stable at fairly high temperatures, the rapid coarsening of these second phase precipitates (e.g. Al2Cu), leads to loss of strength at elevated temperature. Several approaches are explored to overcome this problem. One of them is to utilize non-equilibrium solidification route, which can increase solid solubility and hence increasing the precipitate density. Nonequilibrium processing can also alter the selection pathway of the competitive phases and evolution of the microstructure. Recently, non–equilibrium solidification by suction casting technique is becoming increasingly popular for casting of metallic materials of any shape. In this technique solidification is effected by sucking the molten alloy into water cooled copper mold using a suction force resulting from the differences between the melting chamber in Argon gas pressure and casting chamber under vacuum. The present thesis aims to develop a set of newer alloys with small amount of alloying additions primarily based on nickel that can retain reasonable strength at high temperature by utilizing the non-equilibrium solidification route. In addition to Ni (≤ 0.10at.%), the thesis present results of the effect of minor addition of Sc and Zr as ternary and quaternary additions. Following a short review in chapter 2, Chapter 3 presents the experimental techniques adopted for both preparation of alloys and their characterization. Chapter 4 deals with the results of alloying of aluminum with minor amount of nickel. The Ni in the range of 0.05-0.20at% was used to develop a high temperature template, containing a set of hardening intermetallic compounds to increase the strength of the host matrix. The microstructural investigations of the suction cast alloys reveal a characteristic feathery microstructure. At higher magnification the microstructure reveals the presence of fine dispersions of a second phase. Both x-ray and transmission electron microscopy confirms the phase in the dispersions to be primarily crystalline Al9Ni2 phase having a monoclinic crystal structure. This phase does not exist in equilibrium phase diagram. Only at higher concentration one can observe equilibrium Al3Ni (Orthorhombic) particles. The size of the particle ranges from 50-200nm. Beyond~0.5at%Ni, the microstructure changes to normal cellular type solidification morphology with interdendritic space decorated by the eutectic network of Al-Al3Ni having a rod eutectic morphology. A careful observation of alloys with small amount of Ni reveals that the feathery structure is associated with the thin cells, which have grown by continuously splitting the tip yielding a fractal like dendritic morphology. The dispersoids form at the intercellular regions. We have presented clear evidence of their origin from the interdendritic liquid, which most likely underwent Rayleigh instability. The random distribution reflects the nature of the dendritic growth. We have argued that these inter-dendritic liquid droplets, which are enriched with Ni, get undercooled. The metastable Al9Ni2 phase nucleates and grows in this liquid. In order to confirm this scenario, we have carried out a phase field simulation for dendritic growth of aluminium solid solution in the alloy melt both under the condition of constraint growth and free growth. The observed distribution of the dispersoid is well reflected in the phase field simulation. The chapter also report the response of effect of direct ageing of suction cast alloy as one expect an extension solid solubility of Ni in Al. A small increase in hardness could be observed during ageing treatment. In order to determine the thermal stability of the intermetallic particles, the samples of the suction cast alloys were exposed at 200°C for 200h and 500°C for 100h respectively. No change in the microstructure could be observed excepting a slight coarsening indicating the dispersed particles are thermally stable. After exposure at two different temperatures the maximum retained hardness was measured to be 350MPa. We have also attempted to correlate the hardness with coarsening behavior of particles. The feathery morphology of the cast structures and fine dispersion of the intermetallic phase is expected to improve the tensile strength of the alloy. The tensile yield strength of cast alloys was determined to be 150MPa ± 20 for Al- 0.09at%Ni alloy. We have tried to estimate the expected strength of the alloy from quantitative microstructural parameters using possible hardening mechanism. The estimates are in good agreement to the observed values. The chapter 5 reports attempts to develop thermally stable precipitation strengthened aluminum alloys by retaining the dispersion template developed earlier alloyed with Ni. Then, the binary alloys were added with extremely low diffusivity element Zr. The element Zr is traditionally added in the aluminium alloys as grain refiner and as a powerful agent for inhibiting recrystallization especially for high strength aluminium alloys. However, in this work we have alloyed Zr for imparting precipitation hardening. An amount of 0.15at%Zr was added to the suction cast alloys of Al-0.05, 0.09 and 0.20at%Ni. The first two alloys exhibit the formation of metastable phase Al9Ni2 during solidification stage. Increase the concentration of the alloy to Al-0.20at% Ni with 0.15at%Zr additions exhibits combination of both stable Al3Ni and Al9Ni2 metastable phases. Microstructures of these alloys show columnar cells of ~200μm with dispersions of spherical nodules of Al9Ni2 and Al3Ni with varying size ranges from 200-500nm. Particle size distribution of Zr containing aluminium alloys with 0.05at% Ni is 595nm ± 20 while the alloy having the 0.09 at% Ni has the optimum size of 290nm. Further increase of Zr composition above 0.20at % led to columnar to equiaxed transition. The as cast alloys containing Zr does not show the improvement with limited yield strength of the order of 150MPa. The equivalent hardness of the samples has been measured to be about 370-420MPa. Heat-treated alloys however show the presence of Al3Zr (L12) precipitates with ~20nm size that are coherent with the matrix. Binary suction cast Al-0.15at%Zr alloy after ageing exhibits tensile yield strength of ~200MPa. With ternary aluminium alloy with minor additions Ni and Zr, The strength increases to ~300MPa. Additionally, the alloy continue retain a maximum hardness of 870-920MPa even after long hours of aging. The Zr containing alloys were proved to be stable. When the tests were carried out on a nominally alloyed sample of Al-0.09at%Ni-0.15at%Zr peak aged and exposed to 250°C for 200h, the yield strength under compression tests was found to be 280MPa. The chapter 6 of the thesis discusses the role of Sc with the ternary Al-alloys with Ni and Zr. Addition of small quantities 0.1 and 0.2at%Sc substantially reduces the inter-particle distance of precipitates by increasing volume fraction and number of nano-sized particles. It has been observed and presented in this thesis that the Sc addition provides the highest incremental strengthening per atom percent of any alloying element. Chill-suction cast samples show equiaxed cells in the samples with dispersions of particles inside and some segregated particles at the cell boundaries. To achieve a further increase in the number density of precipitates we processed the suction cast alloys with additional heat treatment at 375 and 450°C. All the suction cast alloys with varying Ni content and keeping the Sc and Zr constant at 0.10 and 0.15at% respectively exhibit formation of Al9Ni2 phase. The alloy Al-0.20at%Ni-0.10at%Sc-0.15at%Zr also contain stable phase of Al3Ni with an eutectic morphology. The DSC experiments in the dynamic mode with heating rate of 10°C min-1 exhibit two distinct exothermic peaks due to precipitates from solution at 375 and 450°C. The TEM analysis using STEMEDX has further confirmed the existence of nano-sized particles 30-50 nm of both phases of Al3Sc and Al3 (Sc, Zr). The tensile yield strength of the as cast alloy show 200MPa while after precipitation treatment, we observe improved yield strength 350-450MPa. Thermal stability of the alloys were tested after peak aged condition and exposed to 200°C for 250h. The results show that the yield strength is unaffected implying the coarsening resistance of the precipitate particles. Overall the thesis establishes that with minimum alloying additions, it is possible to design alloys that are expected to perform for high temperature applications by the formation of set of dispersions of Al9Ni2 (monoclinic) and precipitates of ordered cubic phases of (L12) structure of Al3Zr, Al3Sc and Al3 (Sc, Zr) with required number density of particles.

La fabrication additive (FA) est devenue une nouvelle alternative pour la fabrication des pièces dans l'industrie. Cependant, il existe encore des limites pour ce procédé, en particulier la forme finale défavorable et les propriétés macroscopiques indésirables des pièces métalliques construites dans les systèmes de FA. La distorsion ou la fissure due à la contrainte résiduelle de ces pièces pose généralement de graves problèmes pour certains types de technologie de la FA métallique. Dans un système de FA, la qualité finale d'une pièce métallique dépend de nombreux paramètres de procédé, qui sont normalement optimisés par une série d'expériences sur des machines de FA. La simulation macroscopique dédiée au procédé de FA est une alternative potentielle pour les pièces métalliques fabriquées par la fabrication additive. Dans cette thèse, nous étudions d'abord le pré-processing de la simulation de FA par la méthode des éléments finis (FEM). Le procédé de fabrication additive est un phénomène multi-physique des champs couplés (champs thermique, mécanique et métallurgique). La simulation macroscopique est réalisée à deux niveaux différents. Au niveau de la couche, la reconstruction du modèle 3D est effectuée à partir du fichier de chemin de balayage de la machine de FA, basée sur la manipulation inverse de l'algorithme d'offsetting-clipping. Au niveau de la pièce, le modèle 3D de CAO est reconstruit dans un maillage des voxels, ce qui est pratique pour une pièce avec une géométrie complexe. Avec les températures de préchauffage différentes et les paramètres du procédé différents, la contrainte résiduelle d'une pièce est analysée. Ces simulations impliquent la technique potentielle pour réduire la contrainte résiduelle par l'optimisation des paramètres du procédé, au lieu de moyens traditionnels par augmenter la température de préchauffage. Basées sur la plateforme de simulation de FEM ci-dessus, deux simulations au niveau de ligne sont également étudiées dans cette thèse, visant à la relation entre le procédé de FA et la qualité finale de la pièce. Ces exemples démontrent la possibilité d'utiliser des simulations macroscopiques pour améliorer le contrôle de la qualité pendant le procédé de FA. Dans la première tâche, l'ensemble de données des paramètres de chauffage et la contrainte résiduelle sont générés par la simulation de FA. La corrélation entre eux est étudiée en utilisant des algorithmes de régression, tel que le réseau neuronal artificiel. Dans la deuxième tâche, un contrôleur de PID pour la boucle de rétroaction puissance-température est intégré dans la simulation de procédé de FA et l'auto-réglage de PID est numériquement étudié au lieu d'utiliser la machine de FA. Les deux tâches montrent le rôle important de la simulation de procédé macroscopique de FA, qui peut remplacer ou combiner les nombreuses expériences essai-erreur dans la fabrication additive métallique. / Additive manufacturing (AM) has become a new option for the fabrication of metallic parts in industry. However, there are still some limitations for this application, especially the unfavourable final shape and undesired macroscopic properties of metallic parts built in AM systems. The distortion or crack due to the residual stress of these parts leads usually to severe problems for some kinds of metal AM technology. In an AM system, the final quality of a metallic part depends on many process parameters, which are normally optimized by a series of experiments on AM machines. In order to reduce the considerable time consumption and financial expense of AM experiments, the numerical simulation dedicated to AM process is a prospective alternative for metallic part fabricated by additive manufacturing. Because of the multi-scale character in AM process and the complex geometrical structures of parts, most of the academic researches in AM simulation concentrated on the microscopic melting pool. Consequently, the macroscopic simulation for the AM process of a metallic part becomes a current focus in this domain. In this thesis, we first study the pre-processing of AM simulation on Finite Element Method (FEM). The process of additive manufacturing is a multi-physics problem of coupled fields (thermal, mechanical, and metallurgical fields). The macroscopic simulation is conducted in two different levels with some special pre-processing work. For the layer level, the reconstruction of 3D model is conducted from the scan path file of AM machine, based on the inverse manipulation of offsetting-clipping algorithm. For the part level, the 3D model from CAD is reconstructed into a voxel-based mesh, which is convenient for a part with complex geometry. The residual stress of a part is analysed under different preheat temperatures and different process parameters. These simulations imply the potential technique of reducing residual stress by the optimisation of process parameters, instead of the traditional way by increasing preheat temperature. Based on the FEM simulation platform above, two simulations at line level are also studied in this thesis, aiming at the relation between the AM process and part's final quality. These examples demonstrate the feasibility of using macroscopic simulations to improve the quality control during the AM process. In the first task, dataset of heating parameters and residual stress are generated by AM simulation. The correlation between them is studied by using some regression algorithm, such as artificial neural network. In the second task, a PID controller for power-temperature feedback loop is integrated into AM process simulation and the PID auto-tuning is numerically investigated instead of using AM machine. Both of the two tasks show the important role of AM macroscopic process simulation, which may replace or combine with the numerous trial and error of experiments in metal additive manufacturing.