Phase interface and stacking fault are two common planar defects in metallic materials. In the present thesis, the interfacial energy and the generalized stacking fault energy of random alloys are investigated using density functional theory formulated within the exact muffin-tin orbitals (EMTO) method in combination with the coherent-potential approximation (CPA).The interfacial energy is one of the key physical parameters controlling the formation of the Cr-richα’ phases during the phase decomposition in Fe-Cr ferrite stainless steels. This decomposition is believed to cause the so-called“475°C embrittlement”. Aluminum addition to ferritic stainless steels was found to effectively suppress the deleterious 475oC embrittlement. The effect of Al on the interfacial energy and the formation energy of Fe-Cr solid solutions are studied in this thesis. The interface between the decomposed Fe-rich α and Cr-rich α phases carries a positive excess energy, which represents a barrier for the process of phase separation. Our results show that for the α-Fe70Cr20Al10/α0-Fe100−x−yCryAlx(0≤x≤10, 55≤y≤80) interface, the Al content(x) barely changes the interfacial energy. However, when Al is partitioned only in the alpha phase, i.e. for the α-Fe100−x−yCryAlx/α0-Fe10Cr90(0≤x≤10,0≤y≤25) interface, the interfacial energy increases with Al concentration due to the variation of the formation energies of the Fe-Cr alloys upon Al alloying. The intrinsic energy barriers (IEBs) of the γ surface (also called generalized stacking fault energy, GSFE) provide fundamental physics for understanding the plastic deformation mechanisms in face-centred cubic metals and alloys. In this thesis, the GSFEs of the disordered Cu-X (X=Al, Zn, Ga, Ni) and Pd-X (X=Ag,Au) alloys are calculated. Studying the effect of segregation of the solutes to the stacking fault planes shows that only the local chemical composition affects the GSFEs. Based on the calculated GSFEs values, the previously revealed “universal scaling law” between these IEBs is demonstrated to be well obeyed in random solid solutions. This greatly simplifies the calculations of the twinning parameters or the critical twinning stress. Adopting two twinnability measure parameters derived from the IEBs, we find that in binary Cu alloys, Al, Zn and Ga increase the twinnability, while Ni decreases it. Aluminum and gallium yield similar effects on the twinnability. Our theoretical predictions are in line with the available experimental data. These achievements open new possibilities in understanding and describing the plasticity of complex alloys. / <p>QC 20141104</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:kth-155120 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Li, Wei |
| Publisher | KTH, Tillämpad materialfysik, Stockholm |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Licentiate thesis, comprehensive summary, info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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