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We report the mechanical and microstructural characteristics of a medium-entropy alloy, Co17.5Cr12.5Fe55Ni10Mo5 (atomic percent, at%) at cryogenic temperatures, down to a record low temperature of 0.5 K. The alloy exhibits excellent strength and ductility combined with a high strain-hardening rate in the entire temperature range investigated. Its property profile, including the yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, strain hardening capability, and absorbed mechanical energy, is better than those of most alloys and HEAs used in cryogenics. Within the interval of extremely low temperatures considered (0.5–4.2 K), the alloy exhibits several unusual features, including anomalies of the temperature dependence of the yield strength and tensile ductility, discontinuous plastic deformation (DPF), and a change in the propensity for the deformation-induced martensitic transformation. While the occurrence of these effects in the same temperature interval may be fortuitous, we hypothesize that they are interrelated and provide a tentative explanation of the observed phenomena on this basis.

Bulk-metallic glasses (BMGs) and high-entropy alloys (HEAs) have attracted extensive attention in the field of metallic materials research for several decades due to their extraordinary properties. Many scientists and researchers have significantly contributed to developing new classes of metallic alloys, such as BMGs and HEAs, for various applications. Liaw’s group and his colleagues have focused on the fundamental understanding of unique features, structures, and properties in BMGs and HEAs as well as the development of new types of metallic materials. In this article, we summarized the research work of Liaw’s group and his colleagues by reviewing relevant papers. The goal is to provide an understanding of the current research progression in BMGs and HEAs while further encouraging young and junior researchers to be involved in the field of structural materials research pertaining to these classes of exotic alloy systems.

Magnetocaloric alloys are an important class of materials that enable non-vapor compression cycles. One promising candidate for magnetocaloric systems is LaFeMnSi, thanks to a combination of factors including low-cost constituents and a useful curie temperature, although control of the constituents’ phase distribution can be challenging. In this paper, the effects of composition and high energy ball milling on the particle morphology and phase stability of LaFe11.71-xMnxSi1.29H1.6 magnetocaloric powders were investigated. The powders were characterized with optical microscopy, dynamic light scattering, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It was found that the powders retained most of their original magnetocaloric phase during milling, although milling reduced the degree of crystallinity in the powder. Furthermore, some oxide phases (

Ion irradiation and annealing experiments were performed on Zr52.5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10Ti5 “BAM-11” bulk metallic glass (BMG) specimens to evaluate their irradiation- and temperature-induced microstructural and mechanical property evolution. For the ion irradiations, samples were exposed to 9 MeV Ni3+ ions to a midrange (∼1.5 nm depth) dose of 10 displacements per atom (dpa) at temperatures ranging from 25 to 360 °C. A separate set of samples were annealed at 150 °C, 200 °C and 300 °C with respective heating times of 96, 72, and 48 h. Bulk X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization revealed that the alloy did not crystallize during irradiation up to 290 °C, although partial crystallization occurred at 360 °C throughout the unirradiated and irradiated regions of the sample. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization suggested that some of the irradiated region retained an amorphous structure, supporting the idea of partial crystallization. XRD analysis revealed that the crystallization which occurred in the sample irradiated at 360 °C was caused by thermal effects, and not irradiation displacement damage, and may be due to slight impurity contamination in the ingot. Nanoindentation experiments showed that only a slight amount of hardening was observed in the specimen irradiated at room temperature and 290 °C. However, significant hardening occurred in the sample irradiated at 360 °C (∼18% increase) as well as the unirradiated annealed specimens. For the sample irradiated at the highest temperature, the substantial increase in hardness was attributed to the partial crystallization of the alloy due to thermal, rather than irradiation effects. Overall, the results of the XRD and nanoindentation characterizations indicate good stability during irradiation at 25–290 °C but suggest that the BAM-11 BMG is not suitable for irradiation environments where temperatures exceed 300 °C for prolonged periods of time. Three different extrapolation models were employed to study how irradiation and annealing modify the indentation size effect (ISE) in the BAM-11 BMG. The poor linear fitting, as exhibited by all of the underlying equations, indicate that a new ISE model is needed to quantify nanoindentation mechanical properties in BMGs.

A serrated flow, which occurs in a material undergoing mechanical deformation, is a complex process of great engineering significance. Here statistical, dynamical, and multifractal modeling and analyses were performed on the stress-time series to characterize and model the stress-drop behavior of an Al0.5CoCrCuFeNi high-entropy alloy (HEA). Results indicate that the spatiotemporal dynamics of the serrated flow is affected by changes in the strain rate and test temperature. The sample entropy, in general, was found to be the highest in the samples tested at 500 °C. The higher complexity in the serrated flow at this temperature appeared to be associated with the stress-drop behavior that had intermediate values in terms of the maximum stress drop, the multifractality of the data set, and the histogram distributions. Moreover, the sample entropy was the lowest for the samples tested at 600 °C. The lower complexity values were associated with a wider multifractal spectrum and a less uniform and sparser distribution of the stress-drop magnitudes. In terms of the serration types, Type-C serrations were related to the lowest complexity values, widest multifractal spectra, and higher probability of exhibiting larger stress drops. Conversely, Type-A and B serrations were associated with the higher complexity, narrower spectra, and lower probability of higher stress drops. Furthermore, the body-centered-cubic (BCC) structure and the fully-ordered L12 nano-particles were found to emerge in the samples at 600 °C and are thought to be linked to the decreased spatiotemporal correlations in the stress-drop behavior.

Samples comprised of carburized steel alloys, 4615, 4720, and 10B22, were tension tested at room temperature and at a strain rate of 2 × 10−4 s−1. The serrated-flow behavior was modeled and analyzed, using the refined composite multiscale entropy (RCMSE) method. High energy X-ray diffraction revealed the body-centered-cubic (BCC) structure of the three alloys in the as-received condition. Moreover, Vickers-hardness experiments were performed, which showed an increase in the hardness of the alloy that corresponded to increasing impurity concentrations. Here the diffusion coefficient of carbon in the three alloys were estimated, respectively, to be 2.5 × 10−11 m2/s, 5.1 × 10−11 m2/s, and 2.8 × 10−11 m2/s for alloys, 10B22, 4615, and 4720, respectively, which agree with the values found in the literature for α-iron. Moreover, the sample entropy, on average, increased with respect to the heating time, and, consequently, the amount of carbon that had diffused into the alloy. The above results show that the complexity of the serration behavior in the alloys studied increases with respect to the amount of carbon that has diffused into the material.

We report an analysis of the discontinuous plastic flow of a multiprincipal-element alloy, ${\mathrm{Co}}_{17.5}{\mathrm{Cr}}_{12.5}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{55}{\mathrm{Ni}}_{10}{\mathrm{Mo}}_{5}$ (atomic percent, at. %), in the temperature range of 0.5--4.2 K showing serrated deformation curves. Using the analytical techniques, we studied the statistics of the stress drops associated with the unstable plastic flow. The analysis showed that the complexity and heterogeneity of a discontinuous plastic flow were reduced when the temperature was lowered. This behavior was associated with the effects of dynamic recovery and adiabatic heating on the dislocation-density evolution.

For this study, the effects of thermal annealing and compressive strain rate on the complexity of the serration behavior in a Zr-based bulk metallic glass (BMG) was investigated. Here, as-cast and thermally-annealed (300 &deg, C, 1 week) Zr52.5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10Ti5 BMG underwent room-temperature compression tests in the unconstrained condition at strain rates of 2 &times, 10&minus, 5 s&minus, 1 and 2 &times, 4 s&minus, 1. The complexity of the serrated flow was determined, using the refined composite multiscale entropy technique. Nanoindentation testing and X-ray diffraction characterization were performed to assess the changes in the microstructure and mechanical properties of the BMG that occurred during annealing. The results indicated that the BMG did not crystallize during annealing in the prescribed heating condition. Nanoindentation tests revealed that annealing led to a significant increase in the depth-dependent nanoindentation hardness and Young&rsquo, s modulus, which were attributed to the structural relaxation in the glass. Furthermore, both annealing and an increased strain rate resulted in a marked enhancement in the complexity of the serrated flow during compression. It was concluded that the increase in the sample entropy with increasing strain rate is related to an increase in the number of defect interactions during the serrated flow.

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have attracted great attention due to their many unique properties and potential applications. The nature of interatomic interactions in this unique class of complex multicomponent alloys is not fully developed or understood. We report a theoretical modeling technique to enable in-depth analysis of their electronic structures and interatomic bonding, and predict HEA properties based on the use of the quantum mechanical metrics, the total bond order density (TBOD) and the partial bond order density (PBOD). Application to 13 biocompatible multicomponent HEAs yields many new and insightful results, including the inadequacy of using the valence electron count, quantification of large lattice distortion, validation of mechanical properties with experiment data, modeling porosity to reduce Young’s modulus. This work outlines a road map for the rational design of HEAs for biomedical applications.

The maximization of the mixing entropy with the optimal range of enthalpy in high-entropy alloys (HEAs) can promote the formation of a stable single solid-solution phase with the absence of competing intermetallic compounds. The resultant effects, such as lattice distortion, can contribute to excellent mechanical properties, which has motivated numerous efforts to develop and design single-phase HEAs. However, challenges still remain, particularly on quantifying the lattice distortion and relating it to materials properties. In this study, we have developed a NbTaTiV refractory HEA with a single body-centered-cubic (BCC) structure using an integrated experimental and theoretical approach. The theoretical efforts include thermodynamic modeling, i.e., CALculation of PHAse Diagram (CALPHAD). The microstructural evolutions have been investigated by systematic heat-treatment processes. The typical dendrite microstructure was observed, which is caused by the elemental segregation during the solidification in the as-cast condition. The structural inhomogeneity and chemical segregation were completely eliminated by the proper homogenization treatment at 1200 °C for 3 days. The homogeneous elemental distribution was quantitatively verified by the Atom Probe Tomography (APT) technique. Importantly, results indicate that this HEA exhibits the high yield strength and ductility at both room and high temperatures (up to 900 °C). Furthermore, the effects of the high mixing entropy on the mechanical properties are discussed and quantified in terms of lattice distortions and interatomic interactions of the NbTaTiV HEA via first-principles calculations. It is found that the local severe lattice distortions are induced, due to the atomic interactions and atomic-size mismatch in the homogenization-treated NbTaTiV refractory HEA.

The refined composite multiscale-entropy algorithm was applied to the time-dependent behavior of the Weierstrass functions, colored noise, and Logistic map to provide the fresh insight into the dynamics of these fluctuating phenomena. For the Weierstrass function, the complexity of fluctuations was found to increase with respect to the fractional dimension, D, of the graph. Additionally, the sample-entropy curves increased in an exponential fashion with increasing D. This increase in the complexity was found to correspond to a rising amount of irregularities in the oscillations. In terms of the colored noise, the complexity of the fluctuations was found to be the highest for the 1/f noise (f is the frequency of the generated noise), which is in agreement with findings in the literature. Moreover, the sample-entropy curves exhibited a decreasing trend for noise when the spectral exponent, β, was less than 1 and obeyed an increasing trend when β > 1. Importantly, a direct relationship was observed between the power-law exponents for the curves and the spectral exponents of the noise. For the logistic map, a correspondence was observed between the complexity maps and its bifurcation diagrams. Specifically, the map of the sample-entropy curves was negligible, when the bifurcation parameter, R, varied between 3 and 3.5. Beyond these values, the curves attained non-zero values that increased with increasing R, in general.

Nanoindentation tests were performed to investigate the nano-scale plastic deformation in the Al0.5CoCrCuFeNi high entropy alloys at room temperature (RT) and 200 °C, respectively. Serrated plastic flow, manifested as discrete bursts of plasticity on the load-displacement curves, was observed for both temperatures during the loading period, and its behavior and dependence on the temperature was analyzed from the experimental perspective. Creep occurred during the nanoindentation holding period and exhibited very large stress exponent, implying that the dislocation glide-climb is the dominant mechanism. The creep simulations with a two-layer viscoplastic model further revealed that the deformation at a higher temperature (e.g., 200 °C) featured a greater and faster-growing plastic zone underneath the indenter, implying more pronounced dislocation activities.

Cerium and magnesium strengthened aluminum alloys, or Al-Ce-Mg, is a recently developed alloy family that exhibits good mechanical properties at elevated temperatures (~300 °C). To examine the single-crystal properties of Al-Ce-Mg alloys, nanoindentation experiments are conducted in this study. A crystal plasticity finite element model (CPFEM) with the evolution of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) is applied to simulate the indentation in individual grains. A parametric study is carried out to investigate the sensitivity of each crystal plasticity model parameter to the indentation behavior. The highly sensitive parameters are calibrated by matching the indentation load-depth curves, while the rest parameters are obtained from bulk polycrystal uniaxial tension tests. Overall, satisfactory matching between experiment and simulation is obtained for each individual grain. The calculated hardness, as determined from the experiment, shows the dependence on indent depth, which is captured by the GND model. Furthermore, the effect of grain orientation and neighboring grains to nanoindentation behavior have been discussed with the comparison between the simulation and experiments.

There is a promising future for the use of aluminum-cerium-magnesium alloys in a broad range of applications, including devices that operate at high temperatures. With cerium currently considered a waste product of rare earth mining validation studies of possible applications are essential to reduce the environmental waste. In this paper, a computational-experimental framework is developed to investigate the role both the intermetallic and matrix have on the mechanical properties of these alloys. A set of experiments, including SEM/EBSD imaging, nanoindentation, in-situ SEM tensile testing, and in-situ SEM-DIC tests are performed to characterize the microstructure and mechanical properties of these alloys. Furthermore, the elastic, plastic, and failure deformation mechanisms of the microstructure, and their correlation with the bulk scale mechanical properties are investigated. Experimental results are also used to calibrate parameters for a crystal plasticity finite element model, by performing a computational framework that minimizes the error between the computational and experimental results. This model is then utilized to investigate how the area percentage of intermetallics and the crystallographic texture control the mechanical properties of the alloy. Simulation results show that an increase in the percentage of intermetallics increase the strength but decrease the ductility of the alloy. Also, a change in material texture improves strength and reduces damage that leads to material failure. The development of the crystal plasticity model, as discussed in this work, opens opportunities for future investigations of similar aluminum-cerium-magnesium alloys.

The present work investigates the influence of Al-content and potential-scan-rate on stable/metastable pitting of Al xCoCrFeNi high-entropy alloys in a 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution. The increased Al content causes the volume fraction of the Cr-depleted phase to increase, resulting in thicker/dispersive passive films that degrade the localized corrosion resistance. The varied stable/metastable pitting behavior under different potential scan rates indicates that pit generation is influenced by the properties of passive films and the interactions between chloride ions and the active sites. Furthermore, a mean-field theory is employed to predict the scan-rate dependent, power-law distribution of current fluctuations.

Polymer composites are being considered for numerous thermal applications because of their inherent benefits, such as light weight, corrosion resistance, and reduced cost. In this work, the microstructural, thermal, and mechanical properties of a 3D printed polymer composite with high thermal conductivity are examined using multiple characterization techniques. Infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction reveal that the composite contains a polyphenylene sulfide matrix with graphitic fillers, which is responsible for the high thermal conductivity. Furthermore, differential scanning calorimetry determines that the glass transition and melting point of the composite are 87.6 °C and 285.6 °C, respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis reveals that the composite is thermally stable up to ~400 °C. Creep tests are performed at different isotherms to evaluate the long-term performance of the composite. The creep result indicates that the composite can maintain mechanical integrity when used below its glass transition temperature. Nanoindentation tests reveal that modulus and hardness of the composite is not significantly influenced by heating or creep conditions. These findings indicate that the composite is potentially suitable for heat exchanger applications.

The microstructures, mechanical, corrosion, and wear behaviors of the TixZrNbTaMo (x = 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2, molar ratio) high entropy alloys (HEAs) were studied. It was found that the Ti–Zr–Nb–Ta–Mo HEAs showed a dendrite structure with two body-centered-cubic (BCC) solid solution phases. The Ti0.5ZrNbTaMo HEA exhibited a high hardness of about 500 HV, high compressive strength approaching 2,600 MPa, and large plastic strain of over 30%. Furthermore, the highly-protective oxide films formed on the surface of Ti–Zr–Nb–Ta–Mo HEAs in the phosphate buffer saline (PBS) solution, which resulted in the high corrosion resistance of the HEAs. The Ti–Zr–Nb–Ta–Mo HEAs exhibited the greater dry- and wet-wear resistance than that of the traditional biomedical Ti6Al4V alloy. The results also indicated that with the decrease in the Ti content, the wear resistance of the Ti–Zr–Nb–Ta–Mo HEAs in the PBS solution improved. Finally, the Ti0.5ZrNbTaMo alloy presented the highest corrosive wear resistance among the four HEAs owing to its combination of good mechanical properties and high chemical stability.

Zr52.5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10Ti5 and Cu60Zr20Hf10Ti10 amorphous and crystallized bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) were implanted at room temperature by 150 keV 3He+ ions to fluences of 2 × 1015 cm-2 and 5 × 1015 cm-2, producing peak implanted He concentrations of ~1,100 and 3,500 appm, respectively. Nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) performed on post-implantation annealed samples at various temperatures between 250 and 600 °C (~0.30 to 0.75 of the absolute melting temperature Tm of the BMGs) revealed no appreciable He migration. Complementary thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) on as-implanted samples, which involved in situ annealing, showed appreciable He release only at temperatures higher than ~700 °C (~0.76-0.90 Tm) in all the samples. Half or more of the implanted He did not desorb up to the maximum investigated TDS annealing temperature of 770 °C (~0.85-0.97 Tm). The lack of pronounced He diffusion up to 600 °C as observed from the NRA and TDS data was attributed to He trapping in free volume sites present in the BMGs, which seems to play a similar role to vacancies in crystalline materials. It was also observed that in both the amorphous and crystallized forms of the Zr BMG, the sample implanted to the lower fluence released more He as compared to the sample implanted with a higher fluence. The crystalline forms of both the Cu and Zr BMGs released more He as compared to their amorphous counterparts.

Severe distortion is one of the four core effects in single-phase high-entropy alloys (HEAs) and contributes significantly to the yield strength. However, the connection between the atomic-scale lattice distortion and macro-scale mechanical properties through experimental verification has yet to be fully achieved, owing to two critical challenges: 1) the difficulty in the development of homogeneous single-phase solid-solution HEAs and 2) the ambiguity in describing the lattice distortion and related measurements and calculations. A single-phase body-centered-cubic (BCC) refractory HEA, NbTaTiVZr, using thermodynamic modeling coupled with experimental verifications, is developed. Compared to the previously developed single-phase NbTaTiV HEA, the NbTaTiVZr HEA shows a higher yield strength and comparable plasticity. The increase in yield strength is systematically and quantitatively studied in terms of lattice distortion using a theoretical model, first-principles calculations, synchrotron X-ray/neutron diffraction, atom-probe tomography, and scanning transmission electron microscopy techniques. These results demonstrate that severe lattice distortion is a core factor for developing high strengths in refractory HEAs.

Zr52.5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10Ti5 (BAM-11) and Cu60Zr20Hf10Ti10 bulk metallic glass (BMG) specimens were ion irradiated to characterize and compare their irradiation induced microstructural and mechanical property evolution. For the ion irradiations, samples of each BMG were exposed to 9 MeV Ni3+ and 5.5 MeV C+ ions to a midrange (∼1.5 μm depth) dose of 0.5 displacements per atom (dpa) at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 360 °C in order to examine potential effects associated with low (5.5 MeV C) and high (9 MeV Ni) average primary knock on energies. BAM-11 BMG samples were also irradiated by neutrons (E > 0.1 MeV) at ∼70 °C to a fluence of 1.4 × 1020 n/cm2 (dose of 0.1 dpa). Importantly, no pronounced irradiation spectrum effects were observed for the nanoindentation mechanical properties of the two BMGs following ion irradiation. However, significant softening was observed in the BAM-11 BMG sample irradiated by neutrons, while annealing of the unirradiated samples led to a marked increase in hardening. Results of the nanoindentation experiments indicate that softening is caused by irradiation induced creation of free volume defects, while the hardening is caused by their annihilation.

Lightweight alloys are becoming more and more important. Based on the 5083 aluminum alloy, the effects of Zn and Cu additions on the microstructures, properties, and serration behavior were investigated. The results show that with the increase of the Zn content, the tensile and yield strengths of the alloy increase, while the elongation and the serration amplitude keep on decreasing. Moreover, different amounts of Cu are added to the high Zn content Al–Mg-6 wt.% (weight percent) Zn alloy, in which the strength and plasticity are improved firstly. When the Cu content was 6 wt%, the elongation of the alloy is about 7%, and the serration behavior of the alloy gradually disappears. The optimal mechanical property is achieved at the composition of Al–Mg-6wt.%Zn-6wt.%Cu. The serration behavior is believed to be related to the interaction between the moving dislocations and the precipitates. Furthermore, the serrated flow was analyzed using the refined composite multiscale entropy algorithm. It was found that the dynamical complexity of the serrations generally increased with an increase in the solute density, the stress-drop magnitude, the grain size, the tensile and yield strengths, and the degree of plasticity.

The effects of heat treatment on the microstructures, crystallization kinetics, mechanical performance, and anti-corrosion behavior of a hypoeutectic Zr68Al8Ni8Cu16 bulk metallic glass (BMG) were studied. Through annealing, the precipitated phases were crystalline Zr2Cu and Zr2Ni. The total crystallinity was determined to be 10% and 77% for the samples annealed at 673 K and 713 K, respectively. The partial crystallization of the alloy leads to a dramatic deterioration in the ductility as compared to the as-cast BMG. Furthermore, the decrease in the ductility was accompanied by an increase in the crystallinity. The as-cast Zr-based BMG exhibited a greater corrosion resistance in the HCl solution than that of the annealed alloy. The depletion in the Zr and Al cation fractions of the surface oxidation film, which resulted from the precipitation of reactive nanocrystalline phases from the glassy matrix, is responsible for the reduced corrosion resistance.

For the present work, the Zr55Cu30Ni5Al10 (atomic percent) bulk metallic glass underwent room-temperature compression experiments in both the constrained and unconstrained conditions. For the constrained condition, samples were exposed to strain rates ranging from 2 × 10−5 s−1 to 2 × 10−3 s−1, while for the unconstrained case, the rates varied between 5 × 10−5 s−1 and 2 × 10−3 s−1. The serrated flow was modeled and analyzed using the refined composite multiscale entropy algorithm. Findings indicate that the complexity of the serration behavior increased with respect to the strain rate for both conditions. The increase in the complexity with increasing the strain rate is thought to be linked to a rise in the number of defect interactions that occur in the alloy during plastic deformation. Results also indicate that for a strain rate of 2 × 10−3 s−1, the complexity of the serrated flow was the highest in the constrained condition, which corresponds to higher spatiotemporal correlations between slipping weak spots during a serration event. The microscopy results combined with the complexity analysis support the idea that the serration events, which correspond to defect interactions, are more spatially correlated in the constrained condition.

Ion irradiation and annealing experiments were performed on Cu60Zr20Hf10Ti10 bulk metallic glass (BMG) specimens to investigate their irradiation- and temperature-induced microstructural and mechanical property evolution. For the ion irradiations, samples were exposed to 9 MeV Ni3+ ions to a midrange (~1.2 μm depth) dose of 10 displacements per atom (dpa) at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 360 °C (the corresponding peak dose at ~2.8 μm depth was ~25 dpa). Bulk X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization revealed that the alloy did not crystallize during irradiation up to 290 °C but did partially crystallize at 360 °C. XRD analysis revealed that the crystallization which occurred in the sample irradiated at 360 °C was caused by thermal effects instead of irradiation displacement damage. Subsequent Rietveld refinement analysis of the XRD measurements revealed the presence of two distinct crystal phases, namely a CuTiZr hexagonal structure belonging to the P63/mmc space group and a CuTi tetragonal structure belonging to the P4/mmm space group. Nanoindentation experiments revealed that no pronounced hardness changes occurred in the specimens irradiated at room temperature and 290°C, although significant hardening was observed in the sample irradiated at 360 °C. The significant increase in the hardness at 360°C was ascribed to thermally induced partial crystallization of the alloy instead of the ion irradiation. In general, the results of the nanoindentation experiments and XRD characterization suggest that although the Cu BMG exhibits good stability during irradiation at temperatures up to 290 °C it is not suitable for irradiation environments where the temperature is 360 °C for extended periods of time. The Lam and Chong extrapolation method, which has been used to study the indentation size effect (ISE) in amorphous alloys, was employed to quantify how irradiation and temperature affect this type of behavior in the BMG. However, the poor linear fitting of the indentation hardness data by this model indicate that a new ISE model is likely needed to quantify indentation hardening in BMGs.

Zr52.5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10Ti5 (BAM-11) bulk metallic glass was irradiated by neutrons to a fluence of 1.4 × 1020 n/cm2 (E > 0.1 MeV) (0.1 displacements per atom, dpa) at a temperature of ∼70 °C and then analyzed using multiple mechanical property and structural characterization techniques. Nanoindentation hardness measurements revealed that irradiation led to softening and a reduced Young's modulus in the alloy while annealing at 300–325 °C caused an increase in the hardness and modulus. Neutron diffraction results indicated that primary knock-on events caused rejuvenation (structural disordering) while annealing resulted in structural relaxation. Furthermore, it was found that annealing after irradiation reversed the disordering effects caused by the irradiation. The increased disordering in the alloy during irradiation is thought to be attributed to the enhanced free volume content caused by the neutron collision cascades in the matrix. Indeed, immersion density measurements revealed that irradiation led to a decrease in the density of the alloy. This decrease in the macroscopic density was linked to an increase in the structural disorder of the alloy while an increase in the density corresponded to an increasing degree of order. Additionally, synchrotron X-ray diffraction related the structural relaxation of the alloy to a loss of ductility, which is in agreement with the literature. Overall, an increase in the structural disorder in the sample is linked to a softening of the alloy and to a higher concentration of soft-zone defects in the glass.

Development of TiO 2 diffusion barrier coating by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) has been studied to mitigate fuel-cladding chemical interactions (FCCI). Important EPD deposition parameters, including solvent, additives, particle size and crystal structure, current, and voltage were optimized for coating deposition on flat T91 ferritic steel substrates. Post-deposition sintering in the range of 850–1050 °C was investigated. Diffusion characteristics of the coatings were evaluated by diffusion couple experiments at 575 °C for 100 h using cerium as one of the fission products responsible for FCCI. Results showed that the coated steel exhibited up to 83% reduction in solid state inter-diffusion with cerium. Heat transfer calculations showed that the fuel center-line temperature would increase slightly due to the addition of the TiO 2 diffusion barrier coating; however, the maximum temperature still remains well below the melting point of uranium and is even lower than eutectic temperature between Fe 2 U and Fe 2 U 6 at cladding centerline and cladding/fuel interface, respectively.

Fuel–Cladding Chemical Interactions (FCCIs) in a nuclear reactor occurs due to thermal and radiation enhanced inter-diffusion between the cladding and fuel materials. This can have the detrimental effects of reducing the effective cladding wall thickness and the formation of low melting point eutectic compounds. Deposition of thin diffusion barrier coatings in the inner surface of the cladding can potentially reduce or delay the onset of FCCI. This study examines the feasibility of using nanofluid-based electrophoretic deposition (EPD) process to deposit coatings of Yttrium Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) as the diffusion barrier coating. The deposition parameters, including the nanofluid solvent, additive, particle size, current, and voltage were optimized using test flat substrates of T91 ferritic–martensitic steel. A post deposition sintering step was also conducted and optimized to improve the bonding and mechanical integrity of the coating. Diffusion characteristics of the coatings were investigated by diffusion couple experiments using cerium as a fuel fission product responsible for solid state FCCI. These diffusion couple studies performed at 575 °C for 100 h showed that the YSZ coatings significantly reduced the solid state inter-diffusion between cerium and steel. A heat transfer model was developed to simulate the changes in temperature profile inside the fuel cladding by addition of YSZ coating. It was found that even though the temperature can increase in the coated cladding, the temperature falls below the melting point of uranium and eutectic temperature in Fe–U phase diagram. Using a co-axial configuration in conjunction with the EPD process, YSZ was successfully deposited uniformly on the inner surfaces of 12″ length sections of cladding with 4 mm inner diameter. Such a coating is extremely hard to make by conventional coating technologies like thermal spray or vapor deposition.

High temperature and radiation in nuclear reactors result in inter-diffusion and reaction between fuel and cladding. This phenomenon is called fuel–cladding chemical interactions (FCCI). It reduces the effective cladding wall thickness and might lead to eutectic liquation. Having a thin diffusion barrier coating inside the cladding can potentially reduce or postpone the onset of FCCI. This study examines the feasibility of using a nanofluid-based electrophoretic deposition (EPD) process to deposit titanium metallic coating as the diffusion barrier. The deposition parameters, including the nanofluid solvent, additive, particle size, current, and voltage were optimized using test flat substrates of T91 ferritic–martensitic steel. Postdeposition sintering was also conducted and optimized to achieve the best bonding and mechanical integrity. These diffusion couple studies were performed at 575 °C for 100 h between cladding and cerium as the fuel surrogate. Results showed that titanium coatings significantly reduced the solid state inter-diffusion between cerium and steel. Using a co-axial EPD, titanium was successfully deposited uniformly on the inner surfaces of 12″ length of cladding with 4 mm inner diameter. Such a coating is extremely difficult to manufacture by conventional coating technologies like thermal spray or vapor deposition.

Fuel Cladding Chemical Interactions (FCCI) in a nuclear reactor occur due to thermal and radiation enhanced inter-diffusion between the cladding and fuel materials, and can have the detrimental effects of reducing the effective cladding wall thickness and the formation of low melting point eutectic compounds. Deposition of diffusion barrier coatings of a thin oxide on the inner surface of the cladding can potentially reduce or delay the onset of FCCI. This study examines the feasibility of using nanofluid-based electrophoretic deposition (EPD) process to deposit coatings of titanium oxide, yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and vanadium oxide. The deposition parameters, including the nanofluid composition, current, and voltage were optimized for each coating material using test flat substrates of T91 ferritic-martensitic steel. Diffusion characteristics of the coatings were investigated by diffusion couple experiments using the fuel surrogate cerium. These diffusion couple studies performed in the temperature range of 560°C and 585°C showed that the oxide coatings significantly reduce the solid state inter-diffusion between cerium to steel.