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Grain size effects on the early plastic strain localization and slip transfer at grain boundaries were investigated for the Alloy 718 Ni-based superalloy at 650C. Three microstructures with different grain sizes underwent monotonic tensile tests at 650C, both in air and under vacuum, until rupture. All the microstructure variants exhibit fully intragranular fracture under vacuum and partially intergranular fracture in air. In this latter case, predominant intergranular fracture mode was found in the fine-grain microstructures. Interrupted tensile tests were also conducted under vacuum with ex-situ SEM high-resolution digital image correlation (HR-DIC) measurements to assess in-plane kinematics fields at the microstructure scale. Out-of-plane displacement jumps were obtained using laser scanning confocal microscopy. Both crystallographic slip within grains and near twin boundaries (TBs) and morphological sliding happening at grain boundaries (GBs) were documented. Statistical analysis of all plastic events aimed at quantifying strain localization distribution as a function of the microstructure. The fine-grain microstructure was found to have extensive strain localization at grain boundaries, while the coarse-grain microstructure is more prone to intragranular slip development and slip localization near TBs. Different scenarios of slip band/grain boundary interactions were evidenced.
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This content will become publicly available on April 1, 2026
Observation and modeling of strain gradients in AA6016 – Influence of length-scale, microstructure, and strain path
Structural aluminum alloys are often less-than ideal materials for studying sub-grain strain gradients via EBSD, at typical resolution settings. Sharply defined slip bands are not generally observed due to cross-slip, and secondphase particles formed during solidification of work-hardened alloys provide obstacles that disrupt potential structure development, leading to what can seem like random distributions of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs). This study considers the roles of length-scale and second-phase particles in sub-grain distributions of AA6016-T4 following deformation. Second-phase particles are shown to play a stronger role than grain boundaries (GBs) in local GND accumulations. The net Burgers vector is used to show the transition from crystallographic-level slip to macro-scale slip as length scale increases, with a corresponding transition in the GND vs. step size graph. A strain gradient crystal plasticity model is applied to assess predictability of the observations. Real 3D structures were extracted, via serial sectioning, following application of different strain paths. Predicted GND and total dislocation evolution closely follows observed values. The model is then used to study the relative contributions of GBs and second-phase particles to GND localization, leading to the conclusion that second-phase particles must be included in the model to reflect observed behavior.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2147126
- PAR ID:
- 10627294
- Publisher / Repository:
- Elsevier
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Materials Characterization
- Volume:
- 222
- Issue:
- C
- ISSN:
- 1044-5803
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 114843
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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