Loss-free tensile ductility of dual-structure titanium composites via an interdiffusion and self-organization strategy.

The deformation-coordination ability between ductile metal and brittle dispersive ceramic particles is poor, which means that an improvement in strength will inevitably sacrifice ductility in dispersion-strengthened metallic materials. Here, we present an inspired strategy for developing dual-structure-based titanium matrix composites (TMCs) that achieve 12.0% elongation comparable to the matrix Ti6Al4V alloys and enhanced strength compared to homostructure composites. The proposed dual-structure comprises a primary structure, namely, a TiB whisker-rich region engendered fine grain Ti6Al4V matrix with a three-dimensional micropellet architecture (3D-MPA), and an overall structure consisting of evenly distributed 3D-MPA "reinforcements" and a TiBw-lean titanium matrix. The dual structure presents a spatially heterogeneous grain distribution with 5.8 µm fine grains and 42.3 µm coarse grains, which exhibits excellent hetero-deformation-induced (HDI) hardening and achieves a 5.8% ductility. Interestingly, the 3D-MPA "reinforcements" show 11.1% isotropic deformability and 66% dislocation storage, which endows the TMCs with good strength and loss-free ductility. Our enlightening method uses an interdiffusion and self-organization strategy based on powder metallurgy to enable metal matrix composites with the heterostructure of the matrix and the configuration of reinforcement to address the strength-ductility trade-off dilemma.

Size-dependent melting modes and behaviors of Ag nanoparticles: a molecular dynamics study.

The size-dependent melting behaviors and mechanisms of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) with diameters of 3.5-16 nm were investigated by molecular dynamics (MD). Two distinct melting modes, non-premelting and premelting with transition ranges of about 7-8 nm, for Ag NPs were demonstrated via the evolution of distribution and transition of atomic physical states during annealing. The small Ag NPs (3.5-7 nm) melt abruptly without a stable liquid shell before the melting point, which is characterized as non-premelting. A solid-solid crystal transformation is conducted through the migration of adatoms on the surface of Ag NPs with diameters of 3.5-6 nm before the initial melting, which is mainly responsible for slightly increasing the melting point of Ag NPs. On the other hand, surface premelting of Ag NPs with diameters of 8-16 nm propagates from the outer shell to the inner core with initial anisotropy and late isotropy as the temperature increases, and the close-packed facets {111} melt by a side-consumed way which is responsible for facets {111} melting in advance relative to the crystallographic plane {111}. Once a stable liquid shell is formed, its size-independent minimum thickness is obtained, and a three-layer structure of atomic physical states is set up. Lastly, the theory of point defect-pair (vacancy-interstitial) severing as the mechanism of formation and movement of the solid-liquid interface was also confirmed. Our study provides a basic understanding and theoretical guidance for the research, production and application of Ag NPs.

Length-dependent dual-mechanism-controlled failure modes in silver penta-twinned nanowires.

A series of molecular dynamics simulations on silver penta-twinned nanowires are performed to reveal the tensile failure mechanisms that are responsible for the different failure modes and morphologies of fracture surfaces observed in various experimental reports. The simulations show that a ductile-to-brittle transition in failure mode occurs with increasing length of the nanowires. Short nanowires have ductile-like plasticity with flat-like fracture surfaces, while long nanowires show brittle-like fractures with cone-like failure surfaces. These two seemingly counterintuitive scenarios can be attributed to two sets of mechanisms: (1) stable dislocation nucleation-controlled incipient plasticity followed by stable dislocation motion-mediated plasticity assisted by pores for short nanowires, (2) unstable dislocation nucleation-controlled incipient plasticity followed by rapid necking for long nanowires. These two sets of failure mechanisms are distinguished by fitted lines using phased strain data. We propose a general strategy to build a necking-based model for predicting the critical nanowire aspect ratio while distinguishing the fracture modes. A mechanism map of silver penta-twinned nanowire is constructed to delineate the predominant failure behaviours. Our findings reveal a correlation between the failure mode and the resulting morphology of the fracture surface and provide a paradigm for the design and engineering of mechanical properties of nanowires.