International Journal of Plasticity最新文献

{"title":"Significantly enhanced impact toughness from ambient to cryogenic temperature in high-strength steel via Mn segregation induced delamination","authors":"Biaobiao Wang ,&nbsp;Li Liu ,&nbsp;Yao Lu ,&nbsp;Zhao Lei ,&nbsp;Liang Zhen","doi":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104420","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104420","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mn segregation is an inevitable microstructural characteristic in medium/high Mn steels and generally deteriorates mechanical performance. Instead of eliminating Mn segregation, the present work firstly develops a high-strength medium Mn steel with obviously improved impact toughness at a wide temperature range between ambient and cryogenic temperatures by artificially introducing Mn segregated bands to initiate delamination toughening. By combining warm rolling and intercritical annealing, the heterostructure containing elongated Mn-rich austenite bands with a width of ∼7.6 μm and submicron austenite/ferrite matrix was realized. The coarse austenite bands featuring limited mechanical stability preferentially undergo transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) effect upon deformation, inducing brittle TRIP-martensite with abundant C/Mn contents. These TRIP-martensite parallel to the rolling direction encourage the activation of delamination mechanically and microstructurally by serving as the initiation sites and propagation paths for delamination cracks, making brittleness into toughening. The presence of intensive through-thickness delamination cracks regulates the stress state around the main crack tip, consumes energy through the formation of new surfaces, and activates additional TRIP effects around delamination cracks. The pronounced delamination toughening was realized at ∼ -100 °C, benefiting from an abnormal enhancement of impact toughness at even low temperatures. The sustainable TRIP effect provided by austenite grains with distinct morphology, size, and composition further improves toughness intrinsically. Formation of Mn-rich bands furthermore relieves the segregation of Mn to prior austenite grain boundaries (PAGBs), avoiding intergranular fracture that is usually observed in medium Mn steel. This novel toughening mechanism paves the way for developing high-strength material with enhanced toughness at ambient and low temperatures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":340,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Plasticity","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104420"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144594746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microscopic deformation mechanism and failure behavior of AlN/TiN nanolamellar structure in AlTiN coatings: MD simulation and HRTEM characterization","authors":"Zheyuan Liu ,&nbsp;Helena Zapolsky ,&nbsp;Jinhui Huang ,&nbsp;Jifei Zhu ,&nbsp;Yong Du ,&nbsp;Sai Tang ,&nbsp;Li Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104408","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104408","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite extensive investigations in the literature, a quantitative understanding of how the AlN/TiN nanolamellar structure influences mechanical properties remains a significant challenge. Using molecular dynamics modeling combined with HRTEM characterization, this study provides a quantitative framework linking nanoscale deformation mechanisms to macroscopic mechanical properties in AlTiN coatings. The investigation reveals a three-stage continuous deformation process consisting of dislocation evolution, elastic-plastic transition, and an FCC-to-HCP phase transformation with martensitic shear characteristics. Notably, two distinct crack propagation modes are identified and quantitatively analyzed, with their transition threshold determined by the Al content in the Ti-rich (Ti(Al)N) lamellae and the AlN/TiN thickness ratio. The results indicate that stress-induced phase transformation can be utilized to achieve an optimal balance between fracture toughness and strength in the material. Overall, this study establishes a quantitative interaction mechanism among the composition, structure, and properties of AlTiN coatings, providing theoretical guidance for coating design optimization and practical insights for the development and application of coatings for advanced cutting tools.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":340,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Plasticity","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104408"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144594761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A fully kinetic model for hydrogen transport near a blunting crack tip","authors":"Abdelrahman Hussein,&nbsp;Jukka Kömi,&nbsp;Vahid Javaheri","doi":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104406","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104406","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The kinetics of hydrogen diffusion and trapping play a major role in hydrogen embrittlement in metals. Under mechanical loading, hydrogen is driven by hydrostatic stress and accumulates at dislocations due to their affinity for hydrogen. However, most stress-diffusion models rely on Oriani’s local equilibrium assumption, which treats hydrogen buildup at dislocations as an instantaneous process. As a result, these models inherently fail to describe the loading rate sensitivity observed in experiments. To overcome this limitation, we propose a fully kinetic formulation in which hydrogen-dislocation interactions are modeled as a diffusive flux driven by the spatial gradient of the normalized dislocation density. The Kocks–Mecking–Estrin equation is used for the evolution of dislocation density coupled with Taylor hardening model. In contrast to classical models, our formulation solves for the total hydrogen concentration as a single species, thereby removing the need to artificially partition hydrogen into lattice and trapped species. The results show that slower loading rates lead to greater hydrogen accumulation at the crack tip. Additionally, pipe diffusion is naturally incorporated by allowing the local diffusivity to vary as a function of dislocation density. We also demonstrate that correct boundary conditions require prescribing equilibrium concentration that account for both stress and dislocation effects, ensuring chemical potential continuity with the far-field lattice. This work provides a robust and extensible framework for modeling hydrogen delayed fracture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":340,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Plasticity","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104406"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144578135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High-performance medium Mn steels with expanded processing windows enabled by rapid austenite reversion","authors":"C. Hu ,&nbsp;B.B. He ,&nbsp;M.X. Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104419","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104419","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Medium Mn steels (MMnS) with high strength and large ductility are desirable for constructing structural components, and multiple plasticity carriers are indispensable for high-performance MMnS. The key to invoking collective deformation mechanisms is the proper tuning of austenite characteristics through the intercritical annealing process. However, since other metallurgical features are also impacted by intercritical annealing both kinetically and thermodynamically, MMnS are sensitive to minor variations of annealing conditions and plagued by narrow thermo-mechanical processing windows. To overcome this limitation, we propose a high-temperature pre-annealing (HA) strategy that enables strong and ductile MMnS across broad ranges of annealing temperature and duration. The HA process facilitates austenite reversion by enhancing nucleation sites and elemental pipe diffusion through dislocations, enabling austenite fractions exceeding the values predicted by thermodynamic equilibrium. Consequently, superior and stable mechanical properties with yield strength of ∼1200 MPa and ductility up to 50% are achieved. Multi-scale characterizations reveal that this exceptional ductility stems from hierarchical austenite with graded mechanical stability and synergistic activation of plasticity mechanisms—martensitic transformation, dislocation glide, deformation twinning, and stacking faults—to mitigate strain localization. In contrast, the same MMnS without HA process exhibits inferior tensile properties and a strong dependence on annealing conditions. Our findings underscore the capability of the HA strategy to decouple mechanical performance from precise processing control, offering a scalable pathway for industrial-scale production of high-performance MMnS.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":340,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Plasticity","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104419"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144587054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A generalizable machine learning-assisted fast Fourier transform algorithm to simulate the large strain phenomena in polycrystalline materials","authors":"Benhour Amirian ,&nbsp;Abhijit Brahme ,&nbsp;Ricardo A. Lebensohn ,&nbsp;Kaan Inal","doi":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104404","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104404","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Machine learning methods have shown initial promise in constitutive modeling for single crystals or homogenized polycrystals, delivering notable computational efficiency. However, existing machine learning-based constitutive models often lack generalizability, limiting their application across diverse boundary value problems. This study introduces a thermodynamics-informed artificial neural network model to accelerate rate-tangent crystal plasticity fast Fourier transform simulations for cross-scale deformation behaviors of polycrystals under complex loading. Our model integrates microstructural variability and local interactions effectively. To address local effects in each grain, we employ K-means clustering to group Gauss points within the microstructure into clusters assumed to be in similar mechanical states. This approach, based on self-clustering analysis, extends model scope from macroscopic stress response to the granular level, capturing mechanical responses and orientation evolution across grains. This reduces the number of nonlinear problems to solve, with cluster responses propagated throughout each group. The thermodynamics-based artificial neural network-extracted features are further processed using local material state clusters to account for history-dependent deformation and evolving microstructures. Additionally, representative volume element simulations with rate-tangent crystal plasticity fast Fourier transform provide reliable datasets for model training. The proposed model demonstrates high efficiency, accuracy, self-consistency, and enhanced generalizability in predicting strain–stress responses and orientation evolution at both individual grain and aggregate scales under complex loading conditions, such as biaxial tension and arbitrary loading scenarios.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":340,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Plasticity","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104404"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144578136","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Anomalous anisotropy in an additively manufactured solid-solution-strengthened superalloy from room to elevated temperatures","authors":"Zhenhua Zhang ,&nbsp;Zixu Guo ,&nbsp;Quanquan Han ,&nbsp;Daijun Hu ,&nbsp;Shiwei Wu ,&nbsp;Haiyang Fan ,&nbsp;Erlei Li ,&nbsp;Ming Li ,&nbsp;Yilun Xu ,&nbsp;Shoufeng Yang ,&nbsp;Chuanzhen Huang ,&nbsp;Wentao Yan","doi":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104409","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104409","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Metal additive manufacturing (AM) produces unique grain morphologies owing to the high cooling rates and large temperature gradients, which potentially lead to unexpected mechanical anisotropy. In this study, we unveil an anomalous anisotropic behaviour in a solid-solution-strengthened superalloy with periodic columnar-to-crescent grains fabricated by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). Specifically, as-built (AB) specimens show higher strength perpendicular to the build direction (BD) than that parallel to the BD at room temperature (RT), while the opposite trend occurs at the elevated temperature (ET, 900 °C). Besides, the heat treatment eliminates the anisotropy of strength at both RT and ET. A dislocation-based damage-coupled crystal plasticity finite element (CPFE) model with strain gradients is utilized to understand the origin of the above anomalous anisotropy. It is found that the transition of anisotropy from RT to ET is attributed to the temperature-dependent dislocation annihilation combined with initial dislocations in AB state. In contrast to the heat-treated specimens without anisotropy, the LPBF-induced residual deformation primarily contributes to the anisotropy at RT, whereas the initial dislocations dominate the anomalous anisotropy at ETs for AB specimens. The CPFE model reveals the threshold temperature to be 600 °C for the occurrence of anomalous anisotropy, which is experimentally validated. This study presents a comprehensive understanding into temperature-dependent anisotropy of AM superalloys, and in turn guides the regulation of anisotropy by tuning microstructures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":340,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Plasticity","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104409"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144547527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hydrogen-induced twin boundary passivation in multi-principal element alloy: a micropillar compression study","authors":"Qi Zhu ,&nbsp;Siyuan Wei ,&nbsp;Qian Zhang ,&nbsp;Yakai Zhao ,&nbsp;Upadrasta Ramamurty ,&nbsp;Yang Lu ,&nbsp;Huajian Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104411","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104411","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The ingress of nascent hydrogen into alloys can significantly alter their mechanical behaviors, leading to the well-known phenomenon of hydrogen embrittlement (HE) and catastrophic failure of structural components in service. As an emerging class of materials, some face-centered cubic multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) exhibit unique resistance to HE, with the frequent presence of coherent twin boundaries (TBs) widely acknowledged as a contributing factor. However, the underlying mechanisms of TB-enhanced HE resistance remain under debate. Here, we selectively activate orientation-dependent TB-dislocation interactions by compressing [<span><math><mrow><mover><mn>1</mn><mo>¯</mo></mover><mover><mn>1</mn><mo>¯</mo></mover></mrow></math></span>2]- and [0<span><math><mover><mn>1</mn><mo>¯</mo></mover></math></span>1]-oriented CoCrFeNi MPEA micropillars containing an individual TB. This approach provides a benchmark for elucidating the hydrogen-induced deformation behaviors. An enhanced yield strength and orientation-dependent strain hardening are observed, attributed to hydrogen-induced TB passivation against slip transmission, with minimal impact on intragranular dislocation activities. Microstructural analysis reveals dislocation impediments at TBs and dislocation entanglements within the grains, confirming the hydrogen-induced TB passivation mechanism. These findings provide critical insights into the role of hydrogen in TB-facilitated plastic deformation and offer guidance for future studies aiming to comprehensively understand the HE resistance of MPEAs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":340,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Plasticity","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104411"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144533676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Strain-bearing capacity and strain hardening awakened by inter-zone constraint in twin-structured Al0.1CoCrFeNi alloy","authors":"Jiahao Li ,&nbsp;Xinkai Ma ,&nbsp;Jun Zhou ,&nbsp;Chuanlong Xu ,&nbsp;Peidong Li ,&nbsp;Xiaobao Tian ,&nbsp;Qingyuan Wang ,&nbsp;Haidong Fan","doi":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104410","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104410","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Twin networks endow structural metallic materials with unprecedented mechanical properties. However, the understanding of how to utilize the maximum mechanical potential of twin structures remains limited, thus hindering the full performance of twin networks. In this work, the twin networks are embedded within fine grains (FGs) in Al_0.1CoCrFeNi alloy to awaken the strain-bearing capacity and strain hardening of twin networks. The experimental results show that the inter‑zone deformation incompatibility generates strong FG constraints that suppress early strain localization in the twin networks, raising the uniform elongation from 3 ± 0.5 % to 27 ± 3 %. Molecular dynamics simulations further verify that the intrinsic deformation mechanism of twin networks changes from necklace-like dislocations to hairpin-like dislocations under inter‑zone constraints. The strain hardening originates not only from the hetero-deformation induced strengthening and hardening, but also from the awakened strain-bearing capacity of twin networks, where the twin networks contribute ∼15 % hardening. These findings highlight the potential for enhancing the strengthening and hardening effects of twin networks by introducing extra constraint effect.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":340,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Plasticity","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104410"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144533677","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Creep deformation of unidirectional metal matrix composites: modeling and experimental observations","authors":"Xu Kong,&nbsp;Yumin Wang,&nbsp;Rui Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104407","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104407","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The creep response of elastic fiber-reinforced metal matrix composites is modeled by establishing governing equations that link the composite's behavior under creep tests to that of the unreinforced creeping matrix in the stress relaxation test. These findings diverge from widely accepted models, which are well-acknowledged on the <em>priori</em> assumption of extending the steady-state creep method from constant stress to decreasing stress conditions. The unreachability of the steady-state creep of the creeping matrix with elastic reinforcements is demonstrated, as continuous stress transfer occurs from the creeping matrix to the elastic fibers. Experimental validation through stress relaxation tests reveals significant discrepancies, including underestimation in the short term and overestimation in the long term, driven by altered stress evolution paths for the creeping matrix. In this work, the relationships of governing equations among stress relaxation tests of unreinforced matrices, creep tests of composites and stress relaxation tests of composites are established, emphasizing the condition of the creeping matrix under decreasing stress. The difference in the effect of broken fibers on the strain increase between localized strain within the stress recovery distance and averaged strain over the extensometer gauge length is discussed. An experimental validation method is proposed and conducted by examining the elastic modulus variation of the composite in the loading and unloading stages during repeated creep tests.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":340,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Plasticity","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104407"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144520948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mechanism and modelling of the electroplastic effect in titanium alloy: From the perspective of dislocation slip","authors":"H.T. Niu ,&nbsp;P.F. Gao ,&nbsp;H.W. Li ,&nbsp;M. Zhan","doi":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104405","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijplas.2025.104405","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Electrically assisted (EA) forming technology has gained attention for manufacturing the difficult-to-form components of titanium alloy. However, the mechanism of the electroplastic (EP) effect on deformation behaviors remains unclear and the EP effect-coupled constitutive models are scarce, which hinders application of electrical current. In this study, the mechanism of the EP effect on deformation behavior was investigated from pinning, depinning, drag and release stages of dislocation slip. It is found that the thermal EP effect presented in pinning, depinning and release stages, whose mechanism was the same as that in thermally-assisted deformation. In contrast, the athermal EP effect enhanced dislocation pinning and depinning behaviors through promoting solute diffusion to dislocation line and generation of the electrical free energy at pinning points, respectively. While, the athermal EP effect didn’t influence the release stage. Then, a physically based EA constitutive model was established. The thermal effect was modelled using thermal activation theory for pinning and depinning stages and Seeger’s relation for release stage. The athermal effect on pinning stage was modelled by evaluating solute concentration near mobile dislocations based on electromigration theory and metallic bond dissolution theory. Besides, the athermal effect on depinning stage was modelled by calculating the electrical free energy generated at pinning points based on electrical free energy theory. The model provided good predictive ability and wide application range. Based on the model, the contributions of the thermal and athermal EP effects to flow stress were quantified under various EA deformation conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":340,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Plasticity","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104405"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144515634","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}