Abstract
A fundamental understanding of the transient and nonequilibrium material behavior during welding is essential in the pursuit of process control and optimization to produce defect-free, structurally sound, and reliable welds. The deep penetration capability of neutrons into most metallic materials makes neutron diffraction a unique and powerful tool in understanding the material structures and properties. However, the inadequate neutron flux limits its application in time-resolved study of transient material behavior. This article highlights recent developments toward in situ time-resolved neutron diffraction measurement of material behavior during welding with two examples: (I) measurement of the transient temperature and thermal stresses during friction-stir welding of an aluminum alloy and (II) measurement of the solid-state phase transformation behavior of an advanced high-strength steel under thermal conditions comparable to the welding processes. These newly developed experimental approaches can be broadly applied to other welding or thermomechanical processes for time-resolved measurement of the fast-changing material state in structural metals.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 65-72 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | JOM |
Volume | 65 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2013 |
Funding
This research was sponsored by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U. S. Department of Energy. This work benefitted from the use of the Lujan Neutron Scattering Center at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, both of which are sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy. The authors thank Drs. Ke An, Xun-Li Wang, and Wei Zhang of Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Drs. Bjorn Clausen, Thomas Sisneros, and Donald W. Brown of Los Alamos National Laboratory; for their support and discussions.