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High-strain-rate nanoindentation behavior of fine-grained magnesium alloys

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Abstract

The effects of temperature and alloying elements on deformation in the high-strain-rate regime were investigated by testing fine-grained magnesium alloys with an average grain size of 2 ∼ 3 μm by a nanoindentation technique. The dynamic hardness measurements aligned well with existing quasistatic data, together spanning a wide range of strain rates, 10−3 ∼ 150/s. The high-rate hardness was influenced by various alloying elements (Al, Li, Y and Zn) to different degrees, consistent with expectations based on solid solution strengthening. Transmission electron microscopy observations of the indented region revealed no evidence for deformation twins for any alloying elements, despite the high strain-rate. The activation energy for deformation in the present alloys was found to be 85 ∼ 300 kJ/mol within the temperature range of 298 ∼ 373 K, corresponding to a dominant deformation mechanism of dislocation glide.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. A. F. Schwartzman (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Dr. A. Singh (National Institute for Materials Science) for their help with the indentation method and TEM observation, respectively. This work was supported at MIT by the US Army Research Office under grant W911QX-09-P-0009, by the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies and by the JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) No. 21760564.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    Hidetoshi Somekawa

  2. Research Center for Strategic Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0047, Japan

    Hidetoshi Somekawa & Christopher A. Schuh

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  1. Hidetoshi Somekawa
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  2. Christopher A. Schuh
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Correspondence to Hidetoshi Somekawa.

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Somekawa, H., Schuh, C.A. High-strain-rate nanoindentation behavior of fine-grained magnesium alloys. Journal of Materials Research 27, 1295–1302 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2012.52

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