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Interface-driven microstructure development and ultra high strength of bulk nanostructured Cu-Nb multilayers fabricated by severe plastic deformation

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Abstract

We examine the development of stable bimetal interfaces in nanolayered composites in severe plastic deformation. Copper-niobium multilayers of varying layer thicknesses from several micrometers to 10 nanometers (nm) were fabricated via accumulative roll bonding (ARB). Investigation of their 5-parameter character and atomic scale structure finds that when layer thicknesses refine well below one micrometer, the interfaces self-organize to a few interface orientation relationships. With atomic scale and crystal plasticity modeling, we identify that the two controlling factors that determine whether an interface is stable under high strain rolling are orientation stability of the bicrystal and interface formation energy. A figure-of-merit is introduced that not only predicts the development of the prevailing interfaces but also explains why other interfaces did not develop. Through a suite of nanomechanical and bulk test results, we show that ARB composites containing these stable interfaces are found to have exceptional hardness (~4.5 GPa) and strength (~2 GPa).

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Acknowledgments

Crystal plasticity modeling, ARB synthesis, EBSD-based characterization and nanomechanical testing were supported by a Los Alamos National Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Project DR20110029. Atomic scale simulation was supported by the Center for Materials at Irradiation and Mechanical Extremes, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. 2008LANL1026. TN was supported by the Department of Defense (DoD) through the National Defense Science &amp; Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) Program. TMP and IJB wish to acknowledge support for mechanical testing by the UC Lab Fees Research Program No. UCD-12-0045.15. This work was performed, in part, at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. Los Alamos National Laboratory, an affirmative action equal opportunity employer, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, for the National Nuclear Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC52-06NA25396.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 87545, USA

    Irene J. Beyerlein, Nathan A. Mara, John S. Carpenter, William M. Mook, Thomas A. Wynn, Rodney J. McCabe, Jason R. Mayeur, Keonwook Kang, Shijian Zheng & Jian Wang

  2. Department of Materials, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, 93106, USA

    Thomas Nizolek & Tresa M. Pollock

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  1. Irene J. Beyerlein
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  11. Jian Wang
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Correspondence to Irene J. Beyerlein.

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Beyerlein, I.J., Mara, N.A., Carpenter, J.S. et al. Interface-driven microstructure development and ultra high strength of bulk nanostructured Cu-Nb multilayers fabricated by severe plastic deformation. Journal of Materials Research 28, 1799–1812 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2013.21

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