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Miller, Michael K

Publications and source records attributed to Miller, Michael K.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of friction stir welding and post-weld heat treatment on a nanostructured ferritic alloy

Nanostructured ferritic alloys (NFAs) are new generation materials for use in high temperature energy systems, such as nuclear fission or fusion reactors. However, joining these materials is a concern, as their unique microstructure is destroyed by traditional liquid-state welding methods. The microstructural evolution of a friction stir welded 14YWT NFA was investigated by atom probe tomography, before and after a post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) at 1123K. The particle size, number density, elemental composition, and morphology of the titanium-yttrium-oxygenenriched nanoclusters (NCs) in the stir and thermally-affected zones were studied and compared with the base metal. No statistical difference in the size of the NCs was observed in any of these conditions. After the PWHT, increases in the number density and the oxygen enrichment in the NCs were observed. Therefore, these new results provide additional supporting evidence that friction stir welding appears to be a viable joining technique for NFAs, as the microstructural parameters of the NCs are not strongly affected, in contrast to traditional welding techniques.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Three phase crystallography and solute distribution analysis during residual austenite decomposition in tempered nanocrystalline bainitic steels

Interphase carbide precipitation due to austenite decomposition was investigated by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography in tempered nanostructured bainitic steels. Results showed that cementite (θ) forms by a paraequilibrium transformation mechanism at the bainitic ferrite–austenite interface with a simultaneous three phase crystallographic orientation relationship. - Highlights: • Interphase carbide precipitation due to austenite decomposition • Tempered nanostructured bainitic steels • High resolution transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography • Paraequilibrium θ with three phase crystallographic orientation relationship.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Response of nanostructured ferritic alloys to high-dose heavy ion irradiation

A latest-generation aberration-corrected scanning/transmission electron microscope (STEM) is used to study heavy-ion-irradiated nanostructured ferritic alloys (NFAs). Results are presented for STEM X-ray mapping of NFA 14YWT irradiated with 10 MeV Pt to 16 or 160 dpa at -100°C and 750°C, as well as pre-irradiation reference material. Irradiation at -100°C results in ballistic destruction of the beneficial microstructural features present in the pre-irradiated reference material, such as Ti-Y-O nanoclusters (NCs) and grain boundary (GB) segregation. Irradiation at 750°C retains these beneficial features, but indicates some coarsening of the NCs, diffusion of Al to the NCs, and a reduction of the Cr-W GB segregation (or solute excess) content. Ion irradiation combined with the latest-generation STEM hardware allows for rapid screening of fusion candidate materials and improved understanding of irradiation-induced microstructural changes in NFAs.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2014

Aberration-corrected X-ray spectrum imaging and Fresnel contrast to differentiate nanoclusters and cavities in helium-irradiated alloy 14YWT

Helium accumulation negatively impacts structural materials used in neutron-irradiated environments, such as fission and fusion reactors. Next-generation fission and fusion reactors will require structural materials, such as steels, resistant to large neutron doses yet see service temperatures in the range most affected by helium embrittlement. Previous work has indicated the difficulty of experimentally differentiating nanometer-sized helium bubbles from the Ti-Y-O rich nanoclustsers (NCs) in radiation-tolerant nanostructured ferritic alloys (NFAs). Because the NCs are expected to sequester helium away from grain boundaries and reduce embrittlement, experimental methods to study simultaneously the NC and bubble populations are needed. In this study, aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) results combining high-collection-efficiency X-ray spectrum images (SIs), multivariate statistical analysis (MVSA), and Fresnel-contrast bright-field STEM imaging have been used for such a purpose. Results indicate that Fresnel-contrast imaging, with careful attention to TEM-STEM reciprocity, differentiates bubbles from NCs, and MVSA of X-ray SIs unambiguously identifies NCs. Therefore, combined Fresnel-contrast STEM and X-ray SI is an effective STEM-based method to characterize helium-bearing NFAs.

Miller, Michael K↗
DOE OSTI2014

Nanoscale Cluster Detection in Massive Atom Probe Tomography Data

Recent technological advances in atom probe tomography (APT) have led to unprecedented data acquisition capabilities that routinely generate data sets containing hundreds of millions of atoms. Detecting nanoscale clusters of different atom types present in these enormous amounts of data and analyzing their spatial correlations with one another are fundamental to understanding the structural properties of the material from which the data is derived. Extant algorithms for nanoscale cluster detection do not scale to large data sets. Here, a scalable, CUDA-based implementation of an autocorrelation algorithm is presented. It isolates spatial correlations amongst atomic clusters present in massive APT data sets in linear time using a linear amount of storage. Correctness of the algorithm is demonstrated using large synthetically generated data with known spatial distributions. Benefits and limitations of using GPU-acceleration for autocorrelation-based APT data analyses are presented with supporting performance results on data sets with up to billions of atoms. To our knowledge, this is the first nanoscale cluster detection algorithm that scales to massive APT data sets and executes on commodity hardware.

Seal, Sudip K↗