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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 343 records · Page 19
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Reviving the carbon sink: The influence of moderate wind disturbance in a secondary temperate mixed forest

Global forests are increasingly exposed to climate-driven perturbations, which may in turn alter their climate mitigation potential. As tropical cyclones expand poleward due to climate warming, wind disturbances in temperate forests have become increasingly frequent. The consequences of moderate wind disturbances remain poorly understood, hindering efforts to quantify their role in the global carbon cycle. Here, we used 16 years of continuous eddy covariance and biometric measurements to investigate the impacts of moderate wind disturbances on the structure and carbon sink dynamics of a temperate forest in Northeast China. Following Typhoon Maysak in 2020, the mortality of large trees (particularly the aging pioneer species) increased ninefold, whereas that of small trees decreased by nearly half. Both stand basal area and leaf area index were reduced between 2019 and 2023, with aging pioneer tree species being more vulnerable than mid-to-late species to wind disturbances. Shifts in species composition altered the environmental sensitivity of forest carbon sink function. Unexpectedly, wind disturbances reversed the declining trends in net ecosystem production and ecosystem carbon use efficiency of this secondary forest. A novel composite structural indicator—the standardized leaf area index (the maximum leaf area supported by per basal area of the stand)—provided robust predictions (R 2 > 0.4) of carbon sink dynamics throughout the study period. The selective removal of less efficient pioneer trees accelerated succession and reversed the aging-related decline in forest carbon sink strength and carbon use efficiency. In conclusion, these findings highlight the potential role of moderate wind disturbances in enhancing forest carbon sink function and offer a framework for understanding, assessing, and predicting forest carbon dynamics under increasing disturbance frequencies driven by climate change.

Carbon sink↗
DOE OSTI2023

Theoretical Investigations on the Plasmon-Mediated Dissociation of Small Molecules in the Presence of Silver Atomic Wires

Plasmonic nanoparticles can promote bond activation in adsorbed molecules under relatively benign conditions via excitation of the nanoparticle’s plasmon resonance. As the plasmon resonance often falls within the visible light region, plasmonic nanomaterials are a promising class of catalysts. However, the exact mechanisms through which plasmonic nanoparticles activate the bonds of nearby molecules are still unclear. Herein, we evaluate Ag 8 –X 2 (X = N, H) model systems via real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT), linear response time-dependent density functional theory (LR-TDDFT), and Ehrenfest dynamics in order to better understand the bond activation processes of N 2 and H 2 facilitated by the presence of the atomic silver wire under excitation at the plasmon resonance energies. We find that dissociation is possible for both small molecules at high electric field strength. Activation of each adsorbate is symmetry- and electric field-dependent, and H 2 activates at lower electric field strengths than N 2 . Furthermore, this work serves as a step toward understanding the complex time-dependent electron and electron–nuclear dynamics between plasmonic nanowires and adsorbed small molecules.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Interlaminar improvement of carbon fiber/epoxy composites via fluorine‐containing high‐epoxy‐value sizing agent

Abstract To improve the interfacial bonding effect of carbon fibers (CFs) and epoxy resins, we prepared a fluorine‐containing high‐epoxy‐value sizing agent (named TS) in this article. It is an emulsion with a more uniform particle size distribution and higher stability better than a commercial Takemoto sizing agent. In addition, sulfonic acid groups can improve the hydrophilicity of the TS, and the presence of epoxy groups enhances the wettability between CFs and the matrix. The properties of the sizing agents were examined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and thermogravimetric analysis. The sized CFs were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy, x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, monofilament tensile test, and dynamic contact angle. Afterward, CF/epoxy composites were prepared, and their fracture morphology and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) were examined. Results indicated that the TS sizing significantly increased the content of activated carbon on the surface of the CFs and improved the bonding effect between the fiber and the matrix. After TS was sized, the ILSS increased from 49.64 to 58.74 MPa, 18.34% higher than unsized CF/epoxy composites, showing the prominent interfacial reinforcement better than commercial Takemoto.

Qiu, Zhijie↗
DOE OSTI2021

Sulfurized Polyacrylonitrile (SPAN): Changes in Mechanical Properties during Electrochemical Lithiation

Sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) is a promising material for stable lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries that can potentially satisfy the demand for high-density energy storage devices for electric vehicles (EVs). However, important physical and chemical properties of the SPAN cathode material are not yet well understood. For example, the SPAN mechanical behavior that depends on the structure and chemistry of the material generated during synthesis, and the mechanical response evolution during battery discharge have been scarcely investigated. This work addresses the effects of electrochemical lithiation on the SPAN mechanical integrity via uniaxial tensile loading tests using molecular dynamics with the ReaxFF potential. Here, we evaluate the volume expansion, Young’s modulus, yield strength, and ultimate tensile strength with increasing lithium contents. Our results show how the degree of graphitization of the carbonized skeleton impacts the SPAN ability to withstand the volume expansion-induced structural stresses upon lithiation. We describe the fracture mechanisms and find out a ductility loss with increasing lithium contents

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Chemically and Mechanically Recyclable Vitrimers from Carbon Dioxide-Based Polycarbonates

Designing thermoset materials with dynamic crosslinks is an important strategy to mitigate rising global carbon dioxide emission levels. The development of polymers from sustainable feedstocks, with efficient manufacturing methods, for high-value applications, and with circular end-of-use solutions is essential for advancing material technologies. One approach involves exploiting carbon dioxide itself as feedstock to create high performance, sustainable materials, by enchaining 50 mol% CO2 via copolymerization with epoxides to yield polycarbonates. This work describes the synthesis, end-functionalization, and curing of poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) and poly(cyclohexene carbonate) (PCHC) into beta-hydroxy ester vitrimers. These vitrimers demonstrate the ability to be mechanically reprocessed up to 3 times with retention of the material’s properties through dynamic transesterification exchange reactions. The polycarbonate vitrimers with gel fractions exceeding 90 % exhibit high tensile strength (> 50 MPa) and Young’s modulus (> 2 GPa), achieved by varying repeat unit structure in the polymer backbone from the low Tg PPC to the more rigid high Tg PCHC structures. Owing to an entropically favorable chain back-biting mechanism, the network chains can be cleaved and depolymerized into cyclic small molecules. In the case of PCHC, this process enables repolymerization back to polycarbonates with 69 wt.% CO2 retention through life-cycles. The promising mechanical performance and recyclability of these CO2-based polycarbonate vitrimers indicate their potential for sustainable, high-performance materials, paving the way for future innovations in circular polymer technologies and carbon capture utilization.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Effects of PLA/PHB Blend Ratio and Wood Flour Loading on the Melt Rheology and Thermomechanical Properties of Biobased Polymer Composites

The development of sustainable, biobased polymer composites is crucial for reducing supply chain dependence on fossil fuels. A major challenge lies in understanding and predicting the processability of these sustainable material alternatives, which directly impacts large-scale manufacturing. Here, this study systematically investigates the effect of poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) blend ratios and wood flour (WF) loadings on the thermal, rheological, and mechanical properties of the composites. Composites were prepared via melt compounding and characterized by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), oscillatory shear melt rheology, tensile testing, and scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that increasing the PHB content lowered the glass transition temperature, while higher PHB and WF loadings decreased thermal stability. Complex viscosity decreased with increasing PHB in 0 and 10% WF, whereas it increased in 20% and 30% WF for PHB-rich blends (80/20 and 70/30 PLA/PHB) due to stronger filler interactions with flexible PHB chains. At 30% WF, PHB-containing composites also showed elastic dominance with G′ higher than G″. This behavior was confirmed by van Gurp–Palmen plots, where the phase angle decreased with increasing PHB and WF loadings. WF addition also shifted Cole–Cole plots away from semicircular terminal relaxation, while time–temperature superposition validity was maintained, confirming that polymer chain dynamics continue to dominate melt behavior. Young’s modulus increased with WF loading, while tensile strength and toughness decreased due to weaker interfacial adhesion between the matrix and the filler. Interestingly, 10% WF systems containing PHB exhibited the highest toughness among all of the filled systems, indicating synergistic reinforcement from WF fillers and PHB-induced ductility. Overall, melt rheology effectively captured the internal structure and stiffness of the composites as the formulation changed, reinforcing the concept that the PLA/PHB ratio and WF content can be tuned to adjust melt elasticity and balance mechanical property trade-offs for targeted applications.

melt rheology↗
DOE OSTI2023

Membrane-mediated dimerization of spherocylindrical nanoparticles

Here we present a numerical investigation of the modes of adhesion and endocytosis of two spherocylindrical nanoparticles (SCNPs) on planar and tensionless lipid membranes, using systematic molecular dynamics simulations of an implicit-solvent model, with varying values of the SCNPs' adhesion strength and dimensions. We found that at weak values of the adhesion energy per unit of area, ξ, the SCNPs are monomeric and adhere to the membrane in the parallel mode. As ξ is slightly increased, the SCNPs dimerize into wedged dimers, with an obtuse angle between their major axes that decreases with increasing ξ. However, as ξ is further increased, we found that the final adhesion state of the two SCNPs is strongly affected by the initial distance, d 0 , between their centers of mass, upon their adhesion. Namely, the SCNPs dimerize into wedged dimers, with an acute angle between their major axes, if d 0 is relatively small. However, for relatively high d 0 , they adhere individually to the membrane in the monomeric normal mode. For even higher values of ξ and small values of d 0 , the SCNPs cluster into tubular dimers. However, they remain monomeric if d 0 is high. Finally, the SCNPs endocytose either as a tubular dimer, if d 0 is low or as monomers for large d 0 , with the onset value of ξ of dimeric endocytosis being lower than that of monomeric endocytosis. Dimeric endocytosis requires that the SCNPs adhere simultaneously at nearby locations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Tracing the outflow kinematics in Type 2 active galactic nuclei

Here, we used a sample of 577 spectra of active galactic nuclei Type 1.8-2 (z < 0.25) taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to trace the influence of the outflow kinematics on the profiles of different emission lines (Hβ, [O III], Hα, [N II], [S II]). All considered lines were fitted with two Gaussian components: one that fits the core of the line, and another that fits the wings. We provide a procedure for decomposition of the Hα+[N II] wavelength band for spectra where these lines overlap. The influence of the gravitational and non-gravitational kinematics on the line components is investigated by comparing the dispersions of the line components with stellar velocity dispersion. We find that wing components of all the considered emission lines have pure non-gravitational kinematics. The core components are consistent with gravitational kinematics for the Hα, [N II], and [S II] lines, while in the [O III] there is evidence for contribution from non-gravitational kinematics. We adopted the wing components as a proxy for the outflow contribution and investigated the outflow kinematics by analysing the correlations between the widths and shifts of the wing components of different lines. For this purpose, we used the subsets in which wing components are detected in both compared lines, and can be fitted independently. We find strong correlations between wing component shifts, as well as between wing component widths of all considered lines, with the exception of the Hβ wing component width. These correlations indicate that outflow dynamics systemically affect all emission lines in the spectrum. However, it reflects with a different strength in their profiles, which is observed as different widths of the wing components. This is investigated by comparison of the mean widths of the wing components in subsets where wing components are present in all lines. The strongest outflow signature is observed in the [O III] lines, which have the broadest wing components; weaker outflow signatures are found in Hα and [N II], and the weakest is found for [S II]. These results imply that the considered lines arise in different parts of an outflowing region.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Kohn anomalies and phonon anharmonicity in iridium

Elemental iridium presents surprising challenges for both inelastic neutron scattering (INS) and theoretical thermal transport calculations due to its high neutron absorption cross-section and strong electron-phonon interactions, respectively. Here, in this study, we overcome these challenges to measure temperature-dependent phonon dispersion curves, compare these with calculations based on density functional theory (DFT), and ultimately examine the electron-phonon limited transport behaviors of this material. Our DFT calculations demonstrate Kohn anomalies, near the 𝐾 point of the iridium Brillouin zone, indicating coupling between electrons and phonons. Strong electron-phonon coupling can compete with anharmonic effects to determine electrical and thermal transport behaviors and make the Kohn anomalies challenging to observe. Nonetheless, our INS measurements map these anomalies and other dispersion features over the Brillouin zone from 100 to 700 K. These measurements also uncover unexpectedly large mode specific Grüneisen parameters obtained from the temperature-dependent phonon energies, highlighting strong anharmonicity in iridium. DFT-based Boltzmann transport calculations demonstrate how anharmonicity and electron-phonon couplings determine electronic and lattice transport behaviors. Furthermore, we correlate the Kohn anomalies with calculated electron-phonon nesting functions, Fermi surfaces, and DFT-derived coupling strengths. This study provides detailed insights into the temperature-dependent mode-resolved lattice dynamics and anharmonicity, transport behavior, and electron-phonon interactions.

DFT↗
DOE OSTI2025

Anisotropic light-tailored RKKY interaction in two-dimensional 𝑑-wave altermagnets

Altermagnets are known in spintronics for their intrinsic spin-splitting and unconventional magnetic responses, particularly to magnetic impurities. However, effectively controlling the magnetic exchange interactions in altermagnets is challenging for practical applications. Here, in this work, we propose using circularly polarized light to tune the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction in two-dimensional 𝑑-wave altermagnets. Using the real-space retarded Green's functions approach, our results show that while the Heisenberg and Ising exchanges dominate, a notable Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya (DM) interaction also plays a key role. Furthermore, the inherent strength of altermagnetism imprints chirp-like signatures into the magnetic responses, which can be dynamically tuned via light. We mainly demonstrate that gate-induced Rashba spin-orbit coupling is essential in response to light—light selectively and anisotropically adjusts the DM interaction without affecting the other exchanges. Our findings further indicate that rotating the altermagnet by 45° relative to the light's polarization direction generates a Dirac-like dispersion and different DM interactions. We finally extract critical thresholds where light reverses DM interactions along one axis or balances both in-plane components. The anisotropic light-driven control of RKKY interactions in altermagnets not only highlights their unique properties but also opens new avenues for engineering tailored magnetic characteristics in spintronic applications.

altermagnetism↗
DOE OSTI2022

Advanced Physics Models for Particle-Particle Interactions (UCD final report)

The LDRD "Advanced Physics Models for Particle-Particle Interactions” collaborative research with Professor Jennifer Sinclair Curtis and PhD student Chanh Nguyen at the University of California, Davis involved meso-scale, discrete element method (DEM) modeling of micron-sized particles impacting a substrate. Using DEM, physical insight into the details of particle response upon impact can be obtained. Such details provide the type of information necessary to enhance existing continuum or macro-scale simulation tools so that modeling for material strength and particle breakage models is based on particle physics versus empirical relationships. While molecular dynamics simulations of atoms can also provide physical insight into the particle response to impact, the scale of particles that are treated is on the order of angstroms, not microns. This study gives evidence to the ability of the DEM simulation technique to provide such fundamental, detailed insight for micron-sized particles as a function of particle properties and impact velocity.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Simple biochemical features underlie transcriptional activation domain diversity and dynamic, fuzzy binding to Mediator

Gene activator proteins comprise distinct DNA-binding and transcriptional activation domains (ADs). Because few ADs have been described, we tested domains tiling all yeast transcription factors for activation in vivo and identified 150 ADs. By mRNA display, we showed that 73% of ADs bound the Med15 subunit of Mediator, and that binding strength was correlated with activation. AD-Mediator interaction in vitro was unaffected by a large excess of free activator protein, pointing to a dynamic mechanism of interaction. Structural modeling showed that ADs interact with Med15 without shape complementarity (‘fuzzy’ binding). ADs shared no sequence motifs, but mutagenesis revealed biochemical and structural constraints. Finally, a neural network trained on AD sequences accurately predicted ADs in human proteins and in other yeast proteins, including chromosomal proteins and chromatin remodeling complexes. These findings solve the longstanding enigma of AD structure and function and provide a rationale for their role in biology.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Leveraging Groundwater Dynamics to Improve Predictions of Summer Low-Flow Discharges

Summer streamflow predictions are critical for managing water resources; however, warming-induced shifts from snow to rain regimes impact low-flow predictive models. Additionally, reductions in snowpack drive earlier peak flows and lower summer flows across the western United States increasing reliance on groundwater for maintaining summer streamflow. However, it remains poorly understood how groundwater contributions vary interannually. Here, we quantify recession limb groundwater (RLGW), defined as the proportional groundwater contribution to the stream during the period between peak stream flow and low flow, to predict summer low flows across three diverse western US watersheds. We ask (a) how do snow and rain dynamics influence interannual variations of RLGW contributions and summer low flows?; (b) which watershed attributes impact the effectiveness of RLGW as a predictor of summer low flows? Linear models reveal that RLGW is a strong predictor of low flows across all sites and drastically improves low-flow prediction compared to snow metrics at a rain-dominated site. Results suggest that strength of RLGW control on summer low flows may be mediated by subsurface storage. Subsurface storage can be divided into dynamic (i.e., variability saturated) and deep (i.e., permanently saturated) components, and we hypothesize that interannual variability in dynamic storage contribution to streamflow drives RLGW variability. In systems with a higher proportion of dynamic storage, RLGW is a better predictor of summer low flow because the stream is more responsive to dynamic storage contributions compared to deep-storage-dominated systems. Overall, including RLGW improved low-flow prediction across diverse watersheds.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Shock-induced chemistry and high strain-rate viscoelastic behavior of a phenolic polymer

We use impact experiments and a finite element model (up to 1.2 GPa), and molecular dynamics simulations (up to 60 GPa), to examine the behavior of a phenolic polymer under shock compression, spanning both nonreactive and reactive regimes. In the nonreactive regime, relaxation following compression at strain rates of ∼105 s−1 can be explained by viscoelasticity observed at ordinary laboratory rates (≲1 s−1) by accounting for the temperature dependence of the phenolic β-transition. Reasonable agreement is found between the measured shock Hugoniot up to 1.2 GPa and molecular dynamics simulation for cross-linked structures of comparable density. We also observed a first-order mechanical transition near 0.36 GPa shock stress and estimated a spall strength of 0.102 GPa and Hugoniot elastic limit of 1–2 GPa. The shock stress is found to vary up to 24% among phenolics made with different resin and/or cure processes. Finally, molecular dynamics simulations are used to identify a reactive regime at shock pressures ≳20 GPa that is characterized by chemically driven, rate-dependent relaxation processes, including dehydrogenation and dehydration reactions that promote the formation of a dense, highly cross-linked carbonaceous solid and the release of light volatiles.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Time-resolved Rotational Velocities in the Upper Atmosphere of WASP-33 b

While steady empirical progress has been made in understanding the structure and composition of hot-planet atmospheres, direct measurements of velocity signatures, including winds, rotation, and jets, have lagged behind. Quantifying atmospheric dynamics of hot planets is critical for a complete understanding of their atmospheres, and such measurements may even illuminate other planetary properties, such as magnetic field strengths. In this manuscript we present the first detection of the Balmer lines Hα and Hβ in the atmosphere of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-33 b. Using atmospheric models that include the effects of atmospheric dynamics, we show that the shape of the average Balmer line transmission spectrum is consistent with rotational velocities in the planet’s thermosphere of v{sub rot}=10.1{sub −1.0}{sup +0.8} km s{sup −1}. We also measure a low-significance day- to nightside velocity shift of −4.6{sub −3.4}{sup +3.4} km s{sup −1} in the transmission spectrum, which is naturally explained by a global wind across the planet’s terminator. In a separate analysis the time-resolved velocity centroids of individual transmission spectra show unambiguous evidence of rotation, with a best-fit velocity of 10.0{sub −2.0}{sup +2.4} km s{sup −1}, consistent with the value of v {sub rot} derived from the shape of the average Balmer line transmission spectrum. Our observations and analysis confirm the power of time-resolved transmission spectra with a high signal-to-noise ratio to measure the velocity structures in exoplanet atmospheres. The high rotational and wind velocities we measure highlight the need for more detailed 3D global climate simulations of the rarefied upper atmospheres of ultra-hot gas giants.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Photoemission and dynamical mean field theory study of electronic correlations in a t 2 g 5 metal SrRhO 3 thin film

Perovskite rhodates are characterized by intermediate strengths of both electronic correlation as well as spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and usually behave as moderately correlated metals. A recent publication on epitaxial SrRhO 3 thin films reported a bad-metallic behavior and suggested the occurrence of antiferromagnetism below 100 K. In this work, we have further studied this SrRhO 3 thin film by hard x-ray photoemission spectroscopy and found a very small density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level $(E_F)$, which is consistent with the previously reported bad-metallic behavior. However, the absence of DOS persists up to room temperature, which contradicts the explanation of antiferromagnetic transition at ~100 K. We also employed electronic structure calculations within the framework of density functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory. In contrast to the photoemission results, our calculations indicate metallic behaviors of both bulk SrRhO 3 and the SrRhO 3 thin film, and a stronger correlation effect was observed in the thin film than that in the bulk. The calculated uniform magnetic susceptibility is substantially larger in the thin film than that in the bulk. We also investigated the role of SOC and found only a moderate modulation of the band structure. Hence SOC is not expected to significantly affect the electronic correlation in SrRhO 3 . Extrinsic effects of finite-thickness effects beyond our calculations and localization effects may play important roles to induce the negligible spectral weight at $(E_F)$.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Dynamic mode decomposition for extrapolating nonequilibrium Green's-function dynamics

The Hartree-Fock generalized Kadanoff-Baym ansatz (HF-GKBA) offers an approximate numerical procedure for propagating the two-time nonequilibrium Green's function (NEGF). Here, using the GW self-energy, we compare the HF-GKBA to exact results for a variety of systems with long- and short-range interactions, different two-body interaction strengths, and various nonequilibrium preparations. We find excellent agreement between the HF-GKBA and exact time evolution in models when more realistic long-range exponentially decaying interactions are considered. Furthermore, this agreement persists for long times and for intermediate to strong interaction strengths. In large systems, HF-GKBA becomes prohibitively expensive for long-time evolutions. For this reason, we look at the use of dynamical mode decomposition (DMD) to reconstruct long-time NEGF trajectories from a sample of the initial trajectory. Using no more than 16% of the total time evolution, we reconstruct the total trajectory with high fidelity. Our results show the potential for DMD to be used in conjunction with HF-GKBA to calculate long-time trajectories in large-scale systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Molecular dynamics simulation of vacancy and void effects on strain-induced martensitic transformations in Fe-50 at.% Ni model concentrated solid solution alloy

Strain-induced martensitic transformations can improve the strength and ductility of some face centered cubic (FCC) metals and alloys. Irradiation-induced defects such as vacancies, dislocation loops, and voids activate martensitic transformations over a wider range of mechanical loading conditions than in pristine material. Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying irradiation-enabled martensite transformations remain unclear. In this work, we use molecular dynamics simulations to study the effect of vacancies and voids on strain-induced martensitic transformations in a model concentrated solid solution alloy Fe-50 at.% Ni. It has been found that single vacancies have no resolvable effect on the transformation because they reduce the stacking fault energy by a relatively insignificant margin and do so only if the vacancy is located on the stacking fault plane. Voids, however, activate the martensite transformation through shear strain accumulation around the void due to dislocation pileup. The larger the void, the more pronounced this effect.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗