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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 145 records · Page 8

Evaluation of Corrosion Behavior of Various Fe- and Ni-Based Alloys in Molten Li 2 BeF 4 (FLiBe)

Reliable performance of structural alloys is essential for the successful implementation of Generation-IV fluoride salt–cooled high-temperature reactors (FHRs). Most FHR designs are considering molten salt (2LiF-BeF 2 ), or FLiBe, as a primary coolant or fuel carrier. The main corrosion mechanism for alloys exposed to molten fluoride salts is the selective dealloying of active alloying elements. Alloy composition has a significant effect on their high-temperature mechanical properties, but also affects their corrosion behavior. Although Hastelloy-N and its variants show good corrosion resistance compared to higher Cr-containing Ni- or Fe-based alloys, the mechanical properties of these alloys degrade quickly at temperatures above ~600°C. Twelve Ni-based or Fe-based alloys were selected due to their high temperature stability or their low Cr alloy composition and tested for their corrosion behavior in FLiBe. The results show that the mode and the extent of alloy degradation by selective dissolution mechanism corelates well with the overall alloy composition, and not just the concentration of active elements. It was found that there was good correlation between weight loss of the tested alloys and the ratio of major active elements (Cr, Mn) to that of the more noble alloying elements (Ni, Mo).

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Rare Earth Element—Aluminum Alloys

An alloy includes aluminum, a rare earth element, and an alloying element selected from the following: Si, Cu, Mg, Fe, Ti, Zn, Zr, Mn, Ni, Sr, B, Ca, and a combination thereof. The aluminum (Al), the rare earth element (RE), and the alloying element are characterized by forming at least one form of an intermetallic compound. An amount of the rare earth element in the alloy is in a range of about 1 wt. % to about 12 wt. %, and an amount of the alloying element in the alloy is greater than an amount of the alloying element present in the intermetallic compound.

Moore, Emily E.↗

Molecular dynamics simulation of effects of solutes on dislocation propagation in Ni-based superalloys

Ni-based superalloys are used in the hot sections of jet turbine engines because of their high strength, stability and resistance to oxidation. The properties of these alloys can be further optimized by adding alloying elements. Therefore, a fundamental knowledge on the effect of different elements on properties of Ni-based superalloys is required. Molecular dynamics simulation could shed light here but its application is hindered by the absence of reliable and computationally cheap semi-empirical potential of the interatomic interaction for 4 and more element alloys. We will present a new Ni-Al-Cr-Nb Finnis-Sinclair (FS) potential specially designed to simulate the dislocation propagation from to  phase. In order to construct this potential, we designed a special algorithm to incorporate the data on element partitioning in the potential development procedure. For example, it is known from experiment, that Cr is mostly present in the gamma phase. Figure 1 shows a snapshot obtained after equilibration of the model of the Ni68Al17Cr15 alloy at T=1000 K using the hybrid Monte-Carlo (MC)/molecular dynamics (MD) simulation with the developed semi-empirical potential. One can clearly see that the Cr partitioning is in agreement with the experimental data. We will discuss the developed algorithm to incorporate the solute partition data in details. Using the developed semi-empirical potential, we first investigated the effect of anti-site defects in the  phase on the single dislocation propagation. It was found that the dislocation velocity increases with the increasing of the anti-site defect concentration. This effect was attributed to smaller number of Al-Al pairs forming during the dislocation migration in the presence of the anti-site defects. Next, we investigated the effect of Nb on the dislocation pair propagation in the Kolbe mechanism. It was found that the addition of Nb leads to considerable decrease in the dislocation propagation rate. This is in agreement with the experimental data on the effect of Nb on the creep resistance of the Ni-based superalloys. We will discuss the origin of this effect.

Mikhail I. Mendelev↗

Materials processing in space

Processing-refining of raw materials from extraterrestrial sources is detailed for a space materials handling facility. The discussion is constrained to those steps necessary to separate desired components from raw or altered input ores, semi-purified feedstocks, or process scrap and convert the material into elements, alloys, and consumables. The materials are regarded as originating from dead satellites and boosters, lunar materials, and asteroids. Strong attention will be given to recycling reagent substances to avoid the necessity of transporting replacements. It is assumed that since no aqueous processes exist on the moon, the distribution of minerals will be homogeneous. The processing-refining scenario will include hydrochemical, pyrochemical, electrochemical, and physical techniques selected for the output mass rate/unit plant mass ratio. Flow charts of the various materials processing operations which could be performed with lunar materials are provided, noting the necessity of delivering several alloying elements from the earth due to scarcities on the moon.

Waldron, R. D.↗

Elevated temperature aluminum alloys

Three aluminum-lithium alloys are provided for high performance aircraft structures and engines. All three alloys contain 3 wt % copper, 2 wt % lithium, 1 wt % magnesium, and 0.2 wt % zirconium. Alloy 1 has no further alloying elements. Alloy 2 has the addition of 1 wt % iron and 1 wt % nickel. Alloy 3 has the addition of 1.6 wt % chromium to the shared alloy composition of the three alloys. The balance of the three alloys, except for incidentql impurities, is aluminum. These alloys have low densities and improved strengths at temperatures up to 260.degree. C. for long periods of time.

Meschter, Peter↗

Coated optical fiber and method of making same

A method is disclosed of making a coated optical fiber. The method may involve drawing a preform through a furnace to create a fiber having a desired diameter and cross sectional shape. The fiber is then drawn through a slurry, wherein the slurry includes elements including at least one of metallic elements, alloy elements or dielectric elements, and the slurry wets an outer surface of the fiber. As the fiber is drawn through the slurry, it is then drawn through a forming die to impart a wet coating having a desired thickness on an outer surface of the fiber. The wet fiber is then drawn through an oven or ovens configured to heat the wet coating sufficiently to produce a consolidated surface coating on the fiber as the fiber exits the oven or ovens.

Messerly, Michael↗

Development Results on Replacement Materials for Current Scarce or High Supply Chain Risk Materials

In September 2020, the U.S. government issued an executive order to address the threat to the domestic supply chain from its reliance on critical minerals (CMs) from foreign competitors and to support the domestic mining and processing industry. The Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technology (AMMT) program is addressing this executive order by evaluating advanced manufacturing (AM) and its impact on the demands of CMs for energy production in general and how the deployment of AM in nuclear energy will support the projected goals of the Paris Accord and further a net-zero carbon economy (NZE) by 2050. Three strategic reports were previously prepared by the AMMT program to date and identified two areas for more detailed exploration: (1) the replacement of high-risk CMs such as cobalt and niobium by more abundant minerals and (2) the minimization and utilization of CM waste streams. The design of nuclear materials without critical elements as alloying elements, is a part of the nuclear materials strategy to overcome the critical minerals scarcity. In this report, two approaches are evaluated namely (1) replacement of critical elements as alloying elements in nuclear materials, and (2) the design of a new alloys that does not contain critical minerals as an alloying element.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A comprehensive diffusion mobility database comprising 23 elements for magnesium alloys

We report that reliable experimental diffusion coefficients of 10 key alloying elements in Mg obtained by the present authors together with experimental data in the literature enabled us to perform a systematic test of the reliability of diffusion coefficients obtained from DFT calculations. The computed activation energy values were found to be quite accurate (mostly within 0.2 eV) but the computed pre-factors were less reliable. Such insights allowed us to develop a practical and yet robust strategy to perform diffusion mobility assessments by adopting the computed activation energy while fitting only the pre-factor when available experimental data are limited to a narrow temperature range. The overall good agreement between the DFT data and experimental data also gave us the confidence to employ the computed data for those that were still missing or inaccessible from experimental measurements. A systematic assessment of both the measured and computed diffusion data in hcp Mg was performed using the above holistic approach to yield the most comprehensive open Mg mobility database to date, comprising 23 elements (Mg, Ag, Al, Be, Ca, Cd, Ce, Cu, Fe, Ga, Gd, In, La, Li, Mn, Nd, Ni, Pu, Sb, Sn, U, Y, Zn). This more reliable mobility database will contribute to future development of advanced Mg alloys. The holistic approach developed in this study will be very beneficial to the future establishment of reliable mobility databases for other alloy systems as well.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Investigation of crossed-twin structure formation in magnesium and magnesium alloys

In this work, the effect of alloying addition on the propensity for twin-twin interactions to transform into crossed-twin structures in magnesium alloys is investigated. A full-field elasto-viscoplastic fast Fourier transform (EVP-FFT) framework combined with a discrete twin model and dislocation density-based hardening law for slip strengths is used to calculate the micromechanical fields in the crystalline matrix around the interacting twins. AZ31 and MgLi alloys are selected along with pure Mg to study the influence of plastic anisotropy in connection with alloying elements. These alloys were selected since their plastic anisotropy measure, which is defined as the ratio between the critical resolved shear stress for pyramidal $\langle$c +a$\rangle$ and basal $\langle$a$\rangle$ slip modes, spanned a wide range. To quantify the role of twin thicknesses, we probe a range of impinging twin thicknesses while fixing the recipient twin thickness. The analysis reveals that: (i) the local driving stress for crossed twin structure formation generated from the interaction of the two twins is lower in a low plastically anisotropic material, like a MgLi alloy, than a high plastically anisotropic material like pure Mg and (ii) the critical impinging twin thickness needed to form the crossed twin structure in pure Mg, AZ31 and MgLi alloys is ~0.5, ~0.75 and ~1.5 times the recipient twin thickness. We propose a relationship between the tendency for crossed twin structure formation and the experimentally observed higher ductility in MgLi alloys compared to pure Mg. Finally, one key implication of the findings is that crossed- twin structure formation can be hindered and the ductility of magnesium alloy thereby improved by properly choosing alloying elements that lower the slip strength for pyramidal $\langle$c + a$\rangle$ slip.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗