Devinder Singh

By Devinder Singh, R.K. Mandal, R.S. Tiwari and O.N. Srivastava

In the present chapter, results of our recent investigations on the role of gallium (Ga) on the aluminum (Al) site in Zr69.5Al7.5-xGaxCu12Ni11 metallic glass (MG) composition have been discussed. The material tailoring and cooling rate effects on the mechanical behavior of Zr-based metallic glasses and their nanocomposites have been studied. The substitution of Ga on the Al site in Zr–Al–Cu–Ni alloy affects the nucleation and growth characteristics of quasicrystals (QCs) and consequently changes the morphology of nanoquasicrystals. The Zr69.5Al7.5-xGaxCu12Ni11 system displayed metallic glass formation in the range of x = 0–7.5. In this process, we have come out with a new glass composition; Zr-Ga-Cu-Ni with glass transition temperature (Tg)—614 K. The effect of cooling rate on the glass forming ability (GFA) and mechanical properties for this new metallic glass composition has been discussed and compared with some other Zr-based metallic glasses. The various indentation parameters such as microhardness, yield strength, strain hardening constant, nature of shear band formation, and so on for the alloys have been analyzed. The study is focused on investigations of these materials to understand the structure (microstructure) property correlations.

Part of the book: Metallic Glasses

By Devinder Singh, Radhey Shyam Tiwari and Onkar Nath Srivastava

In this chapter, results of our recent investigations on the hydrogenation behavior of Zr-based quasicrystalline alloys and its effect on their structural and microhardness behavior have been discussed. The microstructural changes with respect to the addition of Ti and their correlation with hydrogen storage characteristics of (Zr69.5Al7.5Cu12 Ni11)100−xTix (x = 0, 4 and 12) quasicrystalline alloys have been studied. The substitution of Ti affects the nucleation and growth characteristics of nano-quasicrystals. The grain size of quasicrystals decreases with addition of Ti. The hydrogen uptake capacity of partially quasicrystalline alloys has been improved by the addition of Ti. The alloys with x = 0, 4, and 12 absorbed 1.20 wt.%, 1.38 wt.%, and 1.56 wt.% of hydrogen, respectively. A significant effect on the structure/microstructure and mechanical behavior of (Zr69.5Al7.5Cu12Ni11)100−xTix quasicrystalline alloys due to hydrogenation has been observed. The change in the microhardness behavior has been discussed based on microstructural variation resulting to Ti addition. The study is focused on investigations of these materials to understand the structure (microstructure)-property correlations.

Part of the book: New Advances in Hydrogenation Processes

By Devinder Singh and Sven Hovmöller

Complete 3D electron diffraction can be collected by rotation electron diffraction (RED) for single-crystal powder-sized samples, i.e., <0.1 μm, in all dimensions. Data collection takes about 1 h and data processing takes another hour. The crystal structures are solved by standard crystallographic techniques. X-ray crystallography requires crystals several micrometers big. For nanometer-sized crystals, electron diffraction and electron microscopy (EM) are the only possibilities. Two methods have been developed for collecting complete (except for a missing cone) three-dimensional (3D) electron diffraction data: the rotation electron diffraction and automated electron diffraction tomography (ADT). By collecting 1000–2000 electron diffraction patterns, a complete 3D data set is obtained. The geometry in RED is analogous to the rotation method in X-ray crystallography; the sample is rotated continuously along one rotation axis. In recent years, large number of crystal structures has been solved by RED. These include the most complex zeolites ever solved and quasicrystal approximants, such as the pseudo-decagonal approximants PD2 and PD1 in Al-Co-Ni. In this chapter, the results of our recent studies on the structure analysis of complex pseudo-decagonal (PD) quasicrystal approximants PD2 (a = 23.2, b = 32.3, c = 4.1 Å) and PD1 (a = 37.3, b = 38.8, c = 4.1 Å) by RED have been discussed. These are known to be the most complicated approximant structures ever solved to atomic resolution by electron crystallography. PD2 and PD1 are built of characteristic 2 nm wheel clusters with fivefold rotational symmetry, which agrees with other approximants in the PD series as well as with the results from high-resolution electron microscopy images.

Part of the book: Electron Crystallography

By Devinder Singh

Part of the book: Electron Crystallography