This study examines the effect of microstructural factors on the strength and deformability of ferrite-pearlite steels. Six kinds of ferrite-pearlite steel specimens are fabricated with the addition of different amounst of Mn and V and with varying the isothermal transformation temperature. The Mn steel specimen with a highest Mn content has the highest pearlite volume fraction because Mn addition inhibits the formation of ferrite. The V steel specimen with a highest V content has the finest ferrite grain size and lowest pearlite volume fraction because a large amount of ferrite forms in fine austenite grain boundaries that are generated by the pinning effect of many VC precipitates. On the other hand, the room-temperature tensile test results show that the V steel specimen has a longer yield point elongation than other specimens due to the highest ferrite volume fraction. The V specimen has the highest yield strength because of a larger amount of VC precipitates and grain refinement strengthening, while the Mn specimen has the highest tensile strength because the highest pearlite volume fraction largely enhances work hardening. Furthermore, the tensile strength increases with a higher transformation temperature because increasing the precipitate fraction with a higher transformation temperature improves work hardening. The results reveal that an increasing transformation temperature decreases the yield ratio. Meanwhile, the yield ratio decreases with an increasing ferrite grain size because ferrite grain size refinement largely increases the yield strength. However, the uniform elongation shows no significant changes of the microstructural factors.

Hydrogen is in the spotlight as an alternative next generation energy source for the replacement of fossil fuels because it has high specific energy density and emits almost no pollution, with zero CO2 emission. In order to use hydrogen safely, reliable storage and transportation methods are required. Recently, solid hydrogen storage systems using metal hydrides have been under extensive development for application to fuel cell vehicles and fuel cells of MCFC and SOFC. For the practical use of hydrogen on a commercial basis, hydrogen storage materials should satisfy several requirements such as 1) hydrogen storage capacity of more than 6.5wt.% H2, moderate hydrogen release temperature below 100˚C, 3) cyclic reversibility of hydrogen absorption/desorption, 4) non toxicity and low price. Among the candidate materials, Li based metal hydrides are known to be promising materials with high practical potential in view of the above requirements. This paper reviews the characteristics and recent R&D trends of Li based complex hydrides, Li-alanates, Li-borohydrides, and Li-amides/imides.

The effect of the initial packing structure on the plasticity of amorphous alloys was investigated by tracing the structural evolution of the amorphous solid inside a shear band. According to the molecular dynamics simulations, the structural evolution of the amorphous solids inside the shear band was more abrupt in the alloy with a higher initial packing density. Such a difference in the structural evolution within the shear band observed from the amorphous alloys with different initial packing density is believed to cause different degrees of shear localization, providing an answer to the fundamental question of why amorphous alloys show different plasticity. We clarify the structural origin of the plasticity of bulk amorphous alloys by exploring the microstructural aspects in view of the structural disordering, disorder-induced softening, and shear localization using molecular dynamics simulations based on the recently developed MEAM (modified embedded atom method) potential.

Nanostructured and composite powders have been prepared by mechanochemical reaction from mixtures of Ti, BN, and powders. The raw materials have reacted to form a uniform mixture of TiN, and or depending on the amount of used in the starting mixtures, and the reaction proceeded through so-called mechanically activated self-sustaining reaction (MSR). Fine TiN and crystallites less than a few tens of nanometer were homogeneously dispersed in the amorphous or matrix after milling for 12 hours. These amorphous matrices became crystalline phases after annealing at high temperatures as expected, but the original microstructure did not change significantly