NiTi shape memory alloys (SMAs) are extensively used in various significant areas such as aerospace industries, biomedical sector, automobile industries, and robotics field because of their inherent properties, namely, shape memory effect and superelasticity. Nevertheless, the machining of these alloys is a problematic task by conventional machining practices because of various difficulties such as strain hardening, tool failure, high machining time, and poor surface quality. In recent years, researchers have explored various advanced/unconventional machining processes to surmount these challenges and improve the performance characteristics of NiTi SMAs. Wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) is an effective and reasonable alternative to machine these hard-to-machine alloys among the other available advanced machining processes. A brief overview, characteristics, applications, and conventional machining of NiTi SMAs have been incorporated in this study. This review article provides substantial insight into the various aspects of surface integrity (SI) for NiTi SMAs using WEDM. The current study highlights literature review on the research work accomplished so far in the domain of SI aspects for NiTi-based SMAs, namely, surface characteristics, react layer, phase analysis, elemental composition, micro-hardness, shape recovery ability, and residual stress in WEDM.

In the present study, 3D atom probe was used to study the effect of increased Mo (1–3 wt%) on clustering in secondary hardening ultra-high strength steels. Clusters have been classified into three categories, namely, Type I, Type II, and Type III with the (Cr + Mo)/C ratio of <1.5, 1.5–3.25, and >3.25, respectively. Cluster evolution suggests that size and volume fraction (Vf) of Type II clusters increase continuously from as-quenched to aged samples, while the number density (Nv) increases in 400 °C aged sample and decreases in 450 and 500 °C samples. On the other hand, Nv and Vf of both Type I and Type III clusters decrease on aging. This work clearly suggests that on aging, Type II clusters, which are close to M2C stoichiometry, become most stable, which may eventually either become M2C precipitates upon prolonged aging or act as potential nuclei for the precipitation of equilibrium M2C precipitates.

In this paper, we report a recent theoretical study of the calculation of the binding energy and photoionization cross section of a single dopant in a spherical hollow or core/shell quantum dot taking into account the interaction of the electron with longitudinal optical phonons. Using Frolich approach and Lee-low Pines transformation, we determine the impact of different parameters such as shell thickness and dopant position on the energy and optical response of a bound polaron for two types of ionic II–VI semiconductors CdTe and ZnSe with different phonon coupling constants. Regardless of the material used, the electron–phonon interaction visibly reduces binding energy. For photoionization cross section, a redshift of resonance peaks was found when the effect of phonons is taken into consideration or when the donor is moved away from the shell center. These calculations provide us insights when choosing between materials for optoelectronic applications.

Chitosan is one of the most versatile biopolymers available with established properties such as antimicrobial, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, mucoadhesive, and more. It has been in biomedical research for long, but still the bench-to-bedside translation is hampered because of viscosity and solubility issues. The only commercial application of chitosan has been in hemostatic dressings. Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS), on the other hand, is highly promising in a similar research area where chitosan's limitations come into the way. COS is highly soluble in water, and its viscosity is very less than that of the parent chitosan. Although COS retains properties very similar to those of chitosan, there has been minuscule volume of research on this water-soluble chitosan. COS has been successfully used as a drug delivery vehicle in various research. COS has also shown to have osteogenic ability. It has been used as a coating on experimental orthopedic implants because of its antibacterial properties. As of now, COS is not a much-explored biopolymer, although it could be an important biopolymer for its capacity in biomedical research. This article reviews various properties and reports of COS relevant for biomedical applications.

Nickel-coated carbon nanotubes (Ni-CNTs) were achieved by electroless plating. Laser cladded IN718 and IN718 with 10, 30, and 50 wt% additions of Ni-CNTs were fabricated. The structural evolution of CNTs in the laser-deposited layers was studied; the microstructure, tensile, and wear properties of the laser-cladded alloys were characterized. The results show that CNTs in the laser-deposited layers are mostly transformed to carbon nanoproducts (CNPs) in the forms of graphene nanosheets, graphene fragments, carbon nanoribbons, and diamond-like nanoparticles by unzipping, interbonding, collapsing, and curvature of CNTs. The interdendritic Laves phase formation is dramatically depressed due to the addition of Ni-CNTs, but the excess addition of the Ni-CNTs can undesirably increase the formation of NbC. The addition of Ni-CNTs effectively improves the tensile and wear properties. The most superior tensile and wear properties are achieved in the layers with 30 and 50 wt% additions of Ni-CNTs, respectively. The generation of intermetallic phase and CNPs are revealed to be two dominant effects both on the tensile and wear properties of the laser-cladded alloys.

Vast improvements have been made to the capabilities of advanced manufacturing (AM), yet there are still limitations on which materials can effectively be used in the technology. To this end, parts created using AM would benefit from the ability to be developed from feedstock materials incorporating additional functionality. A common three-dimensional (3D) printing polymer, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, was combined with bismuth and polyvinylidene fluoride via a solvent treatment to fabricate multifunctional composite materials for AM. Composites of varying weight percent loadings were extruded into filaments, which were subsequently 3D printed into blocks via fused filament fabrication. Investigating the material properties demonstrated that in addition to the printed blocks successfully performing as radiation shields, the chemical, thermal, and mechanical properties are suitable for AM. Thus, this work demonstrates that it is possible to enhance AM components with augmented capabilities while not significantly altering the material properties which make AM possible.

Constant strain rate nanoindentation hardness measurements at high sustained strain rates cannot be made in conventional nanoindentation testing systems using the commonly employed continuous stiffness measurement technique (CSM) because of the “plasticity error” recently reported by Merle et al. [Acta Mater.134, 167 (2017)]. To circumvent this problem, here we explore an alternative testing and analysis procedure based on quasi-static loading and an independent knowledge of the Young's modulus, which is easily obtained by standard nanoindentation testing. In theory, the method applies to any indentation strain rate, but in practice, an upper limit on the rate arises from hardware limitations in the testing system. The new methodology is developed and applied to measurements made with an iMicro nanoindenter (KLA, Inc.), in which strain rates up to 100 s−1 were successfully achieved. The origins of the hardware limitations are documented and discussed.

Al0.1CoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) was synthesized successfully from elemental powders by mechanical alloying (MA) and subsequent consolidation by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The alloying behavior, microstructure, and mechanical properties of the HEA were assessed using X-ray diffraction, electron microscope, hardness, and compression tests. MA of the elemental powders for 8 h has resulted in a two-phased microstructure: α-fcc and β-bcc phases. On the other hand, the consolidated bulk Al0.1CoCrFeNi-HEA sample reveals the presence of α-fcc and Cr23C6 phases. The metastable β-bcc transforms into a stable α-fcc during the SPS process due to the supply of thermal energy. The hardness of the consolidated bulk HEA samples is found to be 370 ± 50 HV0.5, and the yield and ultimate compressive strengths are found to be 1420 and 1600 MPa, respectively. Such high strength in the Al0.1CoCrFeNi HEA is attributed to the grain refinement strengthening.

In this study, mechanical properties and microstructural investigation of Ti64 at high strain rate are studied using a split-Hopkinson pressure bar method under compression for temperatures up to 800 °C. Flow softening in the mechanical response of material to such loading conditions hints at instability in compression, which increases with an increase in temperature. Microstructural characterization of the deformed material is characterized using the electron-backscattered diffraction technique. It reveals the presence of instabilities in Ti64 in the form of a fine network of shear bands. The shear band width grows with an increase in temperature along with the area fraction of shear band in the material, displaying its improved capacity to contain microstructural instabilities at higher temperature. After a detailed microstructural investigation, a mechanism for shear band widening is proposed. Based on this mechanism, a path generating nuclei within shear bands is discussed.

Electrochemical capacitors featuring a modified acetonitrile (AN) electrolyte and a binder-free, activated carbon fabric electrode material were assembled and tested at <−40 °C. The melting point of the electrolyte was depressed relative to the standard pure AN solvent through the use of a methyl formate cosolvent, to enable operation at temperatures lower than the rated limit of typical commercial cells (−40 °C). Based on earlier electrolyte formulation studies, a 1:1 ratio of methyl formate to AN (by volume) was selected, to maximize freezing point depression while maintaining a sufficient salt solubility. The salt spiro-(1,1′)-bipyrrolidinium tetrafluoroborate was used, based on its improved conductivity at low temperatures, relative to linear alkyl ammonium salts. The carbon fabric electrode supported a relatively high rate capability at temperatures as low as −65 °C with a modest increase in cell resistance at this reduced temperature. The capacitance was only weakly dependent on temperature, with a specific capacitance of ∼110 F/g.

A set of embedded atom model (EAM) interatomic potentials was developed to represent highly idealized face-centered cubic (FCC) mixtures of Fe–Ni–Cr–Co–Al at near-equiatomic compositions. Potential functions for the transition metals and their crossed interactions are taken from our previous work for Fe–Ni–Cr–Co–Cu [D. Farkas and A. Caro: J. Mater. Res. 33 (19), 3218–3225, 2018], while cross-pair interactions involving Al were developed using a mix of the component pair functions fitted to known intermetallic properties. The resulting heats of mixing of all binary equiatomic random FCC mixtures not containing Al is low, but significant short-range ordering appears in those containing Al, driven by a large atomic size difference. The potentials are utilized to predict the relative stability of FCC quinary mixtures, as well as ordered L12 and B2 phases as a function of Al content. These predictions are in qualitative agreement with experiments. This interatomic potential set is developed to resemble but not model precisely the properties of this complex system, aiming at providing a tool to explore the consequences of the addition of a large size-misfit component into a high entropy mixture that develops multiphase microstructures.

The demands of modern materials are highly challenging as well as partially contradictory. For example, materials should be strong like steels but chemically inert like soft low-surface energy polymers. These conflicts can be overcome by effectively combining disparate materials in composites that allow fusing of the traditional material classes like ceramics, polymers, and metals. Such combinations require sufficient adhesion between the individual materials. If adhesion is based on mechanical interlocking, the chemistry and chemical compatibility of the individual materials play a negligible role for the adhesion, but the mechanical properties of the materials are exclusively important. This work focusses on a technologically relevant example of a micro-mechanical interlocking surface structure on grade 304 stainless steel (SST) by nanoscale sculpturing. Using a low aggressive/low toxic seawater-like and diluted HNO3-based electrolyte, the resulting structure is free from preferential grain-boundary etching. The sculptured surface is super hydrophilic with undercuts suitable for mechanical interlocking with polymers. In single-lap shear tests, different two-component adhesives failed cohesively on structured SST while showing more than a doubling of the ultimate shear strength compared to the state-of-the-art grit-blasted SST composites which only showed adhesive failure.

Hydrogels have gained recent attention for biomedical applications because of their large water content, which imparts biocompatibility. However, their mechanical properties can be limiting. There has been significant recent interest in the strength and fracture toughness of hydrogel materials in addition to their stiffness and time-dependent behavior. Hydrogels can fail in a brittle manner, although they are extremely compliant. In this work, the failure and fracture of hydrogels are examined using a compression test of spherical hydrogel particles. Spheres of commercially available polyacrylamide–potassium polyacrylate were hydrated and tested to failure in compression as a function of loading rate. The spheres exhibited little relaxation when compressed to small fixed displacements. The distributions of strength values obtained were examined in a particle fracture framework previously used for brittle ceramics. There was loading rate dependence apparent in the measured peak force and calculated peak strength values, but the data fell on a single empirical distribution function of strength for the hydrogels regardless of loading rate. Strength values for these hydrogels were mostly in the range of 0.05–0.3 MPa, illustrating the challenges using hydrogels for mechanically demanding applications such as tissue engineering.