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Possible self-organized criticality in the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect during decomposition of solid solution alloys

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Abstract

Spatial fluctuations of the microstructure suggest possible self-organized criticality in the Portevin-Le Chatelier plastic instability occurring in age-hardenable alloys. The discontinuous yielding found in a supersaturated Al alloy can be characterized by a universal power-law spectrum that is independent of the experimental conditions. The result provides an explanation for the formation of unexpected detrimental strain localizations when samples are severely deformed, giving a framework for studying the simultaneous effects of solute atoms and precipitates in the decomposition of solid solutions.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund under Grant Nos. K81360, K67692, and TÁMOP 4.2.1/ B-09/1/KMR (N.Q.C., J.G., J.L.), and by the National Science Foundation of the United States under Grant No. DMR-0855009 and the European Research Council under ERC Grant Agreement No. 267464-SPDMETALS (T.G.L.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Physics, Eötvös University Budapest, 1117, Budapest, Pázmany P. sétány 1/A, Hungary

    Nguyen Q. Chinh, Tivadar Győri, Jenő Gubicza & János Lendvai

  2. Departments of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 90089-1453, USA

    Terence G. Langdon

  3. Materials Research Group, School of Engineering Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Terence G. Langdon

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  1. Nguyen Q. Chinh
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  2. Tivadar Győri
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  3. Jenő Gubicza
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  4. János Lendvai
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  5. Terence G. Langdon
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Correspondence to Nguyen Q. Chinh.

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Chinh, N.Q., Győri, T., Gubicza, J. et al. Possible self-organized criticality in the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect during decomposition of solid solution alloys. MRS Communications 2, 1–4 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2011.25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2011.25

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