Effects of deep cryogenic treatment on microstructures, mechanical properties and dimensional stability of beryllium for inertial devices

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) on hot isostatic pressed (HIP) beryllium for inertial devices, focusing on residual stress, microstructure, tensile properties, and dimensional stability. The findings revealed that during DCT, residual stress in beryllium increased gradually due to non-uniform volumetric contraction and mismatch stress, reaching a 59.9% increase from initial levels after 200 h of DCT. DCT led to significant grain refinement and an increase in dislocation density. In 200 h DCT-treated beryllium, geometric necessary dislocation (GND) density increased 17.9%, grain size decreased 12.3%, and therefore yield strength and tensile strength improved by 4.2% and 5.6%, respectively. The dimensional stability of HIP beryllium was significantly enhanced by DCT, and the improvement tended to increase with the duration of DCT. The cumulative size changes of beryllium after 200 h of DCT during both cold exposure and cold cycling decreased significantly by 86% and 50%, respectively, compared to those of HIP beryllium. Furthermore, the residual tensile strength and retention rate increased by 12.5% and 5.5%, respectively, after undergoing room-temperature creep at 100 MPa for 1000 h.

Keywords

inertial devices / beryllium / deep cryogenic treatment / dimensional stability / microstructure / mechanical properties

References

[1] Marder J M. Beryllium in stress-critical environments [J]. Journal of Materials for Energy Systems, 1986, 8(1): 17-26.

[2] Vidal E E. Beryllium and beryllium composites for aerospace applications [J]. JOM: the Journal of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, 2010, 62(11): 3-4

[3] Mary Jasmin N, Beena T, Senthil S, et al.. Machinability behaviors of synthesized beryllium composite [J]. Materials Today: Proceedings, 2023, 74: 40-43

[4] Gaisin R, Frants Y, Kolmakov M, et al.. Beryllium intermetallics: Industrial experience on development and manufacture [J]. Nuclear Materials and Energy, 2023, 35: 101444.

[5] González-Llana A, González-Bárcena D, Pérez-Grande I, et al.. Selection of extreme environmental conditions, albedo coefficient and Earth infrared radiation, for polar summer Long Duration Balloon missions [J]. Acta Astronautica, 2018, 148: 276-284.

[6] Han C-y, Chen J-j, Xia X-h, et al.. Three-dimensional stability analysis of anisotropic and non-homogeneous slopes using limit analysis [J]. Journal of Central South University, 2014, 21(3): 1142-1147.

[7] Chen Z-j, Wang Y, Ma F, et al.. Effects of heat treatment on physical and mechanical properties and dimensional stability of plantation poplar [J]. Journal of Central South University of Forestry & Technology, 2012, 32(6): 142-145. (in Chinese).

[8] Li B-gui. Analysis of the effect of internal stresses release on the dimension stability of wood-based panel [J]. Journal of Central South Forestry University, 2006, 26(3): 78-81. in Chinese).

[9] Luo B-h, Shan Y-m, Bai Z-H. Effect of annealing temperature on microstructure and corrosive properties of cold-rolled 5083 aluminum alloy after quenching [J]. Journal of Central South University (Science and Technology), 2007, 38(5): 802-808. (in Chinese).

[10] Zhang J-h, Nie K-b, Zhang J-h, et al.. Effect of annealing temperature on microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-Zn-Zr-Nd alloy with large final rolling deformation [J]. Journal of Central South University, 2024, 31(6): 1774-1789.

[11] Ren P H, Xiao L R, Cai Z Y, et al.. Micromechanical properties and creep behavior of instrument-grade beryllium after different stabilizing heat treatments [J]. Materials Letters, 2025, 383: 138007.

[12] Liu Y, Wu Z-c, Gao W, et al.. Effect of annealing temperatures on microstructural stability and mechanical properties of Ti-Zr-Nb alloy [J]. Journal of Materials Research and Technology, 2023, 23: 3570-3578.

[13] Ren P-h, Xiao L-r, Cai Z-y, et al.. Effects of thermal-cold cycling treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of hot isostatic pressed beryllium [J]. Vacuum, 2025, 233: 113907.

[14] Ren P-h, Xiao L-r, Cai Z-y, et al.. Effects of thermal-cold cycling on dimensional stability of HIPed beryllium [J]. Rare Metal Materials and Engineering, 2024, 53(10): 2718-2722

[15] Xiong C-x, Zhang X-m, Deng Y-l, et al.. Effects of cryogenic treatment on mechanical properties of extruded Mg-Gd-Y-Zr(Mn) alloys [J]. Journal of Central South University of Technology, 2007, 14(3): 305-309.

[16] Sun Q, Du Y, Wang X-n, et al.. Effect of welding thermal cycling on microstructures and cryogenic impact toughness of medium-Mn low-temperature steel [J]. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 2024, 55(10): 3869-3882.

[17] Liu Y, Lin J-p, Min J-y, et al.. Effect of deep cryogenic treatment on mechanical properties and microstructure of the tool steel CR7V for hot stamping [J]. Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 2018, 27(9): 4382-4391.

[18] Villa M, Pantleon K, Somers M A J. Evolution of compressive strains in retained austenite during sub-zero Celsius martensite formation and tempering [J]. Acta Materialia, 2014, 65: 383-392.

[19] Gill S S, Singh J, Singh R, et al.. Effect of cryogenic treatment on AISI M2 high speed steel: Metallurgical and mechanical characterization [J]. Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 2012, 21(7): 1320-1326.

[20] Das D, Dutta A K, Ray K K. Sub-zero treatments of AISI D2 steel: Part I. Microstructure and hardness [J]. Materials Science and Engineering A, 2010, 527(9): 2182-2193.

[21] Zhang H-l, Zhang G-q, Zhou H-c, et al.. Influence of cooling rate during cryogenic treatment on the hierarchical microstructure and mechanical properties of M54 secondary hardening steel [J]. Materials Science and Engineering A, 2022, 851: 143659.

[22] Cheng W-j, Cui D-d, Sun Y-n, et al.. Cryogenic work-hardening behavior for a metastable austenitic stainless steel at liquid nitrogen temperature [J]. Materials Science and Engineering A, 2022, 861: 144352.

[23] Sun J-q, Ma Y, Gao C, et al.. Comprehensive tensile properties improved by deep cryogenic treatment prior to aging in friction-stir-welded 2198 Al-Li alloy [J]. Rare Metals, 2024, 43(10): 5403-5409.

[24] Venkateswarlu K, Varma K P V K, Nutakki U K. Effect of nanoparticle reinforcement and cryogenic treatment on aluminum alloys for enhancement of mechanical and microstructural characteristics-A review [J]. International Journal on Interactive Design and Manufacturing (IJIDeM), 2025, 19(7): 4663-4682.

[25] Zhao L-y, Zhu W, Zhang C, et al.. Detwinning and anneal-hardening behaviors of pre-twinned AZ31 alloys under cryogenic loading [J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2024, 37(9): 1551-1563.

[26] Singh Sidhu H, Singh B, Kumar P. Effect of cryogenic treatment on corrosion behavior of friction stir processed magnesium alloy AZ91 [J]. Materials Today: Proceedings, 2021, 46: 10389-10395

[27] Li W T, Li H, Fu M W. Interactive effect of stress state and grain size on fracture behaviours of copper in micro-scaled plastic deformation [J]. International Journal of Plasticity, 2019, 114: 126-143.

[28] Ji K-s, Liu Y-x, Zhang Y-j, et al.. Grain size effect on plastic microformation behavior for Inconel 718 foils: Experiment and modeling [J]. Journal of Central South University, 2024, 31(5): 1412-1425.

[29] Wang R-q, Dai G-q, Guo Y-h, et al.. Effect of heat treatment on hot deformation behavior and microstructure evolution of 2195 Al-Li alloy [J]. Journal of Central South University, 2023, 30(5): 1417-1434.

[30] Qiu K-f, Liu Y, Gill S, et al.. The effect of temperature dependent elastic anisotropy on residual stresses and ratcheting in transpiration cooled Nickel gas turbine blades [J]. European Journal of Mechanics-A, 2025, 111: 105595.

[31] Bignon M, Bernacki M. Particle pinning during grain growth: A new analytical model for predicting the mean limiting grain size but also grain size heterogeneity in a 2D polycrystalline context [J]. Acta Materialia, 2024, 277: 120174.

[32] Wei S, Ma P-p, Chen L-h, et al.. High density dislocations enhance creep ageing response and mechanical properties in 2195 alloy sheet [J]. Journal of Central South University, 2024, 31(7): 2194-2209.

[33] Zhao Y-y, Xu X-z, Liu Y-l, et al.. The long-term creep behavior and damage mechanism of RAFM steel for fusion reactors [J]. Fusion Engineering and Design, 2023, 194: 113908.

[34] Tang M-b, Pan X-h, Deng W-j, et al.. Prediction of thermal expansion of solids in wide temperature range by heat capacity [J]. Transactions of Materials Research, 2025, 1(1): 100015.

[35] Ranganathan H, André D, Mouiya M, et al.. A multiscale discrete element thermomechanical modeling approach of microcracking generated at high temperature by anisotropic thermal expansion in an elastic brittle polycrystalline ceramic material [J]. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 2025, 320: 111088.

[36] Koeller R C, Raj R. Diffusional relaxation of stress concentration at second phase particles [J]. Acta Metallurgica, 1978, 26(10): 1551-1558.

[37] Jamalian M, Reeve J I, Field D P. Thermal behavior of AZ31 gradient microstructure after cold severe surface plastic deformation [J]. Materials Characterization, 2020, 169: 110630.

[38] Zhao W-d, Liu D-x, Shi H-l, et al.. The effect of surface gradient nanostructure and compressive residual stress on fretting fatigue of A100 ultra-high strength steel by ultrasonic surface rolling process [J]. International Journal of Fatigue, 2025, 193: 108775.

[39] Tajika H, Kutsukake K, Usami N. Stress analysis and dislocation cluster generation in silicon crystal with artificial grain boundaries [J]. Journal of Crystal Growth, 2025, 649: 127922.

[40] Brown N, Lukens K F. Microstrain in polycrystalline metals [J]. Acta Metallurgica, 1961, 9(2): 106-111.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Central South University