INTERNAL FRICTION ASSOCIATED WITH THE RE-SOLUTION AND PRECIPITATION OF THE θ - PHASE ALONG THE GRAIN BOUNDARIES AND IN THE MATRIX OF ALUMINIUM-COPPER ALLOYS

1987 ◽  
Vol 48 (C8) ◽  
pp. C8-417-C8-422
Author(s):  
P. CUI ◽  
T. S. KÊ

I should like to enlarge on the part of our paper (3.10) in which we considered the effect of trace additions of specific elements on precipitation and on methods of controlling precipitate size. By the term ‘trace elements’ I differ from those working with steel and mean deliberate additions of specific elements in amounts from a few hundreths to about one tenth of an atomic percentage. The atoms of these elements tend to be different in size from those of the matrix and so it is natural that they should seek some site in the lattice at which they can reduce their energy. This they do by segregating preferentially to defects and interfaces and this is how their effects can be utilized. There are four typical sites: 1. Grain boundaries which have recieved most attention. Here trace elements can be used to control the rate at which boundaries can migrate. This can be at higher or lower rates than the normal migration rate of the boundaries in a pure alloy depending on the nature of the trace element. Thus they can cause grain refinement or at the other extreme, they can introduce a property akin to superplasticity for which only about 0.1 atomic percentage is needed. Unwanted trace additions can cause embrittlement but intentional additions can replace detrimental elements at boundaries and thus increase ductility. Embrittlement is often caused by discontinuous precipitation which is a consequence of grain boundary migration. The use of boron in steel to increase the depth of hardening is an example of a trace element effect at grain boundaries. By reducing boundary migration, the formation of pearlite is inhibited. 2. Dislocations which have been well treated especially in steels and aluminium alloys. 3. The matrix/precipitate interface which is now thought to be a special case of segregation to dislocations, in this case to growth dislocations at the m atrix/precipitate interface. Trace elements have been detected at this interface and as long as they remain there, growth of the precipitate is prevented. This avoids the coarsening to which Professor Honeycombe has referred. 4. Vacant lattice sites where they can control diffusion rates. This is extremely im portant as less than 0.1 % of one atomic species can control the whole diffusion process over a wide range of temperature. If the trace element forms part of the precipitate or structure which is produced by diffusion, then the trace element will accelerate precipitation; whereas if the trace element plays no part in the precipitate structure, it denies vacancies to the diffusing species. We have cases of elements added to aluminium -copper alloys delaying g.p. zone formation for more than three years, when in the absence of the trace element, g.p. zone formation would be complete in about 48 h. I would like to concentrate on the last two processes and illustrate them by an example which enabled us to develop a new engineering material from first principles using our knowledge of trace element effects.


Author(s):  
F. I. Grace ◽  
L. E. Murr

During the course of electron transmission investigations of the deformation structures associated with shock-loaded thin foil specimens of 70/30 brass, it was observed that in a number of instances preferential etching occurred along grain boundaries; and that the degree of etching appeared to depend upon the various experimental conditions prevailing during electropolishing. These included the electrolyte composition, the average current density, and the temperature in the vicinity of the specimen. In the specific case of 70/30 brass shock-loaded at pressures in the range 200-400 kilobars, the predominant mode of deformation was observed to be twin-type faults which in several cases exhibited preferential etching similar to that observed along grain boundaries. A novel feature of this particular phenomenon was that in certain cases, especially for twins located in the vicinity of the specimen edge, the etching or preferential electropolishing literally isolated these structures from the matrix.


Author(s):  
C.B. Carter ◽  
A.M. Donald ◽  
S.L. Sass

Using thin-film gold bicrystals with the boundary plane parallel to the foil surface, it has been shown(l,2) that networks of grain boundary dislocations can act as diffraction gratings and give rise to subsidiary reflections close to the matrix reflections in electron diffraction patterns. Recently several groups of workers(3-5) have shown that inclined boundaries in polycrystalline specimens also produce extra reflections which may be due to the periodic nature of the boundaries. In general grain boundaries in polycrystalline specimens will be steeply inclined to the foil surface and additional reflections due to wave matching at the boundary(6) will also be present. The diffraction technique has the potential for providing detailed information on the structure of inclined boundaries (see, for example (5)), especially for the case where the image contains no useful information. In order to provide a firm basis for this technique, the geometry of the diffraction effects expected from inclined boundaries and the influence of these effects on the appearance of images will be examined.


Author(s):  
C. K. Wu

The precipitation phenomenon in Al-Zn-Mg alloy is quite interesting and complicated and can be described in the following categories:(i) heterogeneous nucleation at grain boundaries;(ii) precipitate-free-zones (PFZ) adjacent to the grain boundaries;(iii) homogeneous nucleation of snherical G.P. zones, n' and n phases inside the grains. The spherical G.P. zones are coherent with the matrix, whereas the n' and n phases are incoherent. It is noticed that n' and n phases exhibit plate-like morpholoay with several orientation relationship with the matrix. The high resolution lattice imaging techninue of TEM is then applied to study precipitates in this alloy system. It reveals the characteristics of lattice structures of each phase and the orientation relationships with the matrix.


Author(s):  
R. W. Fonda ◽  
D. E. Luzzi

The properties of polycrystalline materials are strongly dependant upon the strength of internal boundaries. Segregation of solute to the grain boundaries can adversely affect this strength. In copper alloys, segregation of either bismuth or antimony to the grain boundary will embrittle the alloy by facilitating intergranular fracture. Very small quantities of bismuth in copper have long been known to cause severe grain boundary embrittlement of the alloy. The effect of antimony is much less pronounced and is observed primarily at lower temperatures. Even though moderate amounts of antimony are fully soluble in copper, concentrations down to 0.14% can cause grain boundary embrittlement.


2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (06n07) ◽  
pp. 855-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
FEIYUE MA ◽  
ZHIYI LIU

The microstructural evolution in an Al - Cu - Mg - Ag alloy with trace Zr addition during homogenization treatment was characterized by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). It was shown that the low-melting-point phase segregating toward grain boundaries is Al 2 Cu , with a melting point of 523.52°C. A two-step homogenization process was employed to optimize the microstructure of the as-cast alloy, during which the alloy was first homogenized at a lower temperature, then at a higher temperature. After homogenized at 420°C for 6 h, Al 3 Zr particles were finely formed in the matrix. After that, when the alloy was homogenized at an elevated temperature for a longer time, i.e., 515°C for 24 h, most of the precipates at the grain boundaries were removed. Furthermore, the dispersive Al 3 Zr precipitates were retained, without coarsening greatly in the final homogenization step. A kinetics model is employed to predict the optimal homogenization time at a given temperature theoretically, and it confirms the result in present study, which is 420°C/6h+515°C/24h.


1996 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 113-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sundar Ramamurthy ◽  
Michael P. Mallamaci ◽  
Catherine M. Zimmerman ◽  
C. Barry Carter ◽  
Peter R. Duncombe ◽  
...  

Dense, polycrystalline MgO was infiltrated with monticellite (CaMgSiO4) liquid to study the penetration of liquid along the grain boundaries of MgO. Grain growth was found to be restricted with increasing amounts of liquid. The inter-granular regions were generally found to be comprised of a two-phase mixture: crystalline monticellite and a glassy phase rich in the impurities present in the starting MgO material. MgO grains act as seeding agents for the crystallization of monticellite. The location and composition of the glassy phase with respect to the MgO grains emphasizes the role of intergranular liquid during the devitrification process in “snowplowing” impurities present in the matrix.


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