Papers by Keyword: Grain Boundary Embrittlement

Abstract: Effect of solute interaction on interfacial segregation and grain boundary cohesion is modeled on basis of combined Guttmann and Rice-Wang approaches in binary and ternary systems. It is shown that attractive II binary interaction strengthens interfacial segregation and enhances intergranular embrittlement while repulsion exhibits an opposite effects. In a ternary system the segregation is suppressed by the IJ attraction while increased by the repulsion. The effect of the binary interaction is generally stronger compared to the ternary one.

Abstract: The broad application of platinum and platinum alloys results from their excellent high temperature mechanical properties as well as their near-perfect oxidation resistance and their outstanding resistance to corrosive attack by metal oxide melts such as fluxing agents. However, a few basic rules must be adhered to if platinum devices are to give satisfactory service. Platinum is susceptible to “platinum poisons” and other impurities. These “poisons”, the reasons for their corrosive effects, and techniques for minimizing or eliminating their influence are outlined.

Abstract: The GB embrittlement mechanism of Fe enhanced by P segregation has been investigated by first-principles tensile tests because a P atom is a famous GB embrittler in Fe. The first-principles tensile tests have been performed on Fe with two P-segregated GBs, where P atoms are located at the different sites, and with a nonsegregated GB. The tensile strength and the strain to failure in the P-segregated GBs were lower than those in the nonsegegated GB. The first bond breaking occurred at the Fe-P bond owing to the covalent-like characteristics, although the charge densities were high at the Fe-P bonds even just before the bond breaking. This premature bond breaking of Fe-P was independent of the location of the P atom.

Abstract: Two Ni-Fe-Cr ternary alloys have been oxidized in simulated pressurized water reactor primary water at 360°C for 1000 h. The chemical composition of those alloys were chosen in order to be representative of the one of chromium depleted areas under the oxide scale of industrial alloys (e.g. alloy 600) exposed in the same conditions. The resulting oxidized structures (corrosion scale and underlying metal) were characterized using complementary analytical methods (FEG-SEM, TEM, SIMS, optical microscopy). On the one hand, the characterized external oxide layer is very close to the one observed on industrial nickel-base alloys, hence validating the use of such model alloys. On the other hand, both free oxygen and oxides have been detected at grain boundaries several micrometers under the metal/oxide interface. Implications of such a finding on the involved transport mechanisms for oxygen and the intergranular stress corrosion cracking resistance of nickel-base alloys are then discussed.