Institute of Metals Division - Fracture Mechanisms in Controlled Cu-Cr Eutectic Alloy

A study of the fracture behavior of unidirectwn-ally solidified Cu-Cr eutectic alloy was performed. Fractured whiskers, grain boundaries, and the interface between proeutectic Cr dendrites and the Cu matrix were the predominant failure initiation sites where grain size was larger. Strain induced void formation was restricted at lower solidification rates. This was attributed to a lack of adequate plastic constraint and a probable preferred orientation. A modification of the Crussard et al. model is presented to explain the appearance of "elongated dimples" on the shear fracture surface. A Cu-Cr alloy containing about 1.8 at. pct Cr solidifies by a eutectic reaction forming filamentary crystals of chromium within a continuous copper solid solution matrix.' Webb and Forgeng2 have shown by bend tests that the extracted chromium filaments, which are ordinarily curved and branched (due to random solidification), have the high strengths associated with whiskers. If an ingot of the eutectic alloy is unidirectionally solidified and appropriate control exercised over the thermal gradient, growth rate, and impurity level, the chromium fibers can be forced to solidify as fibers which are substantially parallel to the growth direction, Fig. 1. Uniaxial tensile tests on these straight chromium fibers extracted from controlled ingots3 have confirmed the earlier bend test results on curved fibers. Combining the facts that the strength and modulus of the chromium filaments are higher than the more ductile copper matrix and assuming that a "good bond" exists between the two phases, the Cu-Cr controlled eutectic system fulfills the requirements for effective fiber reinforcement of ductile matrices as established by studies on fiber glass reinforced plastics and other two-phase systems.4 Therefore, it was decided to study the fracture characteristics of morphologically simple specimens of chromium fiber reinforced copper (i.e., specimens of the controlled eutectic with substantially parallel reinforcing fibers) with the objective of establishing the dominant aspects of fracture. PREVIOUS WORK Comparatively little work has been done to understand the manner in which ductile alloys fail be- cause of the limited demand for this kind of information. Ordinarily ductility is specified for safety or similar reasons and when a part deforms plastically its useful life is terminated. In recent years, however, a number of investigators have begun to