Institute of Metals Division - Work Hardening of Internally Oxidized Silver and Silver-Aluminum Alloy Single Crystals ( TN)

INTERNAL oxidation occurs readily in silver due to the rapid diffusion of oxygen in silver.' It has a marked effect on creep in polycrystalline silver2 and raises the critical resolved shear stress in single crystals of silver.3 However, the effect of oxygen on the work-hardening parameters of silver is not known. It is the aim of this paper to describe the effect of internal oxidation on the work-hardening characteristics of single crystals of silver and an Ag-0.1 at. pct A1 alloy. The materials used were: 99.99 pct Ag from Handy and Harman and 99.993+ pct A1 from Alcoa. Single crystals, 6 mm by 6 mm in cross section of silver and Ag-0.1 at. pct A1 of mo.5 orientation, i.e., the orientation with the Schmidt factor m = 0.5. were grown by the Chalmers technique.4 One set of specimens, referred to herein as oxidized specimens, was annealed at 940°C for 24 hr in a muffle furnace, in air, and furnace-cooled to room temperature. Another set of specimens, referred to as nonoxidized specimens, was annealed in oxygen-free helium at 940°C for 24 hr and furnace-cooled over a period of 7 hr to room temperature. The annealed single crystals were tested at room temperature in a floor-model Instron testing machine. The results are presented in Figs. 1 and 2. A