Search Documents

By G. Sandoz

A simple diffusion-couple experiment was carried out for the purpose of determining whether chromium in sufficient amounts would cause the cementite phase in cast irons to become thermodynamically stable with respect to graphite and austenite at 1750°F. The implications of the results to some current theories on graphitization mechanisms are discussed. The literature abounds with evidence that chromium retards the decomposition of cementite to graphite and austenite or ferrite, for example during first-stage and second-stage graphitization in malleabilizing white cast irons and the subcritical graphitization of steels. Efforts to explain this retarding action of chromium have been conjectural, however, because the mechanisms controlling graphitization kinetics in the absence of chromium have never been clearly established. Concerning rate control, there are basically two schools of thought: 1) that graphitization rates are limited by diffusion potential (the stability of cementite relative to graphite, and 2) that graphitization rates are limited by diffusivity of Fe, C, Si, vacancies, and so forth.5'10 Chromium then, is thought either to increase the stability of cementite or to retard some critical diffusion process.

Jan 1, 1960

By E. G. Schempp, W. A. Morgan

The influence of modifications in the molybdenum, vanadium and, to a limited degree, carbon and boron content to a basic composition of 5 pct Cr, 0.75 pct Mo, 1 pct V hot-work tool steel composition, was studied in respect to hardenability, grpain- coarsening temperature, and tempering charactevistics. Tensile, impact, and fatigue pvoperties were studied for the most promising compositions. An alloy with a typical composition of 0.43 pct C, 4.97 pct CI-, 0.33 pct Si, 2.25 pct Mo, and 1.00 pct V uas found to offer the most favorable combination of properties in respect to high-strength applicntions when tempered at 1100°F. MANY 5 pct Cr high-strength steels are at present being manufactured in North America which fit well into the classification of the AISI-SAE system. Much interest has been shown in these materials as ultra-high-strength steels for use at elevated temperatures. The limiting temperature of use lies at the point where the steels begin to soften rapidly. Although a great deal of information has been made available in the past two years on the properties of selected alloys in this series, little information exists on the effect of systematically varying the ccntent of one or more elements in the 5 pct Cr-base alloy. This paper presents the results of an investigation of the effect of variations of the carbon, molybdenum, vanadium, and, to a limited extent, the silicon, manganese, boron, and niobium content of a 5 pct Cr steel to the AISI H-13 base analysis. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE All experimental heats were melted in a 50-lb. induction furnace. The melting stock consisted of

Jan 1, 1962

By N. Nakanishi, C. M. Wayman

The effect of small copper additions on the mar-tensitic transformation behavior in Au-47.5 at. pct Cd was studied by measuring electrical resistivity as a function of temperature. The transformation behavior was found to change and transformation start (M,) temperatures for both the ß to ß' and ß to ß' transformations were depressed substantially by the addition of small amounts of copper. Both M, temperatures were lowered approximately 70°C per at. pct Cu. Copper also had the effect of narrowing the transformation hysteresis region (resistivity us temperature), and for the alloy Au-47.5 Cd-1.5 Cu there was little or no hysteresis; in this alloy, the reverse transfmmation upon heating apparently occurs below the thermodynamic equilibrium temperature, To. THE ß phase in the Au-Cd system occurs at the electron/atom ratio 3/2, and is similar to other ß phases in alloys based on copper, silver, or gold. It is of the CsCl type, in which a considerable degree of long-range order persists to the melting temperature.' The phase boundaries of the ß phase are not known precisely below 300° C, but at room tem- perature the phase exists from approximately 46 to 52* at. pct Cd.2 At low temperatures, the ß phase transforms in a diffusionless (martensitic) manner. Alloys having a composition near 47.5 pct Cd transform upon slow cooling to an orthorhombic3 phase, ß', at - 60°C. Alloys having a composition near 49.0 pct Cd, transform at - 30°C into a phase, ß", which has been recently identified as trigonal.4 Alloys having compositions near 48.5 pct Cd will transform into both the 0' and 0" phases over a range of temperatures. The progress of transformations can be observed

Jan 1, 1963

By F. M. Yans, A. D. Donaldson, A. R. Kaufmann

Beryllium was mixed by powder. metallurgical techniques with copper, nickel, iron, and chromium, respectively, to form beryllium -rich binary alloys which Mere then extyuded and rolled transtverse to the extrusion direction. The effect of each alloying element was determined by tensile testing. In solid solution, small amounts of iron and nickel had an embrittling effect, while copper in solution increased the strength but had no effect on ductility. The effect of chromium was complicated and not readily explainable. Observations concerning the planes and modes of fracture were made. BERYLLIUM possesses some very attractive properties for general design applications, especially its strength to weight ratio which is approximately twice that of aluminum and three times that of stainless steel. Equally significant, however, is its combination of high moduli , high strength (approximately 70,000 psi tension and 40,000 psi shear), and low density (0.0658 Ib per in.3), which has made it a potentially important structural material for use in high-speed aircraft and missiles. The main attractions of beryllium are most marked when compared to other constructional alloys now in use. For example, while its density is approximateiy that of magnesium, its modulus of elasticity is approximately seven times that of magnesium, three times that of titanium, four times that of aluminum, and 1 1/3 times that of steel. Furthermore, its relatively high strength and high melting temperature permit design for service temperatures to about 1100°F. It is felt by the aircraft industry in general,' that the high cost of beryllium can easily be amortized by the savings in fuel costs, and increases in aircraft payload and range. The only factor which has prevented the use of the metal in structural applications is its lack of sufficient ductility. It is this property that has retarded the development and utilization of beryllium. Beryllium's modes of deformation, Fig. 1 indicate that the main fracture planes at room temperature in a randomly oriented sample are the (0001) basal planes; the (1150) prism planes are the planes of secondary fracture.' Klein, Macres, Woodard, and Greenspan3 obtained elongations of up to 40 pct in beryllium sheet rolled above 700°C when the (0001) basal planes were oriented parallel to the plane of the sheet (see Fig. 2).

Jan 1, 1962

By J. T. McGrath, R. C. A. Thurston

Poly crystalline specimens of copper, and copper with various additions of zinc, were tested in plane-bending fatigue. In tests performed at a constant stress, the fatigue life of copper increased slightly with the addition of up to fifteen per cent zinc. There was a sharp increase in fatigue life as further additions of zinc of up to 35 pct were made. Surface observations showed that the coarse slip bands that are characteristic of fatigue became narrower as the concentration of zinc increased. The rate of crack propagation also decreased with increasing zinc content. It is suggested that the fatigue behavior is controlled by cross slip processes. CROSS slip occurs when dislocations move from one primary slip plane to another along a connecting or cross slip plane. The primary and cross slip planes have a common slip direction. Wide stacking faults, having low energy, tend to make cross slip more difficult. According to recent theories, the ability of a material to cross slip is important to the formation and propagation of fatigue cracks. McEvily and Machlin2 have examined this concept experimentally by fatiguing single crys tals of lithium fluoride, sodium chloride, silver chloride, and KRS-5.* The latter two materials ex- hibit easy cross slip, while the former two do not. Normal rapid fatigue failure was obtained in the silver chloride and KRS-5 specimens, whereas it was much more difficult to achieve in sodium chloride and lithium fluoride crystals. Furthermore, numerous slip band extrusions and intrusions were found in silver chloride and KRS-5 crystals, whereas only one isolated extrusion was found in lithium fluoride and none was found in sodium chloride. McEvily and Machlin also consider that there is no clear-cut demarcation between crack initiation and propagation. The intrusion-extrusion process, which initiates crack formation, continues ahead of the cracks to allow propagation of these cracks along slip bands. The process of cross slip is therefore important not only to crack initiation, but also to crack propagation. Holden4 postulates that fatigue crack growth is dependent upon cross slip and thus upon stacking-fault energy. Using an X-ray microbeam technique, he found a cyclic subgrain structure in fatigued aluminum and a-iron. Holden suggests that micro-cracks develop in the densely-packed sub-boundaries ahead of the main crack front, and when sufficiently numerous join up to promote crack growth. The ease with which a subgrain structure could form would depend upon the ability of the dislocations to cross slip, and thus upon the stacking-fault energy. Hence in aluminum, which has a high stack-ing-fault energy and in which cross slip is easy, Holden found that the relative rate of fatigue crack propagation was considerably greater than in stainless steel, a low stacking-fault energy material. It has been shown by a number of investigators that the probability of forming deformation stacking faults in copper increases as zinc is added.5-7 Cross slip should, therefore, become more difficult as the zinc concentration is increased. In order to check the validity of the foregoing theories, it was decided to test copper and copper with various additions of zinc in plane bending fatigue, and determine to what extent their fatigue properties are dependent upon their ability to cross slip. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Fatigue tests were carried out on polycrystalline OFHC copper and various copper-zinc alloys with 5, 15, 20, 30, and 35 wt pct Zn. The Cu-Zn alloys were obtained commercially in sheet form. Test specimens, as shown in Fig. 1, were machined from sheet that had been reduced to an approximate grain size of 0.040 mm, the heat-treatment procedure being similar to that of Feltham anc copley.8

Jan 1, 1963

By E. S. Machlin, A. J. McEvily

HE results of an experimental investigation by McEvily and Machlin have indicated that a strong relationship exists between the processes of cross slip and fatigue. Whenever dislocations can cross onto an intersecting plane and expand thereon, as in AgCl crystals, the usual type of S-N behavior is obtained, but when such a process is difficult, as in NaCl crystals, fatigue does not occur in its usual manner, if at all. MgO, because of its crystal structure (NaCl type) and slip systems ({110}<110>) would not be expected to fail in fatigue. However, Cornet and Gorum2 have found something akin to the usual type of fatigue behavior for MgO crystals. The purpose of this note is to attempt to resolve this apparent discrepancy. In Cornet and Gorum&apos;s work as-cleaved crystals were tested under cyclic axial loading, whereas in McEvily and Machlin&apos;s work chemically-polished crystals were tested in reversed bending. Because of the difference in specimen preparation, the major effort of the present work was directed toward comparing the behavior of as-cleaved as opposed to chemically-polished specimens. The effect of type of loading seemed less important, but a check was made on this also. Eighteen bend tests and one axial load test were made. The specimens were cleaved from Norton magnorite blocks, and measured 1 by 3/16 by 1/8 in. To avoid failures in the grips, the thickness of the bend specimens was reduced from 1/8 in. near the ends to 0.04 in. in the central portion. This reduction was from one side of the crystal only. Twelve specimens were polished in orthophosphoric acid to remove the damage due to cleavage. The other six specimens were not chemically polished so as to maintain the as-cleaved condition of the crystal faces which had not been reduced. The axial-load specimen was reduced from both faces to a thickness of

Jan 1, 1962

By B. S. Blakeney, E. P. Abrahamson II

The effect of the transition elements in binary solid-solution additions upon the recrystallization temperature of iron has been investigated. All these elements immediately raised the temperature, the majority having their greatest effect in less than 0.10 at. pct. A correlation is noted between the rate of change of recrystallization temperature with atomic percent solute and the electron configuration of the solute element. THE work of Abrahamson and rant&apos; on binary chromium-base alloys indicated that a correspondence existed between the effect of each solute element on the brittle-to-ductile transition temperature of chromium and the ground-state electron configuration of the element added. This was felt to be a bonding phenomenon and would be expected to be observed in measurements of other properties involving the breaking or exchange of atomic bonds. From this work it was postulated that a like correspondence should be found for other properties of binary alloys, such as recrystallization. This study is an effort to check this postulation using binary solid-solution iron-base alloys. Previously, the majority of recrystallization studies were carried out on steels. However, Tammann2 investigated the recrystallization of iron as effected by Co, Ni, Si, Mn, Mo, and Cr and stated that elements with the same crystal structure at room temperature as iron appeared to be more effective in raising the recrystallization temperature. Austin, Luini, and Lindsay3 studied the effects of Ni, Cr, Mn, Co, Si, and Mo on cold rolling and annealing, but noted no trend. Abrahamson and rant,&apos; in their work on the effect of both substitutional and interstitial elements upon the brittle-to-ductile transition of chromium, have shown that the outer electron configuration in the ground state of the solute element appears to be the prime determinant of the transition temperature. PROCEDURE All alloys were made using 99.95 + pct Fe with 0.02 wt pct 0, 0.004 pct C, and 0.001 pct N. All alloying elements were 99.9 + percent pure. Metal-lographically the alloys, out to at least 0.1 at. pct, appeared to be in solid solution. Though several published phase diagrams tend to dispute this.4 All alloys were arc melted six times and cast into square 400-g ingots under an argon atmosphere.

Jan 1, 1961

By R. A. Pasternak, B. Evans

In an ultrahigh-vacuum study of the sorption of nitrogen by niobium* resistivity data for this metal have been obtained as function of temperature and of low nitrogen concentrations. The ultrahigh-vacuum system in which base pressures of about 5 x l0-10

Jan 1, 1965

By C. L. Meyers, J. L. Lytton, T. E. Tietz

The recovery of tensile flow stress of 99.995 pct A1 under conditions of elastic strain and plastic creep straining was investigated using a fractional recovery parameter. Tensile straining was conducted at room temperature to a true strain of 0.10, and recovery treatments were made under stress in the temperature range from 80° to 198°C. Whereas elastic strains had no appreciable influence on flow-stress recovery, plastic creep straining was found to accelerate the recovery process. Although higher creep stresses gave greater recovery for a given time and temperature, it was found that lower stresses produced greater recovevy at equal ALTHOUGH many studies have been made to date on the recovery of metals from the cold-worked creep strains above about 0.005. This effect was attributed to the coarser, and therefore weaker, substructure developed during creep at the lower stresses. The activation energy for recovery during creep straining at 2075 psi between 160" and 198°C was found to be 25,000 cal per mole. This value was not significantly greater than the value previously obtained for no-load recovery. The activation energy for creep at 2075 psi between 160" and 198°C was 34,000 cal per mole, a value significantly greater than that for recovery under the same conditions. state, little is known concerning some important aspects of recovery behavior. One such area is the effect concurrent strain has on the recovery process. Since metals in structural applications at high temperatures are under stress, the possible effects of the resulting elastic and plastic strain on recovery may be of significant importance.

Jan 1, 1962

By C. R. Simcoe, T. J. Koppenaal

The effect of direct and alternating currents on the quench aging behavior in an Al-4 pct Cu alloy has been investigated by use of resistivity measurements. The reaction rate increases with direct current density in the investigated range of 1000 to 3000 amps per sq cm. Alternating current of a specific frequency is observed to decrease the reaction rate by a factor of about two. ErDMANN-JESNITZER et al.,1,2 investigated the effect of direct and alternating current on the quench and strain aging behavior of low-carbon iron. In both cases they observed that direct current accelerates the aging reaction and that an alternating current can completely inhibit the aging process. The purpose of the present research was to investigate these phenomena in the quench aging behavior of an Al-4 pct Cu alloy and to determine the correlation, if any, between the increase in the observed reaction rate and possible heating effects accompanying the aging with direct current. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The aluminum-base alloy used in this investigation contained 3.98 wt pct Cu (1.72 at. pct) with impurities of 0.003 pct Si, 0.002 pct Fe, and 0.001 pct Mg. The alloy was rolled into a ribbon about 0.36 mm thick and 3.7 mm wide. The ribbon was split end from end with the ends being used as electrical contacts and the central unsplit section, about 5.3 cm in length, serving as the specimen. Solution treatment was accomplished by quenching from a salt bath at 520° ± 2°C into water at 25° ±0.5°C; the specimen was immediately transferred to a liquid nitrogen bath. All aging was done at 75° ± 0.2°C in a rapidly stirred ethylene glycol bath. Resistivity measurements were made by the double potentio-metric method employing a standard resistor; for purposes of convenience, the resistance measurements were made at 77°K. The transfer of the specimen from the aging bath to a liquid nitrogen dewar was accomplished in less than 1 sec. The aging kinteics were studied with the specimen being aged under the influence of direct current, alternating current, and without any type of current. The amount of heating caused by direct currents was investigated by soldering a thermocouple on the specimen surface and measuring the temperature change after applying various current densities. The temperature was observed to increase (from 75°C, the aging temperature) about 0.8°, 3.0°, and 8.5°C with direct currents of 1000, 2000, and 3000 amp per sq cm, respectively. When employing alternating current, the circuit was monitored with an oscilloscope and adjustments made to produce a normal sine-wave pattern. RESULTS Prior investigations3&apos;4 in the aging characteristics of A1-4 wt pct Cu have shown that the resistivity initially increases, reaches a maximum, and then decreases to values significantly lower than the as-quenched resistivity. This type of behavior is seen in Fig. 1 which shows the resistivity at 77°K as a function of aging time at 75°C observed in this investigation. At this aging temperature, the resistivity maximum is seen to occur in about 1 to 1-1/2 min and it further decreases to the as-quenched value in about 24 min. The behavior observed with the application of direct currents of 1000, 2000, and 3000 amp per sq cm during aging is shown in Fig. 2. With increasing current densities, (+) ?pmax decreases and the rate of the aging process increases. The time necessary to reach the as-quenched resistivity value decreases from 24 min for aging without current to about 16, 10, and 7 min for aging with 1000, 2000, and 3000 amp per sq cm direct current, respectively. Fig. 3 shows the results obtained when two changes were made during the aging with 2000 amp per sq cm

Jan 1, 1963

By J. M. Hodge, H. M. Reichhold, R. D. Manning

The work reported in this paper represents the first of a series of investigations of the factors governing notch toughness in ferritic materials. This paper is concerned with two of these factors, namely, the effect of ferrite grain size, and the effect of an alloy content of 3.64 pct nickel. Every effort has been made to hold other variables constant in order to isolate the effects of these two. The compositions chosen for study were 0.02 pct carbon in order to eliminate the variable of carbide distribution, one steel being a plain carbon steel and the other alloyed with 3.64 pct nickel. Both steels were fully killed with silicon, without an aluminum addition, so that the variable of deoxidation practice was held constant. Finally, all samples were water quenched from 1200°F and tempered 24 hr at 300°F in order to hold the quench aging variable constant and to decrease the tendency for grain boundary carbide precipitation. The ferrite grain size was varied by heat treatment over the range of A.S.T.M. grain size numbers of about 2 to 6 in each steel so that the effect could be evaluated individually and the notch toughness of each steel could be compared at comparable ferrite grain sizes. Materials and Experimental Procedure MATERIALS The materials for this investigation were obtained from Battelle Memorial Institute as 250 Ib induction melts which were forged into 134 in. square bars and then rolled into 0.6 in. square bars. Both steels were deoxidized with silicon, the aluminum content being held to a minimum. Check analyses of these materials are shown in Table 1. HEAT TREATMENT FOR GRAIN SIZE The grain size was varied by varying both the cooling rate and the austeni- tizing temperatures. The heat treatments used and the corresponding grain size values are tabulated in Table 2. A semicontinuous network of grain boundary carbide was observed in the microstructure of both the plain carbon and nickel steels in the as rolled condition and an additional heat treatment was necessary to eliminate this variable. Therefore, all samples were water quenched from 1200°F and tempered 24 hr at 300°F as a final treatment before testing. This heat treatment served to eliminate to a great extent the grain boundary carbide network and to hold the quench aging effect constant. IMPACT TESTING Standard keyhole Charpy impact tests were machmed after heat treatment. A bath of acetone and dry ice was used for refrigeration of the samples down to temperatures of —94°F (—70°C) and a bath of either methyl-cyclohexane or isopentane, cooled by

Jan 1, 1950

By Vito J. Colangelo

The primary object of this study was to determine the effect of ferrite and its orientation upon the mechanical properties of a precipitation -hardening stainless steel with particular attention to the short-transverse properties. The investigation consisted of Jour major parts : the preliminary investigation of billet properties, the effect of forging reduction and ferrite content upon mechanical properties, the effect of notch orientation upon impact strength, and the relationship of heat composition to ferrite content. Low ductility and impact strength in the short transverse direction were found to he associated with the orientation and shape of- the ferrite plates. It was also determined that impact strength varied with notch orientation. The test values obtained with the notch perpendicular to the plane of the ferrite plate were lower than those obtained in the notch-parallel condition. The over-all investigation showed that high ferrite contents in general had a deleterious effect upon mechanical properties and that the ferrite content could he minimized by exercising rigorous control of the heat composition. A careful balance of elements, nitrogen in particular, must he maintained in order to reduce the formation of ferrite. THE precipitation-hardening stainless steels were developed to fulfill a need for high-strength corrosion-resistant alloys. In the annealed condition they are soft and ductile and possess many of the desirable characteristics of the austenitic stainless steels. In the hardened condition, the alloys exhibit the high strength and hardness of the martensitic stainless steels. The alloy under consideration in this investigation has a nominal composition as follows: C Mn Si Cr Ni Mo N 0.13 0.95 0.25 15.50 4.30 2.75 0.10 The hardening mechanism is identical to that of other hardenable steels in that it depends upon the transformation of austenite to martensite. This alloy because of its annealed structure and its ability to be hardened combines the desirable forming and corrosion properties of the austenitic grades with the high hardness and strength levels attainable with the hardenable grades. The reason for this apparent duplicity of proper- ties can be explained by considering a basic metallurgical difference between the hardenable stainless steels and those of the austenitic group. Both types are austenitic at 1800°F but, while the martensitic grades transform to martensite upon rapid cooling to room temperature, the austenitic grades remain austenitic even when cooled to temperatures below room temperature. The major difference then is in the degree of austenite stability. This stability can quantitatively be described by the Ms temperature. The Ms is defined as that temperature at which austenite begins to transform to martensite. The austenitic grades for example may be cooled to -300°F without producing significant quantities of martensite. The hardenable stainless steels on the other hand have an Ms temperature in the vicinity of 400" to 700°F. In cooling to room temperature, these alloys traverse the entire Ms-Mf range and show almost complete transformation to martensite. The semiaustenitic stainless steel, however, occupies an intermediate position with respect to its austenite stability. The analysis is so balanced that the Ills temperature lies at or slightly above room temperature. The resulting alloy retains much of its austenite at room temperature and yet responds to hardening heat treatments. Achieving this delicate balance of elements is therefore of great importance. Slight imbalances of the equivalent Cr-Ni ratios frequently result in the presence of 6 ferrite. It is the effects of this ferrit with which we are concerned, more specifically the effect of the quantity and ferrite orientation upon mechanical properties, particularly ductility. PROCEDURE A) Preliminary Investigation of Billet and Forging Properties. In order to determine the effect of ferrite on billet properties, billet stock from three heats with various ferrite contents was utilized. Tensile specimens were obtained in the transverse and longitudinal directions from this material and heat-treated as shown in Tables I and 11. Forgings were made from these same heats, the purpose being to determine what effect, if any, the ferrite might have upon the mechanical properties. These forgings were made in such a manner as to elongate the ferrite in the longitudinal and transverse directions. The method of forging was as follows. A section was cut from a 6-in.-sq billet of Heat A and flat-forged to 1-1/2 in. thick. Working was done from one direction only with no edging passes as shown

Jan 1, 1965

By G. F. Dillion, A. F. Armington

THE present method for the ultrapurification of boron involves the formation, distillation, and decomposition of boron tribromide.&apos; However, the boron tribromide prepared contains several impurities in the ppm range, even after distillation. Some of these impurities, notably carbon, can be reduced after decomposition by zone refining. In this study, a comparison of the purity of boron tribromide at various formation temperatures is presented. The apparatus employed consisted of a bromine flask connected to a 22 mm ID horizontal quartz reaction tube packed with amorphous boron powder, which was in turn connected to a receiving flask cooled with an ice bath. Argon was used as a carrier gas. The approximate rate of passage of bromine to the reaction tube was 25 g per hr. The reaction was first investigated at several temperatures in order to determine the lowest temperature necessary to produce a colorless product which was assumed to be an indication of complete reaction of the bromine. The lowest temperature found in this study was 420oC. The amount of impurities found in the boron tribromide at various formation temperatures is shown in Table I. The data presented are emission spectroscopic results of boric oxide produced by the hydrolysis of 2 to 3 g of boron tribromide in 10 ml of distilled water. After hydrolysis, the samples were dried several hours on a hot plate. Assuming equilibrium conditions in the reactor, one can make approximate thermodynamic calculations estimatling the completeness of reaction of bromine with boron and its impurities at various temperatures. Data for these calculations were taken from Rossini,3 and must be taken as approximations since the T?S factor was not included in the calculations. The results of such calculations indicate that, with the exception of carbon bromina-tion, all impurities would react almost to completeness (> 99 pet) at all temperatures between 400" and 900oC. In the case of carbon, which cannot be accurately analyzed spectroscopically, it is estimated that only about one sixth as much carbon tetrabromide would be formed at 400" than at 900°C. Since some marked reductions in impurity content were observed at the lower reaction temperature which would not be predicted by thermo-

Jan 1, 1962

By E. S. Machlin, C. W. Chen

RECENTLY Chen and Machlin&apos; proposed a mechanism for intercrystalline cracking in metals during high-temperature stressing. According to this mechanism the formation of voids at grain boundaries is primarily responsible for intercrystalline cracking. A model has been provided to demonstrate the initiation of submicroscopic cracks and voids at jogs of grain boundaries where grain boundary sliding is inhibited. Submicroscopic cracks can grow as a result of either further grain boundary sliding or localized tensile stress. In the former case, it is believed that grain boundary sliding produces more voids which link together to produce macroscopic cracks and which may lead to the eventual failure of the metal. Concurrently, Nield and Quarrell2 reported their interesting results obtained in a systematic investigation of intercrystalline cracking in two aluminum alloys under various creep conditions. Their observations are generally in agreement with the above mechanism, especially the conclusion that voids are formed as a direct consequence of grain boundary sliding. On the basis of the volume fraction occupied by voids, they could find no confirmation of vacancy condensation as the mechanism for void growth. Furthermore, an important feature of intercrystalline cracking has been likewise pointed out by them that the majority of cracks are not formed at grain corners. Nield and Quarrel1 meanwhile emphasized the importance of grain boundary migration by designating it as one of two main processes operative in the mechanism of crack formation during creep. The designation seems unnecessary because overemphasis of grain boundary migration only complicates the mechanism of void formation. There are two reasons which militate against the inclusion of grain boundary migration in the mechanism of void formation. In the first place, the formation of intercrystalline voids per se does not require grain boundary migration. Secondly, in addition to grain boundary migration, void formation may be minimized by any other process such as plastic deformation which is capable of relieving localized stresses around jogs. Chang and Grant3 have shown that intercrystalline cracking is prevented in aluminum by lattice bending in high stress regions. The influential role played by grain boundary migration in creep has also been realized in our studies. In several cases, voids did not appear at all in grain boundaries whenever grain boundary migration took place prominently during creep. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effect of grain boundary migration on the formation of intercrystalline voids and other related rupture properties. Experimental evidence indicates that in an unstable grain structure void formation may be markedly modified by structural changes. The abnormally high ductility and the transcrystalline mode of fracture observed in copper at elevated temperatures reveals that effective grain boundary migration minimizes void formation. Grain boundary migration has long been known as a common high-temperature phenomenon in metals with the grain configuration in a nonequilibrium state. Its effect on ductility and mode of fracture has not been recognized until recently.4 Since the introduction of the term "Equicohesive Temperature," the conventional belief has been that below the equicohesive temperature the ductility of metals increases moderately with decreasing temperature until the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature of fracture is reached. In this temperature range, metals fracture in a ductile mode with a "cup-and-cone" fracture surface. Above the equicohesive temperature, ductility remains invariably low and decreases slightly with increasing temperature. The mode of fracture is strictly brittle and intercrystalline. Typical examples have been shown for a brass and copper in Fig. 1 and 9, respectively, in the paper by Greenwood, Miller, and Suiter.5 The observation in the upper temperature range that ductility of metals is low and insensitive to temperature may be explained in terms of void formation at grain boundaries. It is also in accordance with the findings of McLean6 and Fazen, Sherby, and Dorn7

Jan 1, 1961

By F. G. Tahmoush, N. J. Grant, E. P. Abrahamson

The effect of grain size on the brittle -ductile transition temperature of pure iron and three dilute Fe-W alloys has been investigated by slow bend tests. The brittle-ductile transition temperature for pure iron increased with increasing grain sizes from 8000 to 500 grains per sq mm where the transition temperature then decreased with further increase in grain size. The dilute additions of tungsten lowered the transition temperature for fine grain sizes, suppressed a reversal of the curve in the coarse grained portion, and raised the transition temperature for this region. The frequency of twin occurrence increased with increasing grain size and decreasing temperature. The object of the present investigation was to re-examine the effect of grain size on the brittle -ductile transition of pure iron and several dilute Fe-W alloys. Current literature normally presents a simple relationship between grain size and the brittle-ductile transition temperature, namely, that the transition temperature increases with increasing grain size. Heslop and etch&apos; have studied the transition temperature of mild steel by V-notch Charpy impact tests for the grain size range between 200 and 6000 grains per sq mm. The result was a linear plot of In 1-1/2 vs brittle-ductile transition temperature, where 1 is the grain diameter. Recent experiments by sipos2 revealed the possibility of a reversal in the slope of the grain size vs transition temperature plot for pure iron; however, his investigation was limited in scope, and the data obtained were insufficient to permit a definitive curve. The present investigation was undertaken in an effort to confirm or extend the grain size effect observed in iron by Sipos. PROCEDURE All alloys were vacuum induction melted, using 99.95 pct Fe containing 0.03 pct 0 and 0.004 pct C. Four ingots were made, ranging from pure iron to iron with 0.035 pct W. The chemical composition of each alloy, after processing, is given in Table I. The four alloys were prepared as 45 lb heats and cast into 4 in. diam by 16 in. molds. They were then extruded into 3/4 in. rods at 1800oF. Specimens for chemical analysis, taken from various positions along the rods, revealed no variation in tungsten content along the length. The extruded rods were reduced to 0.156 in. diam stock by a series of cold swaging operations involving intermediate vacuum annealing treatments. This procedure yielded a final cold reduction in area ranging from 10 to 90 pct. The swaged rods were chemically cleaned, cold pressed to a cross section of 0.10 by 0.18 by 1.0 in. long (2.54 by 4.73 by 25 mm). The specimens were wrapped in iron foil and vacuum sealed (10-4 mm Hg) in quartz. Various heat treatments at temperatures from 700" to 1300oC were utilized to produce grain sizes from 8000 to 1 grain per sq mm. Grain sizes were determined by measuring the average area of grains in a polished section. In specimens with grain size greater than 20 grains per sq mm, the total number of grains in the cross section was counted and then divided by the area to yield grains per sq mm. Grain size was measured both for longitudinal and transverse cross sections. The average of the two measurements was plotted vs transition temperature. An Instron Table Model testing machine was used to determine the transition temperature of specimens tested in three point horizontal bending. The specimen was supported by two 1/4 in. dowels one in. apart. Bending was accomplished with a push rod, the end of which had an 1/8 in. radius. The head speed was 50 in. per min. Temperatures were established through the use

Jan 1, 1963

By G. W. Tuffnell, S. Floreen

Three Fe-18 pet Ni-base ternary alloys cortaining carbon, molybdenum, or cobalt were aged to pgroduce hardening by carbides, Ni3Mo, or ordering, respectively. Each alloy was tested in rotating-beam fatigue tests after hardening to 195 ksi ultim.ate tensile strength. The fatigue properties of three alloys soere essentially identical. The results suggest that tlze fatigae strength of an igron-base alloy should depend primarily upon the tensile strength, and not iipon the hardening mecaanisrn. THE fatigue strengths of many steels have been found to be directly related to their ultimate tensile strengths. For ultimate strengths below 200 ksi, the fatigue endurance limit at 107 to 10&apos; cycles is approximately half the ultimate strength. Essen- tially all of the steels that have been tested, however, have been hardened by carbon. Thus it is not certain whether the relationship between fatigue and ultimate strengths is a general one that applies for other types of hardening in steels, or whether it applies only for the particular method of hardening by carbon. The recent developments of the martensitic precipitation-hardened stainless steels and the marag-ing steels have shown that it is possible to achieve high strengths in iron-base alloys by other hardening mechanisms than that due to carbon. Therefore, it is now possible to compare the fatigue properties of several iron alloys having the same ultimate strengths but hardened by different mechanisms. For the present study a binary Fe-18 pct Ni martensite was selected as a base material. This particular matrix composition has been found to have deformation characteristics very similar to pure iron.&apos; Three ternary alloys were prepared by adding either 0.23 wt pct C, 5 wt pct Mo, or 20 wt pct Co to this base composition. After suitable heat

Jan 1, 1965

By J. F. Butler

The degree and type of carbide dispersion resulting from changes in the cooling rate from austenite determine the amount of carbon remaining in solution after slow cooling- from a subsequent subcritical annealing treatment. A difjusion model has been proposecl to explain the effect of carbide dispersion on the amount of carbon retained in solution and the amount of carbon in solution has been related to the degree of carbon strain aging. COTTRELL and Leak&apos; have shown that the rate of strain aging in low-carbon steels is dependent upon the amount of carbon and nitrogen in solution. Carbon can be effectively removed from solution as Fe , C by quench aging at temperatures of 200" C or lower; however, the relatively higher solubility of nitrogen at these temperatures prevents sufficient removal of nitrogen as iron nitrides. For this reason, nitrogen in solution has been considered the major cause of strain aging in rimming grades of commercial low-carbon steels. Nitrogen can be effectively removed from solution and nonaging steel produced through the addition of aluminum to form the stable nitride, AlN; however, the aluminum also causes deoxidation resulting in a killed steel. III an attempt to produce a rimmed steel which was also nonaging, Morgan and Shyne 2 investigated tile strain-aging properties of low-carban steels containing boron and found that strain aging was suplx-essed in steels containing as little as 0.007 pet B. The original purpose of this investigation was to determine the mechanism of strain-aging suppression by boron. Early in the study, the function of boron was discovered to be much like that of aluminum in that the formation of a nitride, BN, removed the nitrogen from solution.&apos; However, during the course of the investigation, an effect of heat treatment upon the strain-aging properties and the amount of carbon in solution was found which could be related to the microstructure of the steel. The purpose of this paper is to examine these relationships among heat treatment, microstructure, carbon in solution, and strain aging in steels where nondetectable amounts of nitrogen are present in solution. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The investigation was carried out using 0.030 in. by 12. in wire specimens which had been cold swaged and drawn to the final diameter. Table I lists the compositions of the low-carbon steels used. Those with &apos;V&apos; designations were vacuum melted and cast; the alloys designated &apos;AISI&apos; were prepared from high-purity iron obtained from the American

Jan 1, 1962

By K. M. Rolls, R. M. Rose, H. B. Shukovsky

Studies of the phase structure, critical current density, and resistive critical magnetic field of a 45 pct Nb-55 pct Zr superconducting alloy after final-size heat treatments are reported in this paper. A combination of optical metallography, X-ray diffraction, and electrical-resistivity measurements were used to determine the phase structure. Superconductivity measurements, made with heat-treated wires, are correlated with microstructure. Although no quantitative relationship between microstructure and critical current density is found, it is shown that SINCE Kunzler1 as well as Berlincourt, Hake, and Leslie2 first described the high-field, high-current-density superconductivity of Nb-Zr alloys, it has be- the critical current density is highest when the microstructure is finely divided by fibering, coring, precipitation, or fine-scale phase dispersions. The resistive critical field is very sensitive to the compositions of the phases present. Since the alloy investigated here is near the maximum resistive critical field for the Nb-Zr system, any phase decomposition results in a lower H,. Elimination of the effects of cold work lowers H, also. A possible interpretation of the latter in terms of internal surface superconductivity is suggested. come apparent that the resistive critical field and the current-carrying capacity of such alloys are, in large measure, dependent on composition and processing. The resistive critical magnetic field (Hr) for low current densities has been found to increase progressively with zirconium content until a flat maximum is reached between 50 and 65 pet Zr.3 For any single composition, a characteristic maximum value of H, is attained by heavily cold-drawn wire.4 critical current density (J,) depends not only upon cold work but also, apparently, upon microstructure. Heat treatments of cold-worked wires generally

Jan 1, 1965

By H. E. Biber

DURING the production of tin plate a thin layer of FeSn2, is formed at the interface between the steel sheet and the protective tin coating. Because excessive amounts of this alloy layer are undesirable, the kinetics of its formation is a subject of interest in the tin-plate industry. A recent study of this subject at our laboratory uncovered a relationship which should be of general interest to anyone studying kinetics of reactions in metallic systems. It had been previously concluded that, at any given temperature in the range 175" to 330°C, the Fe-Sn alloy layer would have a parabolic growth rate.1,2 However, our studies showed that this rule apparently holds only when the tin plate is heated very slowly to the "reaction" temperature; when the tin plate is rapidly heated, considerably different growth rates occur. An example of this effect of heating rate on growth behavior is contained in the accompanying results of alloy-layer growth measurements at 240°C in oil baths stirred at 10,500, 1800, and 0 rpm. The heating curves for these three conditions are given in Fig. 1, and the growth data are presented in Fig. 2. With the rapid heating rate, provided by the stirring at 10,500 rpm, the alloy layer had three distinct stages of growth. In the initial stage, which persisted well beyond the time required to heat the tin plate to bath temperature, the alloy layer formed very rapidly. The growth followed a rate law of the form w = ktn where n > 1. This initial stage was followed by a growth-retardation stage of about 50-sec duration in which little additional alloy was formed. In the third stage the growth again followed a rate law of the form w = ktn, but here « =0.3. With the intermediate heating rate provided by stirring at 1800 rpm, the three-stage nature was less pronounced and the slope of the third stage increased (i.e., n > 0.3). With the slow heating rate provided by the unstirred oil bath, the alloy layer grew in two stages. The initial rapid-growth stage persisted only until the specimen was heated to bath temperature, no growth retardation was observed, and the slope of the main portion of the plotted data was greater than in the stirred baths, having a value of almost 0.5. Similar results were obtained for other bath temperatures in the range 200" to 300°C. This effect of heating rate on growth behavior may be due to changes in the rate of nucleation of FeSn, crystallites. The iron and tin are in contact from the onset of heating. Thus the initial formation of FeSn, occurs not at the "reaction" temperature but rather while the tin plate is being heated to that temperature. Because nucleation is in general temperature-dependent, different heating rates could cause different over-all nucleation rates, which in turn could cause different growth behaviors. A more detailed discussion of the growth of Fe-Sn alloy layer and the effect of heating rate will be published shortly.

Jan 1, 1965

By D. Krammer, E. S. Machlin

The effect of a brior high-temperature creep strain on the low-temperature ductility of commercially pure nickel has been evaluated. The low-temperature (-196°C) ductility decreases linearly with an increase in prior high-temperature (920°C) creep strain. The effect is experimentally correlated to the formation of inter crystalline cracks and voids during the prior high-temperature creep strain. The magnitude of the effect is also believed to be a function of the notch sensitivity of the material. SEVERAL mechanisms have been presented to explain the process of inter crystalline cracking in metals undergoing high-temperature creep. zenerl has suggested that grain boundary relaxation of shear stresses could build up high stresses at ob- stacles to grain boundary shear and thereby nucleate a crack. Chang and rant&apos; have experimentally demonstrated that cracks do form at obstacles to grain boundary shear such as lines where three grains meet. The role of vacancies in the mechanism of high-temperature inter crystalline cracking has been explored by Machlt with the conclusion that the nu-cleation of voids by vacancy condensation is almost

Jan 1, 1960