Impurity Effects in Commercially Pure Beryllium

Technical Report · Fri Feb 10 04:00:00 EST 1961

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4037319· OSTI ID:4037319

Gelles, S. H. ^[1]; Wolff, A. K. ^[1]

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1. Nuclear Metals, Inc., Concord, MA (United States)

An investigation was conducted to determine the role of impurities in beryllium. It was found that the properties of beryllium can be altered by aging treatment. The rate at which aging proceeds was determined by resistivity measurements which were related to changes in mechanical properties observed after various aging treatments. X-ray measurements related the aging process to the growth of one or more types of precipitate. The identification of the precipitates by Debye-Scherrer X-ray technique has proved elusive, although electron microbeam probe work on solution-treated and solution-treated-and-aged samples has shown segregation of iron, aluminum, and silicon to the grain boundaries of the beryllium during the aging process. Preliminary bend and tensile tests conducted at room temperature on single crystals of beryllium resulted in the following observations: (1) Relatively impure material: (0001) fracture, and (0001), [10$$\bar{1}$$0], and [10$$\bar{1}$$1] slip; and (2) Material vacuum-melted from Pechiney flake: critical resolved shear stress for basal plane slip, 1100 psi.

• Research Organization: Nuclear Metals, Inc., Concord, MA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
• NSA Number: NSA-15-023947
• OSTI ID: 4037319
• Report Number(s): NMI--1238
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALUMINUM
BERYLLIUM
DEBYE-SCHERRER DIAGRAMS
DEFORMATION
DIFFRACTION
DISTRIBUTION
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRON BEAMS
FAILURES
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
HEAT TREATMENTS
IMPURITIES
IRON
MATERIALS TESTING
MEASURED VALUES
MELTING
MONOCRYSTALS
POWDERS
PRECIPITATION
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
SAMPLING
SEGREGATION
SHEAR
SILICON
SLIP
SOLUTIONS
STRESSES
TEMPERATURE
TENSILE PROPERTIES
VACUUM
X RADIATION