Environmental embrittlement of ordered intermetallic alloys at room temperature in moist atmospheres

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5981112

Liu, C T

This paper provides a comprehensive review of recent research on environmental embrittlement of ordered intermetallic alloys at ambient temperatures. Ordered intermetallics containing reactive elements such as Al, Si, Ti and V exhibit a severe reduction in ductility when tested in moisture-containing environments (e.g., moist air), instead of dry environments. The embrittlement involves the reaction of the reactive elements with moisture in air and generation of atomic hydrogen at crack tips. The loss in ductility is generally accompanied by a change in fracture mode from ductile rupture to brittle grain-boundary fracture in fcc-ordered intermetallics, and to brittle cleavage in bcc-ordered intermetallics. The underlying mechanisms of the hydrogen embrittlement are also discussed in this paper. 55 refs., 4 figs., 5 tabs.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5981112
• Report Number(s): CONF-9106146-5; ON: DE91012051
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360103* -- Metals & Alloys-- Mechanical Properties
ALLOYS
ALUMINIUM ALLOYS
BORON ADDITIONS
BORON ALLOYS
CARBON ADDITIONS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
EMBRITTLEMENT
INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
SILICON ALLOYS
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
TENSILE PROPERTIES
TITANIUM ALLOYS
VANADIUM ALLOYS