Cracking behavior of FeAl (40 at. % Al) alloys during cutting operations
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States). Metals and Ceramics Div.
The intermetallic iron aluminides have long been studied for their great potential as engineering materials due to their excellent oxidation and corrosion resistance coupled with low density and low material cost. Yet, in addition to its brittle behavior at low temperatures and its poor high-temperature strength, a newly discovered problem of FeAl is the introduction of surface microcracks during the fabrication process of the material. These microcracks may affect the fracture strength and ductility of the alloy, causing some concern for its use as an engineering material. The understanding and prevention of these microcracks during fabrication are necessary for engineering uses of FeAl alloys. Cracking has been a major problem during sample preparation for the microstructural analysis and mechanical property evaluation of the alloy. Poor mechanical properties and inconsistency of data can many times be attributed to these microcracks. For this reason, the cracking behavior of these alloys must be investigated. The cracking of FeAl alloys has been most frequently noticed during microstructural analysis, but in a survey of all the various compositions and grain sizes of the FeAl alloys cut for microstructural analysis, the approximately 20% frequency of the existence of microcracks seemed to be completely random. The objective of this study is to determine in which step of the specimen preparation process the cracking is occurring and to investigate the mechanisms causing this cracking. The main results of this study show that the cracking can be attributed to environmental conditions during cutting of the alloy specimens.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 6983238
- Journal Information:
- Scripta Metallurgica et Materialia; (United States), Vol. 26:11; ISSN 0956-716X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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