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Title: Quasi-static intergranular cracking in a Cu-Sn alloy; An analog of stress relief cracking of steels

Journal Article · · Scripta Metallurgica et Materialia; (United States)
 [1]
  1. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Rice Univ., Houston, TX (US)

This paper is related to the general problem of time-dependent intergranular fracture which appears to result from a loss of cohesion along grain boundaries, induced by the concentration of an embrittling element in the boundaries as a result of the application of a stress. The prototypical example of this phenomenon is the brittle mode of stress-relief cracking (SRC) in steels, which has been shown conclusively to be the result of the contamination of grain boundaries by sulfur during loading at temperatures in the 500 to 700{degrees} C range. In the present work, cracking in a laboratory-made Cu-8 wt % Sn alloy at 265 to 300{degrees} C in vacuum was studied to: explore the hypothesis that this could serve as an analog to the brittle mode of SRC in steels and, test the mechanism proposed earlier to explain the SRC phenomenon.

OSTI ID:
7082444
Journal Information:
Scripta Metallurgica et Materialia; (United States), Vol. 27:2
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English