Embrittlement/alloys

The nickel-rich type 310 alloy is less susceptible to sigma-phase formation. Above 1598 (870°C), there is little risk of embrittlement. Alloy compositions... 

Nb exhibits a very high hydrogen permeability which is linked to high hydrogen solubility and embrittlement. Alloying with Ru, W and Va has been verified as effective for reducing embrittlement. Nb-Ni-Ti has also been studied as an alloy with good permeability and stability. 

Ferritic Stainless Steels. These steels are iron—chromium alloys not hardenable by heat treatment. In alloys having 17% chromium or more, an insidious embrittlement occurs in extended service around 475°C. This can be mitigated to some degree but not eliminated. They commonly include Types 405, 409, 430, 430F, and 446 (see Table 4) newer grades are 434, 436, 439, and 442. 

Properties. Most of the alloys developed to date were intended for service as fuel cladding and other stmctural components in hquid-metal-cooled fast-breeder reactors. AHoy selection was based primarily on the following criteria corrosion resistance in Hquid metals, including lithium, sodium, and NaK, and a mixture of sodium and potassium strength ductihty, including fabricabihty and neutron considerations, including low absorption of fast neutrons as well as irradiation embrittlement and dimensional-variation effects. Alloys of greatest interest include V 80, Cr 15, Ti 5... 

The Tj-carbides are not specifically synthesized, but are of technical importance, occurring in alloy steels, stelUtes, or as embrittling phases in cemented carbides. Other complex carbides in the form of precipitates may form in multicomponent alloys or in high temperature reactor fuels by reaction between the fission products and the moderator graphite, ie, pyrographite-coated fuel kernels. 

Other special additions are used to deoxidize copper. Such alloys may be preferred in appHcations where embrittlement by hydrogen through reaction with internally dispersed copper oxide particles is a concern, such as in CllO. The most common deoxidized copper is C122, in which phosphoms reacts with copper oxide to form phosphoms pentoxide that can be slagged from the copper while molten. 

Many elemental additions to copper for strengthening and other properties also deoxidize the alloy. A side benefit of such additions is elimination of susceptibihty to hydrogen embrittlement. Such deoxidizing additions include beryllium, aluminum, siUcon, chromium, zirconium, and magnesium. 

CllO. The most common commercial purity copper is CllO. The principal difference between CllO and C102 is oxygen content which typically can be up to 0.05% in CllO. Oxygen is present as cuprous oxide particles, which do not significantly affect strength and ductiHty, but CllO is susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement. The properties of CllO are adequate for most appHcations and this alloy is less cosdy than higher purity copper. 

Virtuallv evety alloy system has its specific environment conditions which will prodiice stress-corrosion cracking, and the time of exposure required to produce failure will vary from minutes to years. Typical examples include cracking of cold-formed brass in ammonia environments, cracking of austenitic stainless steels in the presence of chlorides, cracking of Monel in hydrofluosihcic acid, and caustic embrittlement cracking of steel in caustic solutions. 

Certain anaerobic bacteria capable of producing hydrogen may, under special circumstances, contribute to hydrogen embrittlement of some alloys. Once again, if such mechanisms operate, they have very limited applicability in most cooling water systems. 

Embrittlement 150°F (66 C) under dynamic or components and any alloy and many atomic H diffusion hardness under C 22... 

At elevated temperatures where titanium alloys could be the adherend of choice, a different failure mechanism becomes important. The solubility of oxygen is very high in titanium at high temperatures (up to 25 at.%), so the oxygen in a CAA or other surface oxide can and does dissolve into the metal (Fig. 12). This diffusion leaves voids or microcracks at the metal-oxide interface and embrittles the surface region of the metal (Fig. 13). Consequently, bondline stresses are concentrated at small areas at the interface and the joint fails at low stress levels [51,52]. Such phenomena have been observed for adherends exposed to 600°C for as little as 1 h or 300°C for 710 h prior to bonding [52] and for bonds using... 

Type 315-This has a composition that provides a similar oxidation resistance to type 309 but has less liability to embrittlement due to sigma formation if used for long periods in the range of 425 to 815°C. (Sigma phase is the hard and brittle intermetallic compound FeCr formed in chromium rich alloys when used for long periods in the temperature range of 650 to 850°.)... 

For many years hydrogen was considered as a deleterious impurity which deteriorates mechanical properties of materials. This is clearly illustrated by hydrogen embrittlement of ferrous metals and alloys. The main effort of the research was aimed therefore at the study of hydrogen embrittlement and at the ways to avoid it. ... 

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