Grain ductility

Soft Annealing. This term is used for heat treatment of hardenable steels containing >0.4wt%C at temperatures closely below the eutectoid temperature for a duration of < 100 h. It results in a microstructure of coarse grained, ductile ferrite, and coarsened cementite. 

A series of events can take place in response to the thermal stresses (/) plastic deformation of the ductile metal matrix (sHp, twinning, cavitation, grain boundary sliding, and/or migration) (2) cracking and failure of the brittle fiber (5) an adverse reaction at the interface and (4) failure of the fiber—matrix interface (17—20). 

Another commercial development of the 1970s is the appHcation of superplasticity which is exhibited by a number of zinc alloys (135—138). Under the right conditions, the material becomes exceptionally soft and ductile and, under low stresses, extensions exceeding 1000% can be obtained without fracture. The grain size must be extremely small (about 1 micrometer) and stable. This grain size is less than one tenth that of common metals in the wrought condition. 

The ductile-to-britde transition temperature (DBTT) is dependent on purity, history, grain size, etc. Furthermore, the potential utility of the metal is impaired by the fact that the ductility below this transition is essentially nil. To achieve measurable ductility, impurities should be below O, 2000 ppm N, 100 ppm C, 100 ppm H, 20 ppm Si, 1500 ppm S, 150 ppm. 

Intergranular Corrosion Selec tive corrosion in the grain boundaries of a metal or alloy without appreciable attack on the grains or crystals themselves is called intergranular corrosion. When severe, this attack causes a loss of strength and ductility out of proportion to the amount of metal actually destroyed by corrosion. 

Some manufacturers have experienced die above mentioned Ni3S2 scale formation phenomenon under certain gas conditions, which led to die failure of a rotating blade. One such experience involved a fracture dial was distinctly intergranular with evidence of secondary intergranular cracks or grain separation across die fracture. Intergranular facets of die fracture were sharp and distinct with little evidence of any ductile mode. The fracture appeared to have occurred in a brittle intergranular mode. 

The mechanical properties of Watts deposits from normal, purified solutions depend upon the solution formulation, pH, current density and solution temperature. These parameters are deliberately varied in industrial practice in order to select at will particular values of deposit hardness, strength, ductility and internal stress. Solution pH has little effect on deposit properties over the range pH 1 0-5-0, but with further increase to pH 5 -5, hardness, strength and internal stress increase sharply and ductility falls. With the pH held at 3-0, the production of soft, ductile deposits with minimum internal stress is favoured by solution temperatures of 50-60°C and a current density of 3-8 A/dm in a solution with 25% of the nickel ions provided by nickel chloride. Such deposits have a coarse-grained structure, whereas the harder and stronger deposits produced under other conditions have a finer grain size. A comprehensive study of the relationships between plating variables and deposit properties was made by the American Electroplaters Society and the results for Watts and other solutions reported... 

The behavior of polycrystalline materials is often dominated by the boundaries between the crystallites, called grain boundaries. In metals, grain boundaries prevent dislocation motion and reduce the ductility, leading to hard and brittle mechanical properties. Grain boundaries are invariably weaker than the crystal matrix, and... 

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