Solid-solution-type alloys

It is well known that many important alloy combinations have properties that are not easy to predict, simply on the basis of knowledge of the constituent metals. For example, copper and nickel, both having good electrical conductivity, form solid-solution type alloys having very low conductivity, or high resistivity, making them useful as electrical resistance... 

Concerning miscibility between the metal constituents of an alloy, all types of alloys could be obtained by electrodeposition eutectic-type alloys, solid solution-type alloys, alloys with intermediate phases, and/or intermetallic compounds [1]. According to Krastev and Dobrovolska [40], self-organization phenomena during the electrodeposition of alloys, resulting in pattern and spatiotemporal structure... 

Typical example for such behavior is the system Cu-Ni [58,59, 63,65,66]. This system belongs to the solid solution-type alloys, and the dissolution of Ni is prevented by its passivation in the electrolyte for electrodeposition. 

As can be seen in Table 5.2, this was not the case. Hence, it appeared that during the deposition of Fe-Ni alloy powders the behavior of pure metals cannot be considered as relevant for the properties of alloy powders, since they form solid solution-type alloys which behave in a different way than pure metals. It should be stated that the results of the chemical and EDS analysis (after subtraction of oxygen percentages) were in good agreement. 

Figure 3-4 The composition dependence of resistance values of Ag-Pd and Ag-Au type alloys [Both Ag-Pd and Ag-Au types are solid solution type alloys].

Binary Alloys. Aluminum-rich binary phase diagrams show tliree types of reaction between liquid alloy, aluminum solid solution, and otlier phases eutectic, peritectic, and monotectic. Table 16 gives representative data for reactions in tlie systems Al—Al. Diagrams are shown in Figures 10—19. Compilations of phase diagrams may be found in reference 41. 

The morphology of globular type is the most favourable when superplastic deformation is to occur in AI78wt%Zn alloy. This type of structure is formed by decomposition of the a solid solution a -> a + P However, plates usually dominate in the structure of this alloy. To obtain the non-plate or globular type, a special heat treatment is neccesary i.e. the optimal cooling rate as well as the temperature and time of ageing. 

We have already learned that metals may be deformed easily and we have explained this in terms of the absence of directional character in metallic bonding. In view of this principle, it is not surprising that two-element or three-element metallic crystals exist. In some of these, regular arrangements of two or more types of atoms are found. The composition then is expressed in simple integer ratios, so these are called metallic compounds. In other cases, a fraction of the atoms of the major constituent have been replaced by atoms of one or more other elements. Such a substance is called a solid solution. These metals containing two or more types of atoms are called alloys. 

Alloys of lead and thallium have a structure based upon cubic closest packing from 0 to about 87-5 atomic percent thallium. The variation of the lattice constant with composition gives strong indication that ordered structures PbTl, and PbTl, exist. In the intermediate ranges, solid solutions of the types Pb(Pb,Tl)a and Pb(Pb,Tl)TlB exist. Interpretation of interatomic distances indicates that thallium atoms present in low concentration in lead assume the same valence as lead, about 2-14, and that the valence of thallium increases with increase in the mole fraction of thallium present, having the same value, about 2-50, in PbTls and PbTl, as in pure thallium. A theory of the structure of the alloys is presented which explains the observed phase diagram,... 

A second way for a solid to accommodate a solute is interstitially, with solute atoms fitting in between solute atoms in the crystal stmcture. An important alloy of this type is carbon steel, a solid solution of carbon in iron, also shown in Figure 12-4. Steels actually are both substitutional and interstitial alloys. Iron is the solvent and carbon is present as an interstitial solute, but varying amounts of manganese, chromium, and nickel are also present and can be in substitutional positions. 

Solid solutions are very common among structurally related compounds. Just as metallic elements of similar structure and atomic properties form alloys, certain chemical compounds can be combined to produce derivative solid solutions, which may permit realization of properties not found in either of the precursors. The combinations of binary compounds with common anion or common cation element, such as the isovalent alloys of IV-VI, III-V, II-VI, or I-VII members, are of considerable scientific and technological interest as their solid-state properties (e.g., electric and optical such as type of conductivity, current carrier density, band gap) modulate regularly over a wide range through variations in composition. A general descriptive scheme for such alloys is as follows [41]. 

If neither the AC nor the BC component exhibits in any part of its (zero pressure) (x, T) phase diagram the structure a, which though exists in their solid solution, then the latter is of Type III . In this case, the alloy environment stabilizes a structure which is fundamentally new to at least one of its components. Such alloy-stabilized phases with no counterpart in the phase diagram of the constituent components can be formed in bulk equilibrium growth and may be distinguished from the unusual alloy phases that are known to form in extreme non-equilibrium growth methods and in epitaxial forms. 

The electrodeposition of alloys at potentials positive of the reversible potential of the less noble species has been observed in several binary alloy systems. This shift in the deposition potential of the less noble species has been attributed to the decrease in free energy accompanying the formation of solid solutions and/or intermetallic compounds [61, 62], Co-deposition of this type is often called underpotential alloy deposition to distinguish it from the classical phenomenon of underpotential deposition (UPD) of monolayers onto metal surfaces [63],... 

Alloys are classified broadly in two categories, single-phase alloys and multiple-phase alloys. A phase is characterized by having a homogeneous composition on a macroscopic scale, a uniform structure, and a distinct interface with any other phase present. The coexistence of ice, liquid water, and water vapor meets the criteria of composition and structure, but distinct boundaries exist between the states, so there are three phases present. When liquid metals are combined, there is usually some limit to the solubility of one metal in another. An exception to this is the liquid mixture of copper and nickel, which forms a solution of any composition between pure copper and pure nickel. The molten metals are completely miscible. When the mixture is cooled, a solid results that has a random distribution of both types of atoms in an fee structure. This single solid phase thus constitutes a solid solution of the two metals, so it meets the criteria for a single-phase alloy. 

Alloys of copper and zinc can be obtained by combining the molten metals. However, zinc is soluble in copper up to only about 40% (of the total). When the content of a copper/zinc alloy contains less than 40% zinc, cooling the liquid mixture results in the formation of a solid solution in which Zn and Cu atoms are uniformly distributed in an fee lattice. When the mixture contains more than 40% zinc, cooling the liquid mixture results in the formation of a compound having the composition CuZn. The solid alloy consists of two phases, one of which is the compound CuZn and the other is a solid solution that contains Cu with approximately 40% Zn dissolved in it. This type of alloy is known as a two-phase alloy, but many alloys contain more than three phases (multiple-phase alloys). 

The diagrams that will be mainly considered are those concerning the behaviour of the alloys in the liquid and solid states that is, melting and solid-state transformation diagrams. A number of different diagram types can be defined and classified on the basis of the different mutual solubility of the components (in the liquid and in the solid state with the formation of more or less extended liquid and/or solid solutions) and of their reactivity, resulting in the formation of various, so-called intermediate phases . 

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