The control of brittleness and development of desirable mechanical properties in polycrystalline systems by grain boundary engineering

Grain boundaries can be effectively controlled to produce or enhance their beneficial effects and also to diminish or reduce their detrimental effects on bulk properties in polycrystalline materials. Particular attention has been paid to the control of intergranular brittleness which remains a serious problem of material processing and development. Recent studies are presented and discussed, which have been successfully performed to control intergranular brittleness of “intrinsically brittle” materials such as the refractory metal molybdenum and the ordered intermetallic alloy Ni3Al and to produce superplasticity in an Al–Li alloy, by grain boundary engineering through controlling a new microstructural factor termed the grain boundary character distribution (GBCD). The optimization of GBCD and the grain boundary connectivity has been found to be a key to produce desirable bulk mechanical properties in both structural and functional polycrystalline materials.

[1]  H. Nakashima,et al.  Misorientation Dependence of Fracture Stress and Grain Boundary Energy in Molybdenum with 〈110〉 Symmetric Tilt-Boundaries , 1994 .

[2]  T. Hirano,et al.  Improvement of Room Temperature Ductility of Stoichiometric Ni3Al by Unidirectional Solidification , 1990 .

[3]  T. Watanabe,et al.  An approach to grain boundary design for strong and ductile polycrystals. , 1984 .

[4]  Tadao Watanabe.  Observations of plane-matching grain boundaries by electron channelling patterns , 1983 .

[5]  A. Kumar,et al.  Grain boundary segregation and intergranular fracture in molybdenum , 1980, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. A. Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

[6]  H. Kurishita,et al.  Grain Boundary Fracture in Molybdenum Bicrystals with a 〈110〉 Symmetric Tilt Boundary , 1983 .

[7]  Tadao Watanabe.  Grain boundary sliding and stress concentration during creep , 1983 .

[8]  K. Tsuya,et al.  On the effects of vacuum annealing and carburizing on the ductility of coarse-grained molybdenum , 1968 .

[9]  M. Okada,et al.  Effect of a small amount of additional carbon on the ductility of recrystallized sintered-molybdenum sheet , 1978 .

[10]  P. Lin,et al.  Mitigating intergranular attack and growth in lead-acid battery electrodes for extended cycle and operating life , 1998 .

[11]  H. Matsui,et al.  The effect of heat treatment on the grain boundary fracture of recrystallized molybdenum , 1981 .

[12]  H. Kurishita,et al.  Misorientation Dependence of Grain Boundary Fracture in Molybdenum Bicrystals with Various 〈110〉 Twist Boundaries , 1985 .

[13]  G. Chadwick,et al.  Grain boundary structure and properties , 1976 .

[14]  Tadao Watanabe.  The impact of grain boundary character distribution on fracture in polycrystals , 1994 .

[15]  L. Lim,et al.  Grain boundary character distribution controlled toughness of polycrystals — A two-dimensional model , 1989 .

[16]  M. Okada,et al.  Effect of aging after carbon doping on the ductility of molybdenum , 1980 .

[17]  M. Biscondi,et al.  Intrinsic intergranular brittleness of molybdenum , 1981 .

[18]  S. Bruemmer.  Grain Boundary Chemistry and Intergranular Failure of Austenitic Stainless Steels , 1991 .

[19]  G. Palumbo,et al.  Interface control for resistance to intergranular cracking , 1994 .

[20]  T. N. Baker.  Yield, flow and fracture of polycrystals , 1983 .

[21]  L. Lim,et al.  Fracture toughness and brittle-ductile transition controlled by grain boundary character distribution (GBCD) in polycrystals , 1990 .

[22]  T. Chuang,et al.  Grain boundary pest of boron- doped Niin3Al at 1200 °C , 1991 .

[23]  K. Arai,et al.  Grain boundaries in rapidly solidified and annealed Fe-6.5 mass% Si polycrystalline ribbons with high ductility , 1989 .

[24]  H. Kokawa,et al.  Sliding behaviour and dislocation structures in aluminium grain boundaries , 1981 .

[25]  O. Izumi,et al.  Improvement in Room Temperature Ductility of the L1 2 Type Intermetallic Compound Ni 3 Al by Boron Addition , 1979 .

[26]  H. Kurishita,et al.  Grain Boundary Strength of Molybdenum Bicrystals with a 〈110〉 Twist Boundary , 1983 .

[27]  H. Kurishita,et al.  Grain Boundary Fracture in Molybdenum Bicrystals with Various 〈110〉 Symmetric Tilt Boundaries , 1985 .

[28]  Tadao Watanabe,et al.  The effect of a grain boundary structural transformation on sliding in -tilt zinc bicrystals , 1984 .

[29]  T. Hirano,et al.  Texture and Grain Boundary Character Distribution (GBCD) in B-Free Ductile Polycrystalline Ni3Al , 1994 .

[30]  S. Tsurekawa,et al.  Grain boundary structure, energy and strength in molybdenum , 1994 .