Quasi-static intergranular cracking in a Cu/1bSn alloy; an analog of stress relief cracking of steels

Abstract

Intergranular cracking in a laboratory-made Cu-8wt%Sn alloy at 265 to 300{degree}C in vacuum was studied in order to explore the hypothesis that this could serve as an analog to the brittle mode of stress-relief cracking in steels and to test the mechanism proposed earlier to explain that phenomenon. This mechanism involves the stress-induced intergranular penetration along grain boundaries of a surface-adsorbed embrittling element. Sulfur is the active element in this regard in steels, and tin was envisioned as playing the same role in Cu-Sn alloys. Auger spectroscopy was used to confirm earlier reports of the surface activity of tin and to determine the segregation kinetics in the present polycrystals; no other elements were found to segregate to surfaces to any significant degree in the present alloy. Crack growth measurements showed that intergranular cracking occurs in an intermittent manner at an average rate on the order of 0.1 {mu}m/sec over a range of crack length. Crack initiation was found to be remarkably sensitive to the stress intensity, implying the existence of a threshold. The fracture appearance in the regions of slow crack growth was similar to that observed in steels undergoing stress-relief cracking at 500--600{degree}C. It was concluded that the quasi-staticmore » intergranular cracking in the steels and in the Cu-Sn alloy represent two aspects of the same generic phenomenon and that the proposed mechanism of stress-induced intergranular impurity penetration is valid. It is believed that liquid-and solid-metal embrittlement are closely related to the type of intergranular cracking described here.« less