X-ray studies of cold-worked ternary alloys containing Pd-Ag-Au

Abstract

The structure of highly deformed filings of the Pd-Ag-Au ternary alloy system has been studied by using the Warren-Averbach X-ray diffraction line profile analysis. The effective particle size and root mean square strain were determined over a range of compositions and were found to be anisotropic. Stacking fault probabilities were obtained from shifts in the peak positions. An extrapolation technique was employed for the determination of the twin fault probabilities which eliminates most of the ambiguity associated with the separation of the overlapping tails between the (111)-(200) peaks. Although a large range in composition was examined, very little variation was observed in the effective particle size, nonuniform microstrain, stacking fault probability, and twin fault probability. Consequently, these quantities are nearly constant except at the corners of the ternary diagram, where the pure elements are approached. Cold working had an appreciable effect on the lattice parameter at certain compositions. For alloys containing all three components both an increase and a decrease in the lattice parameter was observed as the palladium composition was varied. Deformed alloys containing palladium and silver gave lattice parameters which are essentially the same as those reported for the annealed state.