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Amorphous Intergranular Films Enable the Creation of Bulk Nanocrystalline Cu–Zr with Full Density
Author(s) -
Donaldson Olivia K.,
Rupert Timothy J.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced engineering materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.938
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1527-2648
pISSN - 1438-1656
DOI - 10.1002/adem.201900333
Subject(s) - materials science , nanocrystalline material , intergranular corrosion , grain size , amorphous solid , grain boundary , sintering , metallurgy , amorphous metal , grain growth , nanotechnology , microstructure , crystallography , alloy , chemistry
Nanocrystalline metal alloys show great potential as structural materials, but are often only available in small volumes, such as thin films or powders. However, recent research has suggested that dopant segregation and grain boundary structural transitions between states known as complexions can dramatically alter grain size stability and potentially enable activated sintering. Herein, strategic consolidation routes for mechanically alloyed Cu‐4 at% Zr powders are explored to capture the effects of amorphous complexion formation on the densification of bulk nanostructured metals. An increase in the density of the consolidated samples is observed, which coincides with the formation of amorphous intergranular films. At the same time, the grain size is reasonably stable after exposure to these temperatures. As a result, a bulk nanograined metal with a grain size of 57 nm and a density of 99.8% is produced, which shows an impressive balance of small grain size and high density using simple consolidation techniques.