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Mechanisms of stress-corrosion cracking and liquid-metal embrittlement in Al-Zn-Mg bicrystals

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Abstract

Metallographic and fractographic studies of intercrystalline fracture in high-purity Al-6Zn-3Mg bicrystals in inert, liquid metal, and water environments are described. The effects of variations in grain-boundary microstructure on fracture and the effects of cathodically charging specimens with hydrogen prior to testing in inert environments were also investigated. Mechanisms of liquid-metal embrittlement, stress-corrosion cracking and pre-exposure embrittlement are discussed in the light of these results. The observations suggest that liquid-metal embrittlement and stress-corrosion cracking generally occur by a plastic-flow/microvoid-coalescence process that is more localized than that which occurs in inert environments. It is proposed that adsorbed liquid metal or hydrogen atoms weaken interatomic bonds at crack tips, thereby facilitating the nucleation of dislocations and promoting the coalescence of cracks with voids.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Defence, Aeronautical Research Laboratories, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Melbourne, Australia

    S. P. Lynch

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  1. S. P. Lynch
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Lynch, S.P. Mechanisms of stress-corrosion cracking and liquid-metal embrittlement in Al-Zn-Mg bicrystals. J Mater Sci 20, 3329–3338 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00545203

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00545203

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