Abstract
A mode of brittle fracture is described which is fundamentally different from the rapid transgranular cleavage or intergranular decohesion that is usually associated with that term. It involves stress-induced diffusion of surface-adsorbed embrittling elements along grain boundaries, and it occurs by slow, step-wise crack growth, the rate of which can, in principle, be calculated from the knowledge of the relevant intergranular diffusion coefficient, the stress profile at the crack tip and the dependence of the stress for grain-boundary decohesion on the concentration of the embrittling element. This mode of fracture is postulated to be possible in any high-strength alloy with a low-melting-point element adsorbed on the surface if the applied stress is high enough. Known examples include the brittle type of stress-relief cracking in steels, tin-induced cracking of Cu-Sn alloys, oxygen-induced cracking of iron-, copper-, and nickel-based alloys, and the group of phenomena known as liquid-metal embrittlement and solid-metal embrittlement.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Liu C.T. and White C.L.: Acta Metall.35 (1987) 643.
Bika D. and McMahon C.J., Jr.: Phys. Status Solidi A131 (1992) 2.
Shin J. and McMahon C.J., Jr.: Acta Metall.32 (1984) 1535.
Shin J. and McMahon C.J., Jr.: Metal Sci.18 (1984) 403.
Barrera E., Menyhard M., Bika D., Rothman B., and McMahon C.J., Jr.: Scripta Metall.27 (1992) 205.
Dafni Bika and McMahon C.J., Jr.: Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc.238 (1992) 399.
Bika D., Menyhard M., Pfaendtner J.A., and McMahon C.J., Jr.: Acta Metall. Mater.43 (1994) 1895.
K.-M. Chang, Henry M.F., and Benz M.G.: JOM42 (1990) 29.
Taub A.I., Huang S.C., and K.-M. Chang: Metall. Trans. A15 (1984) 399.
Hippsley C.A. and DeVan J.H.: Acta Metall.37 (1989) 1485.
Bika D. and McMahon C.J., Jr.: Acta Metall. Mater.43 (1995) 1909.
Kumar A. and Eyre B.L.: Proc. Roy. Soc. A370 (1980) 431.
Shin K.S. and Meshi M.: Acta Metall.31 (1983) 1559.
Jun Kameda and McMahon C.J., Jr.: Metall. Trans. A12 (1981) 31.
Bika D.: PhD Thesis, Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1992.
Muthiah R.C., Guha A., and McMahon C.J., Jr.:in Proc. 7th Int. Conf. on Intergranular and Interphase Boundaries in Materials, Lisbon, June 1995. (In press.)
Chen X., Caretta R., Zielinski W., and Gerberich W.W.: Acta Metall. Mater.38 (1990) 1719.
Plewes J.T. and Loiacono D.N.: Adv. Mater. Proc.10 (1991) 23.
Eckert R., Laird C., and Bassani J.L.: Mater. Sci. Eng.91 (1987) 19.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The paper is dedicated to Dr. František Kroupa in honour of his 70th birthday.
This work is supported by National Science Foundation Grant CMS 95-03980.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McMahon, C.J., Pfaendtner, J.A. & Muthiah, R.C. Quasi-static intergranular brittle fracture: Dynamic embrittlement. Czech J Phys 45, 965–978 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01692013
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01692013