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Brittle fracture of an Au/Ag alloy induced by a surface film

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Abstract

The film-induced cleavage model of stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) has been tested using an Ag-20 at. pct Au alloy in 1 M HClO4 solution. Brittle cracks, both intergranular (IG) and transgranular (TG) in nature, were formed by high-speed loading of a thin foil covered with a dealloyed (nanoporous gold) layer. These cracks were found to propagate through the dealloyed layer and into the uncorroded bulk face-centered cubic (fcc) material for a distance of many microns. Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) can be excluded on thermodynamic grounds; thus, only film-induced cleavage can explain the observed decoupling of stress and corrosion in the fracture process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia, 22903, Charlottes ville, VA

    R. G. Kelly (Research Assistant Professor)

  2. Steel Products Group, British Steel Technical, Swinden Laboratories, Moorgate, Rottenham, S. Yorks, England

    A. J. Frost (Technical Investigator)

  3. Materials Department, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran

    T. Shahrabi (Assistant Professor)

  4. Institute of Science and Technology, Corrosion and Protection Center, University of Manchester, M60 1QD, Manchester, UK

    R. C. Newman (Senior Lecturer)

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  1. R. G. Kelly
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  3. T. Shahrabi
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  4. R. C. Newman
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Kelly, R.G., Frost, A.J., Shahrabi, T. et al. Brittle fracture of an Au/Ag alloy induced by a surface film. Metall Trans A 22, 531–541 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02656821

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