Abstract
‘WHISKERS’ are small crystals which grow from the surface of several metals. It is believed that their structure is to an unusual degree free from imperfections1. Whisker growth from the free edges of tin plate is affected by stress in the tin, both growth-rate and whisker population being increased2. Hasiguti3 has suggested that whisker growth is a means of reducing stress when general extrusion is inhibited. In the present work evidence has been obtained that extrusion must be obstructed if whiskers are to form. Thus on compressing a 3-mm. slab of an alloy containing small particles of tin dispersed in aluminium, profuse growth of whiskers occurred over the whole exposed tin surface (Fig. 1).
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References
Herring, C., and Galt, J. K., Phys. Rev., 85, 1060 (1952).
Fisher, R. M., Darken, C. S., and Carroll, K. G., Acta Met., 2, 370 (1954).
Hasiguti, R. R., Acta Met., 3, 200 (1955).
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FRANKS, J. Metal Whiskers. Nature 177, 984 (1956). https://doi.org/10.1038/177984a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/177984a0
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