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Embrittlement of Grain Boundaries by Equilibrium Segregation

Nature volume 192, pages 1280–1281 (1961)Cite this article

Abstract

EQUILIBRIUM segregation of impurities or solute elements has frequently been suggested as a cause of grain boundary embrittlement in metals and metallic compounds, but the evidence has been largely indirect. Even if the existence of grain boundary segregation be granted in specific instances, the manner in which such segregation might give rise to embrittlement has remained wholely speculative. It is the purpose of this communication to report that in a large number of cases where boundary segregation is established, suspected, or possible, a significant hardening of the grain boundary region relative to that of the interior of the grain is observed by micro-hardness measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. General Electric Research Laboratory, Schenectady, New York

    J. H. WESTBROOK & D. L. WOOD

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  1. J. H. WESTBROOK
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  2. D. L. WOOD
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WESTBROOK, J., WOOD, D. Embrittlement of Grain Boundaries by Equilibrium Segregation. Nature 192, 1280–1281 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/1921280b0

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