Contrasting roles of Laves_Cr2Nb precipitates on the creep properties of novel CuCrNbZr alloys

Publication date: Available online 15 February 2020Source: Materials Science and Engineering: AAuthor(s): Ling Wang, Ce Zheng, Boopathy Kombaiah, Lizhen Tan, David J. Sprouster, Lance L. Snead, Steven J. Zinkle, Ying YangAbstractTo enhance the creep resistance at elevated temperatures, a new precipitation-strengthened CuCrNbZr alloy has been designed and fabricated to achieve a target microstructure with coarse Laves_Cr2Nb precipitates at grain boundaries and fine Cr-rich precipitates in the matrix. This work systematically studied the creep property of the CuCrNbZr alloy at 500 °C under 90–140 MPa applied stress and compared to that of a reference commercial CuCrZr alloy without Laves_Cr2Nb precipitates. Microstructures before and after creep testing were investigated by optical and transmission electron microscopy. Based on the creep testing and microstructural characterization results, the dominant creep mechanism in both alloys was grain boundary sliding with a threshold stress of ∼80 MPa. The CuCrNbZr alloy has higher creep strength and higher creep fracture ductility, and longer creep life than the CuCrZr alloy. The improved creep property in the CuCrNbZr alloy was due to the presence of Laves_Cr2Nb precipitates that efficiently impede the crack propagation.Graphical abstract
Source: Materials Science and Engineering: A - Category: Materials Science Source Type: research