Surface and Grain Boundary Segregation

Abstract

Alloying and impurity elements are more or less segregated at surface and grain boundaries of metals and alloys. Surface analytical techniques have been applied to characterize the segregation behavior, and provided characteristic features of each element. The present paper reviews some typical results of the segregation or enrichment behavior of the elements in polycrystalline alloys, especially steels, and discusses the effect of the microstructure on the surface and grain boundary segregation.