Abstract
An annealed specimen of aluminium was subjected to tensile tests in the presence of Sn–Zn liquid containing 0 to 30% Zn. Pure tin did not embrittle the specimen, but the addition of zinc to tin produced brittle fracture in the specimen at low temperature. With an increase in testing temperature, the ductility was restored. The transition temperature became higher as the zinc content increased, primarily due to the lowering of interfacial energy.
Above 300°C, the grain boundary diffusion became severer and suppressed the ductile elongation. In addition, the grain boundary diffusion tended to shift the transition to a higher temperature.
The dihedral angle became smaller as the zinc content increased. The grain boundary energy also decreased to a large extent due to the grain boundary diffusion during the equilibration treatment.
