Institute of Metals Division - Formation of Sigma Phase and Its Effect on the Workability of Mo-Re Alloys (TN)

HE addition of rhenium to molybdenum is known to produce alloys with good workability.&apos; Lawley and Maddin found that the critical stress for twinning in this system was lowered by the addition of 35 pct Re, which suggests that twinning may re- place the usual slip operation as the major element of deformation. The twinning elements in bcc Mo-Re alloys have been reported as the (112) planes and the <111> directions.3 This note represents the continuation of this investigation, in which the authors found that the occurrence of twinning promotes the formation of a bcc tetragonal phase, previously identified as u by Greenfield and Beck.4 Specimens of Mo-35 pct Re alloy, prepared as described previusly, were solution annealed at 2400o, cooled to room temperature, and plastically deformed by compression to induce twinning. After subsequent aging for 8 hr at 1300°C, traces of a were observed along the grain boundaries and at the interfaces between the twins and the matrix, Fig. 1. With increased aging time the cr phase grew into larger clusters and finally occupied the entire twinned area, Fig. 2. Experiments also indicated that if twinning did not precede aging, there was no visible evidence of a in the microstructure.