Institute of Metals Division - Mechanism of Precipitation in a Cu-2.5 Pct Fe Alloy

IN 1939 Bitter and Kaufmann1 suggested that iron, precipitating from a copper-rich, Cu-Fe solid solution, appears initially as coherent particles of r-Fe which transform to the body-centered-cubic form of iron when the alloy is cold worked. Since then there has been considerable discussion, supported only by indirect evidence, regarding the validity of the concept. For example, Reekie, Hutchison, and Hether-ington2 interpreted the changes in electrical resistance accompanying the aging of Cu-Fe specimens in terms of a coherent 7-Fe precipitate which transformed to the incoherent a-phase during long aging or cold working. Greninger- ound that Cu-Fe alloys which had been water quenched from 1050" and then held at 650°C for 3 hr changed from weakly to strongly ferromagnetic as the aged wire was subsequently cold worked. He also found diffraction lines corresponding to body-centered-cubic iron in Debye-Scherrer patterns given by aged and worked specimens but lines corresponding to only one face-centered-cubic phase in specimens which had been aged but not worked. Knoppwost,' and later Cech and Turnbull,5 found that aged Cu-Fe specimens showed a slight increase in ferromagnet-ism after they had be? cooled in liquid nitrogen. Very recently Denney6 followed the kinetics of the precipitation reaction as indicated by the saturation magnetization, hardness, and diffuse X-ray effects. The experimental results reported by all of the authors mentioned above are readily explained in terms of the Bitter and Kaufmann concept. However, most of the evidence is indirect when used to define the structural changes involved. It was the aim of the present investigation to determine the mechanism of precipitation of iron from a Cu-Fe solid solution in the light of available published information and with additional new and more direct experimental data. Experimental Method At 1060°C copper will contain up to 3 atomic pct Fe in equilibrium solid solution.7 The solvus slopes rapidly toward lower iron concentration, so that at 600°C only about 0.5 pct Fe remains in solution at equilibrium. Below the eutectoid temperature (850°C), the iron-rich phase in equilibrium with the copper-rich solid solution consists of body-centered-cubic a-Fe. Above 850 °C the equilibrium iron-rich phase is face-centered-cubic r-Fe. The alloy to be studied was made by melting electrolytic iron and OFHC copper by induction under vacuum in an Alundum-lined crucible. The metal was held molten for about 5 min, after which time the power was turned off and the crucible was tipped about 70" to promote directional solidification. The resulting ingot, containing 2.5 wt pct Fe by analysis, was clean, large grained, and free of gross segregation. Slices % in. thick were cut from the ingot, rolled to 1/8 in. in thickness, homogenized in hydrogen at 1060°C for 24 hr and, finally, quenched in cold water. Specimens for all subsequent tests were made from these slices. Squares measuring about 1 cm on a side were cut from the slices to make specimens for studying hardness and microstructure. Wires (0.020 in.) for the Debye-Scherrer survey were drawn from 1/8 in. sq rods which had been cut from the homogenized slices. Large crystals for observing diffuse X-ray diffraction effects were prepared by mechanically