Lattice Relationships Developed by the Peritectic Formation of Beta in the Copper-zinc System

ALTHOUGH the crystallography of lattice transformations has been studied extensively during the past few years, these studies have been limited, with few exceptions1,2, to specimens in which the transformed lattice appears as a, segregate phase. A realization of the technical importance of the segregation mechanism, especially in the formation of martensitic structures and in age-hardening phenomena, has undoubtedly stimulated research in this direction. In the crystallographic studies of segregation, the general problem has been to relate the orientation of the parent crystal to that of the segregate crystals. The technique has been complicated by the fact that it has been necessary to deal with the presence of as many as 24 ideal segregate orientations within one parent lattice; furthermore, the segregate lattices are invariably scattered (seldom less than ±2°, often as much as 15° or 20°) about these ideal positions. It is probable that a more complete picture of phase transformations may result from a study in which complete lattice relationships between individual grains are evaluated, thereby providing an additional param-eter which, when it is necessary to work with multiple segregate-orienta-tions, cannot be evaluated. The present paper presents the results of such a study, ? wherein a peritectic reaction is made use of to produce the transformed lattices.