Linking Surface Precipitation in Fe-Au Alloys to Its Self-healing Potential During Creep Loading

The precipitation of Au-rich precipitates on the external surfaces of Fe-Au alloys has been studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The surface precipitates formed at elevated temperatures are found to self-organize in regular patterns and their growth rate is determined quantitatively. The observed surface precipitation at a free surface is compared to the precipitation at the internal surface of grain boundary cavities induced by creep loading. A close agreement between both processes is observed.Novel Aerospace MaterialsRST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and Energ