Liquid metal embrittlement: A state-of-the-art appraisal

Although the risk of embrittlement of materials exposed to liquid metals has been recognized for many years, its prediction reMayns problematical insofar as the knowledge of the mechanisms involved in the phenomenon is limited. However, Liquid Metal Embrittlement (LME) is of prime interest because the risk of damage exists wherever the handling of liquid metals is required in various industrial or scientifical fields (chemical plants, power-producing systems, soldering process, ...). The interest for this phenomenon needs thus to be pursued. The present paper reviews experimental results about the occurrence of LME and the influence of different parameters, and presents a number of mechanisms which have been proposed to explain LME