Effect of strain distribution on the occurrence of liquid metal embrittlement on a 30% Zn brass in contact with the liquid Ga-In eutectic
Résumé
Liquid metal embrittlement (LME) is a phenomenon in which a solid metal suffers a total or partial loss of its ductility when it is under mechanical solicitation in contact with a liquid metal. The occurrence of this phenomenon depends on intrinsic factors, which are related to the nature of the metals or metallic alloys in contact; and on external factors, which are the conditions of the mechanical solicitation (temperature, strain rate, etc.). In the present work, we consider and study the effect of variations in the strain distribution on the occurrence of LME on the 30%Zn brass in contact with the liquid eutectic Ga-In (eGaIn).Miniaturized notched samples (2101 mm) were tested with different bending test setups at room temperature. We used not only the 4-points and the 3-points standard setups, but also unconventional setups to obtain intermediate strain distributions. The bending tests were performed both in air and in contact with the eGaIn. The stress and strain distributions were calculated through finite element analysis using the software ABAQUS. Furthermore, the fractured surfaces were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).We observed a sudden drop on the force-displacement curves of the samples tested in contact with the eGaIn when the strain distribution was close to that of the 3-points bending test setup. The SEM observations showed that these samples had a partially brittle fracture; indeed, a small zone close to the notch presented a ductile fracture, while the rest was brittle fracture, specifically a transgranular fracture. On the other hand, all the other samples, including those tested in the air, had a ductile fracture. Correlating the observation and the modelization, the occurrence of LME according to the strain and stress distribution is discussed.