11/7/2012

J.Muhammad Thanzeem Ibrahim M.Tech Manufacturing

Scope of the Presentation:

Definition Properties Classification Production Application Advantages Drawbacks

11/7/2012

J.Muhammad Thanzeem Ibrahim M.Tech Manufacturing

Definition
When a solution containing alloys of metals which have a limited

mutual solubility, solidifies it form a new phase at certain ratios.

This new phase possess crystal structures different from either

component and are called intermetallic compounds (sometimes abbreviated as IMCS)

Intermetallic formation between copper and tin

11/7/2012

J.Muhammad Thanzeem Ibrahim M.Tech Manufacturing

Properties of intermetallic compounds

Brittleness
Brittleness of intermetallic increase with decreasing lattice symmetry

and increasing unit cell size

Brittleness depends on

crystal symmetry specific characteristics of the particular phasesing unit cell size
Dislocations need high mobility and low energy, that imply the

existence of dislocation slip systems as twinning systems

11/7/2012

J.Muhammad Thanzeem Ibrahim M.Tech Manufacturing

Fracture initiation through the de-bonding of brittle particulates is

showed in the model below. The particles behave as stress concentrators as the ductility of the matrix is increased; localized plastic instability is the cause of this effect.

11/7/2012

J.Muhammad Thanzeem Ibrahim M.Tech Manufacturing

Brittle-to-Ductile Transition Temperature

At BDTT material typically exhibit a drastic increase of the fracture

toughness within a relatively narrow temperature range. As show on the graphic below (fig.2), the fracture toughness increase after BDTT so that the material can be considered as ductile

where J critical -Fracture toughness measurements

11/7/2012

J.Muhammad Thanzeem Ibrahim M.Tech Manufacturing

Corrosion resistance
It is provided by the presence natural oxide layer on the surface

because of the high reactivity with the atmosphere. In chemical terms, these metals are called passivable and in particular they are Al, Ti, Cr or Si.
For high-temperature applications, the corrosion resistance is harder

to keep, and sometimes a protective coating may be applied

Toughness and ductility

Limited ductility - toughness at low temperatures

The two major brittle failure modes - cleavage and inter-granular

fracture Plastic deformation is more difficult in intermetallic than in conventional alloys because of the stronger atomic bounding and the consequent ordered atomic distribution

11/7/2012

J.Muhammad Thanzeem Ibrahim M.Tech Manufacturing

Types
Beryllides
The Be-rich phases with Ti, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta, or Mo, also called transition-metal

beryllides
BeO layer on the surface of the material comported a good oxidation resistance,

therefore Be-rich phases are also used as protective

Silicides
Silicides are considerate as an intermediate case between ceramics and metals. For example, transition metal silicides are often classed as intermetallic nevertheless silicon is a semiconductor and not a metal. Crystal structure of silicon is shown

Eg:M3Si, M2Si, M5Si3, MSi

Crystal structure of silicon and MoSi2

11/7/2012

J.Muhammad Thanzeem Ibrahim M.Tech Manufacturing

Rare-earth compounds
Rare-earth compounds have larger sizes and lower electronegativities The crystal structure derive from the cubic D21 structure or hexagonal

D2d structure Mostly of the rare-earth compounds are line compound, so that they have only narrow composition ranges. The production of these compounds is very difficult because of the high affinity with oxygen that leads to reaction with other commons materials. Magnetic properties are the most important property of rare-earth compound and these depend on the composition and crystal structure

11/7/2012

J.Muhammad Thanzeem Ibrahim M.Tech Manufacturing

Production:
Impossible to machine, due to brittleness at room temperature Hence they are produced by powder metallurgy Pressed pellets of a stoichiometric mixture were ignited. When heated to their transition temperatures, they will compact

themselves which is ordinarily well below their melting points.

Their reactivity allows alloying to occur at substantially reduced

temperatures. Eg: The Beryllides with Nb, Zr, or similar transition metals

11/7/2012

J.Muhammad Thanzeem Ibrahim M.Tech Manufacturing

10

Fracture mode
Intermetallic compounds have three different modes of fracture such

as: inter-granular fracture, trans-granular cleavage and a mixed of these first modes (see fig.1). The more thickness the sample the higher probability to have inter-granular fracture.

a)Inter-granular fracture(IF) b)Trans-granular fracture (TG) c) IF +TG.

11/7/2012

J.Muhammad Thanzeem Ibrahim M.Tech Manufacturing

11

Advantages
High hardness High wear resistance Low toughness

Low ductility
Good oxidation resistance High-temperature strength Microstructural stability

Disadvantage
Brittle at room temperature - a major obstacle to use in structural

applications Lack the appropriate balance of properties needed in engineering materials

11/7/2012

J.Muhammad Thanzeem Ibrahim M.Tech Manufacturing

12

APPLICATIONS OF INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS

Solder joints
Three commonly found intermetallic compounds in solder

joints are Cu6Sn5, Cu3Sn, and Ni3Sn4

Batteries
A large family of hydride-forming intermetallic compounds

that led to use in Ni-metal hydride batteries.

NiMH batteries comprise more than 30% of a $6 billion

market for rechargeable batteries used in many portable electronic devices such as cell phones and laptop computers.

11/7/2012

J.Muhammad Thanzeem Ibrahim M.Tech Manufacturing

13

Advantages of NiMH batteries

Higher storage capacity than Pb-acid and Ni-Cd batteries, Less toxicity than lead and cadmium Lower cost than Li-ion batteries

Magnets
Intermetallic compounds, including FeCo and rare earth

compounds, have been used as permanent magnets. Nd2Fe14B has the highest energy product of commercial permanent magnets.

11/7/2012

J.Muhammad Thanzeem Ibrahim M.Tech Manufacturing

14

REFERENCES
Sauthoff, G.,Intermetallics, VCH (1995). Fhnle, M., Welsch, F., From the electronic structure to the

macroscopic magnetic behaviour of rare-earth intermetallics, Physica B 321 (2002), 198-203. Kimura Y., Pope, D.P., Ductility and toughness in intermetallics, Intermetallics 6 (1998), 567-571. Fields R. J., Low S. R., Physical and mechanical properties of intermetallics compounds commonly found in solder joints, Metallurgy Division of MSEL (2002) Slotoff, N. S.; Liu, C. T.; Deevi, S. C. Emerging applications of intermetallics. Intermetallics (2000), 8(9-11), 1313-1320. Center for computational materials science, description of general behaviour of materials, cst-www.nrl.navy.mil. Crystalline structure of elements, www.geo.arizona.edu