Course No: MME 6102

Course Name: Advanced Physical Metallurgy

Question: What is the effect of impurities on recrystallization temperature

and why different atoms affects the recrystallization temperature
differently?

Submitted by-
Name: Md. Irfan Khan
ID: 1018112003
Question: What is the effect of impurities on recrystallization temperature and why different atoms
affects the recrystallization temperature differently?

Ans: The usual effect of solutes is to hinder recrystallization (Dimitrov et al. 1978). Table 1 shows the effect
of zone refining on the recrystallization temperatures of various metals after large rolling reductions.
Although the amount and type of impurities in the commercial materials is not specified, and in some
cases they may contain second-phase particles, the marked effect of purifying the metals is clearly seen.

The quantitative effect of a solute on the recrystallization behaviour is dependent on the specific
solvent/solute pair. A good example of a very potent solute which has an important influence on
commercial alloys is iron in aluminium. A very small concentrations of iron in solid solution in high purity
aluminium may increase the recrystallization temperature by 100C

Impurities may affect both the nucleation and growth of recrystallizing grains. It is difficult to measure or
even define a nucleation rate for recrystallization, and the effect of impurities has not been quantified.
Solutes may in some cases have a strong influence on the recovery processes which are an integral part
of nucleation and which may affect the driving force for recrystallization. However, the majority of
experimental work suggests that the main influence of solutes is on the grain boundary mobility and hence
on the growth rate of recrystallizing grains.

Most of the elements soluble in iron increase the recrystallization temperature because almost all alloy
elements have lattice constants larger than iron. This is true also of alloys other than iron base. For
instance, in copper-base alloys additions of silver, tin, lead, antimony and cadmium increase the
recrystallization temperature, because their lattice parameters are larger than that of copper.
 Lattice Parameters of some common metals

Cu-361.49, 361.49, 361.49 pm

Nickel-352.4, 352.4, 352.4 pm

Cobalt-250.71, 250.71, 406.95 pm

Fe- 286.65, 286.65, 286.65 pm

Ag-408.53, 408.53, 408.53 pm

Sn- 583.18, 583.18, 318.19 pm

Te-445.72, 445.72, 592.9 pm

The main factor affecting the recrystallization temperature of

1
solid solutions is the relation between the
lattice constants of solvent and solute elements: solute elements with lattice parameters larger than those
of the solvent, increase the recrystallization temperature but decrease it when the lattice parameter ratio
is reversed.

Fig 1(a) and (b): Effect of alloying elements on the hardness of binary alloys

The observed changes of recrystallization temperature can be explained by the hardening action of alloy
elements causing a change of the lattice parameter of the solvent. If the lattice constant of the solute
exceeds that of the solvent, then the paraments of solid-solution crystal lattice also increases.

When the concentration of the solute elements increases, the Table 2

lattice distortion is such that order of disorientation of the atoms
in the boundaries and sub-boundaries becomes almost identical.
Such solid solutions are strongly hardened (Fig. 1, b) so that the
additional hardening induced by deformation remains
insignificant, (Fig. 1, a). This should cause the recrystallization
temperature to rise.When the relation between the parameters
of the solute and solvent elements is reversed, the lattice
parameter of the solid solution decreases and so does its
recrystallization temperature. Hence, to estimate the effect of soluble elements on the recrystallization
temperature of the solvent, one must first consider the relation between their closest atomic spacings.

References:

1. Avrami, M. (now M. A. Melvin), Jour. Chem. Phys., 7 1103 (1939); ibid., 8 212 (1940); ibid., 9 177
(1941). Also Johnson, W. A., and Mehl, R. F., Trans. AIME, 135 416 (1939).
2. Kurilekh, L.P. Recrystallization behavior of solid solutions of metals. Met Sci Heat Treat 1, 33–36
(1959). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00813841
3. V. I. Iveronova, Use of X-Rays for Study of Metals, Mashgiz Press, 1949.
4. R. Glocker, X-Rays and the Study of Metals. Tekhteoretizdat, 1932.
5. A. P. Gulyaev and E. F. Trusova,Zhurn. Tekh. Fiz., v. 20, 1950, #1.
6. Ya. S. Umanskii et al. Metal Physics. Metallurgizdat, 1955.