Suppression of liquid-metal-embrittlement by twin-induced grain boundary engineering approach

Grain boundary engineering (GBE) has lately been recognized as a viable approach to manipulate grain boundary characteristics to improve resistance against intergranular degradation. One of the most challenging intergranular degradation phenomena is liquid-metal-embrittlement (LME), where a reactive liquid metal penetrates along random grain boundary network. In contrast to random grain boundaries, special coincidence site lattice (CSL) boundaries has been shown to be resistant against the embrittlement. The present study investigates the feasibility of using a GBE technique to arrest LME in a Fe (FCC)-Zn couple. Two sets of low-strain-heat-treatment processing routes were used to optimize grain boundary characteristics based on: (a) Σ3 and Σ3n boundaries frequency, and (b) the material's texture and grain size evolution. The optimum characteristics resulted in significantly improved resistance against LME. The mechanism of the embrittlement arrest is discussed based on the random-grain boundary network continuity and the grain boundary triple junctions distributione.