Solute Segregation Studied by Grain Boundary Diffusion

Diffusion of 64Cu, 59Fe, and 63Ni radiotracers has been measured in Cu–Fe–Ni alloys of different compositions at 1271 K. The measured penetration profiles reveal grain boundary-induced part along with the volume diffusion one. Correction on grain boundary diffusion was taken into account when determining the volume diffusivities of the components. When the Cu content in the alloys increases, the diffusivities increase by order of magnitude. This behaviour correlates well with decreasing of the melting temperature of corresponding alloys, as the Cu content increases. Modelling of interdiffusion in the Cu–Fe–Ni system based on Danielewski-Holly model of interdiffusion is presented. In this model (extended Darken method for multi-component systems) a postulate that the total mass flow is a sum of the diffusion and the drift flows was applied for the description of interdiffusion in the closed system. Nernst-Planck’s flux formula assuming a chemical potential gradient as a driving force for the mass transport was used for computing the diffusion flux in non-ideal multi-component systems. In computations of the diffusion profiles the measured tracer diffusion coefficients of Cu, Fe and Ni as well as the literature data on thermodynamic activities for the Cu–Fe–Ni system were used. The calculated interdiffusion concentration profiles (diffusion paths) reveal satisfactory agreement with the experimental results.