Kinetics of vacancy annealing upon time-linear heating applied to dilatometry.

A kinetic model for the diffusion-controlled annealing of excess vacancies under the experimentally relevant, non-isothermal condition of time-linear heating is presented and applied to dilatometry. The evolution of the vacancy concentration with time is quantitatively analyzed, considering as ideal sinks either dislocations or grain boundaries of spherical- or cylindrical-shaped crystallites. The validity of the model is tested using dilatometry data that were obtained for ultrafine-grained Ni prepared by high-pressure torsion. The entire two-stage annealing curve of the dilatometric length change can be analyzed by combining the present kinetic model of vacancy annealing at grain boundaries with established non-isothermal kinetics of recrystallization.

Internal stress and defect-related free volume in submicrocrystalline Ni studied by neutron diffraction and difference dilatometry.

A combined study of neutron diffraction and difference dilatometry on submicrocrystalline Ni prepared by high pressure torsion aims at studying the anisotropic behaviour during dilatometry and its relation to internal stress and structural anisotropy. Macroscopic stresses were undetectable in the dilatometer samples. Along with specific tests such as post cold-rolling, this shows that an observed anisotropic length change upon annealing is not caused by internal stress, but can be explained by the inherent microstructure, i.e. the anisotropic annealing of relaxed vacancies at grain boundaries of shape-anisotropic crystallites.