Patent ID: 6397682
Filing Date: 2002-06-04
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
A method of assessing the resistance of a test polycrystalline material to intergranular failure, the method comprising the steps of:determining the test random grain boundary network connectivity (RGBNC) for said test material; determining the reference RGBNC for a reference material; wherein said RGBNC determining steps comprise: measuring grain boundary misorientations; categorizing said misorientation as either special or random; tracking the beginning, end and length of each random boundary (RB) segment along with its connection to adjacent RB segments resulting in a branched network of RB segments; continuing said tracking step until the network is broken at a point where the RB segment encounters a break point, said break point being a junction comprising a random boundary and at least two other boundaries, wherein said other boundaries are special boundaries, unfavorably oriented random boundaries, or combination of the foregoing; determining test stereological parameters from said test RGBNC; determining reference stereological parameters from said reference RGBNC; wherein said stereologiral parameters are selected from the group consisting of longest interconnected path, mean interconnected path, longest distance from beginning to end of the network, mean distance from beginning to end of network, and radius of gyration of the network; and comparing said test stereological parameters to said reference stereological parameters.