A grain boundary engineering approach to promote special boundaries in Pb-base alloy

A grain boundary engineering approach was made to improve the microstructure of a commercial Pb-base alloy for better performance in automobile battery application. For the purpose of enhancing the resistance against intergranular corrosion, cracking and creep, a thermomechanical processing route was sought to promote special boundaries, specifically coincidence site lattice (CSL) boundaries. Through a combination of cold working and recrystallization heat treatment, it was possible to increase the fraction of low SigmaCSL boundaries more than 91%. Annealing twins, produced during the thermomechanical processing, were identified as a key factor for regeneration of CSL boundaries. Multiplication of the CSL boundaries was interpreted in terms of the 'Sigma3 regeneration' model proposed by previous authors. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.