David S. Lashmore

Cracks and dislocations in face-centered cubic metallic multilayers

In this paper, we have demonstrated that very perfect thin multilayers of the Cu/Ni system can be prepared with coherent interfaces if the layer modulation wavelength is in the 10 nm range. At modulation thicknesses above about 60 nm, the interfaces become incoherent. We have injected a crack into a coherent interface in the 10 nm case which has generated dislocations into the interface forming the crack plane, as well as into the layers adjacent to the crack plane. The dislocations injected into the crack plane presumably form misfit dislocations on that interface, and are grouped so close to the crack tip that individual dislocations are not completely imaged. The dislocations injected into the adjacent layers are distributed rather widely. We have analyzed the dislocation emission from a crack in the fcc geometry appropriate to the multilayers using a simplified elastic theory developed for cracks in homogeneous materials. The mixed mode loading which the misfit stresses are expected to produce lead one to expect these materials to be ductile and to have high toughness. Very high dislocation densities on the crack plane near the crack, however, may lead to a brittle mode of failure, which is beyond the purview of the elastic theory. The dislocations are observed to have strong interactions with alternating interfaces in the multilayers, and this effect could be due to elastic bunching of the dislocations at alternating interfaces caused by the misfit stress.

A new technology for direct restorative alloys

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to develop a new technology for preparing mercury-free metallic dental restorative materials. METHODS The novel approach relies on the cold welding of surface treated silver particles. At ambient temperature, intermetallic compound formation takes place spontaneously at the silver-tin interface. The ability of a loose powder to consolidate at ambient temperature under moderate pressure and within a short time duration was investigated for various mixtures of elemental silver, tin, and pre-alloyed silver-coated powders. Surface treatment aimed at removing silver surface oxide layers is done with a dilute acid. The compressive and the transverse rupture strengths of several of the consolidated powder mixtures were determined. RESULTS Cold-welding of surface-treated powder particles takes place across the silver-silver interface and is promoted by exposure to a mild acid. Powder mixtures containing approximately 50% silver powder, 40% silver-coated silver-tin intermetallic compound particles, and a small silver-tin fraction deposited from an aqueous solution display very good condensability, depending on the amount of silver-silver interface area available. The attained rupture strength values (200 Mpa) were higher than those of amalgams; the compressive strengths (120 MPa) and hardness values (100 KHN), however, were lower than those found for amalgams. SIGNIFICANCE Mercury-free silver-tin powder mixtures can be processed for use as metallic composite dental restorative materials.