| Abstract Scope |
Grain boundary (GB) segregation is an effective strategy to enhance the densification of alloys fabricated through solid-state processing due to accelerated intergranular diffusion. Recent computational studies revealed that GB segregation energy exhibited a spectral behavior, giving rise to a non-uniform solute concentration along both individual boundaries and across the whole material. In the present study, to investigate the effect of GB segregation spectra on alloy densification, three vanadium-based binary systems, including V-2Ni, V-2Co, and V-2Y (at.%), were investigated. All systems were fabricated using a solid-state powder metallurgy approach and then characterized in detail by advanced analytical transmission electron microscopy. The densification is the highest in V-2Ni, followed by V-2Co and V-2Y. Nanoscale elemental maps reveal that all three solute elements segregate to GBs but with different spectral behavior, which can be correlated to the corresponding densification. This study provides insight into designing segregation-engineered vanadium alloys with improved densification. |