Fracture Mode Transition in Nb–1Si Alloys Triggered by Annealing Heat Treatment

The concentration of Si plays a crucial role in the ductile-brittle transition of Nb solid solution (NbSS) alloys, and an appropriate annealing treatment contributes to controlling the Si concentration in NbSS alloy. In this paper, Nb–1Si (at%) alloy is arc-melted and annealed at different temperature (1300, 1400, and 1500 °C) for 10 h. After annealing, both the strength and ductility increase. Particularly, after annealing at 1300 °C, the fracture feature transforms from cleavage to dimples, and the alloy possesses good strength and retains decent ductility due to the low Si concentration and small-sized intragranular Nb3Si particles precipitating in the NbSS. The significant effect of annealing on the fracture mechanism of Nb–1Si provides guidance for the design of Nb–Si based alloys.