Effect of tin on the microstructures and mechanical properties of a Au-Pt-Cu alloy

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of small Sri additions on the microstructures and the mechanical properties of the Au-Pt-Cu alloys. The hardness of the Au-PtCu-xSn alloys rapidly increased with increasing aging time at 600 degrees C until it reached an almost constant value at aging time of 30min. In addition, the hardness of the Au-Pt-Cu-xSn (x = 0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1.0) alloys aged at 600 degrees C for 30 min, rapidly increased with increasing Sri content and reached a maximum hardness at 0.5wt%, but it slightly decreased with more increasing in Sri content. This is ascribed to wide dispersion of large Pt3Sn precipitate, which is softer than matrix composed of Au-Pt-Cu-Sn solid solution. The grain size of the Au-Pt-Cu-xSn alloys decreased with increasing Sri content irrespective of the heat- and aging-treatments, but the grain size of the aged alloys was finer than that of solution treated alloys.