PdNi5 alloy: Effect of thermo-mechanical treatment on mechanical and microstructural properties

In this paper, the effect of thermomechanical processing on microstructure and mechanical properties of cold rolled samples of PdNi5 alloy was investigated for the purpose of its characterization. After melting and casting in a vacuum, a thermomechanical treatment was applied including the homogenization annealing in temperature range 800-1000oC for 30, 60 and 90 minutes, cold rolling with deformation degrees of 60, 85 and 97%, recrystallization annealing in the temperature range of 200-1000oC for 20, 30 and 40 minutes and electroresistant annealing at speed of 14, 16 and 24 meters per minute for the PdNi5 wire with diameter of 0.15 mm, and at speed of 18, 22 and 24 meters per minute for the PdNi5 wire with diameters of 0.111 and 0.08 mm with measurement of hardness, tensile strength, relative elongation and observing the structural changes using optical and SEM microscopy. The test results of influence of parameters of thermomechanical processing on the mechanical and structural properties of the PdNi5 alloy show that the process should be led in strictly defined conditions in order to be able to use this alloy for making catalyst-catchers in high-temperature catalytic processes in the production of nitric acid.