Lesson plan
Effective diffusion coefficient
The effective diffusion coefficient of a diffusant (atoms of a material which are diffusing in another material) in atomic diffusion of solid polycrystalline materials like metal alloys is often represented as a weighted average of the grain boundary diffusion coefficient and the lattice diffusion coefficient. Diffusion along both the grain boundary and in the lattice may be modeled with an Arrhenius equation. The ratio of the grain boundary diffusion activation energy over the lattice diffusion activation energy is usually 0.4–0.6, so as temperature is lowered, the grain boundary diffusion component increases. Increasing temperature often allows for increased grain size, and the lattice diffusion component increases with increasing temperature, so often at 0.8 T melt (of an alloy), the grain boundary component can be neglected.
Article summary
The effective diffusion coefficient of a diffusant (atoms of a material which are diffusing in another material) in atomic diffusion of solid polycrystalline materials like metal alloys is often represented as a weighted average of the grain boundary diffusion coefficient and the lattice diffusion coefficient. Diffusion along both the grain boundary and in the lattice may be modeled with an Arrhenius equation. The ratio of the grain boundary diffusion activation energy over the lattice diffusion activation energy is usually 0.4–0.6, so as temperature is lowered, the grain boundary diffusion component increases. Increasing temperature often allows for increased grain size, and the lattice diffusion component increases with increasing temperature, so often at 0.8 T melt (of an alloy), the grain boundary component can be neglected.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
No sources recorded.
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.