Journal of Dental Research, Vol 67, 1307-1311, Copyright © 1988 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
Metallurgical aspects of high-palladium alloys
P. R. Mezger, A. L. Stols, M. M. Vrijhoef and E. H. Greener
Department of Occlusal Reconstruction, School of Dentistry, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Nine commercial high-Pd alloys were investigated. Microstructure and phase
composition were screened by x-ray diffraction, light microscopy, and an
electron microprobe. After being etched, some high-Pd alloys revealed
dendritic structures. The others showed a more homogeneous structure with
distinct grain boundaries. Etching was necessary to reveal distinct
structures, though the overall etching effect turned out to be limited. On
unetched specimens, only a slight chemical heterogeneity could be
determined. Except for one alloy, the systems turned out to have complex
multi-phase structures. The main face-centered-cubic (fcc) phase was
Pd-based. As secondary phases, body-centered-cubic (bcc) and/or simple
cubic ones were detected. The latter phases were similar to a Cu3Ga and
PdGa intermetallic compound, respectively. Face-centered-tetragonal (fct)
structures reported by other investigators were not found.
