Time-of-flight neutron small-angle scattering from a superconducting composite wire

The precipitation behavior in the Ti-27at.%Nb-6at.%Ta-6at.%Zr alloy aged at 643 K was examined by means of time-of-flight neutron small-angle scattering. When the alloy was aged, fine-scale α precipitates appeared. During the precipitation process, each precipitate grew in size, but the total number of precipitates remained nearly constant up to 1 Ms of ageing. The increase of critical superconducting current density could be connected with increasing size of α precipitates. The specimen for the measurements consisted of a composite containing 3721 filaments in a copper matrix. The use of neutrons was shown to give great advantages for the investigation of precipitation phenomena. (Auth.)