Hysteresis effects on the high-temperature internal friction of polycrystalline zirconium

Hysteresis effects present on the high temperature internal friction of annealed polycrystalline zirconium are investigated in detail. It is shown that two internal friction maxima are present when the measurements are performed on heating. If a high enough temperature is reached, only one internal friction maximum is observed on cooling. Furthermore, when the temperature is not decreased below a certain value (critical temperature) only the lower temperature peak is present during a subsequent heating cycle. The critical temperature is strongly dependent on the grain size. Finally, both the hysteresis effects and the internal friction maxima are explained by relaxation mechanisms associated with grain boundary sliding and segregation of impurities to the grain boundaries. (author)