Deformation faults in face-centred cubic silver-zinc alloys

X-ray powder diffraction measurements of peak displacement and asymmetries from cold-worked face-centred cubic silver-zinc alloys have been used to investigate the role played by deformation stacking faults and twin faults respectively in the working process. Faults are shown to have considerable effect on the x-ray line broadening. The faulting probability varies parabolically with zinc content, reaching a maximum in the high solute content region of the phase field. Comparison of the results with those of other workers for silver-based alloys supports the view that the variation in faulting probability with composition is influenced by the position of the face-centred cubic phase boundary. Deformation stacking faults and twin faults show a similar variation with composition and lead to very small particle-size values at high zinc contents.