DSC evaluations of short-range-order kinetics in Cu–10at.% Al solid solutions as influenced by bound vacancies

A modified first order kinetic law which describes the roles of bound and unbound vacancies is proposed in order to predict defect decay and short-range-order (SRO) kinetics of quenched binary alloys during linear heating experiments. The model has been applied to differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermograms of Cu–10at.% Al quenched from different temperatures. Transient effects at the end of de-freezing when heating after quenched were examined. Activation energy for migration of solute–vacancy complexes was also assessed from the kinetics of SRO using DSC traces. A value of 85.6 kJ mol−1 was obtained. The relative contribution of bound and unbound vacancies to the ordering process as influenced by quenching temperature was determined.