Changes

Fine-Grain silver (ARGODUR-Spezial) is defined as a silver alloy with an addition of 0.15 wt% of nickel. Silver and nickel are not soluble in each other in solid form. In liquid silver, only a small amount of nickel is soluble as the phase diagram (<xr id="fig:Phase diagram of silver nickel"/> <!--(Fig. 2.51)--> ) illustrates. During solidification of the melt, this nickel addition gets finely dispersed in the silver matrix and eliminates the pronounce coarse grain growth after prolonged influence of elevated temperatures (<xr id="fig:Coarse grain micro structure of Ag"/><!--(Fig. 2.49)--> and <xr id="fig:Fine grain microstructure of AgNiO"/><!--(Fig. 2.50)-->).

Fine-Grain silver has almost the same chemical corrosion resistance as fine silver. Compared to pure silver, it exhibits a slightly increased hardness and tensile strength (<xr id="tab:Mechanical Properties of Silver and Silver Alloys"/><!--(Table 2.14)-->). The electrical conductivity is just slightly decreased by this low nickel addition. Because of its significantly improved contact properties, fine grain silver has replaced pure silver in many applications.