Ageing reactions in a high carat gold alloy for dental porcelain bonding

The phase transformation during continuous heating of a high carat gold alloy used for porcelain bonding was investigated by electrical resistivity measurements, hardness tests, X-ray diffraction and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Four reaction stages (I, II, III and IV) were found. Stage I corresponded to the formation of a short-range order. A discontinuous precipitation took place in stage II, which contributed to remarkable hardening. Stages III and IV were reactions to the stable phases at each temperature region, and resulted in softening. The activation energies for stages I, II and III are 27.1, 33.8 and 58.2 kcal/mol, respectively.