Microhardness and Debye Temperatures of hcp Phase Cu_1–x –Zn _x Alloy

Systematic studies on hardness have been carried out on hexagonal close packed (hcp) phase Cu_{1– x} –Zn _x alloys. Using Vicker's pyramidal indenter and the true hardness has been estimated. The Debye temperatures of hcp phase Cu_1–x –Zn _x alloys have been obtained from X-ray integrated intensities. The integrated intensities have been measured with a Philips 3020 powder diffractometer fitted with a proportional counter using filtered CuKα radiation at room temperature and have been corrected for thermal diffuse scattering. The Debye temperatures of these metals have been estimated from the hardness and are compared with those obtained from specific heats, elastic constants and X-ray intensity measurements.