Accelerated growth of tin whiskers

It has been shown experimentally that the growth rate of tin whiskers may be accelerated up to 10,000 times the previously observed spontaneous rate by the application of pressure up to 7,500 psi. It is shown that these whiskers may exhibit three stages of growth: (1) an induction period (sometimes unobservably small); (2) a period of constant growth rate, and (3) an abrupt transition to a much slower growth rate. The growth rate during period...