Cite three metallurgical/processing techniques that are employed to enhance the creep resistance of metal alloys.

Question: Explain three metallurgical or processing techniques used to improve the creep resistance of metal alloys. Answer: Three techniques used to improve the creep resistance of metal alloys are precipitation hardening, grain boundary strengthening, and solid solution strengthening. Precipitation hardening involves heat treatment, which forms precipitates within the metal, hindering dislocation motion and increasing mechanical strength. Grain boundary strengthening alters the material's microstructure to create smaller grains with more grain boundaries, resulting in greater resistance to dislocation movement. Solid solution strengthening adds alloying elements to a base metal, disrupting the atomic lattice and introducing lattice strain, which hinders dislocation motion and increases deformation resistance.