Oral Atom probe tomography study of the growth of a single crystal phase synthesized by an Al molten flux

Abstract

Aluminum alloys and intermetallic are being widely investigated as potential aerospace materials. These alloys offer thepromise of low density, improved specific strength, high ductility, high fracture toughness and high stiffness to weightratio. Different light weight elements such as Si, Ca and Mg are commonly added to improve the strength and the ductility ofthis material. In this study, metal flux has been employed as a synthesize method for a single phases. The considerable potentialof aluminum liquid is demonstrated as a powerful synthesis solvent of important intermetallic phases such as:, and CaMgSi.The mechanical properties of the synthesized system have been estimated through the hardness analysis using nanoindentationhardness test. The microstructure evolution and the phase analyses were examined using scanning electronmicroscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The interactions between single crystals and the eutectic microstructure ofmolten flux is rather complex and yet to be fully understood. Thus, tracing of local chemistry on atomic scale is crucial.The atomprobe tomography technique is utilized to characterize the intermediate reaction steps of the flux-grown intermetallic phases.The study proposed a direct approach to investigate the involved reactions during the formation of the synthesized intermetallicphase.