Crystallographic studies on the iron-containing intermetallic phases in the 319-type aluminium casting alloys

Abstract

The iron-containing intermetallic compounds in type 319 aluminium casting alloys were investigated using convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The Chinese script α-phase was identified as having the cubic Im space group consistent with the Al19Fe4MnSi2 phase reported in the literature. However, the atomic ordering of this phase results in complex Kikuchi lines in the CBED and EBSD patterns, which makes phase and orientation identification difficult. In fact, it is shown that the EBSD patterns in the scanning electron microscope and Kikuchi patterns in the transmission electron microscope from this phase are closely related to the structurally similar m icosahedral quasicrystals that form in numerous aluminium–transition metal alloys by both conventional and rapid solidification. The other iron-containing phase in these alloys was determined to be plate shaped and to have the orthorhombic Cmcm space group consistent with the β-Al5FeSi phase, which has sometimes been confused with having a tetragonal or monoclinic structure. The nature of this structure is such that it frequently grows with a high density of faults that separate equivalent variants; these will be described and related to the previously incorrect interpretations of this being a tetragonal phase.