Experimental and theoretical studies on phase separations in the Fe-Al-Co ordering alloy system

Abstract

Phase separations in iron-rich Fe-Al-Co ternary alloys were investigated by means of transmission electron microscopy, differential thermal analysis and magnetization measurement. Two kinds of phase separations have been found at 923 K; A2+B2 and B2+B2*. The former occurs in a tongue-shaped composition region ranging from Fe-12 at % Al-15 at % Co to Fe-35 at % Al-45 at % Co and the latter appears in the small region bordering on the Fe-Al binary side of the A2+B2 field. These two-phase fields have theoretically been evaluated on the basis of the so-called Bragg-Williams-Gorsky model taking account of not only chemical but also magnetic interactions. The magnetic ordering accounts for the expansion of the A2+B2 coexistent region. In the measurement of magnetic properties, large increases in coercive force, Hc, and residual magnetic flux density, Br, were observed in the two-phase microstructures.