Abstract
Alloying is an effective method to refine coarse grains of an Al13Fe4 phase and strengthen Al-Fe alloys. However, the grain refinement mechanism remains unclear in terms of the thermodynamics. Herein, the influence of M-element, i.e., Cr, Mn, Co and Ni, addition on the activity of Al and Fe atoms, Gibbs free energy of the Al13Fe4 nucleus in Al-Fe melt and the formation enthalpy of an Al13Fe4 phase in Al-Fe alloys is systematically investigated using the extended Miedema model, Wilson equation, and first-principle calculations, respectively. The results reveal that the addition of different M elements increases the activity of Fe atoms and reduces the Gibbs free energy of the Al13Fe4 nucleus in Al-Fe melt, where the incorporation of Ni renders the most obvious effect, followed by Mn, Co, and Cr. Additionally, the formation enthalpy decreases in the following order: Al78(Fe23Cr) > Al78(Fe23Mn) > Al13Fe4 > Al78(Fe23Ni) > Al78(Fe23Co), where the formation enthalpy of Al78(Fe23Ni) is close to Al78(Fe23Co). Moreover, the presence of Ni promotes the nucleation of the Al13Fe4 phase in Al-Fe alloys, which reveals the mechanism of grain refinement from a thermodynamics viewpoint.
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