Microstructural characterization of rapidly solidified Al-Li-Co powders

Abstract

A study of the combined effect of alloying elements and melt superheat has been carried out on the as-solidified structure of rapidly solidified Al-Li-Co powders. Three alloys,viz., Al-3 pct Li, Al-3 pct Li-0.4 pct Co, and Al-3 pct Li-0.8 pct Co were chosen, and the liquid melt in each alloy atomized from the temperatures 1173 and 1073 K, using the centrifugal atomization technique. The microstructural characterization was done using light, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy. Four types of microstructures,viz., dendritic, cellular, equiaxed-type, and featureless structures, were observed by light microscopy. The cooling rate, as determined from the same, lay in the range 104 to 106 Ks−1, but was seen to go beyond 107 Ks−1 when estimated from TEM micrographs. On the micro-level, the Al-Li powders were found to exhibit dendritic structures with differing morphologies, whereas low-angle cell walls with perturbed interfaces were the main structural features observed in the Al-Li-Co alloys. Increasing both cobalt content and powder particle diameter favored transition from dendritic into cellular structure. The featureless zone was comprised mainly of elongated columnar grains (0.2 μm width and 1.5 μm length). A mechanism describing the cellular structure formation has been proposed. Aging of the melt-quenched powders at 473 K for times up to 100 hours results in the dissolution of the cellular structure. A mechanism for the same has been postulated. The difference in the superheats chosen in the present work is found not sufficient to cause drastic microstructural changes.