Abstract
Aluminum master alloys with rare earth metals are widely studied by many scientists around the world, but research on the production of Al-Er master alloys is still limited. The purpose of this work is to study the microstructure parameters of aluminum-erbium master alloys obtained by metallothermic reduction of salt mixtures containing erbium oxide or fluoride. The structural features were investigated by optical and scanning electron microscopy, and the dependence of the microhardness of the eutectic and solid solution fields of obtained master alloys on the content of erbium in the master alloy was determined. Studies have shown that master alloys obtained by metallothermic reduction of erbium compounds from chloride–fluoride melts are characterized by a uniform distribution of Al3Er intermetallic compounds in the volume of double eutectic [(Al) + Al3Er] and have a strong grain refinement effect. The analysis of the microstructure showed that the structure of the master alloys varies depending on the content of erbium. When the content of erbium in the master alloy is up to 6 wt.%, the eutectic structure is preserved. When the content of erbium in the master alloy is 8 wt.% or more, the structure becomes a solid solution with individual inclusions of various shapes and intermetallic compounds.
Highlights
Accepted: 3 November 2021Scrutiny of aluminum alloys with rare earth metals carried out by scientists from various countries has revealed several new effective reinforcing alloying additives, such as erbium [1,2,3,4,5,6] and ytterbium [7,8]
For the preparation of the aluminum–erbium master alloys, an electric pit-type heating furnace with silicon carbide heaters was used in the laboratory
As has been discovered by way of research, the master alloys obtained by metallothermic reduction of erbium compounds from chloride–fluoride melts are characterized by a uniform distribution of Al3 Er intermetallides in the volume of double eutectic [(Al) + Al3 Er]
Summary
Accepted: 3 November 2021Scrutiny of aluminum alloys with rare earth metals carried out by scientists from various countries has revealed several new effective reinforcing alloying additives, such as erbium [1,2,3,4,5,6] and ytterbium [7,8]. In turn from the crystallization centers, the formation of aluminum solid solution grains begins, which, during subsequent deformation, provides hardening of aluminum and alloys based on it by increasing the elastic interaction of Al3 Er phase particles with the aluminum matrix [9,10,11,12]. In this regard, new alloys of systems are being developed: Al-Ni-Er, Al-Sc-Zr-Er, Al-Li-Cu-Mg-Er, AlSi-Mg-Er, Al-Li-Yb-Er-Sc-Zr and others [1,2,13,14,15]. Master alloys are the most important charging material that ensures the quality of both alloys
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