Plastic deformation of hardly deformable Al13Fe4 particles embedded in an Al–Al13Fe4 dual phase alloy

An intermetallic compound of Al13Fe4 is shown to be deformable at room temperature, when a thin foil of Al–Al13Fe4 composite observable in an electron microscope was compressed to a high stress level. Compression of a foil specimen by a hard steel rod makes it possible to introduce dislocations prior to fracture into a monoclinic Al13Fe4 protected by Al matrix. Use of a high-voltage electron microscope is especially advantageous in examining the three-dimensional microstructures in a deformed specimen directly without electro-polishing. The subject is focused on the determination of the shear systems, contributing to the plasticity of Al–Al13Fe4 typically at room temperature at which plastic deformation occurs without accompanying atomic diffusion. The results are compared with the dislocations and planar faults introduced in the bulk presumably by thermal stress during solidification.