Formation of metastable phases and nanocomposite structures in rapidly solidified Al–Fe alloys

In the present work the structure and morphology of the phases of nanocomposites formed in rapidly solidified Al–Fe alloys were investigated in details using analytical transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Nanoquasicrystalline phases, amorphous phase and intermetallics like Al5Fe2, Al13F4 coexisted with α-Al in nanocomposites of the melt spun alloys. It was seen that the Fe supersaturation in α-Al diminished with the increase in Fe content and wheel speed indicating the dominant role of the thermodynamic driving force in the precipitation of Fe-rich phases. Nanoquasicrystalline phases were observed for the first time in the dilute Al alloys like Al–2.5Fe and Al–5Fe as confirmed by high resolution TEM. High hardness (3.57 GPa) was measured in nanocomposite of Al–10Fe alloy, which was attributed to synergistic effect of solid solution strengthening due to high solute content (9.17 at.% Fe), dispersion strengthening by high volume fraction of nanoquasicrystalline phase; and Hall–Petch strengthening from finer cell size (20–30 nm) of α-Al matrix.