Melt holding time as an important factor on the formation of quasicrystal phase in Mg67Zn30Gd3 alloy

In the present work, the content of icosahedral quasicrystal phase (I-phase) and melt holding time shows a mono peak curve: a small amount of I-phase and lots of Mg3(Gd,Zn) phase are presented for t < 21 min, however a great deal of I-phase is observed for t > 21 min, and the volumetric fraction of I-phase has the maximum of 49.50% for t = 41 min. This strategy of formation of quasicrystal phase makes us realize that melt thermal treatment could significantly affect the phase types in MgZnGd alloy.