Behavior of Fe-rich phase during rapid solidification of Cu-Fe hypoperitectic alloy

Powders of Cu85Fe15 alloy were manufactured by using the high-pressure gas atomization technique. The microstructures of the powders have been investigated. It is indicated that the liquid-liquid phase transformation takes place in the atomized droplets smaller than 224 μm in diameter. The size of Fe-rich spheres decreases and their number density increases with the decrease of the powder size. A model has been developed to describe the microstructure evolution in the atomized droplets during a cooling through the metastable miscibility gap. Calculations have been performed with Cu85Fe15 alloy. The experimental and simulated results have been discussed in detail.