Effects of high magnetic field on the unidirectionally solidified Al–Al2Cu eutectic crystal orientations and the induced microstructures

This work studied Al–Al2Cu eutectic, which was prepared through unidirectional solidification (1 μm/s) with a high magnetic field (10 T). The transverse section of the eutectic obtained with the 10 T magnetic field showed disorganized and furcated microstructures, as compared with what prepared without the magnetic field. TEM observation suggested that the orientation relationship between Al and Al2Cu obtained with the 10 T magnetic field did not show significant difference from the 0 T counterpart. The [0 0 1]Al and the [0 0 1]Al2Cu[0 0 1]Al2Cu inclined to the direction of the 10 T magnetic field to make the system magnetization energy lowest. A mechanism, which attributes this phenomenon to being the result of coactions from the high magnetic field and the temperature gradient, was presented.