Microstructure of intermetallic-reinforced Al-Based alloy composites fabricated using eutectic reactions in Al-Mg-Zn ternary system

We designed two types of Al-based alloy composites reinforced by η-Zn2Mg (hexagonal) and T-Al6Mg11Zn11 (cubic) intermetallic phases using monovariant eutectic reactions in the Al-Mg-Zn ternary system and then attempted to fabricate them using solidification. Thermodynamic assessment revealed two alloy compositions of Al-18Mg-36Zn and Al-22.5Mg-23.5Zn (at%) with the α-Al (fcc) phase reinforced with high fractions (>50%) of the η and T phases. Both alloys exhibited fine two-phase eutectic microstructures consisting of α/η and α/T phases, respectively. The morphology of the α-Al phase in the eutectic colonies varied from lamellae to fibers upon changing the neighboring intermetallic phase. These eutectic microstructures exhibit high stability at an elevated temperature of 300 °C. In addition, the size and spacing of the α-Al phase could be controlled by changing the cooling rate during solidification. The fabricated composites exhibited high hardness values exceeding 220 HV, which were much superior to those of conventional Al alloys. The calculated solidification path and component partitioning in the liquid phase during solidification provided insights into the solidification segregation of Zn element in the Al-18Mg-36Zn alloy. The Zn-enriched regions would enhance the local microstructural change at elevated temperatures, which confirmed by the microstructural observations of the alloy exposed at 300 °C.