Microstructure evolution of an Al-Fe-Ni alloy with Zr and Sc additions upon different cooling rates during solidification for improving the mechanical and electrical conductivity properties

Abstract

Al-Fe-Ni eutectic alloys has high potential for being alternative aluminum alloys for various electronic and electrical applications instead of conventional low-conductivity Al casting alloys. Furthermore, the addition of Zr and Sc up to 0.3-0.6 wt% improves the hardness for high temperature applications, which is a result of the finer Al-Fe-Ni eutectic structure, and precipitation hardening of Al3Zr and/or Al3Sc nanoprecipitates. Thus, the aim of the present contribution is to analyze the microstructure features changes in an Al-1.75Fe-1.25Ni eutectic alloy upon different cooling rates during solidification. The features of Al-Fe-Ni eutectics and intermetallics were studied quantitatively, and the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity were measured.Faculty of Engineering at KMUTT (Strong Research Initiative 2020); EPSRC (UK) project UltraMelt2 (EP/R011095/1)