Abstract
The relative stability of the different tri-aluminide (Al3M) phases in three binary systems (M = Zr, Nb and V) was assessed for their potential to form fine cubic L12 precipitates in additively manufactured alloys. Supersaturated thin films of Al-(8–30) at% M were sputtered and heat treated during in-situ x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements to observe the temperature ranges of stability for each phase. As-sputtered films were then processed with laser tracks simulating additive manufacturing solidification conditions, and the formation of phases in the laser tracks was correlated with density functional theory (DFT) and nucleation rate calculations. We found that the metastable L12 structure is highly competitive with the stable DO23 structure in the Al-Zr system, but much less stable than the DO22 structure in the Al-Nb system, and both the DO22 and Al8V5 structure in the Al-V system. These experimental results were found to be in good agreement with the DFT and kinetic calculations, as we determined that the metastable L12 in Al-Zr only requires a small amount of undercooling to favor its nucleation over the stable DO23, suggesting additive manufacturing can be a viable pathway to develop Al-Zr alloys strengthened by a high volume fraction of L12 Al3Zr phase.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 108750 |
| Journal | Intermetallics |
| Volume | 182 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2025 |
Funding
Relative Notice: This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).Research was co-sponsored by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office and Vehicle Technologies Office, Propulsion Materials Program. XRD experiments were done at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This research used resources of the Compute and Data Environment for Science (CADES) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The authors thank E. Contreras Lopez and S. Canacoo for support in XRD data collection. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. Research was co-sponsored by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office and Vehicle Technologies Office, Propulsion Materials Program. XRD experiments were done at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This research used resources of the Compute and Data Environment for Science (CADES) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The authors thank E. Contreras Lopez and S. Canacoo for support in XRD data collection. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. Relative Notice: This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan )