TY - JOUR
T1 - Structure and growth of core–shell nanoprecipitates in Al–Er–Sc–Zr–V–Si high-temperature alloys
AU - Nasim, Wahaz
AU - Yazdi, Sadegh
AU - Santamarta, Ruben
AU - Malik, Jahanzaib
AU - Erdeniz, Dinc
AU - Mansoor, Bilal
AU - Seidman, David N.
AU - Dunand, David C.
AU - Karaman, Ibrahim
N1 - Funding Information:
This publication was made possible by a National Priorities Research Program grant, NPRP 7-756-2-284 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation); and the authors also acknowledge Spanish MINECO and FEDER under Project Number MAT2014-56116-C4-1-R for their partial financial support. R. Santamarta acknowledges the grant by the Salvador de Madariaga Program (PRX15/00549). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. We would also like to acknowledge Microscopy and Imaging Center at Texas A&M University, College Station for providing usage of their transmission electron microscopes and facilities.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Lightweight Sc-containing aluminum alloys exhibit superior mechanical performance at high temperatures due to core–shell, L12-ordered trialuminide nanoprecipitates. In this study, the structure of these nanoprecipitates was studied, using different transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques, for an Al–Er–Sc–Zr–V–Si alloy that was subjected to a two-stage overaging heat treatment. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of the spherical Al3(Sc, Zr, Er ,V) nanoprecipitates revealed a core–shell structure with an Sc- and Er-enriched core and a Zr-enriched shell, without a clear V outer shell. This structure is stable up to 72% of the absolute melting temperature of Al for extended periods of time. High-angle annular dark-field scanning TEM was used to image the {100} planes of the nanoprecipitates, demonstrating a homogeneous L12-ordered superlattice structure for the entire nanoprecipitates, despite the variations in the concentrations of solute atoms within the unit cells. A possible growth path and compositional trajectory for these nanoprecipitates was proposed using high-resolution TEM observations, where different rod-like structural defects were detected, which are considered to be precursors to the spherical L12-ordered nanoprecipitates. It is also hypothesized that the structural defects could consist of segregated Si; however, this was not possible to verify with HAADF-STEM because of the small differences in Al and Si atomic numbers. The results herein allow a better understanding of how the Al–Sc alloys’ core–shell nanoprecipitates form and evolve temporally, thereby providing a better physical picture for future atomistic structural mappings and simulations.
AB - Lightweight Sc-containing aluminum alloys exhibit superior mechanical performance at high temperatures due to core–shell, L12-ordered trialuminide nanoprecipitates. In this study, the structure of these nanoprecipitates was studied, using different transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques, for an Al–Er–Sc–Zr–V–Si alloy that was subjected to a two-stage overaging heat treatment. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of the spherical Al3(Sc, Zr, Er ,V) nanoprecipitates revealed a core–shell structure with an Sc- and Er-enriched core and a Zr-enriched shell, without a clear V outer shell. This structure is stable up to 72% of the absolute melting temperature of Al for extended periods of time. High-angle annular dark-field scanning TEM was used to image the {100} planes of the nanoprecipitates, demonstrating a homogeneous L12-ordered superlattice structure for the entire nanoprecipitates, despite the variations in the concentrations of solute atoms within the unit cells. A possible growth path and compositional trajectory for these nanoprecipitates was proposed using high-resolution TEM observations, where different rod-like structural defects were detected, which are considered to be precursors to the spherical L12-ordered nanoprecipitates. It is also hypothesized that the structural defects could consist of segregated Si; however, this was not possible to verify with HAADF-STEM because of the small differences in Al and Si atomic numbers. The results herein allow a better understanding of how the Al–Sc alloys’ core–shell nanoprecipitates form and evolve temporally, thereby providing a better physical picture for future atomistic structural mappings and simulations.
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U2 - 10.1007/s10853-018-2941-9
DO - 10.1007/s10853-018-2941-9
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85053769633
VL - 54
SP - 1857
EP - 1871
JO - Journal of Materials Science
JF - Journal of Materials Science
SN - 0022-2461
IS - 2
ER -