Author(s)

Pilar Orozco-González^1*, Manuel Castro-Román², Simitrio Maldonado-Ruíz¹, Sergio Haro-Rodríguez¹, Fabián Equihua-Guillén³, Rodrigo Muñiz-Valdez³, Salvador Luna-Álvarez³, Miguel Montoya-Dávila¹, Alejandra Hernández-Rodríguez²

¹Academic Unit of Engineering, Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Zacatecas, México.
²CINVESTAV Saltillo, Saltillo, México.
³Faculty of Engineering, Autonomous University of Coahuila, México.

Nucleation of Fe-rich intermetallic phases on α-Al₂O₃ oxide films was analyzed in five experimental Al-Fe-Mn-Si alloys. In an attempt to verify the role of α-Al₂O₃ films in nucleating Fe-rich intermetallics, experiments have been conducted under conditions where formed in situ oxide films were present. Some Fe-rich intermetallics are observed to be related with the oxide films in the microstructure, the present results are in accordance with some research that suggest that the Fe-rich intermetallic phases nucleate upon the oxide films. The intermetallic phases and α-Al₂O₃ films were unambiguously identified with the help of complementary techniques such as thermal analysis, SEM/EDS and X-ray diffraction.

Aluminum Alloys, Intermetallics, Nucleation, Crystal Growth, Oxide Films

Orozco-González, P. , Castro-Román, M. , Maldonado-Ruíz, S. , Haro-Rodríguez, S. , Equihua-Guillén, F. , Muñiz-Valdez, R. , Luna-Álvarez, S. , Montoya-Dávila, M. and Hernández-Rodríguez, A. (2015) Nucleation of Fe-Rich Intermetallic Phases on α-Al₂O₃ Oxide Films in Al-Si Alloys. Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, 3, 15-25. doi: 10.4236/jmmce.2015.31003.