STRUCTURAL, THERMODYNAMICS AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF Zn Sn Al ALLOYS

Some results of thermodynamic, structural and physical properties of Al-Sn-Zn alloys are presented in our paper. The ternary Al-Sn-Zn alloys were prepared in a resistance furnace in evacuated ampoules. The alloys were studied metallographically, their micro-hardness and X-ray micro-analysis (EDX, SEM) of individual phases were measured. Temperatures of phase transitions (liquidus, solidus, invariant reactions, etc.) were obtained using the DTA method (Setaram SETSYS 18 (TM)). The long time annealing (250, 300, 350 degrees C, 3, 7, 14 or 28 days) was used in order to achieve the thermodynamic equilibrium. The results were confronted with thermodynamic modelling of the ternary Al Sn Zn system in the Institute of Physics of Materials AS of the Czech Republic in Brno. We have studied density (by gamma-absorption method), electrical resistivity (by contactless method in rotating magnetic field) and magnetic susceptibility (by Faraday's method) of some Al-Sn-Zn alloys containing up to 10 at.% of aluminum and up to 65 at.% of zinc. The increasing of zinc content resulted in the decrease of the density and susceptibility values, except for one sample. The resistivity values practically didn't depend on the zinc content in the crystalline state, whereas a maximum was found for one of the samples in the liquid state. This work has been made in the frame of COST Action MP0602 project 'Advanced Solder Materials for High-Temperature Application'