Effect of combined metal-carbon additions on the microstructure and structure of Sm2Fe17

The effect of combined alloying additions on the structure and scale of rapidly solidified Sm–Fe alloys was investigated. Transition metal additions tend to promote the formation of the disordered TbCu7-type structure in Sm2Fe17 alloys, as determined by monitoring the long-range order parameter. Essentially no order was observed for M = Ti, Zr, V, or Nb. Thus, the structure was close to the prototypical TbCu7-type structure. With M = Si, a large amount of order was observed (S = 0.62), resulting in a structure closer to the well-ordered Th2Zn17-type. The microstructural scale was also affected by alloying. In this case, refinement depended on the substituent and also on carbon for microstructural refinement. The scale of the as-solidified grain structures ranged from 100 nm for SiC-modified alloys to 13 nm for NbC-modified alloys. The degree of refinement was directly related to the atomic size of the M addition. The refinement was the result of solute partitioning to grain boundaries, resulting in a solute drag effect that lowered the growth rates