Heterogeneous nucleation of solidification of metals and alloys

The main aim of this work is to investigate heterogeneous nucleation of solidification of metals and alloys by a combination of differential scanning calorimetry and transmission electron microscopy using a newly modified entrained particle technique. Attention is focused on investigating (a) heterogeneous nucleation of Cd, In and Pb particle solidification by Al in rapidly solidified Al-Cd, Al-In and Al-Pb binary alloys; (b) effects of various ternary additions such as Mg, Ge and Si on heterogenous nucleation of solidification of Cd and Pb solidification by Al; (c) heterogenous nucleation of solidification of Si by solid Al in hypoeutectic Al-Si alloys. In addition, the melting behaviour of Cd, In and Pb particles embedded in an Al matrix is investigated. The rapidly solidified microstructures of melt spun Al-Cd, Al-In and Al-Pb alloys consist of faceted 5-200nm diameter Cd, In and Pb particles homogeneously distributed throughout an Al matrix. Cd particles exhibit an orientation relationship with the Al matrix which can be described as {111}Al//{0001}Cd and andlt;110andgt;Al//andlt;112and#773;0andgt;Cd, and In and Pb particles exhibit a near cube-cube and cube-cube orientation relationship with the Al matrix respectively. Cd, In and Pb particles embedded in the Al matrix exhibit distorted truncated octahedral or truncated octahedral shapes surrounded by {111}Al and {100}Al facets. The solid Al-solid Cd, solid Al-solid In surface energy anisotropies are constant over the temperature range between room temperature and Cd and In melting points respectively. The solid Al-liquid Cd and solid Al-liquid In surface energy anisotropies decrease with increasing temperature above Cd and In melting points. Solidification of Cd, In, Pb particles embedded in an Al matrix is nucleated catalytically by the surrounding Al matrix on the {111}Al faceted surfaces with an undercooling of 56, 13 and 22K and a contact angle of 42°, 27° and 21° for Cd, In and Pb particles respectively. Addition of Mg to Cd particles embedded in Al increases the lattice disregistry across the nucleating plane, but decreases the undercooling before the onset of Cd(Mg) particle solidification. Addition of Ge to Al decreases the lattice disregistry across the nucleating plane, but increases the undercooling before the onset of Pb particle solidification embedded in the Al(Ge) matrix. These results indicate that chemical interactions dominate over structural factors in determining the catalytic efficiency of nucleation solification in Al-Cd-Mg and Al-Pb-Ge alloys. Contact between Si precipitates and Pb particles embedded in an Al matrix decreases the undercooling before the onset of Pb particle solidification. The equilibrium melting point of Cd particle in the melt spun Al-Cd alloy is depressed because of capillarity, and the depression of equilibrium melting point increases with decreasing particle size. In the melt spun Al-In and Al-Pb alloys, however, most of the In and Pb particles embedded within the Al matrix grains are superheated, and the superheating increases with decreasing particle size. The heterogeneous nucleation temperature for Si solidification by Al depends sensitively on the purity of the Al. Na and Sr additions have different effects on the Si nucleation temperatures. With an Al purity of 99.995%, Na addition increases the Si nucleation temperature, while Sr addition does not affect or decreases the Si nucleation undercooling, depending on the amount of Sr addition. The solidified microstructure of liquid Al-Si eutectic droplets embedded in an Al matrix is affected by the Si nucleation undercooling. With low Si nucleation undercooling, each Al-Si eutectic liquid droplet solidifies to form one faceted Si particle, however, with high Si nucleation undercooling, each Al-Si eutectic liquid droplet solidifies to form a large number of non-faceted Si particles embedded in Al.