Article abstract
Nature Materials 5, 482 - 488 (2006)
doi:10.1038/nmat1652
Subject Categories: Metals and alloys | Computation, modelling and theory
Complex precipitation pathways in multicomponent alloys
Emmanuel Clouet1, Ludovic Laé2, Thierry Épicier3, Williams Lefebvre4, Maylise Nastar1 and Alexis Deschamps2
Abstract
One usual way to strengthen a metal is to add alloying elements and to control the size and the density of the precipitates obtained. However, precipitation in multicomponent alloys can take complex pathways depending on the relative diffusivity of solute atoms and on the relative driving forces involved. In Al–Zr–Sc alloys, atomic simulations based on first-principle calculations combined with various complementary experimental approaches working at different scales reveal a strongly inhomogeneous structure of the precipitates: owing to the much faster diffusivity of Sc compared with Zr in the solid solution, and to the absence of Zr and Sc diffusion inside the precipitates, the precipitate core is mostly Sc-rich, whereas the external shell is Zr-rich. This explains previous observations of an enhanced nucleation rate in Al–Zr–Sc alloys compared with binary Al–Sc alloys, along with much higher resistance to Ostwald ripening, two features of the utmost importance in the field of light high-strength materials.
- Service de Recherches de Métallurgie Physique, CEA/Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- LTPCM/ENSEEG, UMR CNRS 5614, Domaine Universitaire, BP 75, 38402 St Martin d'Hères, France
- Groupe d'Études de Métallurgie Physique et de Physique des Matériaux, UMR CNRS 5510, INSA, 69621 Villeurbanne, France
- Groupe de Physique des Matériaux, UMR CNRS 6634, Université de Rouen, 76801 Saint Étienne du Rouvray, France
Correspondence to: Emmanuel Clouet1 e-mail: emmanuel.clouet@cea.fr
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