Abstract:
Al-Fe alloys with composition 1.0, 2.5 and 5.0 at.%Fe were fabricated by repeated compaction and extrusion in a closed die set using raw materials as elemental powder mixture. This new process was done in solid state, and called Bulk Mechanical Alloying (BMA) due to its adaptation from the mechanical alloying technology. After 800 cycles of BMA process, the lattice parameter of BMA preforms decreased from 4.0509 [aunstrom] for the pure aluminium to 4.0480, 4.0490 and 4.0497 [aunstrom] for 1.0, 2.5 and 5.0 at.%Fe respectively.The results showed that the Fe atoms dissolved into Al lattice. The amount of Fe dissolution in Al could be estimated by comparing these results with master plot of Al-solid solution lattice parameter versus Fe content. The comparison indicated that Fe atoms could dissolve into Al lattice in amount of 0.86, 0.60 and 0.27 at.% for BMA-1.0, 2.5 and 5.0 at.%Fe preforms respectively. The differential thermal analysis results indicated that the onset temperature range of Al[subscript 13]Fe[subscript 4] intermetallic compound was 383-413 ํC. The produced alloy preforms ere further consolidated by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) and Hot Forging (HF) to compare the properties of the obtained billet. The tensile testing results of SPS and HF specimens indicated that the ultimate tensile strength and percent elongation of HF specimens were higher than the SPS specimens. Vicker microhardness of both specimens were quite low.