Effect of Higher Silicon Content and Heat Treatment on Structure Evolution and High-Temperature Behaviour of Fe-28Al-15Si-2Mo Alloy

This paper describes the structure and properties of cast Fe3Al-based alloy doped with 15 at. % of silicon and 2 at. % of molybdenum. The higher content of silicon is useful for the enhancement of high-temperature mechanical properties or corrosion resistance of iron aluminides but deteriorates their workability due to increased brittleness. It was found that the presence of both alloying elements leads to an increase of values of the high-temperature yield stress in compression. The heat treatment (annealing at 800 degrees C for 100 h) used for the achievement of phase stability causes the grain coarsening, so the values of the high-temperature yield stress in compression are lower at 600 degrees C and 700 degrees C in comparison to values measured for the as-cast state. This stabilization annealing significantly improves the workability/machinability of alloy. Furthermore, the higher silicon content positively affects the values of the thermal expansion coefficient that was found to be lower in the temperature range up to 600 degrees C compared to alloys with lower content of silicon.

Automated summary

This paper discusses the structure and properties of a cast Fe3Al-based alloy doped with silicon and molybdenum, as well as the impact of heat treatment on its performance. Higher silicon content enhances high-temperature mechanical properties and corrosion resistance but decreases workability; the presence of both silicon and molybdenum increases high-temperature compression strength, and stabilization annealing improves the machinability of the alloy.