Synthesis of FeSi–FeAl Composites from Separately Prepared FeSi and FeAl Alloys and Their Structure and Properties
Pavel Novák,
Jiří Duda,
Filip Průša,
Kateřina Skotnicová,
Ivo Szurman,
Bedřich Smetana
Affiliations
Pavel Novák
Department of Metals and Corrosion Engineering, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Technická 5, 166 28 Prague, Czech Republic
Jiří Duda
Department of Metals and Corrosion Engineering, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Technická 5, 166 28 Prague, Czech Republic
Filip Průša
Department of Metals and Corrosion Engineering, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Technická 5, 166 28 Prague, Czech Republic
Kateřina Skotnicová
Department of Materials and Technologies for Vehicles, Faculty of Materials Science and Technology, VSB—Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15, 708 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic
Ivo Szurman
Department of Materials and Technologies for Vehicles, Faculty of Materials Science and Technology, VSB—Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15, 708 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic
Bedřich Smetana
Department of Chemistry and Physico-Chemical Processes, Faculty of Materials Science and Technology, VSB—Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15, 708 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic
Composites consisting of iron aluminide and iron silicide phases were studied in this work. Powders of iron aluminide and iron silicide were prepared by mechanical alloying separately. Subsequently, they were blended in three different proportions and sintered by the SPS method under various conditions. After sintering, the composites are composed of FeAl and amounts of other silicides (Fe5Si3 and Fe3Si). Ternary Fe–Al–Si phases were not determined, even though their presence was predicted by DFT calculations. This disagreement was explained by steric factors, i.e., by differences in the space lattice of the present phases. Hardness and tribological properties were measured on composites with various weight ratios of iron aluminide and iron silicide. The results show that sintered silicides with the matrix composed of iron aluminide reach comparable hardness to tool steels. The composites with higher mass ratios of iron aluminide than silicide have higher hardness and better tribological properties.