Microstructural analysis of a FeAl/quasicrystal-based composite prepared using a focused ion beam miller.

A composite consisting of a brittle multiphase matrix containing both an Al-based quasicrystalline phase (psi) and an ordered body centred cubic phase (beta) and a relatively ductile ordered body centred cubic intermetallic FeAl phase has been developed as an abrasive wear-resistant coating material. It is applied as a 500 µm thick layer onto stainless steel substrates through plasma spray processing. The microstructure of such materials can be readily examined by optical and scanning electron microscopy, but the inherent difficulty of preparing transmission electron microscope (TEM) samples has inhibited higher resolution studies. However, the relatively recent development of the focused ion beam (FIB) miller as a tool in materials science provides a method ideal for the preparation of TEM specimens of these materials. In this study a coating consisting of a mixture of an Al-Cu-Fe based quasicrystal and FeAl+Cr was deposited on to a 304 stainless steel substrate. TEM specimens were prepared using a FIB and subjected to detailed microstructural characterization. The structure consisted of elongated bands of a FeAl phase about 100 nm in width and several micrometres in length, which enclosed more equiaxed regions about 1 µm in diameter that consisted of fine mixtures of quasicrystal and two Al-Fe-Cu phases isostructurally related to FeAl.