de Sousa Guilherme Calixto Carneiro, de Paula Andrei, Barros Andre, Garcia Amauri, Cheung Noé
Department of Manufacturing and Materials Engineering, University of Campinas-UNICAMP, Campinas 13083-860, SP, Brazil.
Materials (Basel). 2025 Mar 16;18(6):1311. doi: 10.3390/ma18061311.
Zn-Fe alloys are gaining attention for their use as bioabsorbable implants, and their development requires a deeper understanding of the processing-microstructure-property relationships. This study aimed to analyze the influence of microstructural features on the hardness of a Zn-2 wt.%Fe alloy. To achieve this, a casting was fabricated using directional solidification, and samples that experienced various cooling conditions were extracted from it. The results show that the microstructure of the investigated alloy was composed of a Zn-rich phase (matrix) and FeZn intermetallic particles. Four different morphological patterns of the microstructure could be formed, depending on the thermal conditions during solidification. For each of these patterns, a reduction in the spacing between FeZn particles, a parameter representing the degree of microstructural refinement, did not lead to a considerable increase in the hardness of the Zn-2wt.%Fe alloy. Hardness was shown to be more dependent on the morphology of the FeZn intermetallics and Zn-rich matrix than on the degree of refinement of these microstructural phases. Therefore, the present research provides valuable insights into the development of enhanced Zn-Fe alloys by demonstrating how microstructural features can affect their properties, particularly in terms of hardness and morphologies of the microstructural phases.
锌铁合金作为生物可吸收植入物的应用正受到关注，其发展需要对加工-微观结构-性能关系有更深入的理解。本研究旨在分析微观结构特征对锌-2 wt.%铁合金硬度的影响。为此，采用定向凝固法制备了铸件，并从中提取了经历不同冷却条件的样品。结果表明，所研究合金的微观结构由富锌相（基体）和FeZn金属间化合物颗粒组成。根据凝固过程中的热条件，可以形成四种不同的微观结构形态模式。对于这些模式中的每一种，代表微观结构细化程度的参数FeZn颗粒间距的减小，并未导致锌-2wt.%铁合金硬度的显著增加。结果表明，硬度更多地取决于FeZn金属间化合物和富锌基体的形态，而不是这些微观结构相的细化程度。因此，本研究通过展示微观结构特征如何影响其性能，特别是在硬度和微观结构相形态方面，为增强锌铁合金的开发提供了有价值的见解。
