Liquid phase separation and subsequent dendritic solidification of ternary Fe₃₅Cu₃₅Si₃₀ alloy

Liquid Fe₃₅Cu₃₅Si₃₀ alloy has achieved the maximum undercooling of 328 K (0.24T_L) with glass fluxing method, and it displayed triple solidification mechanisms. A critical undercooling of 24 K was determined for metastable liquid phase separation. At lower undercoolings, α-Fe phase was the primary phase and the solidification microstructure appeared as homogeneous well-defined dendrites. When the undercooling exceeded 24 K, the sample segregated into Fe-rich and Cu-rich zones. In the Fe-rich zone, FeSi intermetallic compound was the primary phase within the undercooling regime below 230 K, while Fe₅Si₃ intermetallic compound replaced FeSi phase as the primary phase at larger undercoolings. The growth velocity of FeSi phase increased whereas that of Fe₅Si₃ phase decreased with increasing undercooling. For the Cu-rich zone, FeSi intermetallic compound was always the primary phase. Energy-dispersive spectrometry analyses showed that the average compositions of separated zones have deviated substantially from the original alloy composition.