Equilibrium pseudobinary Al Mg2Si phase

diagram
J. Zhang, Z. Fan, Y. Q. Wang, and B. L. Zhou
Preliminary experiments and phase diagram calculations were conducted to determine the equilibrium phase
diagram of the Al Mg2Si pseudobinary section. It was found that there is a narrow ternary phase eld of
AlzMg2Sizliquid in the diagram. At the pseudoeutectic composition of Al 13.9 wt-%Mg2Si, a pseudoeutectic
reaction takes place between the temperatures of 583.5 and 594C. The solubility of Mg2Si in Al at 583.5C is
calculated as 1.91 wt-%.
MST/4537
At the time this work was carried out Dr J. Zhang and Dr Z. Fan were in the Department of Materials Engineering, Brunel
University, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UK. Dr Zhang is now in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of
Erlangen, Germany (jianzhang7232@yahoo.com). Professor Y. Q. Wang and Professor B. L. Zhou are in the Institute of Metal
Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110015, China. Manuscript received 20 December 1999; accepted 14
November 2000.
# 2001 IoM Communications Ltd.

Introduction
In situ composites based on Al Mg2Si or Mg Mg2Si
hypereutectic alloys have shown considerable potential
because of their low specic weights. The microstructure of
such composites is generally a eutectic matrix with primary
Mg2Si particles as the reinforcing phase. To avoid the rather
brittle character of the materials, advanced processing
techniques such as rapid solidication,1,2 hot extrusion,3,4
and mechanical alloying5,6 have been used. According to
previous work, it is possible to embed hard Mg2Si particles
in a plastically deformable matrix in an Al Mg2Si
composite with attractive properties by using a common
gravity casting process.7 Therefore, it is possible to prepare
the composites by using a method that is more practical.
However, the successful development of such composites
depends on a good understanding of the equilibrium
diagram of the Al Mg2Si pseudobinary system.
Although there are a few publications on the pseudoeutectic section of Al and Mg2Si in an Al Mg Si ternary
system, most attention has been paid to the Al rich corner.8
Moreover, detailed information on the pseudobinary
system, such as the composition of the eutectic point and
the solubility of Mg2Si in Al, were not conclusive in the
literature, which is summarised in Table 1.8 12 Almost all
of the previous publications also reported an isothermal
eutectic line of AlzMg2Si in the system with a eutectic
temperature of 593 595C. Meanwhile, a ternary phase
eld in the diagram was reported in the temperature range
590 594C at the eutectic point.12 Therefore, it is essential
to investigate the pseudobinary system and to clear the
confusion in the equilibrium diagram.

Experimental
Industrially pure Al, Mg, and Si (w99.8 wt-%) was used to
melt Al Mg2Si composites of 10 and 15 wt-%Mg2Si. Extra
Mg was added to balance the oxidation loss. All the extra
Mg additions were determined by several experiments and
subsequent compositional analysis in order to ensure the
resulting composition changes were within 1 wt-% of the
preset values.13 A salt mixture was used for microstructural
renement.14 C2Cl6 (99.9%) was pressed into the melt for
degassing. The melt was cast in a steel mould and rod like
494 Materials Science and Technology

May 2001 Vol. 17

specimens of 10 mm in diameter were obtained. All samples

were etched and examined by optical microscopy and SEM
(Jeol JXA840) with an energy dispersive X-ray analysis
(EDS) accessory. Details of the experimental procedure are
reported elsewhere.7,14 Phase diagram calculation was done
using the Thermo-Calc program and Al DATA, which was
developed by Thermo Tech Ltd (Guildford, UK). A
pseudobinary phase diagram of Al Mg2Si was obtained
as a vertical section of the Al Mg Si ternary system at a
xed Mg/Si atomic ratio (2 : 1).

Results and discussion

Figure 1 compares the microstructures of two Al Mg2Si
alloys with different Mg2Si contents. According to EDS
analysis, the bright phase was identied as a-Al and the
dark particles were identied as Mg2Si. The lamella Mg2Si
was obviously formed by coupled growth with a-Al as a
result of the pseudoeutectic reaction. No other compounds
were detected in the present work.
The microstructure of Al 10 wt-%Mg2Si alloy was
mainly composed of a-Al dendrites and pseudoeutectics of
AlzMg2Si. It is worth noting that some small Mg2Si
particles can also be observed in the microstructure, as
marked by arrows in Fig. 1a. The dendritic morphology of
a-Al indicated that a-Al was the primary phase during
solidication. Afterwards, a-Al and Mg2Si cosolidied as the
lamella structure of the pseudoeutectic. The Mg2Si particles
had a smaller size than the primary Mg2Si particles shown in
Fig. 1b, and a different morphology to the lamella structures
produced by cogrowth of Al and Mg2Si. It is believed that
these particles were formed after the solidication of primary
a-Al dendrites, which means Mg2Si particles as well as Mg2Si
pseudoeutectics were produced simultaneously during the
pseudoeutectic reaction.
In the Al 15 wt-%Mg2Si alloy, both primary particles of
Mg2Si and a-Al can be observed besides the pseudoeutectic
matrix. Experimental results shown in Fig. 1b indicate that
during solidication Mg2Si particles formed as a primary
phase and a-Al grains formed at a similar time to when the
pseudoeutectic reaction occurred during the subsequent
solidication. The a-Al grains and Mg2Si particles observed
in Fig. 1b indicate that there may be a phase eld in the
phase diagram where a-Al and the pseudoeutectic cosolidify
from the liquid.
ISSN 0267 0836

Zhang et al. Equilibrium psuedobinary Al Mg2Si phase diagram 495

a 10 wt-%Mg2Si; b 15 wt-%Mg2Si

1 Microstructure of Al Mg2Si composites with different

Mg2Si contents

It is interesting to note that in both alloys shown in

Fig. 1, the pseudoeutectic matrix has two distinct morphologies. Some of the cells have a very small interbre spacing
(v1 mm, as shown in the SEM image in Fig. 2a). On the
other hand, some of the pseudoeutectic cells have a much
larger interlamella spacing, as shown in the deep etched
sample in Fig. 2b. This kind of feature is rarely observed in
normal eutectic systems, or it cannot be achieved in such a
small area. (The inuence of partial modication should be
omitted as the modication time was long enough in the
present experiments.) Normally, when the eutectic reaction
occurs at a constant temperature, a relatively uniform
brous or lamella structure is expected.15 It is well known
that the eutectic bre or lamella structure can be described
as l2n~constant,16 where l is the interbre or interlamella
spacing and n is the growth velocity. The variation in the
interbre or interlamella spacing l shown in Fig. 1 indicates
a varying growth velocity n in the Al Mg2Si system. This
may happen because a curved interface occurred during
solidication and/or the pseudoeutectic formed over a
temperature range. The curved interface may be caused by
the primary dendrites or the segregation of impurities in
front of the interface. However, the primary dendrites were
not well developed in the present case, as shown in Fig. 1b.

a showing brelike pseudoeutectic with very small interbre

spacing; b deep etched sample showing lamella eutectics with
relatively large interlamellcer spacing

2 Micrographs of Al 15 wt-%Mg2Si alloy (SEM)

The inuence of impurities may also be deduced as a minor

factor since no other compounds were detected by EDS.
Therefore, the coexistence of the two different morphologies in the pseudoeutectic is mainly because of the different
formation temperatures of the bre and the lamella eutectic.
This morphological change can also be observed in Al Si
eutectics at different cooling conditions.17
By comparing the microstructures shown in Fig. 1, it can
be concluded that the pseudoeutectic composition of the
Al Mg2Si system is between 10 and 15 wt-%Mg2Si.
In order to conrm these preliminary experimental
ndings, phase diagram calculation of the ternary Al
Mg Si system was conducted using the ThermoCalc program and Al DATA. The calculated pseudoeutectic
binary Al Mg2Si phase diagram as a vertical section of the
ternary system is shown in Fig. 3. There exists a narrow
ternary phase eld, AlzMg2Sizliquid, in the system and
the temperature range of this ternary eld increased with
increasing Mg2Si content at the left hand side of the
pseudoeutectic point. At the pseudoeutectic composition
(Al 13.9 wt-%Mg2Si), Al, Mg2Si, and liquid coexist

Table 1 Summary of information on Al Mg2Si pseudobinary system available in literature

Authors

Eutectic point
TE, C

Eutectic composition,
wt-%Mg2Si

Solubility at TE,
wt-%Mg2Si

Refs.

Mondolfo
Mondolfo
Schmis et al.
Li et al.

595
595
593
590 594

13
15.9
v10
y14.7

1.85
1.85
y1.9
y7.3

8, 11
9
10
12

Materials Science and Technology

May 2001 Vol. 17

496 Zhang et al. Equilibrium psuedobinary Al Mg2Si phase diagram

Summary
A ternary phase eld of AlzMg2Sizliquid in the Al
Mg2Si pseudobinary diagram was discovered after the
preliminary experiments and phase diagram calculation.
The temperature range of this ternary eld is between 583.5
and 594C at the pseudoeutectic point, which is calculated
as Al 13.9 wt-%Mg2Si. The solubility of Mg2Si in Al at
583.5C is calculated to be 1.91 wt-%. The microstructure of
the eutectic matrix, which contains both soft and hard
particles, indicates a hopeful prospect for the enhancement
of the properties of the composites.

Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Dr N. Saunders for his help with
the phase diagram calculation.

Wt-%Mg2Si
3 Calculated equilibrium Al Mg2Si phase diagram: pseudoeutectic point at Al 13.9 wt-%Mg2Si; temperature
range of ternary region at this composition between
583.5 and 594C; solubility of Mg2Si in Al at 583.5C is
1.91 wt-%

between 583.5 and 594C. The solubility of Mg2Si in Al is

calculated as 1.91 wt-% at 583.5C.
The exact solidication path of Al Mg2Si alloys can be
obtained from the experimental results and the calculated
phase diagram. The two alloys can be identied as
hypoeutiectic (Al 10 wt-%Mg2Si) and hypereutectic (Al
15 wt-%Mg2Si), respectively. Therefore, either a-Al in Al
10 wt-%Mg2Si alloy or Mg2Si in Al 15 wt-%Mg2Si alloy
will form as the primary phase during solidication. The
pseudoeutectic reaction begins when the temperature of the
surplus liquid reaches the upper line of the ternary phase
eld in the diagram. Grains of a-Al form in the ternary
eld as well as AlzMg2Si pseudoeutectics. In Al
10 wt-%Mg2Si alloy, the a-Al grains formed in this phase
eld are difcult to distinguish from the primary dendrites,
which resulted in the considerably large volume fraction of
a-Al dendrites in Fig. 1a. Since the composition of Al
15 wt-%Mg2Si is nearer to the pseudoeutectic point,
the actual microstructure contained a higher volume
fraction of pseudoeutectic AlzMg2Si compared with Al
10 wt-%Mg2Si.

Materials Science and Technology

May 2001 Vol. 17

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