Micro-vickers hardness of intermetallic compounds in the Zn-rich portion of Zn-Fe binary system

Abstract

Annealing temperature and composition dependences of hardness for the intermetallic compound phases, especially -Fe4Zn91p-Fe13Zn126 and1k-FeZn7, which are obtained in Zn-rich portion of Fe-Zn alloys, were investigated by the micro-Vickers hardness test. Although the hardness of the and1k phases only slightly decreases with increasing quenching temperature, it shows obvious composition dependences. However, the hardness of the disordered1p phase is basically lower than that of the ordered1k phase, which is hardly affected by composition change. The hardness of all the Zn-rich compound phases quenched from 500°C (or 550°C) are evaluated and compared.