Use of XRD technique to investigate the stability of quasicrystalline phase in high-energy milled Al/AlCuFe powders

Quasicrystalline alloys have excellent potential for being used in composites. They have high hardness, low friction coefficient and, in particular for AlCuFe, the components have high availability. The quasicrystal of the AlCuFe alloy can especially work well as reinforcements in aluminium matrix composites, contributing to increasing hardness, when compared to pure aluminium. Depending on the method used to obtain the composite, high-energy milling is necessary to mix the powders of the matrix and the reinforcement. Therefore, this work aimed to investigate the stability of quasicrystalline phase in Al/AlCuFe powders milled using XRD technique. For this, Al/AlCuFe powders were milled in high energy planetary ball mill in proportions of 10 and 20%vol. of AlCuFe. XRD analysis were then carried in the samples. The results showed that, for the parameters used, there was no phase transformation during milling.