Kinetic Analyses of the Growth and Dissolution Phenomena of Primary Si and α-Al in Partially Molten Al-Si (-Cu-Mg) Alloy Particles Using In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy

The growth and dissolution behavior of primary Si and α-Al in partially molten hypereutectic Al-Si–based alloy particles was investigated using in situ TEM to reveal the dynamic and instantaneous processes occurring during these phenomena. Direct evidence for the preferential growth of Si {113} facets compared with {111} facets resulting in prominent {111} facets bounding the Si crystals was obtained. The nucleation of primary Si was found to occur heterogeneously on the encapsulating alumina shell, whereas the α-Al phase nucleated homogeneously from the liquid Al-Si phase. The morphology of primary Si during growth was found to be highly faceted during growth but smoothly curved during dissolution, revealing fundamental mechanistic differences during these processes. We provide a ledge-based interpretation to explain the difference in growth and dissolution behavior. The α-Al phase displayed smoothly curved growth and dissolution morphologies, which are characteristic of an isotropic interfacial energy and a continuous growth mechanism.