Formation of the Interface between an Iron-Based Alloy and Aluminum during Ultrasonic Metallurgical Production of Metal Matrix Composites

Abstract—In a metallurgical method of producing metal matrix composites, the effect of ultrasound on a melt is shown not to affect the phase composition of the diffusion zone formed as a result of heterogeneous reactions at the interface of aluminum with iron-based alloys. At a fixed temperature, an applied acoustic vibration frequency of 18–20 kHz, and an amplitude of 10–15 μm, the diffusion zone thickness is found to increase due to the formation of the FeAl3 intermetallic compound, which actively separates from the interface into the melt, and to the fraction of the surface on which it is present as a continuous layer.