Intermetallic Al2Cu orientation and deviation angle measured by the rotating directional test during directional solidification

The orientation and deviation angle of intermetallic Al2Cu phase in directionally solidified Al-40wt. %Cu hypereutectic alloy were investigated using a rotating orientation X-ray diffraction (RO-XRD) method. Experimental results show that preferred planes (110) and (310) of the Al2Cu phase occur at 10 μm/s and the growth directions of the two planes are not well aligned with the heat flux direction. The growth direction of the preferred plane (110) has a 7.24 º~11.43 º angle with the heat flux direction. For the direction of the plane (310), its deviation angle attains 2.68 º ~ 20.82 º. Besides, the measured data agree well with the previously reported results, indicating that the RO-XRD method is an effective method for measuring the orientation and deviation angle of the phase in polycrystalline materials.