Solid State Phase Equilibria of an Al–Sn–Y Ternary System

A complete understanding of the solid-state phase equilibria of the ternary Al–Sn–Y system is essential for the development of both Al-based structural materials and Sn-based lead-free solders. In this work, the phase relationships in the Al–Sn–Y ternary system at 473 K were investigated mainly by means of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. The existence of 12 binary compounds, namely Sn(3)Y, Sn(5)Y(2), Sn(2)Y, Sn(10)Y(11), Sn(4)Y(5), Sn(3)Y(5), AlY(2), Al(3)Y(5), Al(2)Y(3), AlY, Al(2)Y and α–Al(3)Y, was confirmed. Controversial phases (Sn(5)Y(2) and Al(3)Y(5)) were found in this work. This isothermal section consisted of 15 single-phase regions, 27 two-phase regions and 13 three-phase regions. No ternary compounds were found and none of the other phases in this system revealed a remarkable solid solution at 473 K.