Influence of different microstructure of La-based fully amorphous samples and its composites on the impact fracture energy were investigated and discussed. Results showed improvement in fracture energy of glassy metals with the presence intermetallic phases, but deteriorated in the presence of dendrite phases and high volume % of crystalline phases.

A new direct-space method for ab initio solution of crystal structures from powder diffraction diagrams is presented. The approach consists of a combined global optimization (`Pareto optimization') of the difference between the calculated and the measured diffraction pattern and of the potential energy of the system. This concept has been tested successfully on a large variety of ionic and inte...

Piston aluminum alloys have different intermetallic phases, such as Cu3Al, Mg2Si ,and AlNi phases. The morphology and the distribution of such phases have important roles on mechanical properties of the piston material. Therefore, in this research, various ageing heat treatments on the mentioned material were done and the microstructural feature and the hardness were studi...

Intermetallic compounds based on hydrogen absorbing elements usually form stable hydrides. This is the case for PdZr2. Surprisingly, ZrPd2 does not absorb hydrogen although both compounds have the same crystal structure and satisfy the empirical geometrical criteria for hydride formation. Results of ab initio calculations reveal an unanticipated purely electronic origin. These results have impl...

The magnesium-rich intermetallic compounds RETMg2 (RE = La, Pr, Nd; T = Ni, Pd, Pt) were obtained by melting of the elements in sealed tantalum ampoules and subsequent annealing. Their structures have been characterized on the basis of powder X-ray diffraction. The RETMg2 phases crystallize with the orthorhombic MgCuAl2-type structure, space group Cmcm. The crystal chemical peculiarities are br...