Crystallography Analysis of the β-Mg17Al12 Precipitates by the Secondary Constrained Coincident Site Lattice Model

Crystallographic models are effective tools to interpret, calculate and even to predict the preferred crystallographic morphologies of precipitates in various precipitation systems. The present study gives an introduction on the recently developed secondary constrained coincident site lattice (II-CCSL) model. Using the II-CCSL model, the interface matching condition of the ${\beta}-Mg_{17}Al_{12}$ precipitates with ${\alpha}-Mg$ matrix in an aged AZ91 alloy has been analyzed to rationalize the morphologies of the precipitates. The results show that the characteristic crystallographic features of the observed ${\beta}-Mg_{17}Al_{12}$ precipitates, i.e., the habit plane of the ${\beta}-Mg_{17}Al_{12}$ lath with a Burgers orientation relationship (OR) and the growth direction of the ${\beta}-Mg_{17}Al_{12}$ with a Crawley OR exhibit a better lattice matching degree than their vicinal orientations. Moreover, the Crawley OR is preferred to the Burgers OR due to a better lattice match.