Numerical and Experimental Investigations on the Growth of the Intermetallic Mg2Si Phase in Mg Infiltrated Si-Foams†

The present work explores the growing behavior of the intermetallic layer in the Mg-Si system. Following achievements have been obtained in our investigation: (i) A complete wetting concept is proposed for the lateral spreading of the intermetallic layer. (ii) In contrast to the stoichiometric property for the intermetallic phase in the phase diagram, the authors show that concentration gradients are able to be established in the kinetic process. (iii) Contrary to the reported growth behavior, d ∝ t0.25–0.5 in other intermetallics, the authors find a transition from d ∝ t to d ∝ t with an increase of the temperature, where d is the thickness of the intermetallic layer and t is the time.