The influence of silicon content on microstructure and hardness of Mo–Si alloys

Abstract Mo–Si alloy sheets with different silicon content were fabricated by powder-metallurgical and thermo-mechanically processing. The effect of Si content and annealing temperature on microstructure and hardness of the Mo–Si alloys were studied by using optical microscopy (OM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Vickers hardness tester, respectively. The results indicated that the presence of Si can effectively refine the grain sizes and improve the hardness of Mo–Si alloys. Si can also increase the recrystallization temperature of alloys and play a significant role in restraining the grain growth at high temperatures. Increasing the annealing temperature, the microstructure of Mo–Si alloy sheets is gradually coarsened and changed from fibrous to equiaxed structure, causing reduction in hardness. The hardening effect in the Mo–Si alloys came from the refined grain strengthening, solid solution strengthening, and second phase particle strengthening, which are closely dependent on the Si content and annealing temperature.