Synthesis and characterization of the Fe - Zn intermetallic phases using the Rietveld Method

The Rietveld Method was used to investigate the structure of three Fe-Zn intermetallic phases and to quantify their proportion. The zeta, delta and gamma phases were successfully obtained by the sintering process. A simple mixture of the three intermetallic phases was made with a known mass percentage and the XRD pattern of this mixture was collected and analyzed by the Rietveld Method. A difference of 14% between the simulated and the experimental XRD patterns was found, indicating a satisfactory fitting. Slightly different lattice parameters from those given in the ICSD cards were observed. Because of the good fitting, the calculated phase percentages of the mixture agreed closely with the real ones. Thus, it was concluded that the Rietveld Method is a reliable method to quantify the phases in galvannealed steel sheets and the same methodology applied in this laboratorial study can be applied to industrial sheets.