An intermetallic compound of L12 ordered Fe3Ge was examined by compression in bulk at various temperatures and by semi-in-situ compression of a thin foil at room temperature. This alloy was known to showed monotonic decrease in yield strength being quite different from the other well-known L12 intermetallics. It was shown by stereomicroscopy, Burgers vector analyses and semi-in-situ experiments that <112> types of slips along the {111} faults could contribute to generate glide dislocations on {001} planes, which eventually acted as multiplication sources for the cube slips to govern the essential part of the macroscopic deformation. The yield strength was confirmed to decrease monotonically up to 500K and rapidly upon approaching the L12 → D019 transformation temperature with a drastic increase in the strain rate sensitivity. The strengthening mechanism in this dual phase alloy of Fe3Ge was explained in terms of dislocation motion on both octahedral and cube planes by analyzing the results of transmission electron microscopic observations with the information of Schmidt factors.

Dislocation Motion on Octahedral and Cube Planes in Fe3Ge Polycrystals. M.Taniguchi, K.Morizumi, S.Miyazaki, S.Kumai, A.Sato: Philosophical Magazine, 2006, 86[10], 1327-54