Abstract
The R (rare earth) Fe2 compound with the C-15 Laves phase exhibits huge magnetostriction over 1000ppm. Effects of microgravity conditions on directionally solidification of TbFe2 melt were investigated. The microgravity conditions of 10-5 G for 10 seconds were obtained by the drop shaft experiment. It obtained by the drop shaft experiment system at the Japan Microgravity Center (JAMIC). The samples under the 1G terrestrial conditions and under the microgravity conditions were examined by using optical and scanning election microscopy. Grains were randomly oriented in 1G terrestrial experiments and had not any crystallographical alignment The grains of the samples prepared under microgravity condition have been aligned along the solidification direction to form a columnar structure.
