Al-rich 94Al–6Mn and 94Al–4Mn–2Fe alloys were suction-cast to evaluate the feasibility of obtaining bulk quasicrystal-strengthened Al-alloys at intermediate cooling rates alloyed with non-toxic, easily accessible and affordable additions. The influence of different cooling rates on the potential formation of a quasicrystalline phase was examined by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. Increased cooling rates in the thinnest castings entailed a change in sample phase composition. The highest cooling rates turned out to be insufficient to form an icosahedral quasicrystalline phase (I-phase) in the binary alloy. Instead, an orthorhombic approximant phase occurred (L-phase). The addition of Fe to the 94Al–6Mn binary alloy enhanced the formation of a quasicrystalline phase. At intermediate cooling rates of 10²–10³ K/s, various metastable phases were formed, including decagonal and icosahedral quasicrystals and their approximants. Rods (1 mm in diameter) composed of I-phase particles embedded in Al matrix exhibited a hardness of 1.5 GPa, much higher than the 1.1 GPa of 94Al–6Mn.

The microstructure and phase composition of Al/Ti/Al interfaces with respect to their localization were investigated. An aluminum-flyer plate exhibited finer grains located close to the upper interface than those present within the aluminum-base plate. The same tendency, but with a higher number of twins, was observed for titanium. Good quality bonding with a wavy shape and four intermetallic phases, namely, TiAl₃, TiAl, TiAl₂, and Ti₃Al, was only obtained at the interface closer to the explosive material. The other interface was planar with three intermetallic compounds, excluding the metastable TiAl₂phase. As a result of a 100-hour annealing at 903 K (630 °C), an Al/TiAl₃/Ti/TiAl₃/Al sandwich was manufactured, formed with single crystalline Al layers. A substantial difference between the intermetallic layer thicknesses was measured, with 235.3 and 167.4 µm obtained for the layers corresponding to the upper and lower interfaces, respectively. An examination by transmission electron microscopy of a thin foil taken from the interface area after a 1-hour annealing at 825 K (552 °C) showed a mixture of randomly located TiAl₃grains within the aluminum. Finally, the hardness results were correlated with the microstructural changes across the samples.