Alloying behavior of zinc with rare earth metals: The Dy–Gd–Zn system

The isothermal section at 400°C of the Dy–Gd–Zn system was studied, and the vertical sections at the Dy/Gd ratio=1 was investigated. The experimental techniques used were Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with electron probe microanalysis (EPMA-EDX). No ternary compounds were found in the system. As regard to the intermetallic phases, the (Dy,Gd)Zn, (Dy,Gd)Zn2, (Dy,Gd)Zn3, (Dy,Gd)3Zn11, (Dy,Gd)13Zn58, (Dy,Gd)2Zn17 and (Dy,Gd)Zn12 solid solutions form in the full field of composition, while the Gd3Zn22 compound did not show dysprosium dissolution. •The isothermal section at 400°C of the Dy–Gd–Zn system was studied.•The binary compounds extend in the ternary field, except the Gd3Zn22 compound.•The vertical sections at the Dy/Gd ratio=1 was investigated.•No four-phase equilibria occur in this system.•All the equilibria are of monovariant character.