A C15 Laves phase, HfV2+Nb, shows promising mechanical properties and here we describe the structure of its grain boundaries. The C15 Laves phase has a fcc lattice with a=7.4Å. An alloy of composition Hf14V64Nb22 (including a C15 matrix and a second phase of V-rich bcc solution) was made by arc-melting. The alloy was homogenized at 1200°C for 120h. Preliminary study concentrated on Σ3{<110>/70.53°} grain boundaries in the C15 phase using Philips 400T and CM 30 microscopes.The most-commonly observed morphology of Σ3{<110>/70.53°} grain boundaries in the C15 phase is a faceted boundary. A bright field image (BFI) of the faceted boundary and the corresponding diffraction patterns with the grain boundary edge-on are shown in Fig. 1(a). From the diffraction patterns using a <110> zone axis for both grains, it is obvious that this is a Σ3{<110>/70.53°} grain boundary. Crystallographic analysis shows that the Σ3{<110>/70.53°} grain boundaries selectively facet with the following relationships between the two grains: {111}1//{111}2, {112}1//{112}2, {111}1//{115}2, and {001}1//{221}2.
