Influence of α-Phase Field Heat Treatment on the Tensile and Primary Creep Resistance of a Powder Metallurgical Processed Ti-45Al-5Nb-0.2B-0.2C Titanium Aluminide Alloy

In powder metallurgical processing the sintering process, as well as heat treatments, can drastically influence microstructure formation. In the case of γ-titanium aluminides, it is critical to achieve certain microstructure parameters, such as colony size, porosity and grain boundary morphology in order to obtain appropriate mechanical properties. In this study, the effect of a heat treatment implemented after sintering with the objective of varying the colony size was investigated. Specimens of Ti-45Al-5Nb-0.2B-0.2C prepared by metal injection moulding and uniaxial pressing of feedstock were used to evaluate the tensile and creep properties. Heat treatments conducted at 1350 and 1400 °C for 3 h led to colony sizes of approximately 100 and 200 µm, respectively. Classically, there is an inverse relationship between grain size and creep resistance, nonetheless, for γ-titanium aluminides, the morphology of the colony boundaries was also found to play a role. The larger colony sizes achieved with the heat treatments did not improve the primary creep resistance, which was explained by the change in the morphology of the colony boundaries as they became larger.