The influence of niobium, tantalum and zirconium on the microstructure and creep strength of fully lamellar γ/α2 titanium aluminides

Abstract

Titanium aluminides are excellent materials for light-weight applications at high temperatures. To enhance their creep strength, various alloying elements are added. In this work the effect of 5 at% Niobium (Nb), Tantalum (Ta) and Zirconium (Zr) on the creep properties of ternary Ti-44Al-5X (X = Nb, Ta, Zr) with a fully lamellar microstructure, is systematically studied. These alloying elements have a high solubility in titanium aluminides, and show a different α2/γ partitioning behavior as well as a different influence on the lattice parameters of both phases. The average interface distance between the α2- and γ-phase is adjusted to about 300 nm by the cooling rate to evaluate the influence of the three alloying elements. The creep tests reveal that all three alloying elements increase the creep resistance of titanium aluminides, particularly Ta and Zr. Ta seems to extend the pronounced primary creep regime, whereas Zr seems to reduce it. The alloying elements decrease also the lamellar spacing compared to the binary alloy. Microstructural investigations after the creep tests show a beneficial effect of the alloying elements on the microstructural stability during creep exposure, since they retard the discontinuous coarsening rate.