Evaluation of Ca-doped BaZrO3 as the crucible refractory for melting TiAl alloys

In this study, a new Ca-doped BaZrO₃ refractory was designed by using thermodynamics approaches and tested for its applicability for vacuum induction melting (VIM) of TiAl alloys. The influence of CaO on the BaZrO₃ phase constitution and microstructure, as well as the key features of the TiAl melt interaction with the Ca-doped BaZrO₃ crucibles were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results revealed that the Ca-doped BaZrO₃ refractory consisted of Ba_1-xCa_xZrO₃ and CaO phases. An obvious interaction occurred during the melting of the TiAl alloy in the Ca-doped BaZrO₃ crucible along with the generation of BaAl₂O₄ as a reaction product, with formation of a reaction layer up to 5?µm thick. Dissolution of Ca-doped BaZrO₃ refractory in the TiAl melt was the main reason for the alloy-crucible reaction. Moreover, the Ca-doped BaZrO₃ crucible was found to substantially reduce the contamination of the TiAl alloy, with lower oxygen concentration as compared with other conventional oxide crucibles. Overall results confirmed that vacuum induction melting using the Ca-doped BaZrO₃ refractory can be considered as an appropriate method for the fabrication of TiAl alloys.     

Tuning effect of silicon substitution on magnetic and high frequency electromagnetic properties of R2Fe17 and their composites

In this work, we report the tuning effect of the Si substitution on the magnetic and high frequency electromagnetic properties of R₂Fe₁₇ compounds and their paraffin composites. It is found that the introduction of Si can remarkably improve the magnetic and electromagnetic properties of the R₂Fe₁₇ compounds, making the R₂Fe_17–xSi_x-paraffin composites excellent microwave absorption materials (MAMs). By introducing the Si element, their saturation magnetizations decrease slightly, while much higher Curie temperatures are obtained. Furthermore, better impedance match is reached due to the decrease of the high-frequency permittivity ε′ by about 40%–50%, which finally enhances the performance of the microwave absorption. The peak frequency (f_RL) of the reflection loss (RL) curve moves toward high frequency domain and the qualified bandwidth (QB, RL ≤ ?10 dB) increases remarkably. The maximum QB of 3.3 GHz (12.0–15.3 GHz) is obtained for the Sm_1.5Y_0.5Fe₁₅Si₂-paraffin composite (d = 1.0 mm) and the maximum RL of ?53.6 dB is achieved for Nd₂Fe₁₅Si₂-paraffin composite (d = 2.2 mm), both surpassing most of the reported MAMs. Additionally, a distinguished dielectric microwave absorption peak is observed, which further increases the QB in these composites.     

Influence of thermodynamic activities of different masteralloys in pack powder mixtures to produce low activity aluminide coatings on TiAl alloys

Titanium aluminides are interesting high temperature materials, but show insufficient oxidation resistance as well as embrittlement at higher temperatures (>750 °C). Al-enriched coatings can be manufactured by pack cementation on many high temperature alloys to promote the formation of a protective alumina layer at high temperatures, which not only protects the alloy from oxidation but is also expected to impede embrittlement of TiAl at high temperatures. One drawback of such coatings is that Al-rich phases are very brittle. Therefore the major intermetallic aluminide phase in the coating plays a critical role for the protection behavior. Based on thermodynamic calculations different masteralloys were chosen to control the pack cementation process. Particular attention is given to the gradient between the aluminum activity of the different masteralloy powders and the aluminum activity of the substrate surface (alloy TNM^®-B1) in order to control the deposited phase at the surface. It is revealed that powder pack with Al as masteralloy provides a high Al activity and produces thick multi-layered coatings consisting of brittle TiAl₃ and TiAl₂ phase and aluminum-rich TiAl. By using different chromium aluminides as masteralloys, thinner, low-activity coatings could be produced, consisting of a bi-layer of brittle TiAl₂ phase and aluminum-rich TiAl or just the targeted pure aluminum-rich TiAl, which is known to have much better mechanical properties.     

Producing fully-lamellar microstructure for wrought beta-gamma TiAl alloys without single α-phase field

Fine-grained fully-lamellar (FL) microstructure is desired for TiAl components to serve as compressor/turbine blades and turbocharger turbine wheels. This study deals with the process and phase transformation to produce FL microstructure for Mo stabilized beta-gamma TiAl alloys without single α-phase field. Unlike the α + γ two-phased TiAl or beta-gamma TiAl with single α-phase field, the wrought multi-phase TiAl–4/6Nb–2Mo–B/Y alloys exhibit special annealing process to obtain FL microstructure. Short-term annealing at temperatures slightly above β-transus is recommended to produce the desired FL microstructure. The related mechanism is to guarantee the sufficient diffusion homogenization of β stabilizers during single β-phase annealing, and further avoid α decomposition by α → γ + β when cooling through α + β + γ phase field. The colony boundary β phase contributes to fine-grained nearly FL microstructure, by retarding the coarsening of the α phase grains.     

双态组织高Nb-TiAl合金的缺口敏感性

通过对圆棒状缺口试样和无缺口光滑试样进行单向拉伸试验,研究了双态组织高Nb-TiAl合金的缺口敏感性。研究表明,缺口根半径R≥0. 5 mm的U型试样和缺口角度60°、R≥1 mm的V型试样的抗拉强度RmN都大于光滑试样的抗拉强度Rm,缺口敏感度NSR均大于1,合金对缺口不敏感。当缺口类型相同时,缺口敏感性随缺口根半径R的减小而增大; V型缺口敏感性大于U型缺口;对于V型缺口试样,当R=0. 5 mm时,其NSR在0. 98～1. 03之间,RmN在Rm附近波动,易出现缺口敏感。     

锻态Ti-44Al-4Nb-4V-0.3Mo-Y合金等轴及片层组织高温拉伸性能及组织演变

等轴γ晶粒和α2/γ片层是beta-gamma TiAl合金的2种主要变形组织形态。研究了锻态Ti-44Al-4Nb-4V-0.3Mo-Y合金等轴组织及片层组织的高温拉伸性能及组织演变。结果表明:拉伸温度对Ti-44Al-4Nb-4V-0.3Mo-Y合金的力学性能和显微组织有显著的影响。在相同温度下,Ti-44Al-4Nb-4V-0.3Mo-Y合金等轴组织的抗拉强度和屈服强度略高于片层组织,而延伸率相差不大。随拉伸温度的升高,合金的抗拉强度和屈服强度逐渐减小,而延伸率迅速增大。对于等轴组织,提高温度,等轴γ晶粒被拉长,发生完全的动态再结晶,从而细化合金的显微组织。对于片层组织,α2/γ片层的分解和γ板条的再结晶程度随拉伸温度的升高而增大。Ti-44Al-4Nb-4V-0.3Mo-Y合金的韧脆转变温度在750～800℃之间。     

Improving oxidation resistance of porous FeAl-based intermetallics with high boron/yttrium alloying

The coalloying with high contents of chromium (Cr), boron (B) and yttrium (Y) for porous B2-structured FeAl intermetallics fabricated through reactive synthesis was conducted. The oxidation behaviors of porous FeAl-based materials were investigated by evaluating the pore-structure evolution, oxidation kinetics and oxide-scale configuration. The results show that with the coalloying of high contents of Cr, B and Y, the oxidation mass gains of porous FeAl materials at 600?800 °C are significantly reduced. The combination of B enriched on the surface of oxide scales and Y located at the scale?metal interface promotes the formation of thin protective nodular α-Al₂O₃ oxide scales. It is indicated that introducing relatively high contents of reactive elements such as B and Y can benefit the selective growth of α-Al₂O₃ scales at relatively low temperatures without pre-treatment.