Effects of discontinuour coarsening of lamellae on creep strength of fully lamellar TiAl alloys

High temperature creep of a binary Ti-42mol%Al alloy with fully lamellar structure was studied to examine effects of lamellar spacing on creep strength. Strain hardening is more significant in a finer lamellar material, resulting in higher creep strength at high stresses. Discontinuous coarsening of lamellae takes place during creep, and is more substantial in the finer lamellar material at low stresses. Because of the microstructural degradation, the strengthening by fine lamellae diminishes at low stresses. Some specimens were annealed at high temperatures to finish the discontinuous coarsening prior to creep testing. In these specimens, the strengthening by fine lamellae becomes effective even at low stresses.