Microstructural analysis of multilayered titanium aluminide sheets fabricated by hot rolling and heat treatment

This study is concerned with the microstructural analysis of multilayered or bulk Ti aluminide sheets fabricated by the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) reaction using hot rolling and heat treatment. Multilayered Ti/Al sheets were prepared by stacking thin Ti and Al sheets alternately, and a good Ti/Al interfacial bonding was achieved after rolling at 500 °C. When these sheets were held at 1000 °C, spheroidal TiAl₃ phases were formed by the SHS reaction at Ti/Al interfaces and inside Al layers. Microstructural analysis on the hot-rolled, multilayered Ti/TiAl₃ sheets revealed that intermetallic phases such as TiAl₂, TiAl, and Ti₃Al were formed at Ti/TiAl₃ interfaces due to interaction between Ti and TiAl₃ and that pores formed in the TiAl₃ layer were significantly reduced during hot rolling. When multilayered Ti/Ti aluminide sheets were heat treated at 1000 °C, Ti₃Al, TiAl, and TiAl₂ were grown as Ti and TiAl₃ were consumed. As the heat treatment proceeded, TiAl grew further, eventually leading to the fabrication of multilayered sheets composed of Ti₃Al and TiAl. Bulk Ti aluminide sheets, having a lamellar structure of Ti₃Al and TiAl, instead of multilayered sheets, were also fabricated successfully by heat treatment at 1400 °C. This fabrication method of the bulk sheets had several advantages over the method by hot forging or rolling of conventional cast Ti aluminides. From these findings, an idea to fabricate multilayered or bulk Ti aluminide sheets by hot rolling and heat treatment is suggested as an economical and continuous fabrication method, and the formation and growth mechanisms of interfacial phases are elucidated in this study.