High-Temperature Strengthening and Toughening Mechanisms of Micro-Nano Ti2AlC Reinforced TiAl Composites
CHEN Zhanxing1, WANG Yupeng2, RONG Guangfei2, ZHANG Xinfang1, MA Tengfei2(), WANG Xiaohong2, XING Qiuwei1, ZHU Dongdong2()
1 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics, Zhengzhou 450046, China 2 Key Laboratory of Air-Driven Equipment Technology of Zhejiang Province, Quzhou University, Quzhou 324000, China
Cite this article:
CHEN Zhanxing, WANG Yupeng, RONG Guangfei, ZHANG Xinfang, MA Tengfei, WANG Xiaohong, XING Qiuwei, ZHU Dongdong. High-Temperature Strengthening and Toughening Mechanisms of Micro-Nano Ti2AlC Reinforced TiAl Composites. Acta Metall Sin, 2024, 60(12): 1746-1754.
Metal matrix composites reinforced with micro-nano particles have emerged as a promising avenue for the development of advanced structural materials. Such composites can considerably enhance the strength and toughness of metals. TiAl composites with reinforced micro-nano Ti2AlC particles exhibit excellent mechanical properties at room temperature and impressive oxidation resistance at high temperatures. However, there is limited study on the tensile behavior of micro-nano particles reinforced TiAl composites. The impact of micro-nano particles on the tensile fracture of TiAl composites at high temperatures remains largely unexplored; hence, it is crucial to investigate the high-temperature strengthening and toughening mechanisms of micro-nano Ti2AlC particles reinforced TiAl composites. In this study, micro-nano Ti2AlC particles reinforced TiAl composites were in situ synthesized by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 1250-1350oC using Ti-48Al-2Nb-2Cr prealloyed powders with addition of 0.5% graphene oxide. With increase in sintering temperature, various microstructures of Ti2AlC/TiAl composites were observed, ranging from near fully lamellar to coarse fully lamellar. The high-temperature tensile properties of these composites with varying microstructures at 800 and 850oC at a strain rate of 0.0001 s-1 were systematically studied. The corresponding strengthening and toughening mechanisms were discussed based on the observed fracture morphologies. The findings revealed that the composites reinforced with micro-nano Ti2AlC particles, especially those with near and fine fully lamellar structures, exhibited a synergy between strength and ductility at high temperatures. For instance, the fine fully lamellar Ti2AlC/TiAl composite displayed ultimate tensile strength of 496 MPa and a fracture strain of 10.7% at 850oC and 0.0001 s-1. This represents a 50oC increase in working temperature compared to that of the fully lamellar Ti-48Al-2Nb-2Cr alloy (The ultimate tensile strength and fracture strain at 800oC and 0.0001 s-1 were 467 MPa and 4.5%, respectively). The enhanced high-temperature properties of the Ti2AlC/TiAl composites were primarily attributed to the micro-nano Ti2AlC particles, which refined the lamellar colonies and hindered dislocation movement and crack propagation.
Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(52001262);National Natural Science Foundation of China(52001283);National Natural Science Foundation of China(52171120);Key Technology Research and Development Program of Henan Province(212102210447);Key Technology Research and Development Program of Henan Province(222102230041)
Corresponding Authors:
MA Tengfei, associate professor, Tel: (0571)8026716, E-mail: matengfeihit@163.com; ZHU Dongdong, professor, Tel: (0570)80266634, E-mail: zhudd8@163.com
Fig.1 OM images of TiAl alloy sintered at 1300oC (a) and Ti2AlC reinforced TiAl composites with 0.5%GO addition sintered at 1250oC (b), 1300oC (c), and 1350oC (d) (GO—graphene oxide)
Fig.2 SEM images of TiAl alloy sintered at 1300oC (a) and Ti2AlC reinforced TiAl composites with 0.5%GO addition sintered at 1250oC (b), 1300oC (c), and 1350oC (d)
Fig.3 Raman spectra for Ti2AlC reinforced TiAl composites with different GO additions sintered at 1300oC
Fig.4 TEM characterizations of Ti2AlC reinforced TiAl composites with 0.5%GO addition sintered at 1300oC (a) bright field TEM image (b, b1) HRTEM image marked in Fig.4a (b) and corresponding fast Fourier transform (FFT) pattern of square area in Fig.4b (b1) (c, c1) HRTEM image marked in Fig.4a (c) and corresponding FFT pattern of square area in Fig.4c (c1) (T—twin)
Fig.5 Statistical results of lamellar colony size and lamellar space for TiAl alloy sintered at 1300oC and Ti2AlC reinforced TiAl composites with 0.5%GO addition sintered at different temperatures
Fig.6 800oC (a) and 850oC (b) tensile engineering stress-strain curves of TiAl alloy sintered at 1300oC and Ti2AlC reinforced TiAl composites with 0.5%GO addition sintered at different temperatures under strain rate of 0.0001 s-1
Alloy
Ts
oC
T
oC
UTS
MPa
εf
%
TiAl alloy
1300
800
467
4.5
850
404
18.6
Ti2AlC/TiAl
1250
800
492
3.5
850
462
8.1
Ti2AlC/TiAl
1300
800
530
3.7
850
496
10.7
Ti2AlC/TiAl
1350
800
373
1.6
850
371
2.1
Table 1 800 and 850oC tensile properties of TiAl alloy sintered at 1300oC and Ti2AlC reinforced TiAl composites with 0.5%GO addition sintered at different temperatures under strain rate of 0.0001 s-1
Fig.7 SEM fracture images of TiAl alloy (a, c) and Ti2AlC reinforced TiAl composites with 0.5%GO addition (b, d) sintered at 1300oC after tensile tests at 800oC (a, b) and 850oC (c, d) under strain rate of 0.0001 s-1
Fig.8 Low (a, b) and locally high (a1, b1) magnified SEM images of TiAl alloy sintered at 1300oC after tensile tests at 800oC(a, a1) and 850oC (b, b1)
Fig.9 Low (a, b) and locally high (a1, b1) magnified SEM images of Ti2AlC reinforced TiAl with 0.5%GO addition composite sintered at 1300oC after tensile tests at 800oC (a, a1) and 850oC (b, b1)
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