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Acta Metall Sin  2025, Vol. 61 Issue (6): 848-856    DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2023.00155
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Effects of V on the Microstructure Evolution and Hardness Enhancement of Ti2AlNb Alloy
LIU Ziru1, GUO Qianying1(), ZHANG Hongyu2, LIU Yongchang1()
1 State Key Laboratory of High Performance Roll Materials and Composite Forming, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300354, China
2 New Materials Computing Research Center, Zhejiang Laboratory, Hangzhou 311100, China
Cite this article: 

LIU Ziru, GUO Qianying, ZHANG Hongyu, LIU Yongchang. Effects of V on the Microstructure Evolution and Hardness Enhancement of Ti2AlNb Alloy. Acta Metall Sin, 2025, 61(6): 848-856.

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Abstract  

Ti2AlNb-based alloys, as emerging lightweight high-temperature structural materials, have shown great potential for aerospace applications owing to their outstanding creep resistance, strong plasticity, and impressive high-temperature oxidation resistance. However, the material has yet to see widespread use owing to its poor formability and processability. Compared to traditional melting and forging methods, powder metallurgy has proven to be an effective method for preparing this alloy with a required shape, thereby circumventing phase transformation during hot working. The properties of Ti2AlNb-based alloy can be enhanced by adding stabilized elements to the B2 or α2 phase. Among these metallic elements, V has been demonstrated to effectively increase the ductility and high-temperature strength of Ti2AlNb-based alloys. However, the mechanism of the V addition's effect on the microstructure and properties of Ti2AlNb-based alloys during aging treatment has not been systematically clarified. Therefore, investigating the influence of powder sintering and post-heat treatment on the microstructure and properties of Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V alloys is crucial for accelerating their industrialization process. This investigation forms the basis of this work. A detailed study on the role of V in the microstructure and deformation responses of the Ti2AlNb alloy was performed. This involved preparing V-added and V-free Ti-22Al-25Nb alloys via spark plasma sintering. Then, the sintered alloys were solution treated at 1300 oC for 4 h and subsequently aged at temperatures from 800 oC to 1050 oC for 2 h for microstructure modification. The detailed microstructure of the alloys was analyzed using X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. The results revealed that by adding V, the volume fraction of the residual α2 phase improves. The microhardness of the V-doped alloys is significantly enhanced compared to the undoped alloys and reached a maximum value of 503 HV at an aging temperature of 850 oC. This α2 phase pins the grain boundary during heat treatment, resulting in an alloy with a refined grain size. Additionally, V additions can inhibit the B2 + α2 → O transition, promoting a finer O/α2 phase precipitate and higher hardness. Furthermore, microstructural analysis proved that the segregation of V and Nb in the B2 phase will cause the “curved” structure, including Nb- and V-rich B2 and Nb- and V-lean α2 phases. The partial replacement of Nb by V reduced the lattice parameter in the B2 phase, which further improves the hardness of this alloy.

Key words:  Ti2AlNb alloy      microstructure      aging      curved structure     
Received:  06 April 2023     
ZTFLH:  TG146.2  
Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(52034004)
Corresponding Authors:  GUO Qianying, professor, Tel: (022)85356432, E-mail: guoqy@tju.edu.cn;
LIU Yongchang, professor, Tel: (022)85356410, E-mail: ycliu@tju.edu.cn

URL: 

https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2023.00155     OR     https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2025/V61/I6/848

SampleAlNbVTi
Ti-22Al-25Nb22.1125.21-Bal.
Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V22.0625.230.95Bal.
Table 1  Chemical compositions of the sintered Ti-22Al-25Nb and Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V samples
Fig.1  XRD spectra of Ti-22Al-25Nb and Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V alloys after solution treatment at 1300 ºC
Fig.2  XRD spectra of Ti-22Al-25Nb (a) and Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V (b) alloys after solution treatment at 1300 ºC and aging at different temperatures
Fig.3  SEM images of the Ti-22Al-25Nb alloy after solution treatment at 1300 ºC and aging at 800 ºC (a), 850 ºC (b), 900 ºC (c), 950 ºC (d), 1000 ºC (e), and 1050 ºC (f)
Fig.4  SEM images of the Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V alloys after solution treatment at 1300 ºC and aging at 800 ºC (a), 850 ºC (b), 900 ºC (c), 950 ºC (d), 1000 ºC (e), and 1050 ºC (f)
Fig.5  Vickers hardnesses of the Ti-22Al-25Nb and Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V alloys after solution treatment at 1300 ºC and aging at 800-1050 ºC
Temperature / oCAlloyB2 phaseO phaseα2 phase
800Ti-22Al-25Nb18.3381.67-
Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V21.3373.684.99
850Ti-22Al-25Nb27.9372.07-
Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V38.8051.229.98
900Ti-22Al-25Nb42.0357.97-
Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V49.6231.0819.30
950Ti-22Al-25Nb71.8114.7113.48
Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V74.48-25.52
1000Ti-22Al-25Nb81.53-18.47
Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V85.03-14.97
1050Ti-22Al-25Nb84.04-15.96
Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V80.91-19.09
Table 2  Volume fractions of B2, O, and α2 phases of the Ti-22Al-25Nb and Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V alloys after solution treatment at 1300 oC and aging at different temperatures
Fig.6  B2 phase grain sizes of the Ti-22Al-25Nb and Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V alloys after solution treatment at 1300 ºC and aging at different temperatures
Fig.7  Widths of the precipitated phase of the Ti-22Al-25Nb and Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V alloys after solution treatment at 1300 ºC and aging at different temperatures
Fig.8  Phase map of the Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V alloy after solution treatment at 1300 ºC and aging at 900 ºC
Fig.9  SEM backscattered electron (BSE) image (a) and corresponding linear scan analyses alone the line in Fig.9a (b) of the Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V alloy after solution treatment at 1300 ºC and aging at 900 ºC
Fig.10  TEM images of Ti-22Al-25Nb (a) and Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V (b) alloys after solution treatment at 1300 ºC and aging at 850 ºC (Inset in Fig.11b shows the SAED pattern of region A)
Fig.11  TEM bright field image (a) and corresponding SAED patterns of regions A (b) and B (c) in Fig.11a showing the discontinuous microstructure for the Ti-22Al-25Nb alloy after solution treatment at 1300 ºC and aging at 850 ºC
Fig.12  TEM image (a) and corresponding SAED patterns of regions A (b) and B (c) in Fig.12a showing the curved microstructure for the Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V alloy after solution treatment at 1300 ºC and aging at 850 ºC
Temperature / oCAlloya / nmd(110) / nmd(200) / nmd(211) / nm
800Ti-22Al-25Nb0.325180.229940.162590.13275
Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V0.324550.229490.162270.13250
850Ti-22Al-25Nb0.325120.229890.162560.13273
Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V0.324550.229490.162270.13250
900Ti-22Al-25Nb0.325060.229850.162530.13271
Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V0.323980.229090.161990.13226
950Ti-22Al-25Nb0.324280.229300.162140.13239
Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V0.323680.228880.161840.13214
1000Ti-22Al-25Nb0.324130.229190.162060.13232
Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V0.323650.228860.161820.13213
1050Ti-22Al-25Nb0.324460.229430.162230.13246
Ti-22Al-25Nb-1V0.323980.229090.161990.13226
Table 3  Lattice constarts (a) and interplanar spacings (d) of the B2 phase in the alloy with different aging temperatures
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