Alloying Effect on the Microstructure and Property of Single Crystal Ni3Al Alloys

ABSTRACTThe alloying effects of Cr, Zr, Ta, Nb and B on the microstructure and properties of single crystal Ni3Al alloys have been studied. The strength of the alloys has been improved markedly with promising plasticity. The 0.2% yield stress of some of these alloys is higher than that of IN713C, a typical cast nickel-base superalloy, in the temperature range from 25 to 950°C and some of them reach the strength level of advanced cast nickel-base alloys such as IN100 in the high temperature range. The creep strength of these alloys is also improved markedly. The single crystal Ni3Al alloy with a high Cr content ( 7 at-%) obviously shows an intermediate temperature low plasticity behavior. Although heat treatment can only slightly improve the strength, it can double the elongation of the alloy from 25% to 50%. In the Ni3Al monocrystal containing 1.2at%Zr there exist great amounts of the low melting point Ni5Zr-γ eutectics around the ordinary γ/γ′ eutectics. This makes it difficult to homogenize the coarse casting structures completely.