ωo phase precipitation in annealed high Nb containing TiAl alloys

The ordered ω phases in high Nb containing Ti Al(Nb-Ti Al) alloys have been garnering increasing attention in the recent years. However, the investigations on the Nb dependence on the ωoprecipitation are scarce. In this study, the effect of Nb content on the ωoprecipitation in high Nb(6–10 at%) containing Ti Al alloys after long-time annealing at 850 1C has been studied. The results show that small ordered ω particles in the retained βophase cannot be discerned under scanning electron microscope(SEM) but can be observed using transmission electron microscopy(TEM). Although the Nb segregation can be eliminated after the homogenization heat treatment, the ωophase precipitated in all the alloys studied after annealing at 850 1C. TEM examination reveals that the orientation relationship between the ωoand α2phases can be derived as: [0001]ωo//[1120]α2;(1120)ωo//(0001)α2, which indicates that the ωophase is directly transformed from the parent α2phase. Small γ particles are also observed within the ωoareas. The α2-ωot γ decomposition process is expected during annealing. It is concluded that ωophase is an equilibrium phase in high Nb-Ti Al alloys at 850 1C.