HIGH-TEMPERATURE DEFORMATION AND FRACTURE MECHANISMS IN A DENDRITIC NI3AL ALLOY

The mechanisms that control high temperature deformation and rupture were studied in a Ni3Al alloy that was thermo-mechanically treated to produce a non-porous dendritic grain structure. Comparisons of data corresponding to the dendritic grain morphology with that for the equiaxed grain structures indicate that the dendritic morphology results in significantly lower creep rates as well as substantially greater times to rupture. Comparison of the data with numerical calculations suggests that this difference in creep strength is due to an inherent resistance to grain boundary sliding by the dendritic grain structure. A constrained cavity growth model was adapted based on microstructural observations to account for cavitation within the dendritic microstructure. The success of the model indicates that rupture time is primarily determined by constrained cavity growth on isolated dendrite boundary segments.