Considerable work has been performed on NiAl over the last three decades, with an extremely rapid growth in research on this intermetallic occurring in the last few years due to recent interest in this material for electronic and high temperature structural applications. However, many physical properties and the controlling fracture and deformation mechanisms over certain temperature regimes are still in question. Part of this problem lies in the incomplete characterization of many of the alloys previously investigated. Fragmentary data on processing conditions, chemistry, microstructure and the apparent difficulty in accurately measuring composition has made direct comparison between individual studies sometimes tenuous. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to summarize all available mechanical and pertinent physical properties on NiAl, stressing the most recent investigations, in an attempt to understand the behavior of NiAl and its alloys over a broad temperature range.

Physical and mechanical properties of the B2 compound NiAl

Cu‐Nb wire composites with 0.105, 0.148, and 0.182 volume fraction of Nb filaments were produced in situ and their mechanical properties measured as a function of filament size and interfilament spacing. The yield stress and the ultimate tensile strength increased with both niobium volume fraction and overall composite reduction. At room temperature, the ultimate tensile strength of the Cu–18.2 vol% Nb composite reduced by 99.999% in cross‐sectional area (100–200 A filament thickness) reached the value of 2230 MN/m2 (323 ksi) and further increased to 2850 MN/m2 (413 ksi) when measured at 77 °K. These values are higher by a factor of 4 than the values predicted by the rule of mixtures based on the highest reported strength of both niobium and copper. The composite strength is as high as that of the best copper whiskers and is shown to closely approach the theoretical strength of the material. The anomalous increase in strength despite the low volume fraction of reinforcing filaments suggests that the filam...

Anomalous increase in strength of in situ formed Cu‐Nb multifilamentary composites

Processing and mechanical properties of in-situ composites from the NiAlCr and the NiAl(Cr,Mo) eutectic systems

Advances in processing of NiAl intermetallic alloys and composites for high temperature aerospace applications

Explicit descriptions of the Mo-Al, Fe-Al and Ni-Al systems have been developed and com-bined with descriptions of seven binary systems developed previously to compute significant numbers of isothermal sections in the Mo-Al-Cr, Ni-Al-Fe, Cr-Ni-Al, Al-Ni-Mo and Ni-Al-Ti systems. Comparison of these calculations with limited experimental data yields good results and provides considerable insight into the stability of the bcc phase in these systems. The computations provide detailed information on tie-line configurations and melting minima in these systems.

Calculation of superalloy phase diagrams: Part II

The eutectic NiAl-Cr, consisting of chromium rods in a NiAl matrix, was directionally solidified at rates varying from 1/4 to 30 in. per hr. The inter-rod spacing and elevated temperature tensile properties were measured and the structure determined for each solidification rate. The spacing, λ, obeyed the relation λ2V= Constant, whereV is the solidification rate. AtV greater than 1 in. per hr, a cell or colony structure formed and the cell size decreased with increasing solidification rate. At 600°C, the tensile strength increased substantially with decreasing inter-rod spacing, reaching 100,000 psi at the highestV. At 800° and 1000°C, the strength first increased then decreased at the highest solidification rates reaching maximum strengths of 63,000 psi and 47,000 psi, respectively. At 1200°C, the strength decreased slightly with increasing solidification rate. Fracture occurred by shear along grain boundaries and cell walls. The decreased strength at the highest solidification rates may be related to the increased cell boundary area.

J. L. Walter

Papers

The effect of solidification rate on structure and high-temperature strength of the eutectic NiAl-Cr