Papers by Author: H. Saari

Abstract: Pre-alloyed beta gamma titanium aluminide powder with a nominal composition of TiAl-4Nb-3Mn is consolidated by hot isostatic pressing. After consolidation, a step cooled heat treatmentis performed to homogenize the material and produce a fully lamellar microstructure. Various agingheat treatments are then performed with the goal of forming interfacial beta phase precipitates alonglamellar interfaces. The step cooled heat treatment produces a relatively fine microstructure with alamellar spacing of 0.04 μm and an average lamellar colony size of 60 μm. The aging heat treatmentsgenerate beta phase precipitates along lamellar colony boundaries but not along lamellar interfaces,and result in lamellar degredation and grain growth. Constant load tensile creep and room temperaturehardness tests are performed on step cooled heat treated and step cooled heat treated and aged specimens.Creep resistance, generally, improves with aging time, even with no interfacial precipitation,and the lamellar degredation that occurs with aging. The microstructures of the as-tested specimensare characterized and related to the creep properties. The hardness values are also compared as afunction of selected heat treatment condition and microstructural features.

Abstract: Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been used to study the phase changes in samples of as-received Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube material by continuous heating and cooling. Two different heating rates (5 and 20°C/min) were used to heat the sample up to 1050°C. After a short time hold at 1050°C, all the samples were continuously cooled to 300°C at a rate of 20°C/min. On continuous heating, the DSC signals obtained showed two endothermic transitions. The low-temperature transition, occurring between about 500 and 650°C, is attributed to a thermal decomposition of metastable niobium-stabilized β-phase. The highertemperature transition, occurring between 600 and 950°C, is due to phase transformations of hcp α-Zr to bcc β-Zr, as previously confirmed in a companion study on the same pressure-tube material that was examined in-situ by neutron diffraction. The neutron diffraction results provided a positive identification of the two phases and also a quantification of the β-phase present in the sample at different heating temperatures, and thus provided a guide to extract the volume fraction of β-phase from the DSC signals obtained in this study. The DSC signals revealed only one exothermic transition which is correlated to the reverse transformation of β-Zr to α-Zr, as previously identified in the companion neutron diffraction study of the same pressure tube material.

Abstract: The microstructure and creep properties of two powder metallurgy (PM) ‘beta gamma’ titanium aluminide alloys are presented. Alloy powders with nominal compositions of TiAl-4Nb-3Mn (G1) and TiAl-2Nb-2Mo (G2) were produced by gas atomization and consolidated by a two-step hot isostatic pressing (HIP) process (1250 °C/200 MPa/1 hour + 1100 °C/200 MPa/3 hours + slow cooling to room temperature). After HIP, the materials were given a step cooled heat treatment (SCHT) of 40 min at 1400 °C, furnace cooling to 1280 °C, and air cooling to room temperature. Selected specimens were aged at 900 °C for 6 or 24 hours. The SCHT yielded similar fully lamellar microstructures for both alloys, with a lamellar spacing of 0.04 m, but with different grain sizes averaging 80 m (G1) and 40 m (G2). The aging treatments generated  precipitates along lamellar colony boundaries in both alloys, but along lamellar interfaces only in alloy G2. Constant load tensile creep tests were performed at 760 °C and 276 MPa. Alloy G2 exhibited superior creep performance compared to alloy G1, due to the quantity and size of  precipitate particles at the lamellar interfaces.

Abstract: Pre-alloyed powders with a nominal composition of Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb+1W were consolidated by hot isostatic pressing (HIP). After the HIP process, a step cooled heat treatment (SCHT) with a carefully controlled cooling rate was applied to homogenize the HIP’ed microstructure and produce a fully lamellar microstructure. Following the SCHT, various isothermal aging at 950 °C and step aging processes form interfacial precipitates at the lamellar interfaces. The morphology, size, and distribution of the precipitates are dependent on the aging condition. Creep tests were carried out in air at 760 °C and 276 MPa to investigate the effect of interfacial precipitates. Primary creep resistance and creep life of the 8 and 144 hr aged conditions are improved substantially compared to the unaged condition due to the existence of the interfacial precipitates. However, the step aging process improves the creep resistance only slightly, probably because of the size and distribution differences of the interfacial precipitates compared to the 144 hr aged condition. Microstructure control is important since it has a substantial influence on creep behavior, especially primary creep resistance.

Abstract: The microstructures and tensile properties of a fully lamellar Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb, and two tungsten-modified versions, Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb-0.5W and Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb-1.0W (atomic percent) are investigated. Gas atomized powders are consolidated by hot isostatic pressing followed by solution treatment and aging. The microstructures are characterized by optical, scanning electron, and transmission electron microscopy and mechanical properties are characterized by room temperature tensile testing. The solution heat treatment, combined with controlled cooling, generates relatively fine, fully lamellar grains. Tungsten reduces the propensity for martensitic gamma formation during cooling, and slows down lamellar coarsening as well as the formation of equiaxed gamma phase during aging. The aging treatment stabilizes the microstructure and, in the tungsten-modified alloys, causes beta phase precipitation at lamellar interfaces and grain boundaries. Both aging and tungsten additions increase the alloy strength and reduce ductility. The fracture morphologies of the alloys are similar and exhibit mixed-mode fracture consisting of inter- and intra-granular cracking, as well as inter-lamellar cracking.

Abstract: The effects of hot isostatic pressing temperature and cooling rate on the microstructure of two powder metallurgy beta-gamma titanium aluminide alloys with nominal compositions TiAl 4Nb 3Mn (G1) and TiAl-2Nb-2Mo (G2) are investigated. Particular attention is placed on the volume fraction of the beta phase, which is known to improve the hot workability. The alloys are consolidated by hot isostatic pressing at 1200 °C, 1250 °C, and 1300 °C, and cooled at rates between 3.0 °C/min and 17.5 °C/min. The volume fraction of beta phase in both alloys was unaffected by the change in cooling rates. The volume fraction of the beta phase in G2 decreased linearly from ~9.5 vol.% to ~3.5 vol.% with increasing HIP temperature from 1200 °C to 1300 °C.

Abstract: Recently identified re-solidification behaviour of heavily alloyed single crystal super¬alloys has been incorporated into the Bridgman method. The process variables of resolidifcation temperature and mould withdrawal rate have been optimized. The microstructure, microporosity and eutectic phase fraction of re-solidified specimens were analyzed and compared with conventionally cast single crystal specimens. The potential advantage of this modified method has been illustrated by performing solution heat treatments on both re-solidified and normally cast specimens followed by eutectic phase fraction analysis.

Abstract: The microstructures and mechanical properties of three powder metallurgy Ti-48Al-2Cr- 2Nb-xW alloys (where x=0, 0.5, and 1 atomic percent (at.%)) are presented. The results indicate that a solution heat treatment combined with controlled cooling generate a fully lamellar (FL) microstructure without the formation of detrimental Widmanstätten or massively transformed γ phases. Aging causes coarsening of the FL microstructure in the alloys containing 0%W and 0.5%W, while almost no coarsening occurs in the 1%W sample. The addition of W to the base composition results in the formation of precipitates at the lamellar interfaces and grain boundaries during aging which helps stabilize the FL microstructure. The amount of W and the aging time affect the room temperature hardness values and tensile properties.

Abstract: Fully lamellar structures of powder metallurgy (PM), investment cast, and directionally solidified (DS) TiAl alloys containing β stabilizer were produced after stepped cool heat treatment, and interface β precipitates were formed after aging at 950°C. In addition, a columnar grain structure combined with a fully lamellar structure aligned with the load direction and interface β precipitates were formed by directional solidification and subsequent heat treatments. Creep test results of PM TiAl indicate that controlling the initial microstructures is also critical for balancing the primary and steady-state creep resistance during short and long-term tests. DS TiAl alloy exhibits a significant reduction of the primary strain and creep rate compared to polycrystalline TiAl due to the unique DS microstructure. Therefore, a DS microstructure with proper lamellar orientation and controlled interface β precipitation is the ideal if maximum time to a relatively small (<0.5%) strain is the design criterion of merit.