Microstructural evolution of a PM TiAl alloy during heat treatment in α+γ phase field

In this study, the effect of temperatures and cooling rates of heat treatment on the microstructure of a powder metallurgy (PM) Ti-46Al-2Cr-2Nb-(B, W) (at.%) alloy was studied. Depending on the cooling rate and temperature, the different structures were obtained from the initial near-γ (NG) microstructures by heat treatment in the α+γ field. The results show that the microstructures of samples after furnace cooling (FC) consist primarily of equiaxed γ and α2 grains, with a few grains containing lamellae. Duplex microstructures consist mainly of γ grains and lamellar colonies were obtained in the quenching into another furnace at 900°C (QFC) samples. However, further increasing of the cooling rate to air cooling (AC) induces the transformation of α→α₂ and results in a microstructure with equiaxed γ and α₂ grains, and no lamellar colonies are found.