High Temperature Fracture Mechanisms in Monolithic and Particulate Reinforced Intermetallic Matrix Composite Processed by Spray Atomization and Co-Deposition

분무성형공정에 의한 세라믹미립자 강화형 금속간화합물 복합재료의 고온파괴거동

Intermetallic-matrix composites(IMCs) have the potential of combing matrix properties of oxidation resistance and high temperature stability with reinforcement properties of high specific strength and modulus. One of the major limiting factors for successful applications of these composite at high temperatures is the formation of interfacial reactions between matrix and ceramic reinforcement during composite process and during service. The purpose of the present investigation is to develop a better understanding of the nature of creep fracture mechanisms in a $Ni_{3}Al$ composite reinforced with both $TiB_{2}$ and SiC particulates. Emphasis is placed in the roles of the products of the reactions in determining the creep lifetime of the composite. In the present study, creep rupture specimens were tested under constant ranging from 180 to 350 MPa in vacuum at $760^{\cric}C$. The experimental data reveal that the stress exponent for power law creep for the composite is 3.5, a value close to that for unreinforced $Ni_{3}Al$. The microstructural observations reveal that most of the cavities lie on the grain boundaries of the $Ni_{3}Al$ matrix as opposed to the large $TiB_{2}/Ni_{3}Al$ interfaces, suggesting that cavities nucleate at fine carbides that lie in the $Ni_{3}Al$ grain boundaries as a result of the decomposition of the $SiC_{p}$. This observation accounts for the longer rupture times for the monolicthic $Ni_{3}Al$ as compared to those for the $Ni_{3}Al/SiC_{p}/TiB_{2} IMC$. Finally, it is suggested that creep deformation in matrix appears to dominate the rupture process for monolithic $Ni_{3}Al$, whereas growth and coalescence of cavities appears to dominate the rupture process for the composite.