Mechanical Properties of B-Doped Ni3Al-Based Intermetallic Alloy

The mechanical behavior and microstructural evolution during high temperature tensile deformation of recrystallized Ni3Al polycrystals doped with boron were investigated as functions of initial grain size, tensile strain rate and temperature. In order to obtain more precise information on the deformation mechanism, tensile specimens were rapidly quenched immediately after deformation at a cooling rate of more than $2000Ks^{-1}$, and were then observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Mechanical tests in the range of 923 K to 1012 K were carried out in a vacuum of less than $3{\times}10^{-4}$ Pa using an Instron-type machine with various but constant cross head speeds corresponding to the initial strain rates from $1.0{\times}10^{-4}$ to $3.1{\times}10^{-5}s^{-1}$. After heating to deformation temperature, the specimen was kept for more than 1.8 ks before testing. The following results were obtained: (1) Flow behavior was affected by initial strain size; with decreasing initial grain size, the level of a stress peak in the true stress-true strain curve decreased, the steady state region was enlarged and elongation increased. (2) On the basis of TEM observation of rapidly quenched specimens, it was confirmed that dynamic recrystallization certainly occurred on deformation of fine-grained ($3.3{\mu}m$) and intermediate-grained ($5.0{\mu}m$) specimens at an initial strain rate of $3.1{\times}10^{-5}s^{-1}$ and at 973 K. (3) There were some dislocation-free grains among the new recrystallized grains. The obtained results suggest that both dynamic recrystallization and grain boundary sliding are operative during high temperature deformation.