PrecipitationofHeuslerPhase-Epic-NorthwesternUniversity.docVIP

Precipitation of Heusler Phase (Ni2TiAl) from B2-TiNi in Ni-Ti-Al and Ni-Ti-Al-X (X=Hf, Zr) Alloys J. Jung, G. Ghosh, D. Isheim and G.B. Olson Department of Materials Science and Engineering Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Northwestern University 2220 Campus Dr. Evanston, IL 60208-3108, USA E-mail: g-ghosh@ Tel: (847)467-2595, Fax: (847)491-7820 Abstract: The precipitation of Heusler phase (L21: Ni2TiAl) from supersaturated B2 (TiNi-based) matrix at 600 and 800?C is studied using transmission and analytical electron microscopy (AEM), and three-dimensional atom-probe (3DAP) microscopy in Ni-Ti-Al and Ni-Ti-Al-X (X=Hf, Zr) alloys. The B2/L21 two-phase system, with ordered structures based on the body-centered cubic lattice, is chosen for its microstructural analogy to the classical ?/?’ system with a face-centered cubic lattice. Knowledge of the temperature dependent partitioning of alloying elements and their atomic volumes in the B2-TiNi and L21 phases is desired to support design of high-performance shape memory alloys with controlled misfit strain and transformation temperatures. After aging at 600?C for up to 2000 hours, the L21 precipitates remain fully coherent at a particle diameter of ~20 nm. The observed effects of a misfit strain of –2% on the microstructure of the B2/L21 system are similar to those theoretically predicted and experimentally observed for the ?/?’ system. The similarities are demonstrated in terms of the precipitate shape, spatial distribution and a minimum distance of separation between L21 precipitates. However, all these effects disappear after aging the alloys at 800?C for 1000 hours when the L21 precipitates become semicoherent at particle diameters above ~400 nm. A simple analysis of the size evolution of L21 precipitates after an isochronal aging (1000 hours) experiment suggests that they follow coarsening kinetics at 600?C while growth kinetics at 800?C, consistent with the Langer-Schwart