The effect of microstructure on fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth behaviour in γ.pdf

METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A VOLUME 30A, MARCH 1999—563 The Effect of Microstructure on Fracture Toughness and Fatigue Crack Growth Behavior in g-Titanium Aluminide Based Intermetallics J.P. CAMPBELL, K.T. VENKATESWARA RAO, and R.O. RITCHIE Ambient-temperature fracture toughness and fatigue crack propagation behavior are investigated in a wide range of (g 1 a2) TiAl microstructures, including single-phase g, duplex, coarse lamellar (1 to 2 mm colony size (D) and 2.0 mm lamellar spacing (l)), fine lamellar (D ; 150 mm, l 5 1.3 to 2.0 mm), and a powder metallurgy (P/M) lamellar microstructure (D 5 65 mm, l 5 0.2 mm). The influences of colony size, lamellar spacing, and volume fraction of equiaxed g grains are analyzed in terms of their effects on resistance to the growth of large (.5 mm) cracks. Specifically, coarse lamellar microstructures are found to exhibit the best cyclic and monotonic crack-growth properties, while duplex and single-phase g microstructures exhibit the worst, trends which are rationalized in terms of the salient micromechanisms affecting growth. These mechanisms primarily involve crack- tip shielding processes and include crack closure and uncracked ligament bridging. However, since the potency of these mechanisms is severely restricted for cracks with limited wake, in the presence of small (,300 mm) cracks, the distinction in the fatigue crack growth resistance of the lamellar and duplex microstructures becomes far less significant. I. INTRODUCTION THE g-TiAl–based intermetallic alloys have received considerable attention in recent years as candidate materials for high-temperature aerospace applications,[1,2] with the most recent efforts being directed toward the replacement of Ni-based superalloys in the lower-pressure, lower-tem- perature regions at the rear of the turbine.[1,3,4] Titanium aluminides based on the g phase (TiAl) exhibit densities which are, respectively, ;15 and 50 pct lower than those of Ti- and Ni-based alloys,