Sliding Wear Behavior of Intermetallic Ti-45Al-2Nb-2Mn-(at%)-0.8vol%TiB2 Processed by Centrifugal Casting and Hot Isostatic Pressure: Influence of Microstructure

Intermetallic alloys such as titanium aluminides (TiAl) are potential materials for aerospace applications at elevated temperatures. TiAl intermetallics have low weight and improved efficiency under aggressive environments. However, there is limited information about wear behavior of these alloys and their microstructure. The present work aims to study the influence of the microstructure in the tribological behavior of TiAl intermetallic alloy (45Al-2Mn-2Nb(at%)-0.8 vol%TiB2). Wear tests were performed on samples manufactured by centrifugal casting (CC) and hot isostatic pressure (HIP). Reciprocating sliding wear test was carried out for TiAl, it was combined with different loads and frequencies. Wear tracks were analyzed through opto-digital microscopy and electron microscopy (SEM). The results obtained reveal that CC intermetallics present the lowest volume wear lost, approximately 20% less than HIP intermetallics. This good behavior could be related to the high hardness material, associated with the main microstructure where CC intermetallic has nearly lamellar microstructure and HIP intermetallics present duplex microstructure.