Effect of Thermal Exposure on Microstructure Evolution and Mechanical Properties of TC25G Alloy

The microstructure and room temperature tensile properties of heat-treated TC25G alloy after thermal exposure were investigated. The results show that the α2 phase dispersed in the α phase, and silicide precipitated firstly at the α/β phase boundary and then at the dislocation of the αp phase and on the β phase. When thermal exposure was 0–10 h at 550 °C and 600 °C, the decrease of alloy strength was mainly due to the dominant effect of dislocations recovery. With the rise and extension of thermal exposure temperature and time, the increasing quantity and size of precipitates played an important role in the improvement of alloy strength. When thermal exposure temperature rose to 650 °C, the strength was always lower than that of heat-treated alloy. However, since the decreasing rate of solid solution strengthening was smaller than the increasing rate of dispersion strengthening, alloy still showed an increasing trend in the range of 5–100 h. When thermal exposure time was 100–500 h, the size of the α2 phase increased from the critical value of 3 nm to 6 nm, and the interaction between the moving dislocations and the α2 phase changed from the cutting mechanism to the by-pass mechanism (Orowan mechanism), and thus alloy strength decreased rapidly.