Advanced Titanium Aluminides - How to Improve the Creep Resistance via Compositional and Microstructural Optimization

Intermetallic TiAl alloys based on the γ-TiAl phase are already used as engineering light-weight high-temperature materials in aircraft and automotive engines. Thereby, they partly substitute the twice as heavy Ni-base superalloys. Present applications are, for example, blades in the low-pressure turbine of advanced aero-engines, turbine wheels for turbocharger systems of car diesel engines as well as engine parts used in racing cars. All these applications require balanced mechanical properties, i.e. certain ductility at room temperature as well as defined creep strength at elevated temperatures. The first part of this paper reviews the alloy design strategy, which was used for the development of a β-solidifying γ-TiAl-based alloy, the so-called “TNM alloy”, which exhibits an excellent hot-deformability. In the meantime, the TNM alloy with the nominal composition of Ti-43.5Al-4Nb-1Mo-0.1B (in atomic percent, at.%) is introduced in a particular eco-friendly and fuel-saving aero-engine, which is powering a medium-range aircraft since the beginning of 2016. In the second part of this work the microstructural parameters are highlighted, which influence the failure strain at room temperature and creep strength at elevated temperatures. It will be shown how the creep resistance can be improved by tailoring phase fractions as well as the spatial arrangement of the microstructural constituents.