Reinforcing effect of laminate structure on the fracture toughness of Al₃Ti intermetallic

Abstract

Metal/intermetallic laminate composites can improve the mechanical properties of intermetallic materials using metal layers. In recent years, titanium aluminide intermetallics have received increasing attention due to their excellent performance properties, such as high melting point, high specific strength and stiffness, and good corrosion resistance. However, the low fracture toughness of Al₃Ti alloys at room temperature has greatly limited their application, and fiber or particle reinforcement has not shown a significant toughening effect. Research into the reinforcing effects of the interface and near-interface zone on the fracture behavior of Al₃Ti is lacking. Ti/Al₃Ti metal/intermetallic laminate composite was synthesized from titanium and aluminum foils using vacuum hot-pressed sintering technology. The microstructure of the prepared material was analyzed by scanning electron microscope and electron backscattered diffraction. Results illustrate that both Ti and Al₃Ti were single-phase and there was a noticeable stress concentration on the interface. To obtain indentation and cracks, loads were applied to different locations of the composite by a microhardness tester. The growth path of the cracks was then observed under microscope, showing that crack propagation was prevented by the interface between the Ti and Al₃Ti layers, and the cracks that propagated parallel to the laminate shifted to the interface. Fracture toughness of the different areas, including Al₃Ti layers, interface, and near-interface zone, were measured by the indentation fracture method. The fracture toughness at and near the interface was 1.7 and 2 times that of the Al₃Ti layers, respectively. Results indicate that crack blunting and crack front convolution by the laminate structure was primarily responsible for increased toughness.

Keywords

interface / titanium tri-aluminide intermetallic / titanium/titanium tri-aluminide metal/intermetallic laminate composite / toughening effect / indentation fracture method

References

[1] Adharapurapu RR, Vecchio KS, Jiang FC, Rohatgi A. Effects of ductile laminate thickness, volume fraction, and orientation on fatigue-crack propagation in Ti–Al₃Ti metal–inter-metallic laminate composites. Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 2005, 36(6): 1595.

[2] Rohatgi A, Harach DJ, Vecchio KS, Harvey KP. Resistance-curve and fracture behavior of Ti–Al₃Ti metallic–inter-metallic laminate (MIL) composites. Acta. Mater., 2003, 51(10): 2933.

[3] Tayyebi M, Eghbali B. Microstructure and mechanical properties of SiC-particle-strengthening tri-metal Al/Cu/Ni composite produced by accumulative roll bonding process. Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 2018, 25(3): 357.

[4] Emadinia O, Simões S, Viana F, Vieira MF. Ni/Ti and Ni/Al laminated composites produced by ARB and annealing: Microstructural aspects. Microsc. Microanal., 2015, 21(S5): 23.

[5] I. V.Okulov, U. Kühn, T. Marr, J. Freudenberger, L. Schultz, C.G. Oertel, W. Skrotzki, and J. Eckert, Deformation and fracture behavior of composite structured Ti–Nb–Al–Co(–Ni) alloys, Appl. Phys. Lett., 104(2014), No. 7, art. No. 071905.

[6] Jafari R, Eghbali B. Study on the reaction mechanism and intermetallic compound formation in tri-metal Ti/Al/Nb composite. J. Alloys Compd., 2018, 741, 1030.

[7] Hojo M, Iwasaki N, Sekino F, Ochiai S, Sakai S, Watanabe K. Fracture behavior under fatigue loading at room temperature and its influence on critical current of Nb–Ti/Cu composite wire. Cryogenics, 1999, 39(7): 627.

[8] Kahraman N, Gülenç BS. Microstructural and mechanical properties of Cu–Ti plates bonded through explosive welding process. J. Mater. Process. Technol., 2005, 169(1): 67.

[9] Liu BX, Geng L, Dai XL, Yin FX, Huang LJ. Multiple toughening mechanisms of laminated Ti–TiBw/Ti composites fabricated by diffusion welding. Mater. Sci. Forum, 2016, 848, 196.

[10] Rao NV, Reddy GM, Nagarjuna S. Structure and properties of explosive clad HSLA steel with titanium. Trans. Indian Inst. Met., 2014, 67(1): 67.

[11] Kim IK, Hong SI. Roll-bonded tri-layered Mg/Al/stainless steel clad composites and their deformation and fracture behavior. Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 2013, 44(8): 3890.

[12] Jiang WC, Gong JM, Tu ST. A new cooling method for vacuum brazing of a stainless steel plate–fin structure. Mater. Des., 2010, 31(1): 648.

[13] Kacar R, Acarer M. An investigation on the explosive cladding of 316L stainless steel-din-P355GH steel. J. Mater. Process. Technol., 2004, 152(1): 91.

[14] Zamani E, Liaghat GH. Explosive welding of stainless steel–carbon steel coaxial pipes. J. Mater. Sci., 2012, 47(2): 685.

[15] Jing YA, Qin Y, Zang XM, Li YH. The bonding properties and interfacial morphologies of clad plate prepared by multiple passes hot rolling in a protective atmosphere. J. Mater. Process. Technol., 2014, 214(8): 1686.

[16] Mousavi SAAA, Sartangi PF. Effect of post-weld heat treatment on the interface microstructure of explosively welded titanium–stainless steel composite. Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 2008, 494(1–2): 329.

[17] Soyama J, Oehring M, Ebel T, Kainer KU, Pyczak F. Sintering behavior and microstructure formation of titanium aluminide alloys processed by metal injection molding. JOM, 2017, 69(4): 676.

[18] Cao Y, Wei NX, Han XX, Guo CH, Du JG, He WB, Ma J, Jiang FC. Mechanical response of titanium tri-aluminide intermetallic alloy. Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 2017, 706, 242.

[19] Chaudhari GP, Acoff VL. Titanium aluminide sheets made using roll bonding and reaction annealing. Intermetallics, 2010, 18(4): 472.

[20] Chen YY, Jia Y, Xiao SL, Tian J, Xu LJ. Review of the investment casting of TiAl-based intermetallic alloys. Acta Metall. Sin., 2013, 49(11): 1281.

[21] Wei DX, Koizumi Y, Nagasako M, Chiba A. Refinement of lamellar structures in Ti–Al alloy. Acta. Mater., 2017, 152, 81.

[22] Konieczny M. Relations between microstructure and mechanical properties in laminated Ti-intermetallic composites synthesized using Ti and Al foils. Key Eng. Mater., 2014, 592–593, 728

[23] Edwards TEJ, Gioacchino FD, Mohanty G, Wehrs J, Michler J, Clegg WJ. Longitudinal twinning in a TiAl alloy at high temperature by in situ micro-compression. Acta. Mater., 2018, 148, 202.

[24] Yu BB, Yan H, Wu QJ, Hu Z, Chen FH. Microstructure and corrosion behavior of Al₃Ti/ADC1₂ composite modified with Sr. Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 2018, 25(7): 840.

[25] Han YQ, Lin CF, Han XX, Chang YP, Guo CH, Jiang FC. Fabrication, tinterfacial characterization and mechanical properties of continuous Al₂O₃ ceramic fiber reinforced Ti/Al₃Ti metal–intermetallic laminated (CCFR-MIL) composite. Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 2017, 688, 338.

[26] Wang MJ, Huang H, Li H, Zhang SM, Wen M, Song C, Pan F. Microstructure and interfacial strength of SiC fiberreinforced Ti₁₇ alloy composites with different consolidation temperatures. Rare Met., 2018, 37(9): 759.

[27] H. Kakisawa and T. Sumitomo, The toughening mechanism of nacre and structural materials inspired by nacre, Sci. Technol. Adv. Mater., 12(2012), No. 6, art. No. 064710.

[28] Gludovatz B, Walsh F, Zimmermann EA, Naleway SE, Ritchie RO, Kruzic JJ. Multiscale structure and damage tolerance of coconut shells. J. Mech. Behav. Biomed. Mater., 2017, 76, 76.

[29] Meyers MA, McKittrick J, Chen PY. Structural biological materials: Critical mechanics-materials connections. Science, 2013, 339(6121): 773.

[30] O’Neill M, Cafiso D, Mala R, Rosa GL, Taylor D. Fracture toughness and damage development in limpet shells. Theor. Appl. Fract. Mech., 2018, 96, 168.

[31] Vecchio KS, Jiang FC. Fracture toughness of ceramic–fiber-reinforced metallic–intermetallic-laminate (CFR-MIL) composites. Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 2016, 649, 407.

[32] Zhang L, Wu BL, Liu YL. Microstructure and mechanical properties of a hot-extruded Al-based composite reinforced with core–shell-structured Ti/Al₃Ti. Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 2017, 24(12): 1431.

[33] Peng LM, Li H, Wang JH. Processing and mechanical behavior of laminated titanium–titanium tri-aluminide (Ti–Al₃Ti) composites. Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 2005, 406(1–2): 309.

[34] Zhou PJ, Guo CH, Wang EH, Wang ZM, Ye C, Jiang FC. Interface tensile and fracture behavior of the Ti/Al₃Ti Metal–Intermetallic Laminate (MIL) composite under quasistatic and high strain rates. Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 2016, 665, 66.

[35] Price RD, Jiang F, Kulin RM, Vecchio KS. Effects of ductile phase volume fraction on the mechanical properties of Ti–Al₃Ti metal–intermetallic laminate (MIL) composites. Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 2011, 528(7–8): 3134.

[36] Damjanović D, Kozak D, Matvienko Y, Gubeljak N. Correlation of Pipe Ring Notched Bend (PRNB) specimen and Single Edge Notch Bend (SENB) specimen in determination of fracture toughness of pipe material. Fatigue Fract. Eng. Mater. Struct., 2017, 40(8): 1251.

[37] Sacchetti F, Grouve WJB, Warnet LL, Villegas IF. Interlaminar fracture toughness of 5HS Carbon/PEEK laminates. A comparison between DCB, ELS and mandrel peel tests. Polym. Test., 2018, 66, 13.

[38] Wang JA, Tan T. A method for evaluating the fatigue crack growth in spiral notch torsion fracture toughness test. Arch. Appl. Mech., 2019, 89(5): 813.

[39] Chantikul P, Anstis GR, Lawn BR, Marshall DB. A critical evaluation of indentation techniques for measuring fracture toughness: II, strength method. J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 1981, 64(9): 539.

[40] Sun L, Ma DJ, Wang LZ, Shi XZ, Wang JL, Chen W. Determining indentation fracture toughness of ceramics by finite element method using virtual crack closure technique. Eng. Fract. Mech., 2018, 197, 151.

[41] Chicot D, Pertuz A, Roudet F, Staia MH, Lesage J. New developments for fracture toughness determination by Vickers indentation. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2004, 20(7): 877.

[42] Marshall DB, Lawn BR. Blau P, Lawn B. Indentation of brittle materials. Microindentation Techniques in Materials Science and Engineering, 1985, West Conshohocken, ASTM International, 26-46.

[43] Evans AG, Charles EA. Fracture toughness determination by indentation. J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 1976, 59(7–8): 371.

[44] Niihara KN, Morena R, Hasselman DPH. Evaluation of K _IC of brittle solids by the indentation method with low crack-to-indent ratios. J. Mater. Sci. Lett., 1982, 1(1): 13.

[45] Kruzic JJ, Ritchie RO. Determining the toughness of ceramics from Vickers indentations using the crack-opening displacements: An experimental study. J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 2003, 86(8): 1433.

[46] Feng YH, Zhang TH, Yang R. A work approach to determine Vickers indentation fracture toughness. J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 2011, 94(2): 332.

[47] Gong JH. Determining indentation toughness by incorporating true hardness into fracture mechanics equations. J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 1999, 19(8): 1585.

[48] Ma DJ, Sun L, Gao TT, Wang JL, Wang LZ. New method for extracting fracture toughness of ceramic materials by instrumented indentation test with Berkovich indenter. J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 2017, 37(6): 2537.

[49] Harach DJ, Vecchio KS. Microstructure evolution in metal–intermetallic laminate (MIL) composites synthesized by reactive foil sintering in air. Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 2001, 32(6): 1493.