Processes of precipitation of silicides and aluminides in commercial titanium alloys under different modes of heat treatment are studied. The effect of alloying on the types of precipitating particles is considered. The temperature ranges of formation of intermetallics are determined and the possible mechanisms of transformation of particles of different types are discussed. A schematic isothermal diagram of decomposition of metastable phases in refractory titanium alloys is suggested.
INTRODUCTIONAs a rule, isothermal and thermokinetic diagrams of decomposition are plotted for a metastable high-temperature phase, the products of decomposition of which contain a low-temperature modification of the material of the matrix [1 -3]. For example, the eutectoid decomposition of austenite in steels is accompanied by formation of ferrite by different mechanisms in combinations with iron carbide. The rate of formation of the carbide phase is comparable to the rate of formation of ferrite. For titanium alloys the eutectoid transformation commonly develops rather slowly, and decomposition of the metastable b-phase develops by the scheme b met ® a + b enr [4]. However, in refractory titanium alloys this may be not the end of the transformation, and silicide phases may form depending on the composition of the alloy and the temperature. In addition, particles of Ti 3 Al titanium aluminide (an a 2 -phase) may precipitate in the alloyed a-phase.The aim of the present work was to analyze the kinetics of precipitation of silicides and aluminides and to plot a diagram of isothermal transformation yielding them in refractory titanium alloys.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONLet us consider successively the process of precipitation of silicides and aluminides in commercial titanium alloys.Refractory titanium alloys contain a low amount of b-stabilizers, and therefore the incubation period of the b ® a transformation under isothermal conditions does not exceed several tens of seconds [3]. At the same time, the incubation period of formation of silicides usually exceeds several minutes. For example, it has been shown for alloy VT25u [5] that silicides start to precipitate only after an isothermal hold exceeding 8 min at 750°C. At other temperatures the incubation period of the precipitation is longer. Thus, silicides start to precipitate when the alloy acquires b/a phase boundaries. Such boundaries are commonly coherent and flat. In fact, this predetermines the places of future nucleation of silicide particles. Since the solubility of silicon in the b-phase is higher than in the a-phase, such particles chiefly appear in the b-phase on the b/a phase boundaries. The precipitating particles have a structural formula M 5 Si 3 , where the metal is titanium and, if available, zirconium. It has been shown in [6 -10] that silicides of type (Ti, Zr) 5 Si 3 commonly precipitate in alloys of the Ti -Zr -Si system and are denoted S 1 . Particles of these silicides are mostly observed on b/a phase boundaries in the b-phase; at short holds they have a faceted...