Investigations on processing powder metallurgical high-Nb TiAl alloy sheets

• Two typical morphologies of PREPed TiAl powders were characterized.
• The two PREPed powders lead to the formation of different microstructures in HIPing.
• The deformation behavior of PM high-Nb TiAl alloys largely depends on γ phase.
• Microstructural evolution and mechanical behaviors of as-rolled sheets were studied.

In this work, high Nb-containing TiAl alloy sheets were hot rolled starting from powder metallurgical billets. The prealloyed powder prepared by the plasma rotation electrode process (PREP) was characterized. Results show that there are two typical morphologies of powders: martensitic (M) and dendritic (D) powders, which are formed due to different local cooling conditions. The two PREPed powders lead to the formation of different microstructures in HIPing. The coarse D powder will introduce defects, such as residual primary particle boundaries and interfacial porosity in the as-HIPed microstructures. The deformation behavior of PM high-Nb TiAl alloys largely depends on γ phase. Besides the dynamic recrystallization and the superplastic deformation, due to the large amount of the γ phase in PM high-Nb TiAl alloy and the high rolling rate, the mechanical twinning in γ phase plays a critical role in the hot rolling process. The mechanical properties of high-Nb TiAl alloys can be significantly improved by the hot rolling, through the refinement of microstructures and the elimination of primary particle boundaries. However, a large deformation may introduce defects and coarsened microstructures, and thus 60% deformation may be suitable for the purpose of improving mechanical properties.