Physical aspects of hot-working gamma-based titanium aluminides

Titanium aluminide alloys containing relatively large Nb additions and subjected to precipitation hardening exhibit attractive thermo-physical properties, which extend the service range of conventional TiAl alloys. In order to use these materials at their full potential, structural and chemical consolidation is required. To this end, the feasibility of wrought processing of high Nb containing alloys was systematically investigated. The major areas of the study involve: (i) high-temperature deformation mechanisms, (ii) primary ingot break-down, (iii) secondary processing, (iv) texture evolution, and (v) mechanical properties.