Microstructure of the nialv alloys subjected to the HPT deformation

Abstract

Some attention in physical metallurgy is devoted to the mechanisms of decomposition of the disordered phases via eutectoid transformation accompanied by the atomic ordering. In case of the non-pearlitic modes of transformation this concerns intermetallic phases of the general description A 3B-A3C. The application of intensive deformation like HPT may introduce opposite mechanisms introducing some degree of the metastable disordered phase structure at room temperature. The paper presents results of the phase composition and microstructure studies of the alloys of composition Ni75AlxVy, (where x =15, 10, 5 and y =10, 15, 20), which undergo the solid-state eutectoid decomposition at temperature 1281 K, in the equilibrium conditions. The alloys achieved by the cold crucible levitation method were later intensively deformed with the method of high pressure torsion (HPT). The alloys after HPT revealed homogenous, metastable Ll2 (Ni3Al) structure in place of the eutectoid product LI2-D022. The average size of the Sherrer's coherent diffraction volumes did not exceed 9 nm, suggesting nano-structure of the material. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution electron microscopy (HRTEM) revealed that the micro- and nano-deformation twins were the main feature of the microstructure, dividing volume into cells of the sizes similar to the coherent volumes. The HPT deformation did not influence atomic order. The results are compared with those achieved for the injection cast samples.