Cleavage fracture in an Al3Ti-based alloy having the Ll2 structure

Abstract

Selected area electron channeling patterns were used to identify the cleavage planes in a polycrystalline Al–23Ti–6Fe–5V alloy, which is an Al3Ti-based alloy having the Ll2 structure. Alloys like this one are of scientific and technological interest because they fracture by brittle transgranular cleavage, despite the availability of more than five independent slip systems in the Ll2 structure and their relatively low hardness when compared to ductile Ll2 alloys like Ni3Al. Homogenized bars of the levitation zone melted and directionally solidified alloy were fractured at room temperature in three point bending. The fracture surfaces, which consisted almost entirely of brittle transgranular cleavage facets, were examined in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped to take channeling patterns. An optical microscope with a short depth of focus was inserted in the SEM column just below the objective lens, and by focusing it on several points on the cleavage facets, it was possible to orient the facets normal to the optic axis of the SEM prior to taking the channeling patterns. Of the eight cleavage facets examined in this study, six were of the {110} type and two were of the {111} type. Although it cannot be said that these are the only two cleavage planes in this alloy, the availability of more than one plane with low cleavage strength contributes to the brittleness of this alloy. These results are examined in the light of theoretical treatments of cleavage fracture, and comparisons are made with earlier studies on other Ll2 materials.