Improvement in compressive creep resistance of Ti-43.5Al–4Nb–1Mo-0.1B alloy via micro-alloying with C and Si

In the present work, the effects of the addition of C and Si on the compressive creep behavior of Ti-43.5Al–4Nb–1Mo-0.1B (TNM) alloy at 850 °C and 900 °C under 260 MPa were investigated. The results show that micro-alloying with C and Si can significantly strengthen the compressive creep resistance of TNM alloy. During compressive creep, obvious dynamic recrystallization occurs in TNM alloy, including major discontinuous dynamic recrystallization and minor continuous dynamic recrystallization. The development of dynamic recrystallization greatly softens the alloy, which leads to large creep deformation. Meanwhile, with the increase of creep strain, the bearing area increases and the actual stress decreases, which eventually results in the secondary creep behavior. In addition, the content of α₂ phase increases during compressive creep, which can be attributed to two phase transformations. After adding C and Si, the B2 phase content is decreased and the lamellar colony size is increased, which contributes to the improvement of creep resistance. In addition, fine and dispersed Ti₃AlC and Ti₅Si₃ particles precipitate in α₂ lamellae during compressive creep, and maintain definite orientation relationships with α₂ and γ phases. This will delay the decomposition of α₂ lamellae and greatly improve the lamellar stability. Then, the excellent lamellar stability will inhibit the development of dynamic recrystallization, thus effectively reducing the creep rate.