The Mechanical Behaviour of the Intermediate Phase NiAl

Abstract

AbstractThe deformation behaviour of polycrystalline NiAl of various compositions, and of stoichiometric single crystals with different orientations, has been studied in compression in the temperature range 77–1300° K. All alloys except the aluminium-rich composition (53 at.-% aluminium) were deformable down to 77°K. Plastic deformation of single crystals was strongly anisotropic. All polycrystals and single crystals exhibited the three-stage temperature-dependence of the yield stress typical of b.c.c. alloys. The main effect of non-stoichiometry was to increase the athermal contribution to the yield stress; the strengthening produced by vacancies (aluminium-rich alloys) was greater than that produced by substitutional atoms (nickel-rich alloys).