Microstructures and phase transformation in directionally solidified TiAl-Nb alloys

Intermetallic Ti-45Al-8Nb-(W, B, Y) (at.%) and Ti-46Al-5Nb alloys are directionally solidified at a constant growth rate of 30 µm·s−1 using a Bridgman type apparatus. The quenched microstructures and lengths of different phase regions were observed and measured after various growing times of 0–30 min. Results show that the phase transformations in different phase regions are mainly depending on the high temperature microstructure and the supercooling degree during quenching process. After isothermal holding, the primary phase grows into the liquid phase, the dendrites change from equiaxed to columnar grains, and the length of the L+β phase region, L+β+α phase region and mushy zone varies, indicating that the entire directional solidification process can be described by a static equilibrium — nonequilibrium — dynamic equilibrium evolution process. In addition, the gap between the original growth interface and front interface shows that the actual crystal growth rate is not equal to the drawing velocity during directional solidification.