Deformation and improvement of ductility of the intermetallic compounds Al3 V and Al3(V, Ti)

Abstract Polycrystalline specimens of the intermetallic compounds Al3V and Al3(V, Ti) containing 1 - 25 at.% Ti with the D022 structure have been deformed under compression temperatures between 20 and 900°C. Al3V shows only a small fracture strain at low temperatures. The deformation is mainly controlled by the motion of 〈110〉-type dislocations without twinning. The activation of 〈110〉 and 〈010〉 slip in addition to 〈110〉 slip contributes to the ductility improvement at high temperatures. Ductility of Al3V has been found to be induced by the replacement of vanadium by titanium. For example, Al3(V0.95Ti0.05) shows 7% compressive fracture strain at room temperature. In Al3(V0.95Ti0.05) deformed at room temperature, not only dislocations but also numerous deformation twins and stacking faults are observed. Therefore, the improvement of ductility of Al3V by the partial replacement of vanadium by titanium arises from a substantial increase in the activity of the ordered twinning which is not operative in the bi...