C15 Laves RFe2 (R= Y, Ce, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho and Er) compounds were thermally analyzed to elucidate conditions of hydrogen-induced amorphization (HIA), i.e. amorphization of intermetallics by hydrogen absorption, using a pressure scanning differential calorimeter (PDSC) in a hydrogen atmosphere of 1.0 MPa. As the temperature increases, hydrogen absorption in the crystalline state, HIA, precipitation of RH2 in the amorphous phase and decomposition of the remaining amorphous phase into RH2+oc-Fe occur exothermally for RFe2 (R=Y, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy and Ho). HIA and precipitation of ErH2 occur simultaneously in ErFe2. On the contrary, hydrogen absorption of CeFe2 always leads to HIA, i.e. no hydrogen absorbed crystalline phase is formed. The mechanism of HIA in the C15 Laves phases RFe2 is discussed on the basis of the experimental results.

Point defects in intermetallic compounds are subjected to significant constraints due to the directional bonding, long-range order and off-stoichiometric deviation of the materials. This leads to a variety of defects with distinct differences in morphology, concentration and mobility. In the present study the implications of these defect characteristics on the mechanical properties of two-phase titanium aluminide alloys will be investigated. The major areas of the study are: (i) deformation induced point defects that contribute to work hardening; (ii) dislocation locking due to the formation of defect atmospheres; (iii) transport processes involved in phase transformation and recrystallization occurring during long-term creep. The applied methods include mechanical testing, static strain aging and structural characterisation by high resolution electron microscopy.

The amount of absorbed hydrogen, the absorption rate and the reversibility of hydrogen absorption-desorption reaction were measured for binary systems R-M (R= Y, La, Ce; M=Co, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt). These experimental results were discussed by comparing the number of states unoccupied by electrons, the cohesive energy and the energy fluctuation, which were calculated by the extended Hückel method. The main results are as follows. (a) The more the number of unoccupied electronic states in the compounds, the more hydrogen is absorbed, (b) the critical concentrations of hydrogen in the R-M compounds where the energy fluctuation decreases remarkably correspond to the inflection or saturation points in the absorption curve, and (c) when the cohesive energy of a compound decreases linearly with hydrogen concentration, the compound easily desorbs hydrogen. On the other hand, when a sharp knickpoint is observed in the curve of cohesive energy - hydrogen concentration, the desorption reaction is hard to occur.

Powders of near-equiatomic Fe and Co were mechanically milled with additions of Zr, C, Ni, Cu and/or B for 60 hr using stainless steel balls in a Svegari attritor operated at 1300 r.p.m. under argon. The milled powders were examined before and after annealing at 600 °C. The morphologies and sizes of the powders were examined using a scanning electron microscope. The grain sizes were characterized from the widths of X-ray diffraction peaks obtained using a computer-controlled x-ray diffractometer and the lattice parameters were determined. The resulting magnetic properties were measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer.

Cast Mo-Mo3Si intermetallic composites develop microcracks after annealing at high temperature. Neutron diffraction, x-ray diffraction, composition analysis, and scanning electron microscopy have been used to characterize the structural changes induced by annealing of Mo-Mo3Si. It is shown that the observed cracking cannot be attributed to differential thermal stresses that developed on cooling from the annealing temperature. Instead, the experimental data suggest that the cracks were initiated at high temperature, possibly due to diffusion of Si atoms from supersaturated α-Mo to Mo3Si.

Rapidly solidified ribbons of B2-ordered Fe-40, 45 and 50mol%Al were produced by a conventional single-roll melt-spinning method. The lattice parameters of as-spun ribbons are fully restored by annealing at 723 K for 24 h. This suggests that large numbers of supersaturated thermal vacancies are removed by the heat treatment. After the heat treatment, it is found that clustering of the supersaturated vacancies leads to a large number of pores that have a few hundreds nm or less in diameter near the surfaces, thus creating nanoporous surfaces. DSC measurements show irreversible exothermic peaks due to vacancy clustering. Vacancy complexes such as dislocations and pores are also observed inside the ribbons by TEM. The volume fraction of the overall vacancy complexes shows Al concentration dependence, demonstrating that defect structure formed by clustering of the excess vacancies is controllable by changing Al concentration in rapidly solidified FeAl ribbons.

Single crystals of nickel-manganese-gallium, a ferromagnetic shape memory alloy (FSMA), show up to 10% elongation in response to an applied magnetic field or mechanical stress. The change in dimension is not a result of magnetostriction but of twin boundary motion through the material. The field-induced extension has previously been reversed only by a compressive mechanical stress from a spring or orthogonal field. The use of a second crystal of Ni-Mn-Ga to provide the reset force is unreported.

Data are shown here of the stress and strain behavior of two FSMA crystals connected in series and subjected alternately to a magnetic field. Two samples, one initially in full extension and the other in compression, are arranged in series in a rigid frame such that their total length is held constant. A pulsed magnetic field is alternately applied to the samples, with the output energy of the extending crystal tending to apply a resetting force to the other. This setup shows up to 1.5% resetting strain in single crystal laminates.

To gain a better understanding of the ductility limitations in TiAl alloys, the mechanisms involved in deformation strain transfer and/or microcrack initiation at grain boundaries have been examined in an equiaxed near-γ alloy. These studies have been carried out on both in-situ and ex-situ deformed bulk samples using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques for both orientation analysis and deformation defect imaging. Selected area electron channeling patterns (SACPs) have allowed determination of grain orientations, eliminating ambiguity between the a and c axes. Deformation twins and dislocations have been imaged in the bulk samples using electron channeling contrast imaging (ECCI). A combination of ECCI contrast analysis and trace analysis based on orientations determined from SACP has allowed identification of the active deformation systems. Microcracks have been found to initiate at γ-γ boundaries as a result of an inability to adequately transfer twin strain from grain to grain. Once initiated, cracks propagate through cleavage and re-nucleation of grain boundary microcracks in front of the advancing crack. A geometric based predictive factor has been developed that accounts for microcrack initiation at γ-γ boundaries based in deformation twinning and strain accommodation by ordinary dislocations.

Mo5X3+α (X=Si, B, C) intermetallic compounds such as Mo5SiB2 (D8l), Mo5Si3 (D8m) and Mo5Si3C (D88) have a great potential for ultra-high temperature applications. The present study was undertaken putting greater emphasis on clarifying how their physical and mechanical properties are similar or different in terms of a structure type. Some interesting features are summarized in this paper.

The resistivity of Mo5SiB2, Mo5Si3 and Mo5Si3C single crystals exhibited a negative curvature (d2ρ(T)/dT2<0), with a tendency towards saturation. In the Mo5Si3C with large ρ0 due to impurity carbon atoms, resistivity saturation is pronounced. In contrast, a much higher temperature is required to reach saturation in the Mo5SiB2. The anisotropy ratio of CTE (αc/αa) for the Mo5SiB2 is about 1.2–1.6 and is significantly reduced from about 2 of the Mo5Si3 and Mo5Si3C. On the other hand, the Young's modulus of the Mo5SiB2 is more anisotropic than those of the Mo5Si3 and Mo5Si3C. Plastic anisotropy was observed in the Mo5SiB2, because only slip on [001] {100} is operative at 1500°C. On the contrary, plastic deformation was observed at temperatures above 1300°C for the Mo5Si3C and Mo5Si3. Anisotropy of their plastic deformation was much less than that of the Mo5SiB2, presumably because more than two slip systems can be activated. Creep resistance of the Mo5SiB2 is much better than that of the Mo5Si3 as well as the most advanced materials such as MoSi2 and Si3N4 based structural ceramics.

The thermal stability of lamellar microstructure in Ti-Al-Mo PST crystals containing C or Si, was investigated. In addition, the variation of α-phase volume fraction in Ti-Al-Mo-(C,Si) systems was investigated at several temperatures. Ti-46Al-1.5Mo-0.2C and Ti-46Al-1.5Mo-1.0Si alloys were found to be very stable during heat treatments at various heating rates and temperatures. Moreover, the α-phase volume fractions of Ti-46Al-1.5Mo-0.2C and Ti-46Al-1.5Mo-1.0Si alloys, which were stable compositions, changed less than those of Ti-47Al and Ti-46–1.5Mo alloys, which were unstable compositions. From these results, it was determined that the instability of the latter alloys was caused by their relatively higher variation of α-phase volume fraction during heating. Therefore, it is suggested that the variation of α-phase volume fraction is an important factor in controlling the thermal stability of lamellar microstructure.

The relationship between microstructures and hydrogen absorption-desorption properties described in terms of pressure-composition (P-C) isotherms has been investigated for binary and Co- and Al-added LaNi5-based alloys as a function of the number of hydrogen sorption cycles. From microstructure observations, factors determining absorption pressures are deduced and variations of P-C isotherms with cycle number for these three LaNi5-based alloys are discussed.

Solder joint has been widely used in microelectronics industry as an interconnect of Integrated Circuit (IC) chip and Printed Circuit Board (PCB). Frequently, a functional failure of the component on the system is a result of solder joint damage. Eutectic 63Sn/37Pb solder joint mechanical behaviors on Ni/Au plated copper pad and bare copper pad were experimentally investigated to address the effect of pad surface cleanness on the formation of intermetallic compound. The joints with thinner intermetallic compound layer resulted in a poor solder ball shear strength. Microstructural analysis revealed that the oxidations of Ni and Cu during substrate manufacturing contributed to the improper growth of intermetallic compound during assembly and reliability tests. In additions, the experimental results showed that the growth of the intermetallic compound layer were dependent not only on the time and temperature of solder reflow and testing, but also on the cleanness of the pad surfaces and available area for the diffusion of Ni in the case of Ni/Au plated copper pad, Cu in the case of bare copper pad and Sn in the joint area.

Investigations conducted in our group on plastic properties of a variety of strained TiAl based alloys and resulting microstructures are reviewed. These include oriented single crystals of Al-rich γ-TiAl and semi-oriented polycrystals with γ + α2 lamellar structure. The wealth of micro-mechanisms encountered in this family of alloys is, to large extent, due to the decomposition of <011] dislocations: <011] ↔ 1/2<112] + 1/2<110]. This transformation sometimes introduces serious uncertainties as to which slip systems were actually operating during deformation. Another transformation involving decomposition is the formation of intralamellar networks during deformation. Mechanisms not involving decomposition include the trailing of faulted dipoles by <011] dislocations and the generation of arrays of prismatic loops of ordinary dislocations. The latter maneuver is at the origin of fundamental processes such as self-organisation in single slip in a variety of crystals.

Three single crystal plates of γ/γ' Ni-Al two-phase alloys with near cube, Goss and intermediate orientations between cube and Goss were cold-rolled to 300 μm-thick foils with 83% reduction. Tensile tests of the foils were performed at room temperature to study the effect of rolling microstructures and textures on the mechanical properties. The fracture strength of all the foils was very high, 1.4–1.7 GPa, having a small initial normal direction (ND) dependence and a small difference between rolling direction (RD) and transverse direction (TD). The foils fabricated from initial cube and intermediate orientations showed necking and a small fracture elongation when tensile-tested along RD, while the foil fabricated from initial Goss orientation did not show necking and fracture elongation. All the foils showed small fracture elongations due to shear band formation when tensile-tested along TD.

In view of a planar processing technique to develop a micro-actuator, irradiation experiments on plastically deformed martensitic TiNi thin films were performed using 5 MeV Ni++, with various fluences and temperatures, to study the dependence of microstructure and transformation characteristics on irradiation parameters. TEM observation and X-ray diffraction spectra show that irradiation resulted in a sharply defined continuous amorphous matrix, extending to the projected ion range, that contained both monoclinic and body centered cubic nanocrystals. The irradiation mechanisms and films' temperature-displacement are discussed in terms of the observed microstructure.

Coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE), elastic constants and plastic deformation behaviors of single crystals of ZrB2, which possesses a hexagonal layered structure where pure Zr and pure B atomic planes stack alternatively along the c-axis, have been investigated in wide temperature ranges. While the observed elastic constants indicate highly anisotropic nature of atomic bonding being consistent with the layered structure, the observed CTE values are rather isotropic. Two operative slip systems, (0001)<1120> and on {1100}<1123>, are identified in compression tests. The observed plastic behaviors are discussed in the light of the deduced anisotropy in atomic bonding.

A modification of the classic jogged-screw model has been previously adopted to explain observations of 1/2[110]-type jogged-screw dislocations in equiaxed Ti-48Al under creep conditions. The aim of this study has been to verify and validate the parameters and functional dependencies that have been assumed in that model. The original solution has been reformulated to take into account the finite length of the moving jog. This is a better approximation of the tall jog. The substructural model parameters have been further investigated in light of the Finite Length Moving Line (FLML) source approximation. The original model assumes that the critical jog height (beyond which the jog is not dragged) is inversely proportional to the applied stress. By accounting for the fact that there are three competing mechanisms (jog dragging, dipole dragging, dipole bypass) possible, we can arrive at a modified critical jog height. The critical jog height was found to be more strongly stress dependent than assumed previously. The original model assumes the jog spacing to be invariant over the stress range. However, dynamic simulation using a line tension model has shown that the jog spacing is inversely proportional to the applied stress. This has also been confirmed by TEM measurements of jog spacings over a range of stresses. Taylor's expression assumed previously to provide the dependence of dislocation density on the applied stress, has now been confirmed by actual dislocation density measurements. Combining all of these parameters and dependencies, derived both from experiment and theory, leads to an excellent prediction of creep rates and stress exponents.

Magnetic properties in ferromagnetic materials are very sensitive to lattice defects such as dislocations and planar faults. Dislocation substructures and planar faults in fatigued intermetallic compounds of Ni3Fe, Fe3Al and FeAl were observed using change in magnetic properties of spontaneous magnetization and high-field susceptibility. This magnetic technique was applied for the nondestructive evaluation of fatigue life.

PST TiAl crystals oriented such that the deformation axis lies in the (111) interfacial planes have been deformed in compression. This deformation produces so-called “channeled flow” in which the strain perpendicular to the (111) interfaces is zero, while the other two strains are equal and opposite in sign. Thus the sample simply shortens axially and spreads laterally in the channels defined by the (111) interfacial planes. We have examined the fine structure of deformation bands on the free surface of these deformed samples using AFM to see how the deformation processes interact with the boundaries. By measuring the offset angle at the surface we have been able to show that not only is the macroscopic displacement vector parallel to the lamellar boundaries, but the total shear vector in each layer is also parallel to the lamellar boundaries. However these deformation bands have very different characters, requiring complex deformation processes at the boundaries in order to satisfy this requirement. Some consist of either just super dislocations or just ordinary dislocations with Burgers vectors lying in the interface. But others consist of a special combination of twinning and ordinary dislocations in fixed ratio, such that the net shear vector also lies in the boundary, even though the individual twinning and dislocation shear directions are inclined to it. This results in deformation that is homogeneous and completely ‘channeled’ inside each lamella with no shear vector perpendicular to the lamellar boundaries. We have also shown that the cooperative twinning and slip is homogeneous on the nano-scale, i.e., the twinning and slip occurs in the same volume of material.

The development of ultra-high temperature structural materials having superior mechanical properties to the nickel based superalloys has been pursued in the niobium silicide based composites. The unidirectional solidification technique was performed on the (Nb)/Nb3Si eutectic alloy in the Nb-Si binary system. A continuity of Nb phases in the eutectic microstructure increases with decreasing a growth rate, which yields the enhancement of fracture toughness as well as high temperature strength. The mechanisms of microstructural formation, toughening, and strengthening are briefly discussed.