Plastic deformation of directionally solidified ingots of binary and some ternary MoSi(2)/Mo(5)Si(3) eutectic composites

The high-temperature mechanical properties of directionally solidified (DS) ingots of binary and some ternary MoSi(2)/Mo(5)Si(3) eutectic composites with a script lamellar structure have been investigated as a function of loading axis orientation and growth rate in a temperature range from 900 to 1500°C. These DS ingots are plastically deformed above 1000 and 1100 °C when the compression axis orientations are parallel to [1[Image: see text] 0](MoSi2) (nearly parallel to the growth direction) and [001](MoSi2), respectively. [1[Image: see text] 0](MoSi2)-oriented DS eutectic composites are strengthened so much by forming a script lamellar microstructure and they exhibit yield stress values several times higher than those of MoSi(2) single crystals of the corresponding orientation. The yield stress values increase with the decrease in the average thickness of MoSi(2) phase in the script lamellar structure, indicating that microstructure refinement is effective in obtaining better high-temperature strength of these DS eutectic composites. Among the four ternary alloying elements tested (V, Nb, Ta and W), Ta is found to be the most effective in obtaining higher yield strength at 1400 °C.