A Study of the Effects of Al, Cr, Hf, and Ti Additions on the Microstructure and Oxidation of Nb-24Ti-18Si Silicide Based Alloys

In Nb-silicide based alloys Al, Cr, Hf, and Ti additions are crucial for achieving balance of properties. It is not known how the simultaneous addition of Hf with Al and Ti, or Hf with Al, Cr, and Ti affects macrosegregation, and how the alloying affects hardness, Young’s modulus and bulk alloy oxidation, and contamination of the solid solution Nb(ss) and the Nb(5)Si(3) compound by oxygen. Two alloys with nominal compositions (at.%) Nb-24Ti-18Si-5Al-5Hf (alloy NbSiTiHf-5Al) and Nb-24Ti-18Si-5Al-5Cr-5Hf (alloy NbSiTiHf-5Al-5Cr) were studied in the as-cast and heat-treated conditions and after isothermal oxidation at 800 and 1200 °C and were compared with similar alloys without Hf. In both alloys there was macrosegregation of Si and Ti, which was more severe in NbSiTiHf-5Al. Both alloys formed Nb(ss)+βNb(5)Si(3) eutectic. The Nb(ss) was stable and its Al and Cr concentrations increased with increasing Ti concentration. In both conditions the βNb(5)Si(3) was observed in the alloys NbSiTiHf-5Al and NbSiTiHf-5Al-5Cr, and the γNb(5)Si(3) only in the alloy NbSiTiHf-5Al. In both heat-treated alloys, separate Hf-rich Nb(5)Si(3) grains were formed. The Si and Al concentrations in Nb(5)Si(3) respectively decreased and increased with increasing Ti concentration. Al and Cr had a stronger hardening effect in the Nb(ss) than Al, Cr, and Hf. Al, Cr, and Ti had a stronger negative effect on the Young’s modulus of the Nb(ss) compared with Al, Cr, Hf, and Ti. When Nb was substituted by Ti, Cr, and Hf, and Si by Al in the βNb(5)Si(3), the Young’s modulus was reduced compared with the unalloyed silicide. At 800 °C both alloys did not exhibit catastrophic pest-oxidation after 100 h. The Nb(ss) and Nb(5)Si(3) were contaminated by oxygen in both alloys, the former more severely. At 1200 °C the scales spalled-off, more severely in the alloy NbSiTiHf-5Al, where substrate that was heavily contaminated by oxygen below the scale also spalled-off. In both alloys the contamination of Nb(5)Si(3) and Nb(ss) by oxygen was more severe compared with 800 °C, but the silicides were not contaminated by oxygen in their bulk. The Nb(ss) was not contaminated by oxygen only in the bulk of the alloy NbSiTiHf-5Al-5Cr.