Abstract:
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and compressive tests at room temperature and elevated temperatures were used to investigate the effect of Ni/Ti atom number ratio on the microstructures and mechanical properties of Ni
42+xTi
50-xAl
4Hf
4 (
x=0-7) alloys. It is found that Ni
42+xTi
50-xAl
4Hf
4 alloys are composed of NiTi and Ti
2Ni phases. The size and volume fraction of Ti
2Ni phase decrease rapidly and the precipitation strengthening effect weakens with increasing Ni/Ti values. At room temperature when the Ni/Ti ratio increases, the compressive yield strength (σ
0.2) and Vickers hardness (Hv) of the alloys decrease, but the ductility increases. At elevated temperatures, for the alloys of Ni/Ti < 1, the precipitation strengthening of Ti
2Ni phase plays the major role, resulting in a decrease of σ
0.2 with increasing Ni/Ti values; but for the alloys of Ni/Ti > 1, the solid solution strengthening effect of Hf improves, and the uniform distribution of Ti
2Ni is more favorable for the strength, leading to the increase of σ
0.2 with increasing Ni/Ti values. The high-temperature yield strength is asymmetrical with a deviation from stoichiometry (Ni/Ti=1).