A STUDY ON ALUMINIDE COATINGS ON TiAl ALLOYS BY PACK CEMENTATION METHOD
A STUDY ON ALUMINIDE COATINGS ON TiAl ALLOYS BY PACKCEMENTATION METHOD

The halide-activated pack cementation method is utilized to deposit aluminide coat- ings on TiAl alloys. Emphasis is placed on the effect of alloying elements on the aluminizing behavior of TiAl alloy. The addition of a small amount of Nb or Cr in the TiAl improves significantly the aluminizing kinetics of TiAl alloys by increasing the solid-state division of Al through the formation of stable TiAl3 layer. The TiAl3 layer formed on the TiAl alloyed with Nb or Cr has better toughness than the TiAl3 formed on the non-alloyed TiAl. The reason for better toughness of the coating formed on TiAl is that partial TiAl3 with tetragonal structure was changed to high symmetry cubic L12 structure since Nb or Cr was dissolved into TiAl3. The TiAl3 layer formed on the TiAl alloyed with Nb or Cr has much better oxidation resistance than the TiAl3 layer formed on the non-alloyed TiAl. It is attributed to change in the crystal structure of TiAl3 from the brittle tetragonal DO22 to the ductile cubic L12 by addition of small amount of Nb or Cr.