Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 February 2011
A preliminary investigation was conducted for developing a thermomechanical procedure to refine the lamellar colony size of a fully lamellar structure and improve the balance of the mechanical properties of TiAl based alloys. The main experimental results are as follows: 1) The lamellar colony size in a fully lamellar structure can be reduced to 50 μm using a proper thermomechanical procedure. 2) The influence of colony size on the compressive yield stress of the fully lamellar structure is complex. In the large colony size region, the yield stress can be described by the Hall-Petch relation. In the small colony size region, the yield stress decreases as the colony size decreases. 3) The TiAl alloy, with a fine fully lamellar structure, has the best balance of tensile properties and fracture toughness.