Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
The floating zone directional solidification technique has been applied to an XDTM short-fiber-reinforced titanium aluminide ingot in an effort to produce in situ alignment of the reinforcement. Microstructural evaluation reveals that a general alignment of the high aspect ratio (>100:1) fibers occurs under specific imposed solidification conditions. These metallographic observations are supported by 800 ° C mechanical data, which indicate higher axial and reduced transverse strengths relative to the unprocessed base material which contains a dispersion of randomly oriented fibers. The increased strengths are observed to be a consequence of an increase in the matrix hardening due to accommodation of plastic strain around the fiber reinforcement.