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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
Several techniques of grain boundary engineering for improving ductility in polycrystalline Ni3Al are discussed with the plausible mechanism. Single crystals of Ni3Al are ductile at room temperature, but polycrstalline Ni3Al fails intergranularly with little elongation. The grain boundaries are also embrittled by environmental moisture. The weakness of the boundaries is attributed to the presence of crack-like microcavities at the boundaries. Microalloying with B closes up the microcavities by enhancing relaxation of Ni and Al atoms, thereby improving ductility. In directionally solidified Ni3Al containing low-angle boundaries, large ductility has been reported. Polycrystalline N?3AI produced by recrystallization of rolled single crystals contains a large fraction of Σ3 boundaries and exhibits large ductility. Due to good matching, the low-angle and Σ3 grain boundaries do not contain microcavities and consequently are strong.