Institute of Metals Division - Phase Transformations In Titanium-Rich Alloys of Nickel and Titanium

The formation and subsequent decomposition of metastable phases in Ti-Ni alloys containing up to 11 pet (atomic) Ni have been studied. The decomposition of a completely retained ß phase and of a completely transformed 8 phase in a 6 pet alloy has been followed by X-ray diffraction and metallographic methods and by hardness determinations made during the process. The possible mechanisms of the reactions are discussed. PREVIOUS investigations of the Ti-Ni system have usually been limited to phase diagram studies; but little attention has been given to metastable phases and tempering processes. These are important, however, since equilibrium conditions are rarely achieved—nor, perhaps, are they desired—in practice. Up to the present time the available transformation data for titanium alloys appear to be restricted to isothermal transformation curves for selected binary and ternary systems. No quantitative studies have been made of the mechanism by which equilibrium is approached. Several independent investigations have been carried out to determine the Ti-Ni phase diagram. Early work by Wallbaum' and later by Long et al.' produced tentative phase diagrams which were not representative of true binary conditions, since the alloys were contaminated with oxygen and nitrogen. The most recent diagram (Fig. 1) is due to Margolin et al.," and a slight modification of the a + ß/ß boundary (shown dotted) has been proposed by McQuillan.' The structure of the phase Ti,Ni was shown by Duwez and Taylor" to be face-centered-cubic, with 96 atoms per structure cell. The formation of a martensitic ß phase (close-packed-hexagonal) in Ti-Ni alloys has generally been observed when specimens of low nickel content are rapidly cooled from the 0 (body-centered-cubic) range. Margolin et al. reported an increasing tendency for P to be retained in lump specimens as the nickel content increases. McQuillan' has studied the effect on the microstructure of delay time in quenching, and has reported the formation of pro- eutectoid a precipitate in a quenched hypoeutectoid alloy. In a previous study of Ti-Fe alloys," experiments were made on powder specimens produced by filing alloy ingots. Techniques were devised for the preparation and heat treatment of alloys, and X-ray diffraction methods were used both for structure determinations and phase ratio estimations. A similar approach has been made in this study of Ti-Ni alloys. Experimental Methods Ten alloys ranging from 0.25 pet to 18 pet Ni* * All compositions are in atomic percentages unless otherwise stated. were prepared from iodide titanium bar stock (hardness Rf 72) and Johnson-Matthey spectrographic standard nickel by levitation melting.' As a check