B2 Alulinides for High Temperature Applications

Abstract

The B2 aluminides are currently being investigated for potential high temperature structural applications. Although they are not being as actively pursued as the titanium aluminides or the L12nickel aluminide, the B2 aluminides are very attractive from density gonsiderations. Several recent reviews of the potential for aluminides are available in literature [e.g Ref. 1,2]. Table I is a comparison of the titanium, nickel and iron aluminides of interest and shows that B2 NiAl and FeAl have the major advantage of lower densities than Ni3Al and Fe3Al. In addition, the melting point of NiAl is over 200K higher than convetitional nickel based superalloys. Hence, although low density is the prime driving force, at least in NiAl a temperature advantage is also possible. Both of these aluminides have the advantage of containing very inexpensive elements. In fact, the thrust towards the B2 aluminides evolved from a program aimed at conserving strategic aerospace materials at NASA Lewis Research Center. A recent thrust at NASA Lewis Research Center has been to consider these aluminides as matrix materials for fiber reinforced composite systems.