Intermetallic Alloy Development

Symposium JJ on "Intermetallics-Based Alloys: Science, Technology and Applications," held November 26th through November 28th at the 2012 MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, was the fifteenth in a series of symposia on intermetallic phases held every two years at the MRS Fall Meetings. It encompassed six oral sessions and one poster session, attracted about 150 participants from all over the world, and made it one of the best attended regular meetings on intermetallic phases. This symposium focused on new understanding and developments within the realm of microstructure, processing, and properties of intermetallic compounds and multiphase alloys where intermetallic compounds are the major constituents. This volume gives a representative overview of the current state of research on intermetallic phases, providing an insight into the current state of development of individual intermetallic alloy systems and identifying areas for future research.

In 1993, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Industrial Technology (OIT) established a group of seven industries designated as Industries of the Future (IOF). These industries were selected for their high energy use and large waste generation. The original IOF included the aluminum, chemicals, forest products, glass, metalcasting, petroleum refining, and steel industries. Each industry was asked to provide a future vision and a road map detailing the research required to realize its vision. In November 1994, the forest products industry was the first of the IOF industries to enter into an agreement with DOE. OIT asked the National Research Council's National Materials Advisory Board (NMAB) to provide guidance for OIT's transition to the new IOF strategy. The Committee on Industrial Technology Assessment (CITA) was formed for this purpose with the specific tasks of reviewing and evaluating the overall OIT program, reviewing selected OIT-sponsored research projects, and identifying crosscutting technologies (i.e., technologies applicable to more than one industry). CITA was asked to focus on three specific areas: intermetallic alloys, manufacturing process controls, and separations. A separate panel was formed to study each area and publish the results in separate reports.

The attractive physical and mechanical properties of ordered intermetallic alloys have been recognized since early in this century. However, periodic attempts to develop intermetallics for structural applications were unsuc cessful, due in major part to the twin handicaps of inadequate low-temper ature ductility or toughness, together with poor elevated-temperature creep strength. The discovery, in 1979, by Aoki and Izumi in Japan that small additions of boron caused a dramatic improvement in the ductility of Ni3Al was a major factor in launching a new wave of fundamental and applied research on intermetallics. Another important factor was the issuance in 1984 of a National Materials Advisory Board reported entitled "Structural Uses for Ductile Ordered Alloys," which identified numerous potential defense-related applications and proposed the launching of a coordinated development program to gather engineering property and processing data. A substantial research effort on titanium aluminides was already underway at the Air Force Materials Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and, with Air Force support, at several industrial and university laboratories. Smaller programs also were under way at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, under Department of Energy sponsorship. These research efforts were soon augmented in the United States by funding from Department of Defense agencies such as Office of Naval Research and Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and by the National Science Foundation.

The book explores the new developments that have taken place in recent years in the processing and application of aluminium alloys. The chapter on self diffusion shows a complete detail of the mechanism of diffusion in aluminium alloys and how it affects the strength. The chapter on native oxide films gives useful information on the films developed on commercial magnesium alloys. On the analytical side, the details of Mossbauer spectroscopy related to aluminium alloys fully described. One recent development in aluminium alloys is the controlling of pitting corrosion by the application of superhydrophobic coatings. Complete details of the theory and application of hydrophobicity related to aluminium alloys is shown in the two chapters related to hydrophobicity. It is hoped that this book will be found useful by researchers and general readers in the areas described in the book.