HIGH-PERFORMANCE NI3AL SYNTHESIZED FROM COMPOSITE POWDERS

Specimens of Ni3Al + B of high density (>99.3 pct RD) and relatively large dimension have been synthesized from composite powders through processes of replacing plating and electroless Ni-B plating on Al powder, sintering, and thermal mechanical treatment. The uniformly coated Ni layer over fine Al or Ni core particles constituting these coating/core composite powders has advantages such as better resistance to oxidation relative to pure Al powder, a greater green density as a compacted powder than prealloyed powder, the possibility of atomically added B to the material by careful choice of a suitable plating solution. and avoidance of the expensive powder metallurgy (PM) equipment such as a hot isostatic press (HIP), hot press (HP), etc. The final Ni3Al + B product is made from Ni-B-Al and Ni-B-Ni mixed composite powders by means of traditional PM processes such as compacting, sintering, rolling, and annealing, and therefore, the dimensions of the product are not constrained by the capacity of an HIP or HP. The properties of Ni3Al composite powder metallurgy (CPM) specimens tested at room temperature have been obtained, and comparison with previous reports is conducted. A tensile elongation of about 16 pct at room temperature was attained.